Week 8 was yet another week full of NFL football! Thankfully, there weren’t as many injuries as we’ve had this season, well, unless you’re the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jags lost wide receiver Calvin Ridley for the season to a broken collar bone, while both Brian Thomas and Gabe Davis left the game due to injuries of their own.
We got an amazing ending to the game that put the 2024 No. 1 and No. 2 draft picks against each other, as the Bears’ Caleb Williams faced the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels.
Daniels was the clear winner statistically, but he also added a real-life win with a successful Hail Mary. I won’t mention Tyrique Stevenson’s role in that play, so as to not pile on, but avert your eyes if you are a Bears fan.
Below here I’ll take you through a few interesting tidbits from Sundays football games.
You may not like how many times it was said, but Sunday WAS National Tight Ends Day.
There were 17 tight end touchdowns in Week 8. ONE SEVEN. In Weeks 1-3, tight ends accumulated just 13 touchdowns.
We lamented the lack of tight end production then and for good reason, but the offenses are finally getting their stuff together, tight ends are getting healthier, and usage is going up for them with so many wide receivers being injured (I see you Otton!).
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De’Von Achane is PPR gold
Tua Tagovailoa is back! Miami ended up losing to the Cardinals, but the Dolphins actually had an offense! It’s always nice to have a whole team’s offense open up for fantasy in just one week. We see you Cleveland!
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle didn’t go off, but showed that they still play football in the NFL, but the real star was De’Von Achane. Your fantasy teams with Achane might be hurting after Tua’s I.R. stint, but there’s no doubt he’s the man in PPR fantasy, as he picked up right where he left off.
If the Dolphins are playing a tough run defense, you know Achane’s going to get plenty of targets, as he’s caught 20-of-22 in the three games Tagovailoa has started this season.
Christian Kirk is done for the season. It’s PPR Evan Engram time.
Evan Engram’s per-game averages in 6 outings without Christian Kirk last year:
10.2 targets (25.1% share)
8.3 catches
73.2 yards
0.7 TDsScored 19.5 more PPR points than any other TE over that stretch.
— Jared Smola (@SmolaDS) October 28, 2024
Mr. Smola gives us Evan Engram’s numbers last season after Christian Kirk went down, and they are great. We also saw Engram get his first touchdown of the season after Kirk was out of their Week 8 loss to the Packers.
Of course, this year is a bit different than last year, as the Jags have Brian Thomas and Gabe Davis at wide receiver. But, both suffered injuries in Week 8 as well.
How significant those injuries are is still unknown, but Engram is going to be a solid PPR player for the rest of the year even if Thomas and Davis end up fine.
Yes, James Winston is better than Deshaun Watson
The Browns go from a losing, pitiful offensive team to a winning, good offensive team because their franchise quarterback suffered a season-ending injury the week before. James Winston’s big game against the Ravens, who many considered the best team in the league, is such a damning indictment of the Browns higher-ups. Kevin Stefanski and company completely wasted seven games of an NFL season because they paid Deshaun a bunch of money and were trying to pretend things would change.
The good news is, now the Browns are a team that has multiple fantasy options to pick from!
All four of their top pass catchers hit at least five receptions and 61 receiving yards, while catching three touchdowns as a group.
Cedric Tillman took over Amari Cooper’s X role and went off for seven receptions, 92 yards and two touchdowns, while Elijah Moore scooped up eight receptions for 85 yards, Jerry Jeudy went five for 79, and David Njoku caught five for 61 yards and a touchdown, his second from Winston in as many games.
We of course can’t expect these numbers each week, but we can expect much better numbers on average with Winston back there instead of Watson.
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Keon Coleman > Amari Cooper?
After the Bills traded for Amari Cooper, it appeared to be a huge hit to Coleman’s usage. It’s still early, but that does not seem to be the case, as his target share just continues to grow. Sure, Cooper just played his second game as a Bill, but besides seeing his targets increase, Coleman’s also done well with those targets.
In the last two weeks the rookie has been targeted 24% and 26%, his first two games over 20%. In those games he’s had nine receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown.
Cooper still needs to get up to speed with the playbook, but add in Khalil Shakir’s strong play, and I don’t think we see Cooper come in and eventually take over as the main receiver.
For now, you can’t just overlook Coleman’s strong play of late, as he has every possibility to continue playing at this level.
Touchdown results may vary
Players tackled at the one-yard line and did NOT score a touchdown on the same drive in Week 8 (pre-MNF) pic.twitter.com/hPKonl5tDQ
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) October 28, 2024
Each week I see this post and focus in on a player on one of my fantasy teams that missed out on a touchdown. The good thing about this knowledge is that every week there are multiple good football players who just barely miss out on a bunch of fantasy points.
If you’re a player who is impacted by Jalen Hurts getting a tush push touchdown instead of Saquon Barkley getting in from half a yard out, well, it’s a lot of luck.
Who is the Buccaneers top receiver with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin out?
The Buccaneers No. 1 receiver in Week 8 was their tight end Cade Otton.
He caught 9-of-10 targets for 81 yards and two touchdowns, while no other receiver had over four receptions.
Trey Palmer and a little Rakim Jarrett replaced Mike Evans, Sterling Shepard replaced Chris Godwin in the slot, and Jalen McMillan played outside as he has been, while getting a few more slot snaps.
Overall, McMillan led the wide receivers with seven targets, catching four for just 35 yards. But maybe more importantly, he led the team in snaps and routes run, per PFF.
Otton is going to continue seeing targets, but McMillan looks to be the upside wide receiver play while Evans is out.
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