Fantasy Football Week 8 News & Notes: Adam Thielen ruled out for Thursday night; trade deadline spurs action

Ben Gretch gets you up to speed on the latest headlines for Fantasy Football in Week 8.

By Ben Gretch

Oct 23, 2019 at 3:06 pm ET • 4 min read

One of the best trends in recent seasons has been more of a willingness across the NFL for teams to make deadline deals.

This year has been no different, with cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and Marcus Peters moving last week and wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Mohamed Sanu changing rosters in the last few days. This week also brought safety Quandre Diggs going from Detroit to Seattle, cornerback Gareon Conley from Oakland to Houston and guard Austin Corbett going from Cleveland to the Rams.

And the rumor mill is just heating up in advance of next Tuesday's (Oct. 29) deadline. As far as the deals that have been made, we have reactions for the Sanu trade, Sanders trade and also Kerryon Johnson going to IR.

But there is plenty more news to keep track of. Here are all the important pieces of information that may have slipped through the cracks while the NFL world reacted to the trades.

Adam Thielen has been ruled out for Thursday night's game with Washington. Last week, Olabisi Johnson saw a big uptick in playing time in Thielen's absence, and each of the two main tight ends — Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith — saw some extra volume. But Minnesota ultimately projects to go run-heavy in a game where they are double-digit favorites, so while Stefon Diggs becomes a must-start, the other pass-catchers are more just desperation plays, as none of the three have particularly bankable target projections behind Diggs.
Chris Thompson is still missing practices for Washington, and looks unlikely to play Thursday. Adrian Peterson has an ankle injury, but is insisting he will suit up in a return to Minnesota, where he played the bulk of his career. Wendell Smallwood is the third name to know in this backfield as a potential emergency Fantasy option if both Thompson and Peterson were to miss.
Will Fuller's hamstring injury is more serious than Thielen's, and the team has indicated he'll miss significant time. Fuller has a history of hamstring injuries, so it's no surprise the team wants him at full health before he returns. In the meantime, Kenny Stills will slide right into Fuller's role, as he did last Sunday. Stills played a whopping 94% snap share after Fuller left early in Week 7 and is a boom-or-bust WR3 option in the short-term given he projects to see plenty of downfield looks.
Sterling Shepard indicated he'll be back this season after his second concussion, and went so far as to say it's "just gonna be this week or next week." His return will get the Giants at full strength alongside each of Saquon Barkley, Golden Tate and Evan Engram. Tate has seen solid volume the past two weeks while Engram's previously massive volume has fallen off a bit, and we'll have to monitor where the targets go once Shepard is back.
Mike Tomlin indicated running back Jaylen Samuels has already resumed partial practices, putting him ahead of his initial timeline. If he was dropped in your league, he makes for a solid back-of-the-roster stash.
The Browns are in the offensive tackle market, and our Jason La Canfora hears they are targeting Nate Solder in the event they are unable to acquire Trent Williams from Washington. Williams is the superior tackle, and has been staying away from the team this season due to what appears to be an irreparable rift between him and the team. But Washington also appears reluctant to deal him. The Browns need all the offensive line help they can get, and Williams would be a significant upgrade, while Solder looks like more of a lateral move.
The Saints released Zach Zenner, who they added last week with Alvin Kamara out. That seems to be an indication Kamara could play in Week 8 against Arizona, though New Orleans has a Week 9 bye. It's possible the Saints just didn't like what they got out of Zenner and will add another body if Kamara is unable to go, so this bears monitoring.
The Cardinals signed Alfred Morris. This should be read virtually the opposite of the Zenner release, in that it's not a great sign for David Johnson's availability. In one of the weirder usage notes I can remember, Johnson started Week 7 but played just three snaps while Chase Edmonds went wild on the Giants. Coach Kliff Kingsbury said that Johnson was only active for emergency purposes — which doesn't explain his starting role — and that he didn't feel right after a few plays. It's possible Johnson aggravated something and he's looking iffy for Week 8.