Fantasy Football Week 8 Takeaways: Surprises and Disappointments (2024)

Week 8 was characterized by a mix of surprises, expected wins and losses. The organizer of the biggest surprise of the week was one of the most pleasant surprises of the week. A much-maligned position also reached its peak on Sunday. It wasn't all rainbows and sunshine, however. Two losing teams were the most notable disappointments in Week 8. Finally, a second-year quarterback continues to struggle, which is notable going forward.

Fantasy Football Week 8 Surprises

Jameis Winston saved Cleveland's fantasy value

The Browns had 18 points or fewer in all seven games prior to Sunday. Additionally, they had only exceeded the 300-yard mark once and the 250-yard mark twice. The Browns were an absolute disaster with Deshaun Watson as their starter.

The Browns had 29 points and 401 yards of offense in Week 8 over the Ravens. Jameis Winston's first start of the year was undoubtedly a huge success. The Browns had four pass catchers with over 60 yards, three over 75, two over 80 and Cedric Tillman paced the team with 99 yards. Tillman also had two touchdowns and David Njoku reached paydirt.

Jerry Jeudy had five receptions and 79 receiving yards on eight targets, but Elijah Moore outdid him with eight, 85 and 12. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Jeudy led the team in routes with 43, followed by Tillman's 40 and Njoku's 35 and Moore's 33. Njoku is a set-it-and-forget-it TE1 from now on. Tillman is a priority waiver claim. However, Moore and Jeudy are also viable backup players in leagues with 12 or more teams. While Moore ran fewer routes than Jeudy in Week 8, he is the more interesting waiver commitment due to his superior targets per route run.

Nick Chubb's stock has also risen. He handled 16 of Cleveland's 23 rush attempts and ran 19 routes compared to 13 from Pierre Strong and six from D'Onta Foreman. Chubb had a disappointing 52 rushing yards and zero receptions. Still, his effort was encouraging and Winston's ability to lead the offense to points is a boon to Chubb's scoring ability. Chubb is a buy candidate as a volume-driven RB2/flex choice with more upside as he regains his pre-surgery form moving forward.

National Tight End Day lived up to the hype

The fantasy football season is long and winding. The early season concerns about tight ends may have been unfounded. After 11 tight ends scored at least 10.0 half-point-per-reception (half-PPR) points in Week 7, 15 reached that threshold this week.

The tight ends exploded on National Tight End Day. Travis Kelce's 10 receiving yards were the most at the position, while tight ends George Kittle had 128 receiving yards. There were 14 tight ends with at least five receptions, 15 with at least 50 receiving yards and 15 with a touchdown. Cade Otton and Kyle Pitts each had a position-high two touchdowns. Trey McBride (nine receptions for 124 yards), Sam LaPorta (six for 48 and one touchdown), Brock Bowers (five for 58), Mark Andrews (five for 36 and one), Dalton Kincaid (four for 31 and one) and Njoku (five for 61 and one) all deserve to be praised. Players can breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to tight ends.

Fantasy Football Week 8 disappointments

JETS Stink, stink, stink

On Sunday there was a duel for the Jets in which everything was right. Instead, they lost to the Patriots. However, it wasn't just a loss for the Patriots. It was a loss for the Patriots after Drake Maye was sidelined with a concussion and Jacoby Brissett filled in for him.

A week after allowing 409 yards of offense and 37 points to the Steelers, they threw 247 and 25 to the Patriots. Gang Green's defense is elite amid the misguided media hype. Players shouldn't be afraid to use quality fantasy players against them.

The offense is also dubious. The Jets played a pitiful 57 games. Their playing volume is a nightmare for their imaginative possibilities. According to RotoViz's pace app, the Jets had the fifth-fewest plays per 60 minutes (63) through Week 7.

Garrett Wilson had an outstanding performance with eight goals, five balls and 113 scoreless yards. The same cannot be said for Davante Adams. The veteran wideout had six scores, four receptions and 54 yards with no points. Wilson and Adams are in the WR2 bucket.

Breece Hall put up a solid but unspectacular effort, throwing the rock 16 times for 80 scoreless yards and adding a nine-yard reception on three scores. However, Hall's underlying data was discouraging. He had just 59.3% of the backfield's rush attempts, ran 14 routes to Braelon Allen's five and also gave up a two-yard rushing touchdown to Allen. Hall is an RB1, but he's not a world beater after Allen reemerged to reduce his workload. Additionally, as the season gets further and further along, the Jets could theoretically save some tread on Hall's tires by giving his burly rookie teammate a few more touches.

The Seahawks crashed and burned in Week 8

The Seahawks had 10 points Sunday and scored their only touchdown with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter when they trailed 31-3. The Bills dominated Seattle's defense, but Seattle's offense didn't have a day to be excited about.

Geno Smith had a team-high 16 rushing yards, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba was Seattle's only player with over 35 receiving yards, grabbing six receptions for 69 scoreless yards. The Seahawks were missing DK Metcalf, and their offense could continue to struggle while he is unable to play due to his knee injury. The answer to the question of who would step up in the pass-catching corps in Metcalf's absence was “None.”

Players may call Kenneth Walker's lousy effort a hiccup. Still, he could suffer if Metcalf is unable to return against the Rams this week. JSN is an unexciting PPR cheat and Tyler Lockett is a bench option that could actually be more useful with Metcalf healthy than without his talented VP.

Other note

Anthony Richardson is a gift to opposing defenses

Anthony Richardson is a train wreck. A week after completing 41.7% of his passes, he completed 31.3% in Week 8 against the Texans. The second-year quarterback has completed just 20 of 56 pass attempts (35.7%) for 304 yards, one touchdown and one interception in two games since returning to his starting role after missing two games due to injury.

Somehow things got worse for Richardson. He also had a career-best performance with five sacks against Houston. Richardson's previous high was four in his first career start. Players should be excited to start defending against the Colts as long as Richardson starts. He's also a nightmare for Indianapolis' pass-catching options.

Will the Colts follow in Carolina's footsteps and use their young starting quarterback as a capable backup? Perhaps. Joe Flacco would increase the fantasy value of Michael Pittman and Josh Downs.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. Find out more from Josh here Archive and follow him @BChad50.