Fantasy Football: The Things I Learned – Week 8, 2018

By Chet Gresham – @ChetGresham
Follow @walterfootball for updates.

Below, check out my fantasy-centered recaps of key players from this week’s contests. For instance, did a player come back to earth after an aberrant breakout, or were they simply affected by something like game flow?

Eagles 24, Jaguars 18
Carson Wentz completed 21-of-30 passes for 286 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on his way to yet another strong outing, this time against the Jaguars’ defense. He has now thrown two or more touchdowns in his last five games, with just one interception. He’ll get the bye next week, but will continue his must-start play against Dallas in Week 10.

Josh Adams led the Eagles in rushing attempts with nine, which he did well enough on to get 61 yards, and he also caught a target for six yards. Wendell Smallwood led the running backs in fantasy points due to a receiving touchdown and his 66 yards on 10 touches, and Corey Clement was delegated to third on the depth chart and had just five touches for five yards. Clement will likely fall to fourth on the chart when Darren Sproles returns, so if you have him, he’s droppable with their bye week coming up, while Adams has some appeal as a pickup. But, I’d probably still wait until after the bye unless you are in a deeper league.

Jordan Matthews had a nice game, as he caught 4-of-5 targets for 93 yards. He tied for third on the team with those six targets and will continue to be behind Zach Ertz and Alshon Jeffery, mixing with Nelson Agholor and Smallwood for third on that list, so he won’t be consistent, but is worth a look in deeper leagues.

Blake Bortles completed 24-of-41 attempts for 286 yards and a touchdown, while adding 43 yards on eight rushing attempts. Those rushing yards helped him push into the top-15 fantasy quarterbacks this week, but his game was just enough to keep him from getting benched again. He’ll remain just a weak 2QB play and is on his bye next week.

Carlos Hyde rushed six times for 11 yards and didn’t catch either of his two targets. He was the lead back to start, but the Eagles’ run defense was too much, and while playing from behind, T.J. Yeldon got more work in the passing game, as he caught 7-of-9 targets for 83 yards. Leonard Fournette should be back after the bye, which would likely make Hyde useless in fantasy, although Fournette could have yet another setback.

Bears 24, Jets 10
Mitchell Trubisky completed 16-of-29 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns, adding six carries for 51 yards. Seventy of Trubisky’s passing yards came on a screen pass to Tarik Cohen, but all-in-all, it was a positive game from the second-year quarterback. As long as Trubisky keeps putting up good yardage on the ground, his upside should remain high.

Tarik Cohen touched the ball five times for 110 yards and a touchdown, but with the lead, Jordan Howard saw the bulk of the work, rushing 22 times for 81 yards and a touchdown. Cohen’s upside keeps him a fantasy asset even when he doesn’t see big usage, but Howard does need those touches to help ensure a touchdown, which he’ll need to be useful in fantasy.

With Allen Robinson out, Anthony Miller led the team in targets and found the end zone, but Taylor Gabriel was more efficient overall, while Trey Burton did nothing of note. This offense will remain difficult to find high-upside fantasy consistency.

Sam Darnold completed 14-of-29 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. It didn’t help that both Robby Anderson and Quincy Enunwa were out, but Darnold is not elevating his teammates at this point. Until we can see him do that consistently, he’ll be a drag on this offense as a whole.

Jermaine Kearse led the Jets with 10 targets, but only caught three for 30 yards. His promising game two weeks ago appears to be an aberration.

Isaiah Crowell rushed 13 times for 25 yards and caught his lone target for 13 yards. Trenton Cannon saw more work in the second half, as the team was down and prefers his ability as a pass catcher. With Bilal Powell out, Cannon is rosterable in deep PPR leagues, but if games are close, Crowell should remain the main back.

Bengals 37, Buccaneers 34
Andy Dalton completed 21-of-34 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns, doing much of his damage in the first half as the Bengals built a lead. Unfortunately, he did little to help keep that lead in the second half as Ryan Fitzpatrick rallied Tampa Bay. Dalton had a decent game without a doubt, but these lulls have been a problem for him all season and do hurt his fantasy upside.

Joe Mixon was the focal point of the offense, as he rushed 21 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns and caught 3-of-4 targets for 15 yards. As long as games are close or the Bengals have a lead, he is going to get his 20-touches. I’d like to see him used more in the passing game, but he is still getting bell-cow work and enough targets to goose his numbers up a bit.

Tyler Boyd rebounded from a down game last week to become yet another slot receiver to kill Tampa Bay, as he caught 9-of-10 targets for 138 yards and a touchdown. His consistency has been great this season, and he is always a must-start.

Peyton Barber had a good game after throwing up a dud last week, as he rushed 19 times for 85 yards and a touchdown, plus Ronald Jones had to leave the game due to a hamstring injury. Barber is still just a flex play at best in most situations due to his low floor.

A.J. Green had a nice game, catching 5-of-7 targets for 76 yards and a touchdown, but he did leave the game late with a toe injury. Thankfully the Bengals get a bye, but it’s still something worth monitoring.

The Buccaneers’ quarterback saga continued this week, as Jameis Winston threw four interceptions, his last returned for a touchdown, pushing Dirk Koetter to bench him for Ryan Fitzpatrick in the third quarter down 34-19. FitzMagic then did his thing, completing 11-of-15 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns and rushing three times for 18 yards in a wild comeback in which he tied it up 34-34 only to lose on a last-second field goal. By now, we know that Fitzpatrick can put up huge games and then some pretty awful ones, but there’s no doubt this Buccaneers offense is good, as they’ve now set the all-time record for most passing yards through a team’s first seven games with 2,654 yards, beating out the 2000 St. Louis Rams. The system is working for their offense, so Fitzpatrick needs to be added if you need a quarterback.

Seahawks 28, Lions 14
Russell Wilson completed 14-of-17 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns, but had all three of his touchdowns before halftime. He threw the ball just five times after halftime, as Chris Carson was doing enough with a big workload to keep the Seahawks ahead as they cruised to the victory.

Chris Carson rushed 25 times for 105 yards and a touchdown, adding two receptions for 19 yards. It had looked like Mike Davis and Rashaad Penny could continue to eat away at Carson’s work, but that was not the case coming out of the bye, as Carson dominated in touches and Penny didn’t even touch the ball once. And Seattle is looking pretty good right now, which means Carson could continue to see positive game scripts moving forward.

No Seattle receiver saw more than four targets and six saw two or more. It worked out for David Moore, who caught all four of his targets for 97 yards and a touchdown, his fourth in three games, but if this Seahawks offense doesn’t need to throw the ball and there’s not one receiver they’ll focus on, their receivers are going to continue to be inconsistent.

Matthew Stafford completed 27-of-40 passes for 310 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, plus lost a fumble. The turnovers hurt his overall numbers, but this was his most passing yards since Week 2. He needs to play from behind more often if he’s to move back into the starting fantasy-quarterback realm.

Kenny Golladay had just one target this week, which he caught for 12 yards. That’s back-to-back down games and a little disconcerting with Stafford throwing the ball 40 times. Golladay is too good to keep down for long, but this recent lull is worrisome.

Kerryon Johnson couldn’t get much going on the ground, and then the deficit forced the Lions away from running the ball, but thankfully Johnson showed up in the receiving game, catching 6-of-8 receptions for 69 yards and adding eight carries for 22 yards on the ground. It wasn’t a great game, but good to see he is trusted in the passing game enough to get the work. Once Theo Riddick returns, those opportunities will diminish though.

Chiefs 30, Broncos 23
Patrick Mahomes completed 24-of-34 passes for 303 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. He now has thrown four touchdown passes in a game four times this season and six touchdowns one time. He has also topped 300 yards in his last seven games. He now has 26 touchdown passes through eight games to go along with 2,526 yards. Those 26 touchdowns tie Alex Smith’s total with Kansas City last season and would rank Mahomes ninth overall in touchdown passes for 2017. He’s pretty good.

Sammy Watkins was the big fantasy winner for Kansas City this week, as he caught 8-of-9 targets for 107 yards and two touchdowns. It’s good to see Watkins get more involved, as he’s shown he is still an extremely viable receiver when targeted.

Tyreek Hill had a groin strain late in the game and didn’t return. Andy Reid confirmed the strain, but there’s no indication of its severity yet. A game in Cleveland doesn’t sound too daunting, but for a speedster like Hill, he needs his lower body to be 100 percent. If he can’t go, Chris Conley would likely start and Sammy Watkins would be the main man.

Case Keenum completed 22-of-32 passes for 262 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, plus lost a fumble. He looked better than he had of late, but continued to be mistake prone, especially in the fourth quarter and while still within striking distance. His fantasy value is low, but he remains a decent play in 2QB leagues.

With Royce Freeman out, Phillip Lindsay saw his most rushing attempts of the season, as he carried the ball 18 times for 95 yards and a touchdown, adding three receptions on three targets for 17 yards. Devontae Booker actually had a big game as well, as he rushed nine times for 78 yards and caught all four of his targets for 23 yards. Freeman will likely be back against Houston next week, pushing Booker back down and cutting into Lindsay’s lead-back numbers.

Redskins 20, Giants 13
Alex Smith completed 20-of-32 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown, plus rushed three times for 13 yards. This is his third game in a row under 179 yards passing, because Washington has turned to Adrian Peterson to lead the way.

Peterson did lead the way this week in a big way, as he rushed 26 times for 146 yards and a touchdown, plus caught his lone target for a seven-yard touchdown. It was a classic All-Day game for the old cyborg. He’ll need to be in good game scripts like this one to get 27 touches, but there’s no doubt the Redskins will do their best to get him going each game. Next week, he faces a poor Atlanta defense at home.

Jordan Reed led the way with 12 targets and caught seven of them, but only went for 38 yards. With Alex Smith at the helm, there will be no consistency in this passing game.

Eli Manning completed 30-of-47 passes for 316 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, as his awful play peaked this week. Washington sacked him seven times, and at this point, there doesn’t seem to be any reason an average backup couldn’t do what he is doing. With the Giants’ awful offensive line, they need a quarterback who can move in the pocket at least a little.

The only good thing about Manning’s awfulness is that he just locks in on Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley. The team doesn’t go anywhere, so touchdowns can be hard to come by, but in PPR leagues, those two will continue to be strong starts no matter.

Steelers 33, Browns 18
Ben Roethlisberger completed 24-of-36 passes for 257 yards for two touchdowns and one interception. Both of his passing touchdowns came in the first half to Antonio Brown. The game was the James Conner show in the second half.

With the lead, Conner was able to find the end zone twice in the second half and accumulate a total of 212 yards to lead the way for all fantasy scorers this week. Through seven games, he leads what Le’Veon Bell did through seven games last year in almost every meaningful statistic. At this point, I don’t know how you could take Conner off the field even if Bell returns.

Baker Mayfield completed 22-of-36 passes for 180 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. One of the few times he tested the Steelers deep, he was picked off. He appeared to play conservatively and never could get anything going consistently. He will remain a 2QB league player at best.

Duke Johnson looked like he was going to be used extensively, as he started the game’s first drive with two positive touches, but he was hurt on the second touch and despite coming back in, he only saw the ball two more times and did nothing with it. We’ll see if he’s a full-go at practice this week.

Panthers 36, Ravens 21
Cam Newton completed 21-of-29 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, adding 52 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts. Newton is playing great football this year, and this game against a strong Ravens defense was his second-highest fantasy output of the season. He’s cooking right now and gets a great schedule ahead of him, as he’ll face Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Cleveland, New Orleans and Atlanta to finish out the fantasy season.

With Torrey Smith out this week, D.J. Moore saw an uptick in work, and it paid off, as he caught 5-of-6 passes for 90 yards and ran the ball twice for 39 yards. Hopefully, Moore will continue to see more work moving forward, even when Smith returns. Moore is a strong pickup for me this week with Tampa Bay on the horizon.

Christian McCaffrey broke out of his touchdown slump in a big way, rushing for one and catching another. Those two touchdowns doubled his total coming into this game. He still isn’t getting many yards, as he had 18 touches for 56 total yards, but his workload saw a nice bump this week and showed the team is still committed to getting him the ball.

Joe Flacco completed 22-of-39 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions before being replaced late in the game by Lamar Jackson in the blowout loss. Flacco’s two interceptions were on him, and his touchdown pass came with the score already out of reach. Flacco started the season off well, as he seemed rejuvenated after the Ravens drafted Jackson, but he’s declined as the year has gone on. He gets a great chance to redeem himself against the Steelers at home next week in a huge division game. If Flacco were to stink that game up, we’d likely start seeing people call for more Jackson.

Alex Collins rushed 11 times for 49 yards and one touchdown, but wasn’t able to get much work with the big deficit. He also lost a fumble, but the coaches will hopefully see fit not to punish him too much, as it was a play most running backs would have fumbled on.

Colts 42, Raiders 28
Andrew Luck completed 22-of-31 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns. He now has three or more touchdowns in his last five games. His schedule isn’t great coming off next week’s bye, as he’ll take on Jacksonville, Tennessee, Miami, Jacksonville, Houston, Dallas and the New York Giants. Those aren’t all awful matchups, but they mostly aren’t high-upside matchups.

Marlon Mack was once again the big fantasy play this week, as he ran the ball 25 times for 132 yards and two touchdowns, plus caught 2-of-4 passes for 17 yards. With this big workload over the last two games and a sore ankle, the bye is probably coming at a decent time for Mack. I would see what you could get out of him before the bye after these two huge games.

Jack Doyle returned and played well, catching 6-of-7 targets for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Eric Ebron caught his three targets for 37 yards and yet another touchdown. Doyle’s seven targets tied for the team lead with newcomer Dontrelle Inman, and pushed Ebron to fifth in targets for the day. Ebron’s touchdown upside will remain, but his big target share looks to be a thing of the past.

Derek Carr completed 21-of-28 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns, plus rushed for another touchdown at the goal line. Despite losing Amari Cooper, Carr played a strong game, giving Las Vegas fans a little glimmer of hope for the future.

Doug Martin exceeded expectations with 13 carries for 72 yards, but lost a fumble and couldn’t get in from the goal line. Still, it was good to see him run well despite his recent struggles. Jalen Richard took over on passing downs and caught all eight of his targets for 50 yards. Richard will remain a decent PPR play, especially with six teams out next week due to the byes.

Martavis Bryant was talked up this week by the Raiders as someone who would see more work with Amari Cooper gone, but instead he saw very little work and didn’t even get a target. Drop him with malice.

Jordy Nelson only saw four targets and caught just one for 14 yards, while Jared Cook led all the non-running backs in targets with five, catching four for 74 yards and a touchdown. There’s a good chance Cook will be the receiver to see the biggest bump with Cooper gone.

Rams 29, Packers 27
Jared Goff completed 19-of-35 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns. In the first half, Goff didn’t look like he’d sniff those numbers, but he turned things around in the second half to put up top-5 numbers for the week. Close games like this are needed to get Goff to push the ball through the air, and next week in New Orleans, Goff should be in another close and high-scoring affair.

Todd Gurley actually had some trouble with the Packers’ front early in this game, but he still managed another huge fantasy day, rushing 25 times for 114 yards and catching 6-of-7 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown. He also stopped himself from rushing for another touchdown late in the game to preserve the win and let the clock run down. Gurley still finished as the second-best fantasy scorer on the day, so I don’t want to hear any Gurley backers crying over that touchdown miss!

Aaron Rodgers completed 18-of-30 passes for 286 yards and one touchdown. He played well, but had one touchdown overturned, which then went for a Jamaal Williams goal-line plunge. Rodgers also missed out on one of his patented 2-minute drives down by two points after Ty Montgomery lost a fumble on the kickoff. Rodgers had all his receivers back and healthy, which spread things out pretty widely after Davante Adams’ 133 receiving yards, as nobody else topped 45 yards through the air.

Aaron Jones led the way on the ground with 12 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown, while Jamaal Williams had just four carries for nine yards and a touchdown. Jones still needs a bigger workload, as he continues to put up good efficiency stats each week.

Cardinals 18, 49ers 15
Josh Rosen completed 23-of-40 passes for 252 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. This was a positive step for Rosen, as Byron Leftwich opened up the passing game a bit more for him.

Larry Fitzgerald caught 8-of-12 targets for 102 yards and a touchdown, which were all season highs for a game. The Cardinals get a bye next week and then matchups with Kansas City and Oakland. I don’t expect the Cardinals to turn things around in a big way, but there’s no doubt they have good enough skill players to put up fantasy points if they’re given the ball.

David Johnson rushed 16 times for 59 yards, and caught all four of his targets for 41 yards. The 49ers’ run defense isn’t bad, so this isn’t an awful rushing line, but the Cardinals’ offensive line is not helping and they still are targeting him down field, where we know he can play with the best of them. Hopefully, the bye week will help Leftwich work Johnson more into the passing game, because he’s needed there.

C.J. Beathard completed 14-of-28 passes for 190 yards and one touchdown, and amazingly, he didn’t turn the ball over for the first time this season. He has now had back-to-back games under 200 yards passing and with just one touchdown in each. He gets a nice matchup at home against Oakland next week with six teams on bye. Beathard may be forced onto some rosters and could do okay.

Matt Breida ran the ball 16 times for 42 yards despite reports that he would be limited. Well, 2.6 yards per carry is pretty limited, but he was obviously the lead back, while Alfred Morris saw six carries for 28 yards and Raheem Mostert had just two carries for 16 yards. Mostert had 11 and 12 touches in his two previous games and totaled 165 yards, showing well in both games, while leaping Morris as the No. 2 back. Mostert’s usage this week was befuddling.

Saints 30, Vikings 20
Drew Brees completed 18-of-23 passes for 120 yards with a touchdown and an interception, as the Vikings kept him checking down most of the game. A rushing touchdown by Alvin Kamara, an Adam Thielen fumble returned for 54 yards and a pick-six off of Kirk Cousins also kept Brees from needing to do too much. Usually, the Saints average 409 yards per game, but in Minnesota, they totaled just 270 to the Vikings’ 423, despite the Saints controlling the game after the half. These are the kinds of games that kill fantasy numbers, and I blame Thielen and Kirk Cousins.

Kirk Cousins completed 30-of-40 passes for 351 yards, two touchdowns and the pick-six. Despite his interception pushing them out of contention, he still put up good numbers after three down fantasy games. Next week, he gets a beatable Detroit pass defense.

Despite Adam Thielen’s costly fumble, he managed to go for his eighth straight 100-yard game and scored a touchdown, while setting the record for most receptions through the first eight games of the season. Stefon Diggs actually out-did him this week though, as he caught 9-of-10 targets for 111 yards and a touchdown, which is a nice bounce-back after back-to-back 33-yard games and five games without a touchdown.

Latavius Murray had 13 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown, plus caught 5-of-6 targets for 39 yards, which was better than I thought he’d do against this Saints run defense. He was set up at the one-yard line after a pass interference call on his touchdown, but still, he has played very well after a slow start. As long as Dalvin Cook is out, Murray will continue to be a must-play.

For more thoughts, check out Walt’s updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.

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