Ten Things We Learned in Week 8 (Fantasy Football)
Finally, the high-scoring week fantasy managers have been waiting for! This season has been marred with low scores, dismal fantasy outputs, and too many injuries. Tight ends have been a disaster as a group, quarterback play has dropped off, and the majority of the dynamic rookies have been anything but. Week 8 was a breath of fresh air, even though the highest-scoring games came from players we weren’t expecting it from. And the tight ends, oh the beauty of seeing them finally have a great week, on National Tight Ends Day of course. Time to see what we learned from one of the best football weekends of the season!
Cleveland’s Offense on the Rise
In last week’s column, I made it a point to bring up the players on Cleveland’s offense if Jameis Winston were to start. To the delight of fantasy managers everywhere, Winston was named the starter and it paid dividends already for literally every pass-catcher on the team. Cedric Tillman had the best game of his young career with seven catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. David Njoku had five receptions for 61 yards and a score. Jerry Jeudy put up a respectable 5-for-79 on eight targets. There was even an Elijah Moore sighting! He finished with eight catches for 85 yards on a team-high 12 targets. And to top it all off, the Browns won the game, making it abundantly clear that Winston gives the team the best chance to win. Jeudy can now be comfortably moved into the flex, Njoku stays locked in at tight end, and Tillman should be rostered and has the potential to be a second-half-of-the-season sleeper.
Welcome Back, Nick Chubb
Speaking of the Browns’ offense, Nick Chubb has been back for two weeks and despite the modest numbers, it’s just good to see him on the field. Chubb has been a fantasy darling since his rookie season and has the chance to once again be a contributor. While clearly still shaping back into form, Chubb has had the majority of the work the past two weeks and logged 61% of the snaps on Sunday. It looks like this will be Chubb’s job even when Jerome Ford returns and he’ll be a capable fill-in player amid bye weeks and other RB injuries, especially if Cleveland’s offense keeps humming.
Moss-Brown Split Frustrating for Fantasy
Fantasy managers who selected Zack Moss in the late rounds of fantasy drafts were pleased when he got off to a solid start. He was the RB18 through the first four weeks of the season with 52.3 fantasy points in half-PPR scoring formats. On the flip side, Chase Brown truthers were discouraged by his slow start, but Brown has come alive over the last four weeks and is the RB12 from Weeks 4-8. While Brown seems to be taking over the lead role (he out-touched Moss 16-9 on Sunday), the Bengals seem intent on keeping it closer to a split between the two backs. Moss actually out-snapped Brown by three this week. At this point, fantasy managers just want Cincinnati to choose one or the other. As long as the split looks like it does currently, it’ll be difficult to trust either player as more than a flex option, even though both are capable of having a big game on any given week.
LaPorta’s Big Game Could Be a Fake Out
Finally, the tight end selected first in the majority of fantasy drafts came through. Sam LaPorta had a whopping 31.6% target share against the Titans on Sunday, catching all six targets for 48 yards and a touchdown. But don’t proclaim his return just yet. The Lions got out to a big lead and Jared Goff only needed to throw the ball 15 times. Amon-Ra St. Brown didn’t need to be heavily involved and Jameson Williams was out for the first of two games due to a suspension. Also, number-two TE Brock Wright has been getting more involved and also caught a touchdown pass. It’s certainly been a long time coming for LaPorta, but keep in mind when Williams returns we could see the targets head back to the wide receivers. This might even been the right time to sell high on his name and big game.
Move Away From Pitty City
The once glorious town of Pitty City has been reduced to rubble. Michael Pittman has been battling a back injury and bad quarterback play, making him difficult to trust week in and week out in fantasy lineups. He’s had a couple of decent outings, but his best result was 14.3 points in Week 4 (WR21). He is the WR44 overall on the season and it looks as if Josh Downs has overtaken him as the Colts’ number-one WR. To the dismay of Mike Wright and the other residents of Pitty City, it might be time to call the U-Haul and pack up your belongings.
Relocate to Pittsy City
Horrible pun in the title aside, Kyle Pitts has been a revelation the past four weeks. The young tight end with the promise of potential has capitalized on his abilities over the last few games, finishing as the TE2 in that span. He’s coming off his best game yet, with two touchdowns and 91 receiving yards. Finally playing alongside a capable quarterback in Kirk Cousins, Pitts and Atlanta’s offense as a whole is firing on all cylinders. He’s got a couple of tough matchups coming up against Denver and Minnesota, but he’s a player I’m willing to buy right now with the hope he’ll finish in the top three at the position.
Injuries: An Unfortunate Theme This Season
Once again, with the amount of injuries that have occurred this year, it’s crucial to pay close attention to practice reports and news. Please follow our injury expert Matthew Betz. Not only does he provide helpful information, but he’s been known to crack a funny joke or two! Over the weekend, the Jaguars lost all three of their starting wideouts to injuries, including a season-ending one for Christian Kirk. Stefon Diggs tore his ACL and will miss the season. It certainly feels like there’s been an uptick in players getting hurt. While unfortunate, it opens the door for other players to step up. That’s where another one of our terrific writers, Joe Beldner, can help you out. Keep an eye out for his weekly Waiver Wire Pickups article to help you make the right decisions for your roster.
Saints on the Decline, Time to Buy?
After winning their first two games of the season with an offense that was buzzing, the Saints have lost six in a row and look terrible, especially without starting quarterback Derek Carr. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t fantasy gold to be mined. Alvin Kamara, thanks to a 43-point performance in Week 2, is the RB2 on the season, but he’s coming off a very mediocre four-game stretch. That high-scoring output might have already been forgotten by his fantasy managers. I’d recommend making a play for him because the remaining schedule is pretty solid. Also with Carr returning plus the season-ending injury to Rashid Shaheed, Chris Olave is a good buy-low trade candidate. He missed last week’s game and the two weeks prior had one total point (he left the game with a concussion after his first catch and fumble). He returned this week and saw a team-high 14 targets, catching eight of them for 107 yards. He has one touchdown this season, so positive TD regression is in the realm of possibilities. He could pay dividends the rest of the season and shouldn’t cost too much to acquire right now.
Can Ridley Stay Consistent?
Andy Holloway was certainly happy to see Calvin Ridley‘s 10-for-143 stat line on Sunday, as evidenced by his reaction on Monday’s show. (*Whispers to the Footclan: I was too, he may or may not have been my “My Guy” choice as well). Ridley has seen a ridiculous target share over the last three weeks capped off by the 39.5% he received on Sunday. The biggest issue is that he’s converted that hefty target share to only two games in double-digit fantasy points this season. With Ridley, the highs have been high, but the lows are low and are more frequent. The question moving forward will be if Ridley can turn that dial to a consistent number, instead of the up-and-down performances we’ve seen this season. With DeAndre Hopkins now out of town, he’s worth an add at the very least, but might not be a weekly starter until we see him string together a couple of good games.
Tua Returns, Achane Churns
Sunday saw the return of Tua Tagovailoa, who instantly made the Dolphins a competitive team. Despite the loss, Miami looked like its old self with its quarterback back in tow. It benefits Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle of course, but De’Von Achane might be the biggest beneficiary. The second-year running back known for his pass-catching ability returned to his high-scoring ways on Sunday, finishing as the RB3 on the week with 147 total yards and a touchdown. He caught six passes for 50 yards and ran the ball 10 times for 97 yards, a tremendous 9.7 yards per clip. His rushing ability is second to his receiving game, but with Tua back, it keeps the defense honest and gives Achane more room to operate in the trenches. As long as Achane stays healthy, he remains a player with one of the highest ceilings in fantasy and has the potential to win weeks by himself.