We made it to November. We pushed the clocks back. It’s a good time to take stock of the fantasy landscape, but really, any time is a good time for that.

Let’s consider some of the midseason fantasy football booms and busts and try to skate to where the puck is headed.

Booms

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts

He’s been the dominant player of the season so far, the runaway MVP in raw value. The Colts offense stepped up when Daniel Jones won the starting gig and Taylor’s been excellent in all packages. You want inside runs, home runs outside, pass-catching, goal-line work — it’s all here.

But I think it might be a good time to see what Taylor can fetch you in a trade. Mind you, the return better be enormous. If the pitch isn’t an obvious yes, I want you to say no. But this is the type of player your opponents might make a Godfather offer for. At least sniff around and find out. 

Not only will Taylor face some natural regression, but the schedule doesn’t play nice. Atlanta in Week 10, that’s fine — although you never know how these Europe games will go, given that they’re so removed from normal NFL routines. But Taylor takes a Week 11 bye, and then it’s the slate from hell: at Chiefs, Texans, at Jags, at Seahawks, Niners, Jaguars. All of those teams are in the harder half for RB matchups, and the Texans probably have the best defense in the league, period.

In one Guillotine League I’m in, Taylor was available this week and I could have maxed out and gotten him. I decided to wait. That’s a hybrid format, of course, every week the waiver wire is richer and richer. But maybe the timing is right to re-imagine what Taylor is in 2025.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seahawks

JSN had a legitimate breakout last season, but it’s been even better with Sam Darnold this year. He’s on pace for a silly 123-2,015-9 return, and he’s drawing an absurd 38.16% of the Seattle targets, best in the league. And he’s doing all this despite an offense that throws less than you’d expect — the Seahawks rank 29th in pass rate over expectation, which factors in game situations and context. The Seahawks do chuck it downfield more than other teams (a blast to watch), but they don’t throw as often as other teams might.

JSN is firmly a hold for me. While that target share is in such rarified air, it can only come down, I believe Darnold is merely building on the downballot-MVP case he set up for most of last season in Minnesota. He’s legitimately great, and it just took some time, some tutelage and maybe a trip away from the Meadowlands to capitalize on that. Even if Smith-Njigba has some of his rate stats dip in the final two months, it’s possible game flow might give some of those stats back. He can win on any route, and the Seahawks deploy him as such.

Christian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers

It’s funny how the last two CMC seasons have flowed against the grain. It felt like all the big-name backs stayed healthy last year — except McCaffrey, who was a headache from opening week. He only played a handful of games, never even scored a touchdown. And now in 2025, with age and regression hitting some backs hard, here’s McCaffrey, on pace to shatter some RB receiving records. He’s fantasy royalty again, only behind Taylor on the running back board.

Thank Kyle Shanahan for all that.

McCaffrey, it must be pointed out, is no longer an elite runner. He’s at 3.5 YPC for the year, easily the worst of his career. His fantasy value is clearly propped up by volume (his 168 rushing attempts lead the league), receiving work (he’s on pace to smash the RB record for receiving yards, and on pace to come close to the 116 catches he had in 2019) and goal-line equity (eight touchdowns, the best fantasy deodorant).

This is not to suggest the Niners are calling the wrong plays, or that CMC is no longer a good player. Cluster injuries at receiver and tight end — and heck, quarterback — have forced Shanahan to make his offense the McCaffrey Show again. The San Francisco injury report every week is longer than a Phish jam. The Niners are hanging on to playoff contention and we probably can’t really trust any of their receivers at the moment. So long as McCaffrey sticks on the field, he feels like a hold to me. Volume, PPR scamming, touchdown equity, those are all winning things. We can excuse drops in efficiency.  

Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs

This has all the vibes of Kelce’s last season, and so far, so good. He’s checked in as the TE5, and he’s bumped his YPC to a five-year high. He’s no longer the defining player at tight end, but he’s still plenty good.

But this could be a good time to consider a sell ticket. He’s 36, after all, an aging warrior in a young man’s game. And the Kansas City WR room finally has the pieces it wants — Rashee Rice is back from suspension, Xavier Worthy is healthy enough to play, Marquise Brown is in the mix. Kelce is also facing a sea of red for second-half tight end matchups, if that matters to you.

It’s possible Kelce is your only playable tight end and in that instance, you’d have to hold. But if you happened to land a second useful tight end, maybe you can dial up the Tucker Kraft manager and see if you can work out a mutually beneficial trade. The timing might be right.

Busts

Justin Jefferson, WR, Vikings

Understand that we’re not going to tell injury stories with the busts, we’ll focus on players who are healthy but underperforming. Jefferson checks that box. He was a top-of-fold first-round pick in all fantasy leagues, but checks in merely as the WR14 thus far. Only two touchdowns, and the worst YPC of his career.

It’s hard to blame him, of course. J.J. McCarthy’s been erratic and Carson Wentz had to play multiple games. This is not the script Minnesota sketched out in the summer.

I like the timing on a Jefferson buy. Kevin O’Connell has been a miracle worker with quarterbacks most of his career, and McCarthy did enter the NFL with a fair amount of pedigree. The offense had its moments in the win over Detroit. Jefferson is still a target hog, with the fifth-highest target rate among wideouts. Sometimes it’s as simple as betting on infrastructure and talent, and I’ll do that here.

Ashton Jeanty, RB, Raiders

Most NFL teams have accepted that running backs don’t belong in the top 10 of any draft. The position is too fungible; there are too many affordable options to consider later. Target the scarce positions first.

But Jeanty was supposed to be an outlier, an exception, which is why the Raiders couldn’t help themselves. They used the sixth overall pick on Jeanty, and to this point, it’s been a mess. Despite good health, Jeanty is only the RB16 in points per game, nowhere close to returning his ADP.

I’d like to think this story can still have a happy ending, though. Jeanty received a welcome uptick in passing work in Week 9 (5-47-1) and the Raiders offense looked significantly better with all-world tight end Brock Bowers back on the field. Remember, the Raiders had a lousy three first downs in their loss before the bye. That was back up to 26 (overtime helped) against the Jaguars last week.

The Las Vegas offense might be more concentrated with Jakobi Meyers gone, and Bowers might be special enough to lift this offense on his shoulders. Jeanty, fortified by a more diverse role, can come along for the ride. He's forced his share of missed tackles and extra yards this year, he just needs some help from his mates. 

Chase Brown, RB, Bengals

I feel like this story has already fixed itself. Brown was probably the bust of the world for the first month (non-injury division), but he’s been propped up since Joe Flacco hit town. The last four weeks have returned RB20, RB17, RB5 and RB8. That’s what you expected when you drafted Brown, stuff like that.

We thought the Bengals had carnival potential with Joe Burrow, but the show left town after the Burrow injury. Who knew Flacco would once again be the unexpected hero we all needed?

Ladd McConkey, WR, Chargers

This was one of my most regretful calls of the summer. After watching McConkey break football over the second half of 2024 (playing at a pace of 1,600 yards in a full season), I ranked him as an easy Round 3 target and a defensible Round 2 option this year. Genie out of the bottle stuff. And there wasn’t that much competition for the ball — or so I thought.

And then things actually got crowded and complicated. The Chargers reacquired Keenan Allen, and he’s been useful. Third-year receiver Quentin Johnston has taken a step forward. Rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden II broke out in October. McConkey had two ordinary games and three washout games to open the season. Panic in the Palisades. 

The good news is that things have started to correct. McConkey wasn’t great in the Tennessee win — the Titans didn’t really fight back — but he had WR6, WR24 and WR5 finishes in his three prior games. And now that the Chargers have lost star OT Joe Alt for the season, I suspect the offense will have to be even more pass-heavy to close out the year. When a team has holes in an offensive line, it’s easier to mask those problems in the passing game.

For as bad as the season started, McConkey still leads the Chargers in targets. And if you prorate what he’s done over the last month, you’re be looking at 110-1,322-8.5 over a full season. He’ll be back in everyone’s circle of trust soon.

Final thoughts

I want to make it clear, I don't think every rocky story will get turned around, especially when injuries are involved. I can't give you any optimism (and it breaks my heart to say that) for players like Brian Thomas Jr. or Terry McLaurin. TreVeyon Hendeson did see more work last week and did fine, but when the Patriots needed goal-line or late-game work, they focused on Terrell Jennings (Mike Vrabel specifically noted that he's a bigger back). Henderson can still be useful, but will go down as an ADP whiff.

Sometimes reality bites, and sometimes this game is about managed expectations. Just keep making good decisions, gamers.