McDuffie missed Weeks 6-7 with a groin injury that he suffered in practice. He played through a questionable tag this week after three straight limited practices. Until we get an official update, McDuffie should probably be considered questionable to play in Week 9 against the Commanders.
Chism drew the start opposite Kyle Williams in the Patriots’ victory over the Dolphins. Dolphins LB Jacob Rodriguez punched the ball out of Chism’s possession on the wide receiver’s first catch, during the Patriots’ second drive, but the wide receiver corps’ short-staffed state meant coach Mike Vrabel could not bench him. Chism chipped in three catches on the Patriots’ touchdown-scoring eighth drive, including a clutch eight-yard catch on 1st-and-goal from the Dolphins’ 15-yard line that helped set up Drake Maye’s end zone plunge. Chism will be FLEX against the Packers next week if A.J. Brown (knee) remains sidelined.
Atwell made the biggest play of the day for the Rams, catching a perfectly placed 40 yard pass from Matthew Stafford. Atwell was second on the team in targets behind Puka Nacua, who had 12 targets on the day. Atwell should remain on waiver wires ahead of the Rams’ Week 9 game against the Commanders.
McConkey was fully back from various injuries that kept him sidelined for much of the season’s first month and a half. He led the Chargers in all receiving categories, and had the team’s biggest play of the game — a 54-yard gain on a nicely thrown ball from Justin Herbert. McConkey will have a solid matchup in Week 9 against a struggling Houston secondary and should remain in 12-team league lineups. It remains to be seen whether he has any sort of ceiling in a pitiful LA offense.
The Patriots’ rookie tight end got involved early, chipping in a five -yard catch on the team’s first drive. He earned a target at the Dolphins’ five-yard line on the next play, but the pass was thrown inaccurately by a scrambling Drake Maye. Hunter Henry suffered a foot injury in the first half, which allowed Raridon to run as the Patriots’ top tight end. Although he earned a few more targets as the game progressed, unfortunately, Raridon’s lone box score contribution thereafter was a false start on the Patriots’ eighth drive. Despite Raridon’s quiet Week 8 outing, he will warrant streaming TE1 treatment next week against the Packers if Henry is unable to play.
This is particularly unfortunate because Henry was playing well early on, catching 3-of-3 targets for 30 yards. Drake Maye told reporters after the game that he is “worried” about his No. 1 tight end, but added that Henry was “walking around fine” with “a smile on his face” in the locker room post-game. Eli Raridon will be a streaming TE1 against the Packers next week if Henry cannot play.
Coming off their bye week, the Chargers looked worse than ever on offense, with Herbert apparently confused as to where to throw the ball or how to conduct OC Mike McDaniel’s complex pre-snap motion scheme. Herbert had a negative EPA per drop back. Both of his picks were of the mind blogging variety, thrown directly to Rams defenders in the open field. Frustrated and dejected, Herbert continues his worst pro season for the winless Bolts. As usual, Herbert — who ranks 33rd in fantasy points per game — won’t be a fantasy option in Week 9 against the Texans.
McGowan actually out-gained Jonathan Taylor on the ground in a game the Colts trailed 28-0 at halftime and 42-7 heading into the fourth quarter. No. 3 back DJ Giddens was called upon for six carries, which he turned into 43 yards. Fantasy managers are stuck in a holding pattern as they await Taylor’s Colts fate ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline, but McGowan remains worth a speculative stash in most 12-team leagues.
Coming off 10/200/3 over the past two weeks, Tucker somehow commanded only one target in a game where the Raiders scored 38 points. It was the first time since the opener he caught fewer than four passes. Tucker has definitely benefitted from some garbage time production, but he is not typically going to be a zero waiting to happen. He can still be trotted out there as a low-end WR3 for a Week 9 matchup where the Raiders are going to have to pass to compete with the 49ers.
Kyren Williams led the LA backfield with 16 carries for 56 yards. Corum was much more efficient as a rusher against the Chargers, regularly bursting through the line of scrimmage and shedding tacklers on a couple second half runs. The Rams have been run heavy since Davante Adams went down with a serious hamstring injury a few weeks ago. That’s generated more opportunity for Corum, who last week had 17 rushes. He ranks 44th among running backs in expected fantasy points per game in 2026. That kind of usage should make Corum flex-viable for now. He gets the Commanders in Week 9.
This was Mayer’s fourth five-catch outing of the season. Only Brock Bowers caught more passes this afternoon. It could have been a bigger day in fantasy, but Mayer’s unconverted look was an inaccurate goal-line pass he short-armed. Mayer has a reasonable enough PPR TE2 floor, but his spiked week potential remains limited enough that he is not a very exciting streamer.
Nailor’s touchdown was his first as a Raider. It went down for all of two yards. In addition to the score, Nailor posted new season highs in yards and receptions, which obviously tells you all you need to know about his WR4 value: He doesn’t have any heading into Week 9 against the 49ers.
This update comes straight from the Lions’ organization. Campbell was taken to a local hospital shortly after being taken off the field on a stretcher. He is reportedly resting now. The team will provide further updates as it has them. We hope he recovers quickly and completely.
It was another disappointing outing for Higbee. This one came with Colby Parkinson (ribs) sidelined. Davis Allen had two catchers on two targets for eight yards. Higbee now hasn’t had more than 25 yards receiving in a game since the beginning of October, and has lost opportunities with the Rams going run heavy in recent weeks. Higbee won’t be a fantasy option in Week 9 against the Commanders.
Nacua, with Davante Adams (hamstring) sidelined, again dominated targets in the newly run-heavy LA offense. No other Rams pass catcher saw more than four targets on the day. Nacua’s touchdown came on a well-designed screen in the second half at the end of a long drive for the run-first Rams offense. Nacua, who had 41 targets over his prior four games, is among the safest players in fantasy football. He matches up against the Commanders in Week 9.
Harbaugh is standing by the organization’s biggest offseason hire. The Chargers at least got a little passing production going today, though obviously the results continue to fall short of expectations. The Chargers, now 0-6, face the Texans, 2-5, in Week 9. Houston’s underperforming defense could give the Chargers a chance to improve their standing next week.
The more efficient Blake Corum had 11 rushes for 73 yards and did not see a target in a run-heavy Rams offense. Williams led the LA backfield in routes but only had one look from Matthew Stafford. He was stuffed at the line of scrimmage a handful of times in the first half. The rushing volume in the Rams offense of late should make both Williams and Coum fantasy relevant every week, including next week against the Commanders.
It was the first time this year Vaki has seen more than six carries. The Lions went ultra run-heavy in this one to combat the Vikings’ vexing blitz scheme, which led to 35 carries on the day. Vaki should be stashed in most formats in cae Jahmyr Gibbs misses any time in the coming weeks. Vaki would be a potential 20-touch weekly option in such a scenario.
Robinson led Titans wide receivers in targets and snaps with Carnell Tate out, seeing seven targets. He was involved in his usual short-yardage role out of the slot, averaging 9.5 yards per reception with a 15-yard fourth quarter touchdown boosting his fantasy production. He was credited with a fumble on a screen pass that controversially could have been ruled an incomplete pass. Robinson is consistently a checkdown target for Cam Ward, with intermediate targets sparsely sprinkled in. Tate may return out of the Titans’ Week 9 bye, leaving Robinson to fend for fantasy production in the fantasy WR4 ranks.
Dike saw 58 snaps with Carnell Tate out, second among Titans wide receivers. He scored on an 11-yard reception in the fourth quarter. It was Dike’s first game with over three receptions and second game over one target this season. Dike is mostly utilized as a kick returner but is in line to see increased opportunities on offense if Tate misses additional time. For now, Dike should be off the fantasy radar heading into the Titans’ Week 9 bye.
Hunter did add a five-yard “rush” on what sure looked like a pass attempt from Trevor Lawrence, but that’s neither her nor there. What is here is a rather predictable letdown after Hunter went into the Jaguars’ Week 7 bye with a pop-up effort in London. Although it was good to see Hunter contribute at all on offense, his role is too limited in an attack with too many mouths to feed to treat him as even a boom/bust WR4. That includes for Thursday’s short-week date with a Ravens team now missing starting quarterback Lamar Jackson.
McLaughlin also nailed his only PAT try. The Bucs forced a trio of turnovers in the first half. Their ensuring drives didn’t amount to much, but the field position alone allowed McLaughlin to put the ball through the uprights on two of them. With the Faclons accomplishing nothing on offense, the Bucs were comfortable taking the points throughout the contest, resulting in another strong fantasy outing for McLaughlin. He entered Week 8 as a top five fantasy option and will remain near the top of the kicker ranks for Week 9 versus the Bears.
Strange had a 46-yard first quarter catch-and-run that went down as the Jags’ longest gain of the day in a 42-7 demolition of the pathetic Colts. Strange was really rumbling, looking out of gas at the end of his journey. Strange actually tied for the team lead in receiving yards, but that’s because Trevor Lawrence attempted all of 14 passes. Strange has done enough to keep himself in the TE2 mix, but he is not an ideal TE1 streamer heading into a short-week Thursday night date vs. a Ravens team that will be without Lamar Jackson.
TeSlaa has been effectively phased out of the Detroit passing attack. he has one catch over his past three games, and against the Vikings on Sunday he ran 13 routes on 35 Lions drop backs and did not see a target. He can be dropped in most formats.
Helm saw career-highs in targets and receiving yards in a high-scoring game against the Bengals. He saw a few targets in the flats but was targeted downfield multiple times, catching two passes of at least 24 yards. Helm also caught a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter. He is the Titans primary pass-catching tight end and saw heavy usage in a pass-heavy game script. Fantasy managers should not anticipate more game scripts like this for the Titans but Helm is a deep league streaming tight end option once the Titans come out of a Week 9 bye week.