Fantasy Fallout: Week 8

By: Mike Johnson (Mjohnson86) and Tony Kneepkens (Tonytk44)

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Daily Dose newsletter, our “Fantasy Fallout” day. In this article, you will get a quick rundown of the relevant things we learned from the week’s games from Thursday through Sunday. 

We won’t talk about every single player and we usually won’t spend time on studs who go nuts (no one needs to be told to start Bijan Robinson right now!), but rather, the idea is to update you on usage trends, injuries, and other relevant things to help your decisions with your teams for the coming week and beyond.

VIKINGS @ CHARGERS

• Kimani Vidal took control of the injury-riddled LAC backfield with 23 carries for 117 yards and one rushing TD while seeing both of the teams’ RB targets. He seems likely to lead the RB room until rookie Omarion Hampton is deemed ready to return.

• Rookie TE Oronde Gadsden caught all five of his targets for 77 yards and a TD. His 20% target share is sustainable, he’s an easy fantasy starter until further notice.

• Ladd McConkey (6-88-1) drew 10 targets and continued his recent stretch of strong play. Keenan Allen (4-44) drew five of his own and Quentin Johnston was held without a catch or target. QJ hasn’t topped four catches or 40 receiving yards since the end of September.

• Aaron Jones returned to the Vikings’ lineup and handled seven touches for 30 yards. Jordan Mason had five touches for six yards. 

• Jordan Addison (3-26-1) was the only real fantasy bright spot for Minnesota. Addison has either a TD or 100 yards receiving in each of his four games this season.

DOLPHINS @ FALCONS

• The Falcons offense fell completely apart without QB Michael Penix Jr. and WR Drake London. Atlanta travels to New England in Week 9 and is expected to get both Penix and London back on the field.

• Miami’s offense scored 30+ points for the first time this season. They have quietly been playing pretty well, scoring 21+ points in six of their last seven games, with the game in Cleveland with awful weather being the lone outlier.

• The Dolphins had a run-heavy game plan with all of De’Von Achane, Ollie Gordon, and Jaylen Wright having 10 or more opportunities. Achane is still the primary option for this offense, but the Dolphins will likely try to continue playing this way due to the state of their receiving corps.

BEARS @ RAVENS

• Baltimore’s defense came to life in their first game after the bye thanks to the return of several key players. They are not an elite unit that we need to avoid at this point, but they are also no longer one we should go out of our way to target.

• Ravens QB Tyler Huntley played extremely well in place of Lamar Jackson. The Ravens play Thursday night and Jackson is expected to be cleared by then, but we should remember this performance from Huntley for all Baltimore skill players if he is thrust into the lineup again.

• Bears TE Cole Kmet missed this game with a herniated disc, while WR Luther Burden III suffered a concussion. The Bears offense is quickly getting more concentrated as they head into a juicy matchup with the Bengals next week.

JETS @ BENGALS

• In a highly entertaining game, the Bengals defense rejuvenated the fantasy outlook for RB Breece Hall. Jets backup RB Isaiah Davis also had a huge game, reminding us that RBs against the Bengals should always get the green light.

• Most of the Bengals’ production came from the usual suspects, with Chase Brown, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins leading the way.

• New York has a Week 9 bye and after this emotional win we can likely bank on Justin Fields remaining their starting QB for at least a couple weeks after the bye.

BILLS @ PANTHERS

• James Cook took the Panthers run defense on a trip down memory lane en route to a career day. Carolina seemed like it had fixed its run-defense issues, but it appears they are still prone to big letdowns.

• Josh Allen and Khalil Shakir were the only other Bills players to put up relevant fantasy scores, which is basically all we can count on when they are at full health.

• The Panthers’ offense continued to rotate running backs Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard despite Dowdle playing significantly more efficient football.

• Panthers rookie WR Tetairoa McMillan had a big day with seven receptions for 99 yards on 10 targets, which was a whopping 43% target share. McMillan is bound to have a monster game at some point in the coming weeks.

49ERS @ TEXANS

• The 49ers offense struggled to get anything going on the road against a very good Texans defense. George Kittle was the only one to contribute a usable fantasy line, with CMC having his worst game of the season. Hopefully Brock Purdy is back soon.

• Woody Marks continues to split time with Nick Chubb despite significantly outplaying him. Marks has gone over 110 yards from scrimmage twice in his last four games while scoring three touchdowns during that stretch, despite only getting 15 opportunities per game. It would make sense for Marks to see his role grow in the coming weeks.

• The Texans passing game picked on a depleted 49ers defense and C.J. Stroud had a terrific performance while spreading the ball around. They may get Nico Collins and Christian Kirk back next week, which will leave a lot of uncertainty around their skill players. 

BROWNS @ PATRIOTS

• Dillon Gabriel probably isn’t the answer at QB for the Browns. They head into their bye with a 2-6 record and some decisions to make.

• Browns rookie TE Harold Fannin Jr. led the team with eight targets while WR Jerry Jeudy was blanketed by All-Pro Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez and held without a catch.

• Drake Maye once again had a terrific performance but spread the wealth around, leaving us with a situation where several Patriots skill players had “ok” games but no one did anything special despite a big stat line for Maye.

• Patriots rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson had a solid game, but he did most of his work in garbage time so don’t get too excited about that box score.

GIANTS @ EAGLES

• Turns out Saquon Barkley still has it. Barkley had by far his best game of the season in a big Eagles victory. Saquon had a small groin issue that kept him out late in the game, but apparently he could have gone back in if the outcome was in doubt.

• A.J. Brown missed this game, which left DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert as the primary receiving options along with Barkley. The Eagles have a Week 9 bye and should get Brown back after that.

• Giants rookie RB Cam Skattebo suffered a gruesome ankle injury during the first half which almost certainly ended his season. Expect Tyrone Tracy Jr. to have a huge workload going forward.

BUCS @ SAINTS

• Tampa Bay only scored once on offense, a Sean Tucker rushing TD, in a game where their defense scored, forced four turnovers and sacked Saints QBs five times. Baker Mayfield (152 scoreless yards) and the Bucs now head on a much-needed bye. They will hope for reinforcements in Week 10 with Bucky Irving and Chris Godwin potential candidates to return.

• Spencer Rattler (136 scoreless yards, two turnovers) was benched for a look at rookie Tyler Shough (128 scoreless yards, one turnover). They threw a combined 51 passes for 5.2 YPA.

• Alvin Kamara handled all of the Saints’ RB carries (6-21 rushing) while rookie RB Devin Neal had three targets to Kamara’s two in the passing game.

TITANS @ COLTS

• Daniel Jones (272-3) tossed TD passes to Michael Pittman Jr. (8-95-1), Josh Downs (3-39-1), and Jonathan Taylor (2-21-1) in a game during which the Colts coasted to an easy victory and JT had another monster game on the ground. Alec Pierce (2-69) and Tyler Warren (4-53) had respectable games as well. Start your Colts people!

• Tyjae Spears (82 scrimmage yards, TD) and Tony Pollard (53 scrimmage yards) handled a dozen touches each playing from behind basically the entire game. Spears seems like a candidate to continue to see an expanded role as the Titans attempt to identify long-term keepers on a struggling offense.

• Each of the Titans’ top three WRs were afforded eight targets in the loss. Chimere Dike caught seven passes for 93 yards, Elic Ayomanor caught four for 52 yards, and Van Jefferson caught one for six yards. Calvin Ridley’s return would be welcome, but it might not happen before the Titans’ Week 10 bye.

COWBOYS @ BRONCOS

• Bo Nix (247-4-1) was the latest QB to exploit a generous Dallas defense, tossing a pair of TDs to Troy Franklin (6-89-2) and one each to rookie WR Pat Bryant (2-40-1) and rookie RB RJ Harvey (1-5-1). 

• Harvey added 46 yards and a pair of rushing TDs in his breakout fantasy performance while his RB teammate J.K. Dobbins handled 65% of the RB carries and racked up another 121 scrimmage yards. A backfield to monitor after Harvey’s big week.

• Javonte Williams (49 scrimmage yards, two TDs) was one of the few bright spots for Dallas in a week the Cowboys trailed by double figures for most of the game.

• Jake Ferguson was held without a catch on a single target, and while his role is not the same with both CeeDee Lamb (7-78) and George Pickens (7-74) healthy and clicking, he remains a strong weekly fantasy starter at TE.

PACKERS @ STEELERS

• Jordan Love (360-3) dominated the second half of the Packers’ comeback and had a streak of 20 consecutive completions at one point. Tucker Kraft (7-143-2) did the majority of his damage after the catch and remains one of the top TEs in fantasy.

• Christian Watson (4-85) returned to the GB game plan immediately and is worth picking up to see how his role shakes out amongst his WR teammates Romeo Doubs (3-44) and Matthew Golden (three catches, four yards) for looks behind Kraft.

• Emanuel Wilson (14 touches, 87 scrimmage yards) outgained Josh Jacobs (16 touches, 45 yards) but Jacobs scored a short rushing TD to salvage his fantasy day. Wilson is a worthy pickup as a primary backup RB on a solid GB offense.

• Aaron Rodgers (219-2) tossed TD passes to WRs DK Metcalf (5-55-1) and Roman Wilson (4-74-1). It was Wilson’s first time topping 17 receiving yards this year, aided by his 43-yard TD reception.

• Jaylen Warren continued to work as the Steelers’ lead back, handling 15 touches for 73 scrimmage yards while Kenneth Gainwell handled the rest of the RB work with seven touches for 35 scrimmage yards.