Welcome into the Week 14 edition of Redzone Risers and Fallers for the 2021 season. This is a brand new series for our site, and uses the redzone touches information that is freely available on our site. The reason for adding this tool, and making it available is its importance in helping you make better decisions when it comes to your roster.
The idea is that if a player is starting to be used in the redzone more, then the opportunity to score is increased and you want to add them to your roster. If the opposite happens, you might look to sell that asset.
Now, in this series, we aren’t going to look at big-name players on the whole. That is to say, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara are expected to be used in and around the redzone. That is unless they start stop being used, in which case they will be included in the fallers.
Week 14 Redzone Risers
D'Onta Foreman (RB, TEN) 11% RZ Touches
The Titans have a black hole at RB, there’s no denying that. Derrick Henry was the heartbeat of the offense. To highlight that point Henry has been out since Week 8, but still accounts for 26% of the red zone opportunities for the team on the season. But Foreman is attempting to fill that void. He is second on the team in RZ touches, commanding around half of the opportunities in the past week. That’s massively ahead of Dontrell Hilliard.
Justin Jackson (RB, LAC) 9% RZ Touches
The Charges lead back Austin Ekeler was forced to leave the game with an ankle injury, which gives an immediate opening at the position. Jackson was given an almost equal split of carries with Joshua Kelley. But, Jackson was given the majority of the redzone chances. If I was going to bank on one of them, I’d go for Jackson.
Hunter Renfrow (WR, LV) 14% RZ Touches
Is there nothing that Renfrow can’t do? Well, at the moment the answer looks to be no. WIth Darren Waller out of the lineup especially, Renfrow has stepped up. His target share is high on the field, and now has seen increased usage in the redzone. Until Waller is back, there is no reason to not include him in your lineups.
Brandon Aiyuk (WR, SF) 9% RZ Touches
Aiyuk needs a special mention- why? That TD he scored in OT was magical. Partly the actual play itself, and partly because I had started Aiyuk in some leagues and that was very much needed. Aiyuk has been getting more and more involved in the 49ers offense, and with usage in the redzone the ceiling increases.
Austin Hooper (TE, CLE) 9% RZ Touches
With the news that Jarvis Landry has COVID, Hooper is now the highest ranking pass-catcher on the team in redzone opportunities. This past week especially, he accounted for around a third of the looks that the team had. At a position that is so dependent on getting scoring opportunities, you can’t overlook him.
Week 14 Redzone Fallers
Aaron Jones (RB, GB) 29% RZ Touches
I’m hoping that this was a blip for Jones, with reduced work in the redzone. AJ Dillon has started to see increased usage on the field, including the redzone. Jones only had 1 redzone opportunity of the 13 plays that the Packers ran last week, while Dillon had 5. The two of them are only separated by nine opportunities on the season. Sure Jones missed some time with an injury, but it’s going to cap his ceiling if he doesn’t get more usage.
Mike Williams (WR, LAC) 10% RZ Touches
The Chargers offense has been firing, able to move the ball at will on teams. The issue for the pass-catchers is that they have found effective weapons near the goal-line that are mainly RBs, with TEs mixed in. Williams is a big-bodied receiver, but has been moved involved in downfield routes, rather than near the goal-line.
Noah Fant (TE, DEN) 8% RZ Touches
The Broncos’ offense is heavily weighed to the RBs, especially in the redzone. The team has given over half of all of their season-long opportunities to the tandem of Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams, and with their success, there is little reason to move away from that. Given the way that Fant has been marginalized elsewhere on the field his fantasy value is dropping.
So, that’s this weeks edition of Redzone Risers and Fallers for the 2021 season, taking into account the action from Week 14. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or jump into our Discord server
Image Credit: Jake Roth – USA TODAY Sports
