NFL Barometer: Patriots In Peril

RISING

Travis Kelce, TE, KC

Kelce continues to prove he's the best pass catcher on the Chiefs roster, with Monday's thrashing of the Patriots serving as his best showing yet. He caught 8-of-9 targets for 93 yards and a touchdown Monday, while only playing roughly half of Kansas City's snaps. Andy Reid is still making an objective and inexcusable error in not featuring Kelce more than that, but perhaps Monday's showing will finally help Reid recognize the error. Kelce is one of the league's top tight end talents, and he's now up to 259 yards and two touchdowns on just 24 targets.

Larry Donnell, TE, NYG

It seems safe to say at this point that Donnell is the real deal. After snagging 7-of-8 targets against the Redskins for 54 yards and three touchdowns, Donnell is up to 25 catches for 236 yards and four touchdowns on 31 targets in four games. It's surprising that the Giants made no use of Donnell a year ago, as he has consistently shown the ability to box out defenders and display standout high-pointing ability, which comes especially in handy in the red zone. Donnell's target rate might decrease a bit once Odell Beckham (hamstring) gets on the field, but he has to be the favorite to lead the Giants in touchdown receptions this year.

Jerick McKinnon, RB, MIN

The Vikings finally let McKinnon loose against the Falcons on Sunday, and the results were predictably explosive. The Falcons' defense is not good, which may have had something to do with McKinnon's breakout, but 135 yards on 18 carries is still impressive. McKinnon also caught his fifth pass of the year, taking it for 17 yards. Even if Matt Asiata is too steady to fall out of the starting lineup this year, McKinnon is clearly too much of a playmaker to keep on the bench as much as he was in the first three weeks, when he received just five total carries.

Andre Holmes and James Jones, WR, OAK

Rod Streater (hip) is out and Denarius Moore is in healthy-scratch territory at this point, leaving Holmes and Jones as the only viable targets in the Oakland passing game. The duo split 18 targets against the Dolphins on Sunday – 12 for Holmes and six for Jones – and they respectively finished with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown and six catches for 83 yards. The Raiders figure to keep seeing their share of blowouts, which should keep the targets steady for Holmes and Jones.

Jarius Wright, WR, MIN

An undersized third wideout like Wright probably isn't worth the expenditure of significant waiver resources, but it looks like he could at least be a factor in deeper formats so long as Teddy Bridgewater (ankle) plays and Kyle Rudolph (groin) doesn't. Wright was targeted 10 times Sunday, and caught eight balls for 132 yards. Wright has always been an efficient NFL target, totaling 913 yards and five touchdowns on just 95 targets – good for 9.6 yards per look. Wright seems like a realistic candidate to provide around 60 yards or more per game while Rudolph sits.

FALLING

The Patriots

Aside from Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, it's looking like the Patriots are unlikely to provide a good return to their fantasy owners. There was a lack of quality pass-catching options to begin with, but that problem is compounded by what has been a severely inadequate offensive line. Tom Brady isn't getting much time to pass and his receivers aren't efficient with Brady's targets, so the offense isn't putting up enough yardage or points to split up between Gronkowski, Edelman, Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley, let alone the likes of Aaron Dobson, Brandon LaFell or Tim Wright. The only obvious source of hope is the potential for Gronkowski to become more effective as the season goes along as he shakes the rust off his surgically-repaired knee.

Bernard Pierce, RB, BAL

There's been no mention of a demotion, but Pierce (thigh) didn't play against the Panthers on Sunday despite heading into the weekend with a 'probable' designation on the Baltimore injury report and being listed among the team's active players. Justin Forsett and Lorenzo Taliaferro both played, on the other hand, and they continued to play well. Forsett totaled 66 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, adding three catches for 31 yards; and Taliaferro finished with 15 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown. Pierce probably will regain a role of some sort in the Baltimore backfield once his health improves, but the idea of him reestablishing himself as the true No. 1 running back for Baltimore is getting harder to buy into.

Terrance West, RB, CLE

There's no shame in running for 204 yards (4.3 YPC) and two touchdowns in your first three games as a rookie, but it looks like West will have his workload scaled back going forward. Fellow rookie Isaiah Crowell is the more talented player, and that has been reflected in the box score lately. Crowell has 141 yards (5.2 YPC) and three touchdowns on the year, and he outplayed West each of the last two weeks. Plus, Ben Tate (knee) returned to practice Tuesday and will be reinstalled as the team's starting running back as soon as he's ready to play. That could be Sunday against the Titans.

Toby Gerhart, RB, JAC

Unless Gerhart's ankle issue has been a major contributor to his poor production in Jacksonville, he's looking like a bad buy for both the Jaguars and fantasy owners in 2014. Through four games he has just 114 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries, which averages out to a less-than-impressive YPC of 2.6. The fact that he lost a fumble and gave up nine carries to Denard Robinson against the Chargers on Sunday adds more reason for concern.