Coming into Week 8, the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns both ranked bottom 10 in both yards and points per game. In Week 8, the two teams combined for 801 yards of offense and 57 points. More importantly, for our purposes, they combined to give us two starting Fantasy QBs, four top 33 wide receivers, and a pair of top seven tight ends. The question we have to answer now is if this was entirely because of the Panthers and Ravens defenses, or do we have something here?
The funny thing is that the Broncos go from playing the Panthers to playing the Ravens in Week 8. In other words, there will be plenty of opportunities in the passing game. The Ravens have allowed the most passing yards in the NFL and the seventh-most yards per play. Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton have a much easier matchup than the running backs, but they won't project as well as they did last week because last week, they had an implied total of 25.5, this week, they open at 17.25.
The Browns face a much tougher test against a Chargers defense that has been much better than Baltimore or Carolina. The game opens with an over/under of 40, and the Browns open as home underdogs. Then again, it's Jameis Winston, and big numbers (either touchdowns or interceptions) have followed him throughout his career. As you'll read below, I'm pretty excited for one of his pass catchers. Here are my early adjustments to the Week 9 projections and rankings:
Welcome back, T.J. Hockenson
Last year, Hockenson led the Vikings with a 24.7% target share over the first 15 weeks of the season, so his return is definitely going to make a difference. I'm projecting Hockenson at a 15% target share in his first week back, as we should expect a ramp-up period for a player coming off an ACL injury. The majority of those targets will come out of what Johnny Mundt has done this year, but I'm also downgrading Aaron Jones and Jordan Addison slightly also. As for Hockenson, I don't really want to start him in his first game back, but I also don't understand if you don't want to carry two tight ends. Hockenson will likely need a touchdown to be good for Fantasy, but the Vikings open the week with an implied total of 26 points, which helps his TD odds.
De'Von Achane is a PPR cheat code
With Tua Tagovailoa returning, I was interested to see what we saw from the first two weeks of the season that would carry over to Tagovailoa's first game back. The most obvious answer is De'Von Achane's role in the passing game. Achane saw seven targets in Week 1 and seven more in Week 2. In Tagovailoa's return, Achane saw eight targets. Those targets and Achane's efficiency made up for the fact that Raheem Mostert scored two rushing touchdowns. I've bumped Achane up to a 16% target share for Week 9. Expect him to be ranked as a top-10 running back.
There's no ignoring Cedric Tillman
I understand if one game with 12 targets was not enough for you to take notice of Cedric Tillman. How about nine more in Week 8, and 28.9 PPR Fantasy points scored? Tillman's 23.6% target share over the last two weeks is tied for the team lead with David Njoku. Jameis Winston looks far more competent at quarterback than Jameis Winston, and Tillman looks like one of his favorite targets. Tillman is still only rostered in 21% of CBS leagues, so the first piece advice is that Tillman is a must-add. You may just want to start him in Week 9 as well.
Packers pass catchers may be in trouble
Jordan Love suffered a groin injury in Week 8, and we'll likely be projecting Malik Willis as the starter in Week 9 against the Lions. Willis was much better than expected when asked to start, but he didn't throw more than 19 passes in either of his two starts. That is not enough volume for an offense that is known for spreading targets around. If Willis starts, you should be making plans to bench all of the Packers not named Josh Jacobs.
We're waiting to see who Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Stroud will be throwing to
There were even more injuries at the wide receiver position in Week 8, with Stefon Diggs, Christian Kirk, Brian Thomas, and Gabe Davis all leaving their games with injuries. Kirk has already been diagnosed with a broken collarbone, and he'll be out for the season. And Stroud was already without Nico Collins for at least one more week. If Diggs is out as well, then we're probably starting Tank Dell for at least one more week, but we'll likely be looking to bench both Lawrence and Stroud. In deeper leagues, take a look at Parker Washington, he'll move into the Kirk role. And Dalton Schultz could be a good streamer.
More ambiguity in Buffalo
After he caught four passes for 66 yards and a touchdown in Week 7, we pretty much expected Amari Cooper to seize the WR1 role in Week 8. Instead, Khalil Shakir led the team in receiving, Keon Coleman scored 18 PPR Fantasy points on seven targets, and Cooper turned two targets into three yards. And we're back to knowing nothing. I'm still projecting Cooper as the WR1 in Week 9, but Cooper, Coleman, Shakir, and Dalton Kincaid are all projected between for a target share between 17% and 22%. You're starting Kincaid, but the receivers are best viewed as boom/bust WR3s.
Jakobi Meyers is a starting wide receiver in Fantasy
In Meyers' first game back from injury, he caught six of seven targets for 52 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs. He's now seen 35 targets in his last four games, and he's averaging 14.9 PPR Fantasy points per game over that stretch. This entire offense now looks very concentrated, with 60% of the targets going to Meyers, Brock Bowers, and Alexander Mattison, while Mattison also dominates rush attempts. In a good matchup against the Bengals in Week 9, they're likely all three starters.