This article is part of our NFL Barometer series.
RISING
Terrance Williams, WR, DAL
With Dez Bryant (foot) likely out for around 8-to-12 weeks, Williams will step in as Dallas' No. 1 wide receiver. Williams hasn't had the look of an especially reliable player in Dallas, but he has shown the ability to make big plays, turning 147 career targets into 86 catches for 1,417 yards and 13 touchdowns. Tony Romo is one of the league's most efficient passers, and if he can turn Laurent Robinson into a fantasy factor, he can probably push Williams into WR2 territory for as long as Bryant is out.
Tyler Eifert, TE, CIN
Eifert's 2015 debut was a smashing success and answered any doubts about his health after he missed most of 2014 with a dislocated elbow. In his first career game as the clear starting tight end in Cincinnati, the obviously talented Eifert caught nine passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns on 12 targets. Eifert's red-zone prowess is nothing new – he consistently showed rare high-pointing ability at Notre Dame, and he has the athleticism to strike downfield between the 20s, too. You obviously can't expect triple-digit yardage and multiple touchdowns every week, but Eifert is here to stay.
Ameer Abdullah, RB, DET
Abdullah's upside and consistency are both limited by the game-planning of the Detroit offense, which is (for now) determined to set aside a lead role for the sluggish, increasingly injury-prone Joique Bell. The Week 1 results of that experiment were somewhat predictable – the
RISING
Terrance Williams, WR, DAL
With Dez Bryant (foot) likely out for around 8-to-12 weeks, Williams will step in as Dallas' No. 1 wide receiver. Williams hasn't had the look of an especially reliable player in Dallas, but he has shown the ability to make big plays, turning 147 career targets into 86 catches for 1,417 yards and 13 touchdowns. Tony Romo is one of the league's most efficient passers, and if he can turn Laurent Robinson into a fantasy factor, he can probably push Williams into WR2 territory for as long as Bryant is out.
Tyler Eifert, TE, CIN
Eifert's 2015 debut was a smashing success and answered any doubts about his health after he missed most of 2014 with a dislocated elbow. In his first career game as the clear starting tight end in Cincinnati, the obviously talented Eifert caught nine passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns on 12 targets. Eifert's red-zone prowess is nothing new – he consistently showed rare high-pointing ability at Notre Dame, and he has the athleticism to strike downfield between the 20s, too. You obviously can't expect triple-digit yardage and multiple touchdowns every week, but Eifert is here to stay.
Ameer Abdullah, RB, DET
Abdullah's upside and consistency are both limited by the game-planning of the Detroit offense, which is (for now) determined to set aside a lead role for the sluggish, increasingly injury-prone Joique Bell. The Week 1 results of that experiment were somewhat predictable – the supremely explosive Abdullah burned his way to 50 yards and a touchdown on seven carries and caught four passes for 44 yards, while Bell totaled just 14 yards on six carries, adding two catches for 27 yards. If the Lions make this backfield a merit-based rotation, Abdullah could even have RB1 upside. There's just no guarantee that Detroit will get the memo in the near future.
James Jones, WR, GB
Jones was seemingly deemed useless by the rest of the league, as both the Raiders and Giants cut him in the same offseason, but he plugged back into the Green Bay offense in Week 1 as if he never left. Aaron Rodgers has always vouched for Jones, and the two clearly work well together. One of Jones' touchdowns came when Rodgers called a quick slant to Jones on an audible, demonstrating Jones' chemistry with Rodgers as well as Rodgers' trust in Jones. Jones only finished the game with four targets, a number that will need to rise if he's to have any predictable fantasy value, but catching all four for 51 yards and two touchdowns might have just earned Jones more looks going forward.
Donte Moncrief, WR, IND
This is a conditional "Rising" entry, but if T.Y. Hilton misses any time with the knee bruise he suffered against Buffalo on Sunday, Moncrief would likely step into a starting role as the Colts take on the Jets in Week 2. Darrelle Revis threatens to erase whomever he covers in that game, but it would be a mild surprise if the Jets had Revis shadow Moncrief rather than still-respected starter Andre Johnson. In any case, Moncrief is one of the league's better size-speed specimens at receiver, and his rookie-year efficiency provides reason to think he'll thrive whenever he's given a feature role. His 6-46-1 Week 1 receiving line was also reassuring.
FALLING
Denver Broncos Offense
It was the first game in a system installed by new coach Gary Kubiak – a coach who generally oversees successful offenses – so there's some slight cause for hope that Sunday's hideous showing was just a Week 1 aberration. But Peyton Manning looked closer to broken down than merely 'bad,' showing the same inability to throw downfield that he did toward the end of the 2014 season. After completing 24 of 40 passes for 175 yards and an interception, Manning's totals since Week 13 of last year are 144-of-241 (59.7 percent) for 1,555 yards (6.5 YPA), seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. Meanwhile, C.J. Anderson finished Week 1 with 12 carries for 29 yards, tweaking his ankle a bit in the process. He's expected to be fine for Week 2, so hopefully his surrounding circumstances improve.
Devonta Freeman, RB, ATL
The running back battle between Freeman and rookie second-round pick Tevin Coleman might already be over. Coleman started over Freeman against Philadelphia on Monday, finishing with 20 carries for 80 yards, whereas Freeman ended up with an awful box score of 18 yards on 10 carries. Three catches for 29 yards helped Freeman a bit, but not enough to make his debut anything more than a bust.
Tony Romo, QB, DAL
Despite the many unreasonable narratives believed by some fans, Romo is a legitimately great quarterback and one of the best passers of his era. The loss of Dez Bryant (foot) for 8-to-12 weeks is a development that could largely derail Romo's fantasy value in the meantime, however. Dallas' receivers aside from Bryant are not merely below average, but bad. Jason Witten is a reliable target with mid-grade efficiency, and Terrance Williams has shown hit-or-miss production to this point in his career, but the rest of the rotation is just weak. Cole Beasley is an upjumped practice-squad type, and 2014 fifth-round pick Devin Street hasn't shown anything in his limited playing time.
