NFL Barometer: Raven About Flacco

As we come off a very interesting Week 4, a word about the Bears' offensive explosion that qualified as the most surprising of Sunday's outcomes: You won't find any Chicago players listed as Trending Up yet this week despite their respective performances, as we need to see more than one week against a non-Buccaneers secondary to really believe they're headed in the right direction. Given Mitchell Trubisky's struggles through the first three games of the season, a "buffer period" is warranted as the team heads into a Week 5 bye.

However, there were plenty of other longer-term trends that persisted in Week 4, so let's dive right into looking at who either continued rising or falling.

Trending Up

Quarterback

Joe Flacco, Ravens: Flacco is a good example of a quarterback who has seemingly proven an old dog can learn new tricks after four impressive efforts to open the season. The veteran exploded for 363 yards against the Steelers on Sunday night, and he'd touched up the Bengals for 376 yards just two games prior. Those two performances have been sandwiched around a solid 276-yard effort against the Broncos in Week 3, and overall, Flacco is taking advantage of new weapon John Brown to bump his YPA up from last year's career-low 5.7 to 7.3, the second-highest figure of his career.

Derek Carr, Raiders: The team's record isn't pretty, but Carr is unquestionably thriving under head coach Jon Gruden. The 2014 second-round pick racked up a season-best 437 yards and four touchdowns in Sunday's overtime thriller against the Browns, but he'd also generated between 288 and 345 passing yards over the first three games of the season. While interceptions have been a problem, it's clear Carr will continue to have a chance to air it out often this season, leaving him in position for what could be the most fantasy-friendly season of his career.

Jameis Winston, Buccaneers: Winston's second-half performance in mop-up duty against the Bears isn't what lands him here, but rather, the fact he's officially regained his starting job beginning in Week 6 against the Falcons following the Bucs' bye. The 2015 first overall pick should have plenty of time to hit the ground running in that contest, which judging by the performances of either team's defense over the first quarter of the season, could well turn into a shootout. Winston has more than enough weapons around him – even with the forthcoming multi-week absence of O.J. Howard – to thrive right from the jump.

Running Back

Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys: Given the heights Elliott has already reached in his short career, there normally isn't much room for him to ascend even further. However, this season is just a little bit different for the Cowboys, which have what could be the worst wide receiver corps in the league and will therefore likely rely on Elliott even more than usual throughout the year. If that extra work doesn't lead to injury, we could see a career season from the Pro Bowl running back, who's already compiled 426 rushing yards through the first four games at an eye-popping 5.8 yards per tote. Just as encouraging in Week 4 was Elliott's passing game success, as he finally was able to get downfield with some of his receptions (4-88-1) after averaging no better than 5.7 yards per grab in any of the first three games.

Sony Michel, Patriots: Michel seemed to fall victim to the general offensive malaise that engulfed the Patriots in a Week 3 loss to the Lions, one that seemed to wake up the team as a whole. Michel was one of the offensive pieces that definitely seemed to get a jolt, as he broke through for 112 yards on 25 carries. The workload is what's particularly encouraging, as Michel could have a path to similar volume moving forward with the placement of Rex Burkhead (knee) on injured reserve last week. The lack of work in the passing game thus far is a concern, but Michel does have some utility in that category after having eclipsed 20 catches in two college seasons.

Wide Receiver

Corey Davis, Titans: Davis heavily tests my philosophy of not including "one-week wonders" in this column, but there's reason to believe Sunday's breakout may be more than just an outlier. The 2017 first-round pick is the Titans' unquestioned No. 1 receiver now that Rishard Matthews asked for and received his release, and he's already seen double-digit targets in two of four games this season, topped by a season-high 15 against the Eagles. While the Titans offense won't explode like they did against Philly every week, the fact that both Matthews and Delanie Walker (IR-ankle) are both unavailable to Marcus Mariota essentially dictates a ton of targets will come Davis' way the rest of the year.

Golden Tate, Lions: Tate may have caught everyone's attention with a season-best eight-catch, 132-yard, two touchdown effort against the Cowboys on Sunday, but he's been thriving through the first quarter of the season overall. The veteran currently boasts his best YPC figure (13.9) since the 2013 season in Seattle and already has seven catches of over 20 yards after posting just 10 last season in 16 games. Tate's newfound downfield usage enhances what was already excellent PPR value and has his stock steadily rising.

John Brown, Ravens: Speaking of downfield threats, Brown has provided a tangible reminder of what he's capable when he's blessed with the clean bill of health that's frequently eluded him the last couple of seasons. Brown just notched his first 100-yard effort in a Ravens uniform Sunday, but he's averaging a career-high 22.5 yards per grab over the first four contests. He has just one less catch of more than 20 yards (six) than he's generated in the last two seasons combined, including three of greater than 40. With a quarterback in Flacco blessed with an arm that can get him the ball anywhere on the field, Brown should experience plenty of big-play success as long as he avoids the injury bug.

Cooper Kupp, Rams: While several of his offensive teammates typically steal the spotlight, Kupp has been very effective in his own right in the early going, and he enjoyed a breakout effort last Thursday night against the Vikings. The second-year wideout exploded for nine catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns, but he'd been a steady component of the Rams' aggressive air attack over the first three games as well. Kupp has seen no less than six targets in any game, and his nine red-zone targets – five of which have come inside the 10-yard line – have already led to four touchdowns overall.

Tight End

George Kittle, 49ers: Kittle was already thriving with Jimmy Garoppolo under center, but if Week 4 is any indication, his fortunes may have been improved with college teammate C.J. Beathard taking over in the wake of the former's season-ending knee injury. Kittle exploded for six receptions (on eight targets) for 125 yards and a touchdown, a performance highlighted by an 82-yard score that highlighted the tight end's game-breaking ability down the seam. With an outstanding 17.6 yards per catch on his 18 receptions thus far, Kittle looks set for a true breakout season on a team that should be involved in plenty of high-scoring affairs due to their suspect defense.

Cameron Brate, Buccaneers: One man's misfortune is another's gain, as Howard's projected multi-week absence due to a knee sprain opens up an opportunity for Brate to once again serve as the team's front-line tight end. Things were looking bleak for the veteran over the first two weeks (two targets, zero catches), but he's now bounced back to record a touchdown reception in each of the last two contests. The forthcoming expected bump in snaps combined with the return of Winston – with whom Brate's enjoyed his greatest career success – has the tight end's immediate outlook exceedingly bright as the team heads into its Week 5 bye.

Trending Down

Quarterback

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Buccaneers: It was bound to happen sooner or later – not just Winston regaining the starting job, but Fitzpatrick accelerating that development by reverting back to being an average quarterback. There were already some signs of regression in Week 3 against the Steelers despite another 400-yard performance, as the veteran had thrown three interceptions in the first half. Sunday was the final nail in the coffin, although the entire Buccaneers team collapsed as head coach Dirk Koetter duly noted following the contest. FitzMagic is back on the sidelines for good barring an injury to Winston.

Running Back

Peyton Barber, Buccaneers: Speaking of Bucs-related disappointments, Barber has seemingly washed out, at least for the moment, in his bid to serve as the team's No. 1 back. Admittedly, a confluence of events have conspired against him, such as the negative game scripts for the running game that Tampa has found itself in due to their atrocious pass defense. Barber saw rookie Ronald Jones II outpace him by three carries (10 to Barber's seven) against the Bears on Sunday, and that type of timeshare could more or less be the norm moving forward.

Marlon Mack, Colts: Mack's placement in this spot is primarily due to his balky hamstring, which has been an albatross since preseason. The second-year running back was on the shelf again in Week 4 due to the injury and has only managed to suit up for one game thus far. With a short week prior to a Thursday night Week 5 matchup against the Patriots, Mack is likely to miss yet another contest, and it's difficult to trust him for the foreseeable future.

Kenyan Drake, Dolphins: Drake's situation is one of the bigger mysteries of the season thus far, as all the preseason talk of him serving as the lead back seems to be in the distant past. The third-year back has a combined eight carries over the last two games and just 11 touches overall during that span. Drake actually played fewer snaps than the ageless Frank Gore in Week 4, and although a game script that saw the Dolphins get blown out likely had something do with it, there wasn't any such scenario at play in Week 3 when he only carried five times. Until we see coach Adam Gase unequivocally commit to Drake, his fantasy outlook is bearish.

Isaiah Crowell, Jets: Crowell failed to break 3.0 yards per rush during Weeks 2 and 3, but he at least had logged double-digit totes in those contests. However, he hit a new low Sunday against the Jaguars, rushing only four times for zero yards. As with Drake, the flow of the game didn't work in Crowell's favor in Week 4, but his inefficiency over the previous pair of contests and Bilal Powell's better overall performance has Crowell's status as the Jets' lead back firmly up in the air at present.

Wide Receiver

Josh Doctson, Redskins: Doctson's reputation as a bust has been further cemented over the first three games of the season, as the 2016 first-round pick has brought in just five of 13 targets for 48 yards. The poor catch rate is unsurprising, given that Doctson managed to only snag 44.8 percent of the 78 targets he logged last season from Kirk Cousins. Despite throwing more downfield during the Redskins' last game in Week 3, Smith is still largely conservative by nature, which doesn't necessarily favor Doctson's typical route tree. Moreover, he's shown a preference for Paul Richardson when airing it out thus far, connecting with the latter for two completions of over 20 yards thus far compared to none with Doctson.

Tight End

Austin Hooper, Falcons: He may well break out of his current funk given his talent, but Hooper has been somewhat of a disappointment over the first quarter of the campaign. The third-year pro hasn't exceed three catches or 24 yards in three of his first four contests, and he's seen no more than five targets in any game. While it naturally isn't surprising that Julio Jones the subject of plenty of attention from Matt Ryan, veteran Mohamed Sanu has seen 16 targets over the last two games, while breakout rookie Calvin Ridley has logged 14 during that same span. With those weapons at his disposal and pass-catching back Devonta Freeman (knee) likely to return from injury in Week 5, Hooper is currently the forgotten man in a high-powered air attack.