Three Up, Three Down: Fantasy Football Week #5

Mike Carlson, Scott Ayers, and Rick Zieser

It’s finally Friday and with a loaded week five schedule on deck, here is you Three Up, Three Down.

Three Up:

Chris Ivory, New York RB

Ivory has been on fire of late averaging 11 points a game. In addition, he is clearly getting the lion’s share of carries in New York. He is in a very run-heavy Rex Ryan offense and has quite the formidable offensive line blocking for him. Let’s also not forget that he has Geno Smith as his quarterback. All the tools are there for a guy looking to break out. The one downfall, however, is he is on a Jets team which may get behind early.

Martellus Bennett, Chicago TE

Bennett has been taking the Windy City by storm lately. He is averaging 13 points a game in a very potent Bears offensive attack. While Jay Cutler still has a glaring turnover issue, he finds Bennett pretty regularly. With Marshall and Jeffrey recovering from injuries, Bennett is the guy for now in Chicago. If you need a tight end or are looking for a low-end flex play, throw Bennett a flyer.

Eli Manning, New York QB

After playing some of his worst football last year, Manning seems to be on the uptick once again. He has scored more points each week and has found a nice rhythm in Ben McAdoo’s new west coast system. While we don’t expect him to put up near the numbers his brother puts up, he is still a very solid bye-week fill in at the quarterback position.

Three Down:

Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco QB

The Colin Kaepernick magic from a couple of years ago has, for all intents and purposes, disappeared. He has lost a lot of his dual threat ability and is proving to be a very average passer. He turns the ball over far too much to play the quarterback position efficiently. Although his athletic ability is very enticing, Kaepernick just isn’t the guy he used to be. Proceed with caution.

LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia RB

Shady McCoy has been a trainwreck this season. His role in Chip Kelly’s offense seemed to prime him for another big season, but this clearly not the case. His receptions out of the backfield have been dwindling with Darren Sproles’ resurgence and with a very bad Nick Foles under center, McCoy’s stock is in a freefall. We are not recommending you to drop him by any means, but maybe look to unload him in a trade.

Cordarrelle Patterson, Minnesota WR

This year was supposed to be the “Year of Cordarrelle Patterson.” Patterson has an abundance of athleticism, but nothing to show for it so far. His stock hasn’t fallen nearly as much as his contemporaries, rather we are re-adjusting our expectations. He probably will not live up to his preseason hype, but is still a very good WR2 or high-end flex play; and with Bridgewater’s emergence as a solid quarterback, we recommend you buy low on this playmaker.