NFL Fantasy Football Reactions: Week 8

In what's been a season of low-scoring and betting the unders, the early slate of games was a refreshing change. 10 of 14 teams in the early-game window posted at least 24 points Four games had at least 58 points scored. Although it was unexpected, it was certainly welcome.

I'll always try to give actionable advice at the end of each reaction. In addition to the fantasy takes, hopefully, some of these observations can also give you some ideas if you're thinking about placing some Week 9 NFL bets https://www.rotowire.com/betting/nfl/odds/week-9 . Let's take a look at the Sunday afternoon action. 

Sunday Takeaways

• We finally had the long-awaited Tony Pollard start. And to say he didn't disappoint is a massive understatement. He posted nearly 150 scrimmage yards while finding the end zone three times. Sure, the Bears defense wasn't one that was likely going to give him many issues, but there's no need to take anything away from this dynamic running back. As we've seen throughout his career, he consistently shows the ability to make explosive plays. There's no way to know what his role will be like when Ezekiel Elliott returns. But if Elliot misses any more time, Pollard will continue to be an outstanding lineup option. 
• With a full week to start working together, it was amazing to see how offensive mastermind Kyle Shanahan was able to integrate Christian McCaffrey into the 49ers' game plan. Need a passing TD? McCaffrey threw one to Brandon Aiyuk. How about an acrobatic catch in the end zone on a Jimmy Garoppolo overthrow? Yep, McCaffrey again. The only thing boring about his day was a one-yard score. As the season goes on, the sky's the limit for him, and he may be well worth paying up for in DFS contests most weeks. It's looks like he'll be the centerpiece of the offense. I'm not worried at all about when Deebo Samuel comes back. But when he does, this offense may have an incredible ceiling.
• The only thing that surprised me about Travis Etienne to this point, is that his receiving production hasn't been through the roof. But with his outstanding ability in the run game, they clearly don't need him as a receiver.  Over the last four games, he's averaging 7.36 yards per carry. in addition, he's posted at least 108 scrimmage yards in each of those four games. He had a tough matchup against the Broncos, and yet he shredded them. It was also great to see him handle 27 touches in a game. With the Jacksonville offense being a mess right now, Etienne is their best opportunity to jumpstart the offense. If his usage stays reasonably high, it would be nearly impossible to rank him outside of the top-12 running backs each week.
• If there was a play of the week, it was Derrick Henry against the Texans. For the third straight time against his defense, he has at least 212 rushing yards and two touchdowns. These teams play again in week 16. Be sure to set your calendar and bet the over on Henry's rushing yardage prop if it's legal in your state. His prop in this game was 99.5 yards when it came out, and he had that covered with four minutes left in the second quarter.
• It was great to see Kyle Pitts have a fantastic fantasy performance. He led the Falcons in receiving with 80 yards and a touchdown. Optimists will look at this performance as the beginning of what could be a great second-half surge. Pessimists, or maybe realists, will look at this as a blip on the radar. In any case, fantasy managers will find it nearly impossible to bench Pitts in the upcoming games knowing that this type of performance is out there. But don't be surprised if this is a one-game aberration. Obviously that has nothing to do with Pitts' talent, it has more to do with an offense that we already know will run the football at all costs.
• As we all know, it's very difficult to think we have a grasp on how Bill Belichick will manage his backfield. But it sure looks as if Rhamondre Stevenson has to be close to earning a major role in this backfield. Although he only out carried Damien Harris 16-11, Stevenson was targeted eight times. He turned his 23 touches into 143 yards. Although we never know if he'll lose work in any particular week, it will be very difficult to keep him on the bench in fantasy lineups going forward.
• I was a bit skeptical after Justin Fields had a great fantasy game against the Patriots. I assumed the Bears game plan blindsided them. But after Fields had a fantastic statistical performance against the Cowboys, I'm now a believer. With Fields having been turned loose as a runner while also being given some good play designs to find receivers when rolling out, he may now have the high floor that most talented mobile quarterbacks enjoy. And of course the running ability gives him upside as well. I expect that he'll find himself in the top-12 of my weekly QB rankings on many occasions going forward.
• I know the matchups against the Buccaneers and the Falcons were far from intimidating, but D'Onta Foreman had two great weeks of production. He showed the ability to lead a backfield when taking over for an injured Derrick Henry last year in Tennessee. He picked up right where he left off when given the opportunity in Carolina. Although he did split work with Chuba Hubbard last week, it was clear that Foreman had the lead role. And then with Hubbard missing this week, Foreman had 26 carries. In addition to having 118 rushing yards for the second straight week, he found the end zone three times against Atlanta. It'll be very difficult to rank him any lower than the top-20 in weekly positional rankings.
• When I was previewing the game between the Eagles and the Steelers, I felt that the best matchup advantage the Eagles had would be to get A.J. Brown heavily involved in the passing game. Apparently, the Eagles coaching staff saw the same thing. Brown had three TDs in the first half alone, and a shoestring tackle kept him from having a fourth score as well. Regardless, Philadelphia is a team that can be game-plan specific. They can win with the run. They also can use the short passing game. Or as they did in this game, throwing the ball downfield was the preferable mode of attack. It'll be difficult to predict which player will be featured from week to week. But as we've already seen, different players will take turns having the big games. The best advice is probably just to start all of the primary players and take the lows along with the highs.
• Take a victory lap if you predicted that PJ Walker would be the quarterback to unlock the upside of DJ Moore. Moore caught a 62-yard TD pass in the final minute of the game to allow the Panthers to send the game to overtime. Not only did he score a TD for the second straight week, but Moore's yardage accounted for more than half of the total he had put up in the seven games prior. Despite the outstanding performance, this is the second straight game in which Moore has faced a depleted secondary. He's probably still best viewed as a top-40 option at receiver, though he clearly has weekly upside as a very talented player.
• After having a week to shake off some rust, Tua Tagovailoa took full advantage of an easy matchup against the Lions. Although Miami sent some blitzes as expected, Tagovailoa was mostly able to have easy looks to his receivers. The Lions had no answer for the speed of Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle. That led to a big game for the QB. Going forward, when Tagovailoa faces either a defense with a weak secondary or limited pass rush, he has the ability for a high-end performance.
• Although it was nice to see D'Andre Swift back on the field, his usage was frustrating. Fortunately, he salvaged his fantasy day with five receptions and a touchdown. But the fact he had just 10 touches after missing so much time with injury was obviously frustrating for fantasy managers. At this point, we can only hope that his usage goes up to expected levels soon. However, we have to at least entertain the idea that Swift has a major injury history. It's possible that the Lions feel it's more beneficial to their franchise to use him in a rotational role. Hopefully that theory looks foolish in the next week or two, and Swift sees at least 15 touches per game going forward. 
• It was exciting to see Rondale Moore bounce back after a disappointing performance last week. He was the Cardinals' clear second option in the receiving game. They also did a good job of getting him into space on a few occasions, which resulted in big yardage after the catch. Even though he had two targets in Week 7, he's had between eight and 10 targets in each of his other three recent  games. With that type of usage, he's beginning to look like a high-floor PPR option most weeks. Using him as a flex would be optimal, but he could work his way into the WR3 range in 12-team leagues.
• There certainly weren't many fireworks in the early morning game between the Broncos and the Jaguars. But it was amazing to see rookie Greg Dulcich have his third straight productive game. The rookie led the team in receiving yardage. After posting 44 yards in his first game, he's followed that up with 51 and then 87 in this game. Obviously, it's always difficult to find useful options at TE, but Dulcich is beginning to look like a player who could be considered as a top-12 TE option going forward.
• Jonathan Taylor just doesn't look right. During the first half, he was getting his ankle wrapped on the sidelines. And it seemed clear that he's still playing at less than full health. Although he did have a 27-yard run, most of his rushes ended up with him being tackled at or near the line of scrimmage. Obviously, fantasy managers are starting Taylor each week. It's just that there may not be the weekly upside we expected on draft day.
• Taylor Heinicke has great chemistry with Terry McLaurin. In their two games together, McLaurin has 186 yards and a TD. And the receiver was inches away from scoring the winning TD against the Colts. In this game, he had more than twice the number of targets of any of the team's WRs. McLaurin should be viewed as top-24 WR as long as Heinicke is the starter.
• Sometimes a game just needs to be thrown away. The Raiders traveled to New Orleans and nothing went their way. The Saints were consistently applying pressure to Derek Carr. The team had no ability to get any consistency on the ground or through the air. Josh Jacobs had a decent floor game with 54 total yards. But it was Davante Adams who hurt fantasy players the worst. He caught a fourth-quarter pass for three yards to account for all of this production. This was the third time this year that Adams had been held a 36 yards or fewer. However, he does have four games with at least 95 yards, so he usually has a high floor. But aside from his big game against the Chiefs he hasn't hit 20 PPR points since Week 1. I don't foresee his situation changing a lot the rest of the way. He's obviously an auto start in seasonal leagues, but it's tough to trust him as an upside option in DFS contests.
• Zach Wilson had an amazing fantasy day. He threw for over 350 yards and two touchdowns. But the disconnect between reality and fantasy couldn't have been more drastic. Wilson was terrible. He killed a number of drives. His interceptions were back breaking. And a case could be made that he was the sole reason why the Jets lost a very winnable game. Fortunately, those who were willing to take a chance by starting Garrett Wilson rewarded quite well. But otherwise, if the Jets don't go back to Joe Flacco as their QB,  this is going to be a tough group of players to trust in weekly lineups.
• If you are unsure as to how much Sean McVay wants to use Darrell Henderson, you now have your ultimate confirmation. After Malcolm Brown was signed before getting seven carries in Week 6, Ronnie Rivers was well ahead of Henderson in the pecking order against the 49ers. Henderson doesn't have a single game with 50 rushing yards this season. And he's had single-digit touches in four of his last five games. He's probably a low-upside flex option at this point.

Injuries

• Irv Smith suffered an ankle injury and is set to undergo an MRI. If he misses time, his targets would likely be sprinkled among the  Minnesota wide receivers.
• Mark Ingram injured his knee and was ruled out of the game against the Raiders. With Alvin Kamara having been playing at an extremely high level, the touches to the back up running backs are few and far between. It's unlikely that one of the Saints' backups would have significant fantasy value if pressed into an increased reserve role. 
• DeVante Parker sustained a knee injury that forced him out of the game against the Jets. The Patriots have significant depth at receiver.  If Parker is forced to miss time, other receivers will likely just rotate to account for any lost snaps. Obviously, the Patriots have a very low volume passing attack.