Each week I will be discussing the fantasy stock watch. The stock watch article will help the fantasy owner decide who they should be looking to clear room for and who may be on their way out the door. Each player has a grade and definition.

Stock risers will be graded from bottom to top in this format: Advancing, emerging, mounting, and soaring. For those players that find their stock decreasing, they will be graded in this order from bottom to top: Drop, fade, slump, and lessen.

Stock Rising

Karlos Williams (Mounting). The only reason Karlos Williams does not have a soaring grade is the share he will have with LeSean McCoy. There is little chance that Williams will have the role to himself with the salary that they are paying McCoy. When looking at Karlos Williams numbers he is worth an add in all leagues. 12 carries against the Dolphins last week that he translated into 110 yards and scored his third touchdown in as many games. Rex Ryan may indeed bench McCoy to get him healthy which he hasn’t been since the start of the season, and if he does Williams moves up instantly to soaring.

Andy Dalton (Emerging). Not to many people gave Andy Dalton a chance at the start of the season, but he has changed many perceptions after the first three games of the season. He has been accurate with 66% of his passes (61/92 passing) and his 288.7 yards per game to go along with eight touchdowns and just one interception. The problem is that we have seen this before with Dalton. He will have three good games and fall flat in game four and five.

Ryan Mathews (Emerging). After last week’s performance against the New York Jets defense, Ryan Mathews has earned some extra playing time. In that game, he had 108 yards on 25 carries and had been far more productive than DeMarco Murray has been this season. The difficult situation for Mathews is Murray’s contract situation. Unfortunately, this will keep Mathews from starting and limit his time share, but he obviously will get more touches than he has had previously seen.

Mike Vick (Advancing). Let’s face it Michael Vick has done nothing in over three seasons, and now he is going to lead the Steelers? I think he just may get the job done. I am not expecting all-star numbers, but Le’Veon Bell will help ease his pressures. His scrambling ability will help him find Antonio Brown and the others, he could match Joe Flacco numbers and have the run stats to go with it. The big difference is that he will throw more interceptions than Flacco, which limits his value.

Giovani Bernard (Advancing). Last week Bernard did things that we haven’t seen in a few years. He had 13 rushes for 49 yards and then did Bernard type things by catching four passes and turned them into 34 yards to help the Bengals defeat the Ravens. His counterpart Jeremy Hill logged just seven carries and then disappeared. Head coach Marvin Lewis still maintains that Hill is Cincinnati Bengals workhorse, but it’s looking like a committee pack to me. Owners of Bernard should use him in flex play for PPR leagues.

Larry Fitzgerald (Soaring). Who woke up the sleeping giant? Larry Fitzgerald has been a reflection of his prior self in the Bruce Arians offense. In three games, he has 23 receptions for 333 yards and five touchdowns, which already doubles last season mark in scores, and he is only 41 receptions away from breaking last year’s reception total. He looks on pace to match or even better 2013 stats of 82/954/10. As long as Carson Palmer is healthy, keep him rolling in your starting lineup.

Rishard Matthews (Mounting). Even though it appeared that Jarvis Landry would be the Miami Dolphins leading receiver, it has been Rishard Matthews the last few weeks. He has posted a 14/228/2 line and when you place week one action where he had four receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown. With Landry, DeVante Parker and Jordan Cameron out there it will be difficult to see Matthews continue down this path. At this point, he deserves to be owned in 12 team leagues and an eye on in 10 team formats.

Stock Decliners

Andrew Luck (Slump). Not much to say regarding his poor performances over the last three weeks. He nearly led the Colts to a 0-3 disaster, and if it weren’t for a rookie quarterback making rookie mistakes, it would have bee just that. His completion rate is just 56% just a tad higher than his rookie season. On top of this is his lowest passing yard production average of 251 yards per game, to go along with a nasty 5:7 touchdown to interception ratio. It also doesn’t look much better as Andrew Luck has been reported to be close to being shut down for Sunday’s contest.

Matthew Stafford (Fade). What do you say about a quarterback who throws 45 passes and only manages to gain 282 yards and a touchdown? Even worse his only score came when he tossed a pass to Ameer Abdullah, who used his skills to take it to the end zone. His accuracy is off, and his interceptions and touchdowns look the same. Stafford’s career is legitimately going in the wrong direction.

LeSean McCoy (Fade). Maybe it’s not his entire fault. He is dealing with an injury (when isn’t he?) and the offensive line is underwhelming. He has averaged around 15 carries a game but with a 3.4 yards per carry average it has only given him 146 yards total. He has caught seven passes for 83 yards and a touchdown, so he has helped PPR owners a bit. This week, however, he is most likely going to sit it out, and watch his job go to Karlos Williams.

Jeremy Hill (Slump). A new season for Jeremy Hill and he probably wishes he could start it over. The good news is that he still has the faith in his head coach Marvin Lewis, even though he has been outplayed by Giovani Bernard the last three weeks. Hill adds little to the passing game, and his 3.0 yards per carry average spells B.E.N.C.H. He has only rushed for 123 yards on 41 carries, but he has found the end zone twice this season. Jeremy Hill will probably always find a spot in the offense, just because Bernard cannot carry a full-time load, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see his role dwindle.

Calvin Johnson (Lessen). I don’t really know if you can blame the poor start on Johnson or Stafford. Both players have done nothing in this Lomabardi offense. The offensive line play has a lot to do with their troubles also. Either case Megatron has not been so mega this season, as his 20/199/1 line dictates. This averages out to be 10 yards a reception on average and on pace for just five touchdowns.

Stock Rising definitions

Advancing-Player has a good performance one week, but could go either way

Emerging-Steady production but may be in a time share or limited for a reason

Mounting-Has proved his worth and in-line to take over a starting role

Soaring-Has took over starting role and proven his worth

Stock Declining definitions

Drop- Player has fallen and should not be on your roster

Fade- Getting closer to the drop zone, but need to see more, or has value somewhere

Slump- Has had several disappointing weeks in a row, but is too good to drop or is talented enough to move away

Lessen- A bad game, but nothing too concerning as of yet