Welcome into the Week 7 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. This week, and going forwards, we are going to also include fallers who have had decreased usage recently.
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 7 Redzone Risers
Cordarrelle Patterson (RB, ATL) 29% RZ Touches
Patterson is the guy that can do it all for the Falcons. He catches, he runs, returns kicks and is used in the redzone. Atlanta’s offense has been effective this season, scoring points and moving the ball up and down the field. Mike Davis was previously the lead back in the redzone, but that has fallen to Patterson too.
Devontae Booker (RB, NYG) 22% RZ Touches
The Giants aren’t a good team, they might not even be average. Ok, they are below average. But they are still able to get the ball downfield, and with Saquon Barkley out with injury issues, Booker is the guy that the team has turned to.
Tee Higgins (WR, CIN) 20% RZ Touches
It might be Ja’Marr Chase that is stealing the headlines for the Bengals, but Higgins is the guy that is getting the targets in the redzone. He is only two touches behind Joe Mixon who leads the team in touches. The Bengals offense is performing well under Joe Burrow so there should be plenty of redzone plays to come.
Mike Evans (WR, TB) 11% RZ Touches
Evans really burst back as a redzone weapon in the past week. Tampa’s offense can pretty much do whatever it wants. Evans re-established himself as the big-bodied receiver that he was in previous seasons. You don’t need me to tell you to play him, but I wanted to highlight that he was really looked to. Having around a quarter of the 22 plays the team ran in the redzone last game.
Ricky Seals-Jones (TE, WAS) 18% RZ Touches
Seals-Jones has stepped into the receiving role that Logan Thomas previously had occupied in the offense. Washington’s offense isn’t the most potent in the league. The thing is, Seals-Jones value comes from his overall target share, the upside of the redzone touches just makes him a better pickup than before.
Week 7 Redzone Fallers
Eli Mitchell (RB, SF) 15 % RZ Touches
The 49ers are a backfield that has been difficult to navigate for seasons. The team rotate the backs they use almost constantly. This season, we have the emergence of Deebo Samuel to contend with. With the switching at QB too, Mitchell doesn’t have the same redzone appeal that he had to start the season. For comparison, Kyle Juszczyk and Jamycal Hasty have just one fewer redzone touch than Mitchell.
Zach Pascal (WR, IND) 13% RZ Touches
Pascal’s fantasy appeal has been related to scoring TDs, given his target share in the offense. The thing is that he isn’t seeing the same looks that he was seeing before. Jonathan Taylor is now seeing the majority of touches, with just under 50% of all plays going his way. With the Colts having more receivers set to return, Pascal is really having his value pummelled.
Jonnu Smith (TE, NE) 14% RZ Touches
Smith was a good redzone player for the Titans, and the filled that role again at the start of the season for the Patriots. But in recent weeks, the team have found more success on the ground. That has meant that Damien Harris and Brandon Bolden now lead the team in touches. Hunter Henry has now seen more targets that Smith too. While he might not be droppable, his value has certainly taken a hit.
So, that’s this weeks edition of Redzone Risers and Fallers for the 2021 season, taking into account the action from Week 7. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or jump into our Discord server
Image Credit: Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports
