Week 8 Sleepers, Potential-Emergent Players, and Opportunistic Plays
This article is contributed by Brad Kruse
This column is NOT intended to provide Week 8 Waiver Wire lists. Instead, the purpose is to look at young players whose opportunity could emerge and should be monitored. I will also look at potential injury replacement players, but I will try not to focus on the obvious choices for this week’s slate of games as that is covered elsewhere on the sight. My goal with Week 8 Sleepers is to help look around corners for the season which might give some ideas for pre-emptive adds to your roster.
As we enter week 8, more young players are potentially emerging, but time is becoming critical for them to help your teams get into the fantasy playoffs. In many cases, decisions have to be made on who you continue to trust or who you need to shed for players who might have a near-term opportunity to contribute.
Young Running Backs and Their Opportunity Status
Chase Brown: Chase Brown is the clear 1A in this backfield at this point. He had 15 carries to Zach Moss’ 6 while gaining 44 yards to Moss’ 7. Moss did out-targeted Brown 3:2 in the receiving game, but Brown is consistently the better fantasy play at this point.
Braelon Allen: With the recent coaching change, it’s clear that Breece Hall has been re-inserted as the workhorse running back. This change has benefited Hall, but the Jet’s backfield has also been more effective as well. Allen has fallen back into premium handcuff territory, unfortunately for his owners.
Jaylen Wright: With the Dolphin’s top three running backs all healthy, Wright again slotted in as RB3. And again, led the team in yards per carry. Only Achane received a target out of the three. The good news is Tua Tagovailo returns in week 8. This could propel the offense back to being one of the elite offenses. I can’t give up on Wright yet; however, it gets late early in fantasy football.
Tank Bigsby: The Jaguars met the Patriots in London last week. With Etienne injured and the game turning into a positive game script, Bigsby delivered a huge game. He recorded 118 yards and two rushing TDs. Unfortunately, he was quiet again in the passing game. It’s clear D’Ernest will be a solid backfield play in negative game scripts and Bigsby will optimize his skill set in positive game scripts.
Bucky Irving: Similar to Jalen Wright, all three Buccaneer running backs were active this week. Sean Tucker did earn a piece of the running back rotation as the coach promised; however, it was the smallest share. Each of the running backs played fairly well against the tough Raven run defense. Tucker led the group with 5.8 yards per carry on five carries. White led the backfield with 6 receptions 71 yards and two TDs on 6 targets. Irving had a solid fantasy day catching all three of his targets for 54 yards while adding 23 yards and a touchdown on the ground in his nine attempts. This has turned into one of the better rushing attacks and may be leaned upon more with Chris Godwin now out for the year.
Ray Davis: Ray Davis showed well in limited usage this week. He had 41 yards and a touchdown on five carries as well as catching his only target for six yards. Davis received significantly more opportunities than Ty Johnson and may have elbowed his way into the RB2 role for the Bills. That could lead to emergency flex consideration for fantasy teams.
Young Breakout Receivers
Second Year Players
Jayden Reed: The Packers v Texans matchup did not yield the fantasy day Reed owners anticipated (two receptions for 10 scoreless yards). However, he still led the team with 86% route participation. Don’t give up on Reed. His role hasn’t changed.
Dontayvion Wicks: After two disappointing weeks for Wicks, he bounced back with three receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown. However, with everyone healthy, he and Christian Watson split the WR3 role with each running 44% of the routes. Wicks turned in a strong 38% targets per route run and 3.00 yards per route run. They are encouraging efficiency numbers, but he’ll need to be on the field to contribute consistently.
Zay Flowers: Flowers seemed to get injured early in the game. He only missed a handful of snaps before returning, however. But he put in a muted game effort. Was that due to being hobbled? It’s unclear. He should bounce back.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Smith-Njigba continues to run hot and hold. In a day that was supposed to be a fast-paced game, Smith-Njigba only managed three receptions for nine scoreless yards on six targets. Metcalf left this game injured. Smith-Njigba will need to step up if Metcalf misses time.
Josh Downs: Downs’ is a strong fantasy start when Richardson doesn’t play it seems. But his game doesn’t seem to mesh with Richardson’s who prefers the downfield targets better. Downs ran as the WR3 on the team with 69% route participation behind Pittman and Pierce. It’s difficult to say when the young receiver and his young QB games will mesh and unlock them both.
Demario Douglas: Douglas opened the game on fire with two receptions in the first three plays. However, he succumbed to his illness and played limited snaps after that encouraging start. Hunter Henry capitalized on his absence to take many of the looks afterward. This could have been a strong day for Douglas had he been able to remain on the field.
Kayshon Boutte: Boutte repeated his starter-level snap share while leading the receivers with a 76% route participation rate. That didn’t translate to production this week with only a 6% targets per route run performance, however. It’ll be interesting to continue to monitor if Boutte keeps the role, he’s in right now or if Javon Baker or another receiver gets tried in this role. Drake Maye has the arm to utilize one of these receivers as a deep threat if the chemistry is there and the offensive line can hold up.
Tank Dell: The Texans ran the ball 33 compared with 21 pass attempts in this tilt with the Packers. Dell was held to four targets and no receptions. The Packers have a tough pass defense, but Dell and Stroud were epic last year. They have yet to recapture that glory in 2024.
Devaughn Vele: Thursday night’s game was not kind to Vele. The stat sheet will record that Vele had one catch on three targets for 20 yards. But it won’t record he had another two catches called back due to penalties that would have added another 30 yards or so to his score. This was the worst of his three games thus far and will likely fall off the fantasy radar while fellow rookie Troy Franklin re-emerged on the radar. Franklin was Bo Nix’s favorite target in college as he was in this game. He received a team-high six targets and recorded five catches for fifty yards. Franklin did this on 64% of the team’s routes (second to Courtland Sutton). Franklin earned 29% targets per route run and a strong 2.38 yards per route run.
Rookies
Malik Nabers: This was mostly a forgettable game for the Giants. Nabers was back to a full-time wide receiver after his multi-week absence with a concussion. In a blow-out loss, he only managed four receptions for 41 scoreless yards on eight targets. He continues to be a must-start in most fantasy lineups, however.
Marvin Harrison Jr.: Harrison suited up for the matchup with the Chargers’ strong defense. Harrison was held to three receptions for 21 yards on six targets. Fantasy managers had hoped to see a record-breaking rookie year for Harrison, but that has not been the case for the first half of the season.
Brian Thomas Jr.: Thomas bounced back against the Patriots this week with 29% targets per route run and 5.24 yards per route run. He did this on his way to five receptions for 89 yards and a touchdown. Thomas is a locked-in fantasy option.
Ladd McConkey: McConkey continues to be heavily involved in the Charger’s passing attack. However, the passing attack is a low-volume attack and McConkey isn’t dominating looks. He belongs to fantasy rosters, but he isn’t an easy start in lineups.
Ricky Pearsall: Pearsall was shot in the chest in the pre-season and just came off of IR. He looked poised to break into the rotation given Juaun Jennings’ absence. But Brandon Aiyuk tore his ACL in this one and Deebo Samuel left with an illness. Suddenly, Pearsall was thrust into leading the WR room in routes (81%) and tied with Aiyuk for the lead in targets (5). Can Pearsall build on this performance moving forward?
Young Tight Ends
Brock Bowers: One of the few bright spots for the Raiders this year has been the emergence of rookie tight end Bowers. He earned 13 targets this week. On the year, Bowers has run 81% of the team’s routes. He’s earned a 30% targets per route run and 2.39 yards per route run. Those are fantastic numbers for a tight end. Bowers is a top-two fantasy tight end already and a fixture in lineups at this point.
Tucker Kraft: Kraft bounced back this past week with three receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown. Houston has been stingy against opposing tight ends so reaching pay dirt was a relief for fantasy owners.
