Top 10 Fantasy Football Takeaways Week 8

Oronde Gadsden Breaks Out

This is the kind of story that I definitely have to cover, but don’t have anything particularly unique to say about. The fifth-round rookie tight end caught seven of eight targets for a whopping 164 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. His 25.9 half-PPR points weren’t just his highest of the season; they were the highest of any tight end so far this season. 

With multiple other mouths to feed, there’s a chance Gadsden ends up inconsistent even with the Chargers’ pass-happy offense. But given the state of the TE position, that doesn’t really matter. We have a young tight end on a fantasy-friendly offense whose usage trended consistently upward until he had a massive breakout game. Add him now and figure out the details later.

Joe Flacco Brings Life To Cincinnati

In Weeks 1-5, the Bengals averaged 17 points and 229 total yards of offense. That’s even including 1.3 games of Joe Burrow under center. In two weeks with Joe Flacco at the helm, they’ve averaged 25.5 points per game on 369 yards of offense. 

While this rising tide hasn’t yet lifted all boats (sorry, Chase Brown managers), it has improved the fantasy fortunes of Cincinnati’s pass-catchers. Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and even Noah Fant all deserve massive upgrades as long as Flacco continues to keep this offense on schedule. Even the 40-year-old himself is worth considering, as he has scored 18.8 and 26.0 points in his two games as a Bengal.

The Committee in Carolina

One of the questions of Week 7 was how the Carolina backfield would look with Chuba Hubbard returning from injury. Had Rico Dowdle earned a lead role with two dominant performances in Hubbard’s absence, or would the Panthers’ decision-makers defer to their well-paid Week 1 starter? 

Unfortunately, the answer was kind of neither. Hubbard led in snap share (54% to 46%), route rate (36% to 17%) and targets (two to one), while Dowdle led in carries (17 to 14). In this 50/50 split, they are both just flex options. 

However, if I had to guess, things will tilt toward Dowdle going forward. Hubbard got the start and saw more work early, but the former Cowboy easily led in snaps (60% to 38%) and touches (13 to six) in the second half. He was also easily more efficient, with 4.6 yards per carry to Hubbard’s 2.2. Given that Dowdle has now outperformed Hubbard even when both are healthy, he should eventually be the 1A in this backfield, at least, although this week’s usage indicates Hubbard will at least maintain a primary role in the receiving game.

Is Travis Hunter the Jaguars’ WR1?

After playing a frustratingly part-time role to start the season, the second-overall pick in this year’s draft has led the Jaguars in routes in each of the last two weeks. On Sunday, he also led the team with 13 targets, catching eight for 101 yards and a score. 

Meanwhile, Brian Thomas Jr. continues to struggle — his 50% catch rate is tied for fifth-worst among qualified receivers, and the four names below him have either dealt with terrible QB play (Isaiah Bond and Jerry Jeudy), mostly seen deep targets (Mike Evans), or both (Calvin Ridley). He also has the sixth-highest drop rate and 14th-lowest PFF Receiving Grade out of 82 qualified receivers. 

Even if he isn’t technically Jacksonville’s WR1, Hunter has cemented himself as a playable fantasy option. Fire him up as a flex, with upside for much, much more if he continues to grow and BTJ continues to flounder. 

Darnell Mooney Matters

He’s only played three full games and hasn’t scored many fantasy points, but Darnell Mooney has seen very solid usage so far this season: a 19% target share and a 39% air yards share in Atlanta’s offense. He’s definitely worth adding anywhere where he is available, as that usage should eventually allow him to pick up where he left off 2025 as a weekly flex play.

However, Mooney’s biggest fantasy impact may be in the usage he’s taking away from Drake London. In the three games Mooney has played, London has averaged 6.5 half-PPR points per game on a 19% target share and a 27% air yards share. Except for the lack of fantasy scoring, those numbers are fine, but they pale in comparison to London’s stats without his WR2: 19.1 points per game on a 40% target share and a 49% air yards share. London is definitely capable of big games with Moone, and better days are ahead … but I might see if you can sell him high based on his production when he was the team’s only real target. 

Rashee Rice Returns

Rashee Rice did not disappoint in his much-anticipated return to the field. Despite ranking fourth on the team with just a 43% route participation rate (per Fantasy Points Data), he easily led the Chiefs with nine targets. Thanks to his usual low ADOT (1.7 yards), he caught seven of those looks for 42 yards and two touchdowns. 

It’s tempting to project Rice’s absurd 1.16 fantasy points per route run onto a full-time role and assume he will be a top-five receiver for the rest of the season. But it’s more likely that his role expanding will be cancelled out by the Chiefs’ force-feeding him less outside of his debut game.

However, with Patrick Mahomes back to producing at an MVP level, Rice can be a fantasy WR1 even without maintaining his current 53% target per route run rate (lol). It will be interesting to see how usage shakes out between him, Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce, and the Chiefs’ ancillary weapons, but there is enough pie for all three members of this new “big three” to eat. 

There Can Only Be One Dual-Threat QB in NYC

The Jets pulled the plug on Justin Fields on Sunday, benching him at halftime for Tyrod Taylor. That’s unfortunate for fantasy managers because, despite his many struggles, Fields’ dual-threat upside made him always worth considering as a fantasy option. He scored over 25 fantasy points in three of his five full games (just don’t ask what happened in the other two).

However, another potential Konami Code QB has risen to take up the mantle in the Big Apple. In his four games as the Giants’ starter, Jaxson Dart has averaged 22.6 fantasy points per game. A full 9.25 of those points have come from his legs, as he averages 44.5 yards and 0.8 touchdowns per game on the ground. 

Thankfully, Dart is early enough in his NFL career (and is having enough success on the real-life side of things) that we don’t have to worry about him following Fields onto the bench. It is definitely a little concerning that so much of his production is coming on the ground, as passing stats are usually more consistent for QBs. But for now, that small red flag is worth ignoring to chase the upside of the league’s newest dual-threat QB.

Time’s Up For TreVeyon

This take could age terribly, but I’m officially ready to give up on TreVeyon Henderson. It’s not just that he’s averaging only 5.6 half-PPR points per game, the 41st-most among running backs. It’s that the Patriots seemingly have no interest in getting him more involved … and he’s not playing well enough to change their minds.  

On Sunday, Henderson finished with just two carries on nine snaps. Meanwhile, 2024 UDFA Terrell Jennings handled five carries on eight snaps. Yes, Jennings’ work all game with New England up big late, but Mike Vrabel’s post-game excitement indicated that he didn’t just see that work as pure garbage time. 

Even putting aside Jennings, the Patriots have had multiple opportunities, from Rhamondre Stevenson’s fumbles to Antonio Gibson’s season-ending injury, to give Henderson a shot at more work. They’ve passed every time, and it’s hard to blame them when the rookie ranks dead last in PFF Rushing Grade among qualified RBs. In fact, Henderson shows up near the bottom of just about every advanced running back metric. To be fair to him, Stevenson is normally only slightly higher … but he’s always higher. In shallow formats where every bench spot is gold, Henderson hasn’t shown enough to be worth holding this far into the season. 

Malaise in Miami

I really wanted this blurb to be about Malik Washington leading the Dolphins with a 78% route participation rate, easily his highest mark of the season (he also saw a team-high 23% target share). But at this point, the Dolphins are down so bad that Washington’s expanded usage probably doesn’t matter.

Tua Tagovailoa threw three interceptions against the Browns on Sunday, his second straight game with three picks. Miami’s offense now ranks second-worst in success rate and sixth-worst in EPA per play. The five teams below them in EPA are all black holes where fantasy players go to die: the Titans, Raiders, Browns, Jets, and Saints. 

Depending on how you count, none of those teams has more than two truly fantasy-relevant options, with the possible exception of the Saints, who make up for inefficiency by playing at a lightning-fast pace. And even those theoretically relevant players are often disappointments on a weekly basis (looking at you, Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson). Unless Mike McDaniel and Co. can turn things around, expectations need to be greatly tempered for De’Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle, while the rest of Miami’s players are probably irrelevant. 

Sonic Outraces Knuckles

Jahmyr Gibbs outcarried David Montgomery 17 to four in the Lions’ Week 6 loss to the Chiefs, by far the most lopsided split in their time as a duo. Dan Campbell said after that one that he would like to see Montgomery more involved going forward. Technically, he got his wish, as Montgomery saw 13 carries to Gibbs’ 17 on Monday night against the Texans. 

But this didn’t feel like business as usual for Detroit’s backfield. Montgomery recorded just 21 yards on his 13 carries, nine of which came in the final 18 minutes of the game. Gibbs, meanwhile, racked up 136 yards and two scores on the ground, plus 82 yards on three receptions. At one point, after the third-year back broke off yet another big play, the broadcasters even joked that Detroit’s OC John Morton wouldn’t be getting any questions after this game about why Montgomery wasn’t seeing more touches.

Montgomery certainly isn’t dead as a fantasy asset, nor should Gibbs be crowned as a true bell cow. But it does feel as though the tides are shifting from “two RB1s” to “one of the league’s best backs and one of the league’s best backups.” As long as this continues, I wouldn’t feel comfortable starting Montgomery outside of very soft matchups where Detroit will likely have multiple goal-line carries to go around.