ARI
It was a dreadful week for the Arizona Cardinals passing attack, especially leading receiver DeAndre Hopkins who had just two targets in this one. Because of this dreadful week, the gap has close between him and his teammates. A.J. Green has 43 targets after his eight in Week 8 and Christian Kirk has 42 after seeing six looks. To be fair to Hopkins, he was in and out of the lineup due to a hamstring injury that caused him to log just 24% of snaps. If he can’t play in Week 9, A.J. Green has already been ruled out due to the health and safety protocols, putting Christian Kirk in the limelight.
Another day at the office for Chase Edmonds through the air as he chipped in with four more targets in the passing game and is now the eighth most targeted running back in the NFL. At current pace, Edmonds will just fall short of 80 targets, which is an elite mark for any running back. Zach Ertz looked good once again in his Cardinals uniform and is trending towards a TE1.
ATL
With Calvin Ridley stepping away from the game to work on his mental health, Russell Gage was the receiver expected to step up. That just didn’t happen. Not only did it not happen, he did even have a single target. Not even one. Tajai Sharpe on the other hand saw six looks come his way. This was the second time in the last three weeks he notched at least 68% of the offensive snaps and in both of those games he’s had at least five targets. If this is something that will continue -- and there’s no reason to think it won’t -- Sharpe has deep league appeal. I don’t think Gage will ever see ZERO targets again and I’m not ready to just fully give up on him.
After a week being uninvolved, Davis was back in the Falcons’ game plan and saw six targets, which was tied for the team lead. You can hate on Davis all you want, but with Calvin Ridley out of the lineup, it’s going to force Cordarrelle Patterson outside much more and Davis will be involved out of the backfield. He’s a steady producer and has double-figure fantasy points in all but ONE game this year in PPR formats. It was a disappointing week for Kyle Pitts, but I expect that to change drastically moving forward. There’s no way ATL isn’t getting him involved throughout the entire game for the remainder of the year.
BAL
Week 8 bye week.
BUF
Stefon Diggs had a very solid game, scoring for a second straight week, but he wasn’t the receiver with the most targets in Week 8. That was Cole Beasley. Beasley was dominant notching 10 receptions on 13 targets for 110 yards. Beasley had played 50% or less of snaps for two straight weeks and then the Bills realized keeping him on the field makes their offense that much more dangerous and have now played him over 71% in two straight games. Maybe the most surprising thing is that Gabriel Davis was targeted more than Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders still played a majority of the snaps, but it’s worth noting Davis’ snap count has been back to 44% in back-to-back weeks.
The running backs are just not involved at all and unless Dawson Knox plays, neither are the tight ends.
CAR
I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but DJ Moore is the only viable receiver in this receiving corps worth rostering.
Until Christian McCaffrey returns, Chuba Hubbard is a viable option despite having his worst week in the passing game in three weeks.
CHI
If you haven’t benched Allen Robinson by now, you’re in serious trouble. Justin Fields finally had a good fantasy day in Week 8 and it was because of his work on the ground. It had nothing to do with Robinson or the passing game. If ANYONE is viable, Darnell Mooney has had five or more targets in every game since Week 4 including a season high nine in Week 8.
For someone who wasn’t a factor through the air in college AT ALL, things could be worse than 10 targets over the last three games for Khalil Herbert. Show a little versatility now! He ran 29 routes! That is very solid. As for Cole Kmet, he was targeted six times for the second straight game and five or more times in three straight. It’s very encouraging to see the chemistry growing between him and Justin Fields.
CIN
The three headed monster that is Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd all saw six or more targets in Week 8 with Boyd and Chase seeing eight leading the way. Both of them also got into the end zone, but the most memorable play was Higgins’ acrobatic catch down the sidelines, right before the endzone. Two yards away from a score. Anyway, Chase and Higgins remain the best two fantasy assets while Boyd is on the outside looking in despite scoring last week.
The running backs have been inconsistent all ready in the passing game and after a goose egg last week, Mixon saw five looks come his way for the second time in three games. Whether or not he’s involved in the passing game or not, each week it’s why (or why not) now that Giovani Bernard is gone. CJ Uzomah was a ghost again and without touchdowns, he’s going to be a ghost. Nothing more than the fifth option.
CLE
Boy oh boy are things in Cleveland wild or what?! Jarvis Landry dominated the targets with 10 in Week 8, but the only thing that matters right now is Odell Beckham Jr. He had one target in Week 8 and now has been dismissed from practice the last two days and who KNOWS how this is going to end. Release? Sits out? FORCED TO PLAY? We should have answers soon, but right now, Landry is the only receiver we can own in Cleveland.
DAL
With each passing week, it has seemed like Amari Cooper has gotten healthier and healthier and the better he’s been offensively. Cooper had his second week with at least 13 targets this year in Week 8 and had the game winning touchdown here. CeeDee Lamb was also heavily involved in the offense, seeing eight targets. After eight weeks, Lamb holds the target edge by ONE over Cooper. Cedrick Wilson is there too, but Michael Gallup is on the cusp of returning.
After not being heavily involved to start the year, the weeks before and after the bye have been WAY different for Ezekiel Elliott. He ALWAYS should have been this involved in the passing game. He had nine targets the week prior to the bye and had six the weeka after. He could be amongst the league leaders in targets at the position, but ceded a lot of targets to Tony Pollard earlier in the year. Not anymore. Dalton Schultz STILL only has one outing with less than six targets. JUST ONE. Impressive.
DEN
It was a rough week through the air for all Denver receivers and things aren’t going to get any easier with Jerry Jeudy back in action. Yes, Jeudy and Sutton will eventually phase Tim Patrick out of fantasy relevancy, but they only saw four targets to Patrick’s three.
Teddy Bridgewater LOVES throwing the ball to his running backs, but the problem remains the same here; there’s two of them sharing the workload. Gordon scored twice in Week 8, however. Noah Fant had a quiet Week 8, much like everyone in Denver not named Melvin Gordon.
DET
D'Andre Swift, T.J. Hockenson and move right along, people.
GB
Without Davante Adams and Allen Lazard, the Packers called upon Randall Cobb to be their knight and shining armor and he responded with seven targets and two touchdowns.
The leading target getter for Green Bay in this game was Aaron Jones. He saw a whopping 11 targets and has now had four or more in five straight games. Jones is on pace for 83 targets this season.
HOU
The leader by a MILE in Houston is Brandin Cooks. He has more than 50 targets than Nico Collins who’s in second for this team.
I think an interesting note is while we thought David Johnson and Phillip Lindsay would see the bump with Mark Ingram shipped off the NOLA, it was actually Rex Burkhead. Burkhead had four targets, which led the team, and scored a touchdown. Something of note is Jordan Akins has had five more targets in two of his last three games.
IND
This is Michael Pittman’s world and we’re just living in it. He had his third double-digit target outing of the year in Week 8 posting a season high 15. He also scored twice and finished as the WR2 in Week 8. Zach Pascal has a chance to succeed in this offense too if T.Y. Hilton doesn’t play moving forward. He had eight targets in Week 8 and has failed to notch less than five targets just once this year.
JAC
No, it wasn’t Laviska Shenault that led the charge in targets. No, it wasn’t Marvin Jones either. It was Jamal Agnew. Jamal Freakin’ Agnew. He saw 12 looks and scored the Jags touchdown as well. Jacksonville moved Shenault out wide, a position he’s not great in, so that they can use Agnew in the slot. He’s had 26 targets in the last three games and is becoming a viable fantasy asset this year.
With James Robinson forced out of action, Carlos Hyde picked up the slack and was targeted EIGHT times in a game script that worked out in his favor. He is a very viable option in Week 9 if Robinson can’t go and should once again be a factor in the passing attack. The leader in FP at the tight end position in Week 8? Hey Arnold! I mean Dan Arnold. Arnold saw 10 targets and has now had games of eight, five and 10 over his last three with his new team. Arnold has become a TE1 moving forward.
KC
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better for Tyreek Hill, he puts up an 18 target outing. He has 90 targets through eight games. 90! He’s battled injury throughout, too, which makes it that much more impressive. For the fourth straight week, Mecole Hardman had five or more targets.
Darrel Williams had his best game in the passing attack in a game we saw Derrick Gore break out in for the Chiefs. Williams, however, was the one who saw six targets. Travis Kelce saw seven targets. Water is wet.
LA
We all know how good Cooper Kupp has been. We all know how good Robert Woods has been. How under-the-radar has Van Jefferson been though? Jefferson secured at least six targets for the second week in a row and has done just that in four of his last six. With DeSean Jackson out of town, Jefferson has a clear path to targets as the third receiver in a high octane offense.
It was a very quiet week for the likes of Darrell Henderson and Tyler Higbee in Week 7.
LAC
Has anyone seen Mike Williams? Hello? He’s been bad in each of the last two games and only has 10 targets over that span. He had 10+ targets in three of his first five games and now it’s taking him two games to get there. Keenan Allen took back an eight target lead in the Chargers receiving corps after his 11 target day.
It’s crazy to think about the fact that Austin Ekeler did not have a single target in Week 1. He hasn’t had less than five and is coming off a season-high 10 in Week 8. He’s currently on pace for 102 targets this year. Jared Cook was the only Chargers tight end that saw any targets in Week 8 with five.
LV
Week 8 bye week.
MIA
We have yet to see how this will play out when everyone’s healthy, but the returning DeVante Parker saw a whopping 11 targets after missing the three games prior. That wasn’t as much as Jaylen Waddle’s 12, but apparently there’s enough targets to go around for both of them.
The 23 targets they saw limited the upside of Myles Gaskin and Mike Gesicki however. They both saw just four targets in Week 8 and we had been talking up Gesicki for some time now but the elephant in the room was always what happens when the Dolphins pass catchers get healthy?
MIN
Week 8 was BY FAR the worst and quietest week of Justin Jefferson’s season. Trevon Diggs had a lot to say about that, but with Jefferson struggling, Adam Thielen stepped up. As fantastic as a season that Jefferson has had, Thielen has just four targets less this year. BOTH guys had had just one week with less than seven targets this year.
NE
There’s not many bad things you can say about the targets Jakobi Meyers is getting, the production is just lagging behind a bit. He’s literally 12th in the entire league in targets but is WR37 and has had one week as a top-20 wide out this year. Positive regression HAS to come, right? Kendrick Bourne had a nice Week 8 seeing seven looks while Nelson Agholor had his second straight with at least five.
Normally the New England running backs are active in the passing game, but Rhamondre Stevenson led the way with just two targets. Same thing can be said about the tight ends and Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry combined for five targets.
NO
This is a TOUGH sell situation for any pass catcher moving forward if Taysom Hill is the quarterback. TOUGH sell.
NYG
Sterling Shepard returned from injury to see seven targets…..before leaving to injury and now will be out multiple weeks. Kadarius Toney also returned and got hurt in Week 8, but he was able to return to the game and said he’s fine moving forward. Toney should be a focal part of this Giants passing attack with Shepard out. We could get the return of Kenny Golladay in Week 9, so that’s something to monitor.
Nobody wants to believe Devontae Booker can be successful, but he continues to do so. He had a monster game in Week 8 and secured six targets and had 150 total yards too. Evan Engram made his first trip into the end zone on a season low four targets and Kyle Rudolph also scored. Good day for the Giants tight ends.
NYJ
With Corey Davis out, Jamison Crowder stepped up and led the way with nine targets. Young phenom receiver Elijah Moore had six looks and took a carry into the end zone as well. Moore should be a focal part of this offense moving forward and is a definite add on waivers if he’s available.
It’s hard to ignore what Michael Carter and Ty Johnson have done in the passing game the last two weeks and will likely continue moving forward. Carter has moved into RB2 territory with Mike White under center while Ty Johnson is a fringe FLEX play.
PHI
The receiving corps was an afterthought in this game that Eagles scored FOUR rushing touchdowns. Only thing worth mentioning is that Dallas Goedert once again had a TE1 usage this week.
PIT
Diontae Johnson’s targets this year are 10, 12, 13, 2, 13 and 13. INSANE, man. He’s the only one on the planet that wants Ben Roethlisberger to keep playing.
This was Najee Harris’ worst receiving deployment since Week 1 so we should consider it more of an aberration than anything else. With Eric Ebron out, Pat Freiermuth saw seven targets for the second consecutive week and finished as a top-five tight end in PPR formats. If Ebron continues to miss time, Freiermuth is firmly on our fantasy radar.
SEA
DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, end scene. Something interesting is that Tyler Lockett has now overthrown Metcalf in terms of targets, 58 to 56.
SF
If Cooper Kupp wasn’t around, would we be talking about Deebo Samuel’s season more? He has failed to have a game with less than eight targets, has had 10+ in four of the seven and is on pace for 172 targets. 172! Good to see Brandon Aiyuk with a pulse. He had a season high seven targets in Week 8.
TB
With Antonio Brown out, it should come as a surprise at all that Chris Godwin balled the hell out. He’s now had 23 targets in the last two games and has topped 10 targets in three of his last four games. Two years ago we saw Godwin finish in the top-five of all fantasy receivers in points and as long as Brown is out, he could continue to show out. He’s playing for a new contract by the way. Although Evans had a down week in Week 8, both he and Godwin are WR1 on a weekly basis with Antonio Brown out of the lineup.
Uncle Lenny again! Leonard Fournette is so, so productive in the passing game. Only once this year has he had less than four targets as he racked up another five in Week 8. He’s an RB1 right now and there’s nothing you can do about it.
TEN
With Derrick Henry going down, the A.J. Brown ascent to the moon has begun. I mean, it had begun a few weeks prior and maybe all it took was a bowl of Chipotle to really get him going. Same, A.J. Same. Chipotle gets me going to. Unless Julio Jones is active and playing, Brown is going to DOMINATE the snaps, targets and receptions.
WAS
It’s really been Terry McLaurin and that’s the end of the list in Washington. Why risk rosteing DeAndre Carter and his inconsistencies, Cam Sims or Dyami Brown either?
In terms of everyone else, J.D. McKissic continues to dominate the passing game. After his eight targets this past week, he has 24 targets over his last three games and hasn’t had less than four since Week 3. Gibson has eight targets over that span and has had just ONE game with more than four targets this year. That came in Week 1. Ricky Seals-Jones finally let us down in Week 8 and now when Washington comes out of it’s bye, Logan Thomas will be back.