Photo: Imagn Images

Every dog has his day. A blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. Lightning in a bottle. These are figures of speech that mean relatively the same thing. Sometimes you just get lucky. When it comes to fantasy football, there’s no question that it sometimes comes down to dumb luck. When you prepare your team for the ups and downs of the season, you may find that your luck could be up to the decisions you made and the trends you jumped on… or stayed away from! Same simple setup with some different names and familiar ones. It’s important to note that some players may find themselves in mix-matched tiers week-to-week while others may just be high performers year-round. Worried about the hours and hours of research it takes to find these league-changing players?! Have no fear, Football Guys are here!

High Dollar Stocks Trending up

S Minkah Fitzpatrick: He moves to the No. 1 performing stock this week in the entirety of IDP leagues. The dude is an absolute menace out there. He followed his Week 1 dominance with six more tackles and another pick putting him at 20 tackles and two picks through two weeks played. He’s 25 years old and was just given a long-term contract to stay in Pittsburgh, so get used to the production because he likes where he is and the stats speak for themselves. More safety love for the best current safety in the league.

LB Devin White: Although he makes a case for the number one spot, White comes in at number two this week, but the way he’s trending, it won’t be long till he’s number one. He actually scored more this week than he did in his two-sack performance in Week 1. He had 11 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble in Week 2, putting his numbers to 19 total tackles, three sacks, and a forced fumble through two weeks. He’s putting together a strong case for LB1 this season and even could contend as defensive player of the year if he keeps this output continuing. Keep your eye on White.

DE Aidan Hutchinson: When using the term “High Dollar Stocks,” it is defined as someone who would cost a lot to acquire via trade or had a lofty draft spot in IDP Dynasty drafts. Hutchinson had a case to be a top edge rusher/defensive end taken in rookie drafts, and Week 2 was exactly why he was. He posted a career day for most people in his second game ever tallying six tackles and three sacks. This came after he seemingly was invisible in Week 1 so this had to make managers happy to see the upside show itself. This won’t be the last time we see Hutchinson change a game, but it was the first time! Rookies are viable options too!

S Harrison Smith: Depending on your format and preference, Harrison Smith was likely one of the top 3 safeties taken in redrafts and is consistently around the top of the league year after year in points at his position. In case you fell asleep during the blowout or excitement of two Monday night football games, Smith had 13 solo tackles. 13! He’s making a case that age is just a number at a position that we think has to have athleticism to be tops in the league, but Smith proves all you have to do is have a nose for the ball. See ball, tackle ball, and Smith does just that!

LB Devin Lloyd: Rounding out the top five is yet another rookie who garnered a top draft spot in IDP rookie drafts and was likely not available long in redrafts. Lloyd has been a quiet yet consistent part of the recent successes of Jacksonville. He currently sits as LB5 in standard leagues and has 17 total tackles, three defended passes, and one interception. He is proving to be a great pickup in the first round by a Jags team that needs all the playmakers they can get regardless of the side of the ball they play on. He is also the only rookie linebacker in the top 40, including those classified as outside linebackers. Lloyd is going to make noise in this league for a long time.

High Dollar Stocks Trending Down

LB Eric Kendricks: It’s been two weeks, and we aren’t seeing anything worthy of hyping up Kendricks. This has been a surprise to many IDP managers. Kendricks is currently trending to the first sub-100 tackle season of his career. This is in part to the switch up at the head coaching position but also due to the emergence of Jordan Hicks as the go-to player at this position for the team. This isn’t a “bad” year per se, but likely not the year managers were expecting when utilizing ADP in redrafts or capital in trades to acquire. Sell your Kendricks stock while he still has a higher value.