Week 8 of the fantasy football season featured a little bit of everything on a Halloween Sunday, from breakout performances by rookies Justin Fields and Elijah Mitchell to disappointing days by big names like Derrick Henry and Kyle Pitts. What should we make of it all? Matt Bowen and Tristan H. Cockcroft offer their analysis.
Big things ahead for Justin Fields?
The rookie played his best game as a pro, dropping 25.3 fantasy points against the 49ers. We can go back to the touchdown throw off the boot action. Ball location there, on a concept that caters to his movement skills. Or we can look at his ability to read it out from the pocket versus some pressure looks from San Francisco. And we know what the rushing totals did for Fields today, as he racked up 103 yards on 10 carries, which included a ridiculous 22-yard scoring run (on another scramble attempt) that highlighted his physical tools and ball carrier vision at the position. Big-time play there.
With a low-volume passing offense in Chicago, however, and another week without consistent designed run carries for Fields, can you expect this type of fantasy production with upcoming matchups versus the Steelers' and Ravens' defenses? That's a pretty tough sell for me. Fields will move up in my ranks, but he's still in the QB2 discussion. -- Bowen
A.J. Brown's rise
Brown posted a season-high 31.5 PPR points, catching 10 of 11 targets for 155 yards and a score. Sure, his 57-yard touchdown catch was aided by some really poor tackling from the Colts' secondary, and Julio Jones was down with a hamstring injury. But the target volume here? The play-action route structure in Tennessee? That's what we need to focus on with Brown, who can continue to produce WR1 numbers in this offense on defined throws from quarterback Ryan Tannehill. -- Bowen
Elijah Mitchell now a trusted RB2?
With two straight weeks of No. 1 volume, Mitchell looks like an easy play as an RB2 given the production and the run game system under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. Mitchell has now rushed for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown in each of his past two games. I'll admit that I saw Trey Sermon as the eventual lead back for the 49ers this season. But with Mitchell's recent numbers here -- and the big-play ability we know is a part of his game -- look for the rookie to see the run-game touches again in Week 9 versus the Cardinals' defense. -- Bowen
I'll add that Mitchell has done this, the past two weeks, while facing a pair of defenses that had been doing rather well against the run at the time, in the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. Next Gen Stats also clocked him with five runs of 15 mph or faster, and he sure looks up to the task of leading this backfield. I agree: RB2 for sure. -- Cockcroft
Michael Pittman Jr.'s bright future
His breakthrough year continued with a 30.6 PPR fantasy point performance, obliterating his previous personal best of 20.9 set just three weeks ago. Pittman now has 77.8 points in his past four games, and he has a trio of double-digit-target games already in 2021. It's a concern that Carson Wentz is frequently putting his receivers in danger with erratic, often unadvisable throws, but Pittman has been getting the job done and has a good number of very favorable matchups ahead: NYJ (Week 9), JAX (Week 10), TB (Week 12) and @HOU (Week 13). He's making a strong case for weekly WR2 status. -- Cockcroft
Quick hitters
Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams: His magical season continued on Sunday, even if he fell shy of double-digit targets for the first time in 2021, as Kupp scored 24.5 PPR fantasy points to bring his season total to 214.9. It's the third-most points by any wide receiver through that many team games of any season since at least 1950, trailing only Crazy Legs Hirsch's 222.1 of 1951 and Torry Holt's 215.3 of 2003. -- Cockcroft
Michael Carter, RB, New York Jets: Say hello to your top-scoring fantasy player from the 1 p.m. ET games, as the rookie totaled 32.2 PPR points in the Jets' upset victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. That gives him 48.6 points in his two games since the bye, during which he was given 26 carries, but perhaps much more importantly considering the Jets' generally expected game flow, had 23 total targets, 17 catches and 162 receiving yards. Continued use in the passing game will keep Carter's fantasy value afloat, perhaps even as a weekly RB2, and certainly he belongs in that discussion for Week 9 against a Colts defense that has struggled. -- Cockcroft
Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons: After two straight weeks of high-level fantasy production, which vaulted Pitts up near the top of the Week 8 tight end ranks, the rookie was a bust in the loss to the Panthers. Pitts has a rough drop in this one, finishing with a season-low 3.3 PPR points on 2 of 6 targets -- for only 13 yards receiving. Pitts will be back as a TE1 next week, but the matchup is pretty tough there versus the Saints' defense. -- Bowen
Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks: After a pair of games working with fill-in quarterback Geno Smith during which he totaled 8.7 PPR fantasy points on 10 targets, Lockett rebounded in a big way with 26.2 points on 13 targets with Smith his quarterback again on Sunday. Sure, the matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars helped, but it sets him up for an encouraging second half of his season, especially with reports that Russell Wilson might be ready to play again once the Seahawks come out of their Week 9 bye. This performance makes Lockett a higher-confidence WR2 even in Smith's starts, but with Wilson back, Lockett might well make a push for a top-10 ranking spot when the matchup is right. -- Cockcroft
Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: With Antonio Brown still out with an injury (ankle), Godwin has produced two straight games with at least 10 targets and 25 PPR fantasy points. The Bucs head into the bye week next, but if Brown is still on the shelf when Tampa gets back in Week 10 versus Washington, you can ride with Godwin as a high-end WR2 in that matchup. Lot of zone beaters for quarterback Tom Brady to target Godwin on middle-of-the-field throws there. -- Bowen
Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers: It's not unreasonable to say that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has Herbert's number, as the second-year quarterback scored only 13.82 fantasy points in Week 8, while Belichick and his defense largely took wide receiver Mike Williams out of the equation. It's the second time Herbert has put forth a stinker against this opponent, as he scored a career-worst 4.36 points against the Patriots in Week 13 of 2020. Fortunately, it's not something to expect to happen often, especially with much better matchups ahead in the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings, but it's fair to point out that Herbert has fallen prey to his toughest matchups so far in the NFL. Keep it tucked away. -- Cockcroft
Philadelphia Eagles running backs: Casual box-score reviewers will see Boston Scott (18.0 PPR fantasy points) and Jordan Howard (17.7) managing identical touch totals and similar fantasy outcomes, and Kenneth Gainwell doing next to nothing with his 13 carries, but be careful not to read too much into the trio's Week 8 output. The Eagles dominated a bad Detroit Lions defense, resulting in a lot of clock management and the trio seeing only one total target (Scott's), and their roles seemed clearly defined: Scott got most of the between-the-20s work, Howard got more of the short-yardage work (three goal-to-go carries, though Scott also received two), and Gainwell amassed 12 of his 13 rushing attempts in the fourth quarter -- including covering all of the team's attempts that quarter -- with the game well beyond decided.
Generally speaking, I'd read this as Scott being the lead back, again mostly between the 20s, Howard the favorite for goal-line chances, but Gainwell handling mainly passing-down work going forward. That's important with the Los Angeles Chargers, who entered Sunday having allowed 28.4 PPR fantasy points per game to opponents' running backs, up next. All three can be relevant flex-play considerations but probably not much more, as the Chargers should control the game script more. -- Cockcroft
Mike White, QB, New York Jets: In the most stunning upset of Week 8 -- the road Cincinnati Bengals were favored by 10.5 points! -- the rookie fill-in for fellow rookie Zach Wilson scored 26.10 fantasy points. It's the ninth most by any quarterback in his first career NFL start since the merger. As impressive as White's performance was, however, it might not have done much more than guarantee him another start ahead of the recently acquired Joe Flacco. The Jets get the Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills the next two weeks, more challenging matchups than this (especially the latter). Chalk it up to a fun, unexpected outcome. -- Cockcroft
Antonio Gibson, RB, Washington: Continuing to play through an injury (shin), Gibson has now failed to top the 10 point PPR mark in three straight games. And with J.D. McKissic still seeing the majority of the pass game volume out of the backfield, there should be some concern with Gibson here. He's a touchdown dependent RB2. And the Bucs' run defense is on the schedule next when Washington returns from the bye in Week 10. - Bowen