Fantasy Football Wrap: Meachem More Than Touchdown Machine

Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Riser of the Week: For the past few weeks, I've been rather reluctant to anoint Robert Meachem as a weekly fantasy starter. Sure, he's been getting loads of touchdowns, but Drew Brees spreads the ball around to so many different players -- he's thrown touchdown passes to 10 different players -- that you can't count on consistency. Or can you? Meachem has now scored in five straight games. More importantly, though, Meachem caught eight passes for 142 yards on Sunday. Brees looked for Meachem to move the chains, not just as a deep threat. He's becoming a reliable member of the offense and looks good as a flex play moving forward. Plus, as an added bonus -- it's really fun to own Saints players. Then you have a reason to watch them play and that's a joy in and of itself.

Faller of the Week: Vincent Jackson is being buried. Philip Rivers threw for 373 yards and two scores, but Jackson came away with just 54 of those yards and didn't score. It's the fourth straight game where he's been an afterthought in the San Diego offense. You know what else has happened during that stretch? The Chargers have won every game. Therefore, they have no incentive whatsoever to get him more involved in the offense. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I would definitely be worried to head into the fantasy postseason with him as your WR1.

Other Shifts in Value

Laurence Maroney - He had scored a touchdown in six straight games (eight during the stretch), so he was getting up into unsittable range. Sunday, we were treated to just 41 yards on 13 carries and no scores. Ugh.

Ricky Williams - The Dolphins' running attack just isn't the same without Ronnie Brown around. The Dolphins run their offense effectively if defenses can't key on one runner and Lex Hilliard isn't good enough to free up Ricky. That means they'll likely have to throw more, like they did Sunday, moving forward. He's still an RB1, but I'm starting to get worried.

Devin Thomas - In the previous three games, Thomas put up modest numbers but was improving steadily. This week, he teamed with Jason Campbell to put everything together. He shattered career-highs with seven catches and 100 yards.

Bruce Gradkowski and Louis Murphy - Say what? 128 yards and two scores for Murphy against the Steelers? 300 yards and three touchdowns for Gradkowski ... against anyone? Wow. Maybe the Raiders' aerial attack is usable against the Redskins in Week 14 and the Browns in Week 16?

Santonio Holmes - He's establishing himself as an every week starter, especially in PPR leagues. Holmes has caught at least six passes in each of the past five games. His lowest yardage output in that stretch was 74 and he now has scored in each of the last two games. Leave him in that lineup against the Browns next week without a second thought.

The Chiefs passing attack - Matt Cassel and Brodie Croyle combined to complete 16 of 43 passes for 134 yards, with no touchdowns and two picks. That's embarrassing. The only guy on the KC offense you want in your playoff thoughts is Jamaal Charles.

Kyle Orton - Yeah, I see the two touchdown passes. I also see three turnovers (I thought he was a game manager?) and 180 yards against the Chiefs. You don't want him in your lineup against Indy next week.

Chris Brown and Ryan Moats - Seriously, they really need Steve Slaton. That offense was miserable for much of the game without him.

Mike Sims-Walker - When you appear on this list about every single week and it's alternating between arrows, well, let's just say consistency is what makes fantasy owners happy and MSW owners are not pleased.

Bo Scaife - Vince Young is really starting to look for his big target over the middle, and they have a really soft upcoming schedule for passing.

Reggie Wayne - You still can't think about sitting him unless the Colts rest their starters, but that's two straight weeks where the opposition has held him relatively in check and allowed others to beat them.

Chad Ochocinco - Guess who's back in time for the fantasy playoffs? You can count on him.

Kevin Smith - That was 4.7 yards per carry against a very stout run defense. A good sign for the second-year runner, though don't overdo it. The Lions will likely be playing from behind often and face a bunch of good run defenses from here on out.

Earl Bennett - Congratulations to him on his first career touchdown.

Donnie Avery - It was downright uncanny how inaccurate Kyle Boller was on Sunday. Of course, that trickles down to kill the value of his wideouts.

Jonathan Stewart - Not too surprising that he stepped in for an injured DeAngelo Williams and had a big day against a sub-par defense.

Antonio Bryant - Looks like Josh Freeman is starting to feel comfortable with Bryant -- even though he's wearing the same colored uniform (Bryant caught the same number of passes from Freeman as the Panthers' defense did Sunday).

Roddy White - He's definitely healthy, as the nine catches for 104 yards should quell those concerns. Plus, it appears that Chris Redman prefers him to Tony Gonzalez in the red zone, which is a huge boost as long as Matt Ryan is sidelined.

LeSean McCoy - All bad news for McCoy. Let's see ... only two yards on six carries, less carries than Eldra Buckley, less receiving yards than the fullback Leonard Weaver and no piece of the Eagles' 34 points. Just a cornucopia of futility from the rookie. To make matters worse, it's definitely plausible that Brian Westbrook returns for Weeks 15 and 16. Hopefully your playoff squad isn't hitched to McCoy's wagon as anything more than a flex play.

Alex Smith - Hey, we told ya. Keep riding him. He's a great option moving forward.

Seahawks passing attack - The Niners entered the game ranked 28th against the pass. They were allowing an average of 256.5 passing yards per game. Yet Matt Hasselbeck could only manage 198 against them. Nate Burleson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh were mediocre at best, and John Carlson was, once again, totally worthless. Hasselbeck's two touchdown passes made him usable, but don't get all starry-eyed about the upcoming games against the Texans and Bucs. It doesn't appear we can definitely count on Seattle.

Jason Witten - Yes, the lack of touchdowns (only one this year) has to be frustrating, but he's racking up the receptions and yards: 14 for 156 Sunday. He's gotta start scoring soon, doesn't he?

Steve Smith - Giants-type ... He's back over the 100-yard barrier for the first time since Week 4. Considering the Giants' running game sucks, they'll be leaning heavily on the wideouts during their Wild Card push.

Brady Quinn - All of a sudden, he's had two productive games in the past three weeks. On the upcoming schedule, he'll get the Steelers (who just allowed a career day to Bruce Gradkowski), Chiefs and Raiders. Dare I say it, he's worth a pickup ... and maybe even a play! Yeah, we'll end on that note. I'm a bit worried about the impending apocalypse.