We've held out as long as we possibly could. Despite the loss of one major pass-catching threat and the underperformance of several others, Rodgers maintained some semblance of fantasy value. Maybe it was fantasy managers holding on to the name value and believing that such a talented quarterback could find a way to overcome. But after five straight games with fewer than 300 passing yards and six straight games without three or more touchdown passes, it's time to face facts. Rodgers is a borderline QB1 at best.

The end of the 2015 season is feeling a lot like the early part of 2014 for Calvin Johnson. Megatron has been less than 100 percent and has spent much of the time out on the field as a decoy. His one-catch, 19-yard performance last week probably sunk plenty of fantasy owners. Those that survived might be too scarred to consider him this week, even against a bad 49ers defense playing on the road.

You'll always have the "will he or won't he?" drama every time a deep ball is thrown in Ginn's direction. But the upside is that he's seeing plenty of targets, so just playing the percentages means that the speedster is likely to make a couple of big plays every single week. A vote for Ginn is by extension professing your faith that Cam Newton will remain one of the hottest quarterbacks walking the Earth. That alone is worth banking on this week.

Sometimes bad things happen to good running backs. For some unknown reason, Miami has decided that they're better off by not giving him the ball which is a weird thing for the 21st-ranked rushing offense to decide. Want to know how many times Lamar Miller has had 20 or more touches in a game this season? Three. That's it. That makes it pretty hard for him to be productive.

Now we know for sure that Odell Beckham won't be playing this week against the Minnesota Vikings. Next man up for the Giants is Rueben Randle. It goes without saying that he won't replace the kind of production you could expect from Beckham, but Randle is likely to see a significant uptick in targets this week. Don't get too excited, however. It's not wise to consider starting him as anything more than a flex option.

Last week we weren't sure how the Seahawks were going to use their stable of running backs. While we still can't completely peg the usage rates for everyone in the Seattle backfield, we do know that Michael looks to be the best and most productive of the bunch. This week's matchup against the Rams isn't the most favorable, but we are a fan of the potential volume of touches we could see from Michael in Week 16.

Well it was fun while it lasted. For a few weeks Allen was a nice flex option for fantasy fans -- especially in PPR leagues. Since then, the Ravens have lost another quarterback and the toughness of their opponents has ratcheted up. Allen might still be seeing a volume of touches but that's about the only thing going his way. Even a hefty workload isn't enough to justify keeping the rookie in your starting lineups.

The early part of the Jets season belonged to Chris Ivory. The last few weeks have gone to Bilal Powell. While the veteran isn't exactly a great straight-ahead running back, he's excelled as a pass-catcher over the past several weeks. That has earned him a few extra snaps and he could be a sneaky flex play against a Patriots defense still working through some injuries at the linebacker position.

I've been fond of saying that Frank Gore will outlive all of us. Sadly Father Time doesn't share my opinion. The veteran running back has been increasingly unproductive in an offense that has been increasingly unproductive, compounding his issues. Recently the Colts have given more snaps to the likes of Zurlon Tipton which isn't a good sign for Gore's prospects. Even against a woeful Dolphins defense this week, Gore isn't a great fantasy start.

Much like Christine Michael in Seattle, Cameron Artis-Payne seems to have emerged as the lead rusher from the committee that has come together in Carolina. The rookie is still going to battle with Fozzy Whittaker for touches, but Artis-Payne should see the bulk of the work. His next trick will be to get over on a Falcons run defense that has been middle-of-the-road against rushers in recent weeks.