Williams scored the Lions’ lone passing touchdown on a short corner-of-the-end-zone grab in the first half. Williams was second behind Amon-Ra St. Brown in targets, functioning as the primary downfield threat with a nice 46-yard catch on a Jared Goff shot down the middle. Williams, who came into Week 8 with the 16th most air yards among wide receivers this season, should remain in lineups next week against a vulnerable Buffalo secondary that has struggled against boundary wideouts.
With Jake Ferguson (ankle) felled early, Spann-Ford played 65-of-74 snaps for the Cowboys and was second on the team in targets as Dallas tried to find a solution for the blitz. Spann-Ford would likely factor into the TE2 ranks next week if Ferguson were unable to play.
It was another day at the office for Andrews, who has now gone six straight games with 28 or fewer receiving yards. Any hope that he might see a slight increase in production with Lamar Jackson back under center can be put aside after Jackson suffered a severe injury to his throwing hand that will require surgery and force him to go on injured reserve. Andrews isn’t on the fantasy radar heading into Week 9 against the Jaguars.
Bucs defenders caught more passes on London’s six targets than he did. It was that bad of a day. Michael Penix was intercepted four times and only completed eight attempts. He managed just 125 yards, over half of which came on a 76-yard throw to Jahan Dotson that was the result of a coverage miscue. There’s simply not much to take away from a game where London’s quarterback plays this poorly. London had gone for at least 60 yards on four catches in every previous Penix start. We fully expect him to get back on track as a WR1 versus the Bengals next week.
Higgins led the team in receiving yards while trailing Ja’Marr Chase in receptions and targets. He was Joe Burrow’s primary target over the middle of the field in the intermediate and deep areas. Higgins caught a pair of second half touchdowns, catching an 18-yard score to tie the game towards the end of regulation. Pass-heavy game scripts will lead to a high amount of fantasy production for Higgins and Chase, who saw a combined 56-percent target share from Joe Burrow. Higgins is a high-end WR2 for Week 9 against the Falcons.
LaPorta had a quiet day against a Minnesota defense that has shut down opposing tight ends for much of the season. He had at least 80 receiving yards in each of that past two Detroit games. LaPorta had been a serviceable starting tight end headed into Week 8, and should have a better outlook in Week 9 against the Bills. He’s been targeted on 18 percent of his routes on the season.
Hill nearly turned into a surprise PPR scam this week with rookie UDFA Joe Fagnano under center for two-and-a-half quarters of play. Hill’s eight targets led all Ravens players, but his 20 receiving yards were largely buoyed by back-to-back receptions during a two-minute drill when the Ravens were facing second and third and longs. Despite the high-volume day, it’s hard to rely on anybody in this offense, which could have dark days ahead with Lamar Jackson (thumb) out for the foreseeable future and Tyler Huntley also dealing with a toe injury.
Gesicki has been a high-value red zone target for the Bengals all season long. His score against the Titans came from outside of the red zone, catching a 25-yard pass for the score in the fourth quarter. It’s Gesicki’s sixth-straight game with a touchdown and seventh score of the season. Pass-heavy game scripts will lift all boats in the Bengals offense but Gesicki remains a high-end fantasy TE2 due to his high amount of touchdown opportunities.
Endries got his first career catch and touchdown at the goal line in the second quarter against the Titans. The 22-year-old saw 11 snaps, getting a few increased opportunities with Tanner Hudson hitting injured reserve a few weeks ago. Endries should not be rostered for fantasy purposes, but enters the scene with his first career touchdown in a win over the Titans.
With the Colts losing 28-0 at halftime and 42-7 going into the fourth quarter, there simply wasn’t any run to be established. Daniel Jones also short-circuited two drives with interceptions, further limiting volume in a game where it was already exceedingly difficult to come by. You could question why Taylor even played at all as trade rumors swirl ahead of the Nov. 10 deadline, but that will be a bigger question mark in Week 9 against the Cowboys. That’s a far better matchup than the Jaguars, so even if Taylor remains in limbo, you will have no choice but to fire him up for what could be his final game in a Colts uniform.
St. Brown added ten yards on a carry, which was actually a running catch on a play in which St. Brown lined up fifteen yards behind the line of scrimmage and got a running start like you might see in the CFL. He had a touchdown catch called back in the first half and had to go to the locker room with what looked to be a knee issue. It was only the second time this season St. Brown was held to less than 60 yards. He came into Week 8 ranked fourth in expected fantasy points per game. St. Brown takes on the Bills in Week 9.
As if that inefficiency was not enough, Warren also batted a late second quarter target into the air for an “interception” that turned into a 92-yard Jaguars touchdown. Brutal stuff, not that it’s anything new in a season where Warren has only two touchdowns and is averaging an abysmal 6.8 yards per reception. Daniel Jones is not playing well, but his seemingly inevitable benching would only make things worse with Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard as the “alternatives.” Warren will be a low-end TE1 for Week 9 against the Cowboys. That is at least an A+ matchup.
Pollard had his second-straight multi-touchdown game, scoring the first touchdown of the game on a 40-yard scamper with multiple missed tackles and a stiff-arm in the first quarter. With Tyjae Spears out, Pollard was the only Titans running back that got touches. He recovered his own fumble in the second half and added a one-yard score in the third quarter. He was also dropped for a safety in the third quarter on a head-scratching delayed hand-off to give the Bengals two points. Pollard enters the Titans’ Week 9 bye with several trade rumors swirling; if he is still in Tennessee, Pollard is a fantasy RB2 for Week 10.
Pitts’ 20 percent target share would have been good for at least TE2 fantasy numbers on a normal day. This game was anything but normal. Pitts and Jahan Dotson were the only Falcons pass-catchers with multiple receptions. Michael Penix only completed eight passes, so there simply wasn’t enough production to go around. He was intercepted four times and the Falcons were shut out. Pitts role as a PPR merchant should tick back up in Week 9 versus the Bengals. He will be back in the TE2 mix for that contest.
Mason led the team in carries, as Aaron Jones — who came into the game with a knee issue — saw five rushing attempts on the day. Jones remained the team’s pass-catching option out of the backfield while Mason could not get anything going on the ground against a middling Lions rush defense. Mason, who had 15 carries last week, will remain a touchdown-dependent RB3 option in Week 9 against the Bills.
Washington also added a 10-yard rush. Extremely disappointing volume coming out of the Jaguars’ bye week, but no Jag commanded more than three targets in a contest where Trevor Lawrence attempted only 14 throws before taking a fourth quarter breather in a 42-7 blowout. Washington is going to be subject to this kind of risk when the deep-and-dangerous Jags take on more overmatched foes, including now for Week 9 as the Ravens come to town for Thursday Night Football with their No. 2 or 3 quarterback under center. You always fire up Washington as a WR2, but he’s probably not going to stuff the stat sheet on Thursday evening.
Ridley was active after dealing with a hip injury this week, seeing the fourth-most snaps among Titans wide receivers. He finished the game with a drop and one reception. The veteran is a candidate to be traded but has not been offering much by way of fantasy production. Ridley can be left on fantasy benches heading into the Titans’ Week 9 bye.
The Bucs became the first team in over 50 years to not complete a pass for an entire game. In turn, Irving was able to rack up a career high in rush attempts. He then turned that into a career high in yards by averaging over six yards per carry. He could have posted even better numbers, but the Bucs put him on ice after his third-quarter touchdown. With the exception of one attempt from Irving, Gainwell saw 18 consecutive rush attempts to close the game. Gainwell wound up running for 140 yards on 25 attempts. To the Bucs’ credit, Gainwell was picking up chunk gain after chunk gain and Irving had already earned a massive workload. Irving failed to hit 100 yards on the ground in any of his first three games. He has since reached triple digits three times in his past four outings. Playing some of the best football of his career, Irving is pushing for an RB1 rank headed into Week 9 versus the Bears.
Freierumuth is the Steelers’ designated tush push option, which will give him a little added fantasy value here and there. Despite the fact that Darnell Washington outproduced Freiermuth today, Freiermuth ran a route on 11 of the team’s 26 dropbacks, compared to just five for Washington. This simply wasn’t a big day for the Steelers’ passing attack, but we’d expect Freiermuth to remain a mid-range TE2 option going forward.
Facing his former team, Smith had just his third multi-score start of the season. His 9.1 yards per attempt were his second most. A renewed connection with deep threat Adonai Mitchell was partly to thank even as Mitchell’s 7/142/1 included an awful deep drop. Smith also looked Garrett Wilson’s way a team-leading 12 times, though wideout and quarterback again had trouble getting on the same page. They were mere inches away from several more catches, including one in the end zone. Not great, but the duo at least appears headed in the right direction. The same was not true of Smith and rookie first-rounder Omar Cooper Jr., whom Smith surprisingly did not target despite his back-to-back 100-yard efforts. This is sort of the long way of saying that Smith has a lot of excellent options in the passing game. That keeps him in the streamer mix, but he will not be a preferred QB2 for Week 9 against the Chiefs.
Allgeier was given reign of the backfield in the second half after Bam Knight (concussion) was ruled out and Jeremiyah Love (ankle) left early in the first half. He decided to take advantage of it with runs of 63 yards (for a score) and 52 yards to set up a very nice sideline tightrope touchdown on a reception. Allgeier was the only healthy back for the Cardinals at this point in the game and this isn’t the kind of performance we’ll see repeated, but he definitely could step in to an expanded role in Week 9 given the injuries around him. If he was dropped in your league, he’s a worthwhile waiver wire consideration.
Judkins added two catches on just two targets for 24 yards. The Browns’ offense could get nothing going against the Steelers’ defense, and the Browns’ offensive line was pushed around all day. Judkins also had two carries from inside the five-yard line, including a carry from the one-yard line with 22 seconds left, but he couldn’t convert on either. The Browns should have a bit of an easier time moving the ball against the Saints next week, but if Judkins has a good day, that might be the chance to trade him away. Judkins actually played 11 fewer snaps than Dylan Sampson in this one with the Browns trailing all game, so that gives Judkins a low fantasy floor.
Ward also added a two-point conversion on the ground. The Titans offense got off to a fast start, leading 13-0 after one quarter. Ward finished the day passing for 304 yards, averaging 7.6 yards per attempt and surpassing 300 yards for the first time in his career. He made plays with his legs, scrambling for multiple first downs on short-yardage situations. A sack-fumble from Ward led to a Bengals score the other way in the third quarter and the 24-year-old also took a long sack towards the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. The Titans could not convert a fourth down in overtime to close the game. Ultimately, Ward had one of the best games of his season against the Bengals but came up short. For fantasy purposes, Ward’s work on the ground is encouraging for his elevated floor and an improved passing skillset makes him a fantasy QB2 heading into the Titans’ Week 9 bye.
Bucky Irving gave the Bucs a 16-0 lead entering the fourth quarter and passed the baton to Gainwell, who racked up 18 carries in the final frame. Irving only touched the ball once over the final 15 minutes. Gainwell’s late-game dominance got him up to career-highs in carries and yards. He also managed a season-high 14 attempts under similar circumstances last week. Unfortunately for Gainwell, the Bucs aren’t likely to be playing with a big lead in Week 9 against the Bears. Gainwell will return to the RB3/4 border next week.
Sampson only had one carry in this game, gaining seven yards, but he was third on the team in targets and second on the team in receiving yards. Early reports show that he played 11 more snaps than Quinson Judkins and ran a route on 29 of the team’s 49 dropbacks, compared to seven for Judkins. Sampson is very clearly the pass-catching back in Cleveland, and a good one too. If this team is going to be trailing often, he’ll have PPR value.