Listen, we knew Jameis Winston was going to be an upgrade over Deshaun Watson. We also knew the Ravens have not-so-secretly become a smash spot for enemy signal callers. But my oh my oh my. Winston, a 10th-year pro on his third team in six seasons, looked like he was playing a different sport than the quarterback he replaced.
Winston’s 334 yards were 138 more than Watson managed in any game this season. That differential is just 32 yards fewer than Watson averaged in his six completed starts. Winston threw three touchdowns. Watson had six all year. Winston was sacked only twice. Watson never took fewer than two sacks, and averaged five in his completed appearances. Winston guided three separate receivers to at least 79 yards. Watson produced precisely one 79-yard wide receiver performance all year.
Again, different sports. Also, different players. Winston was lucky he didn’t die in a hail of interceptions. The Ravens flat dropped multiple giveaways. But you know what might cause a few giveaways? Actually moving the ball. Actually throwing down the field. Actually playing the position of quarterback. All season long we heard about a shaky Browns supporting cast. Winston made them look immediately viable. We have to remember, Winston is probably better in fantasy football than “real life.” Then again, he now has as many “QB wins” as Watson this season. His came against one of the Super Bowl favorites.
Two important lessons? 1. Never make the move that doesn’t feel right. 2. Let your quarterbacks actually throw the damn ball. Winston is the better player than Watson, and will undoubtedly remain so for 2025 if the Browns remain undecided on the situation.
Five Week 8 Storylines
Cedric Tillman proves Week 7 wasn’t entirely a fluke. The most striking aspect of the Jame-aissance has been Tillman’s nearly overnight transformation from disappointing second-year pro who caught only three balls in six weeks to begin the year to … potential No. 1 receiver? Things still seem unlikely to progress that far, but Tillman is tied for second in catches (15) over the past two weeks. Aka, the Winston epoch in Cleveland. Of course, that’s a bit misleading in a way that’s good for Tillman. He actually started catching balls upon Amari Cooper’s trade, and drew Week 7 looks from Watson and “DTR.” He simply got opportunities and is suddenly taking advantage of them. Jerry Jeudy might still be the best, sure-to-disappoint bet here, but Tillman needs to be 100 percent rostered as the rare mid-season wideout who might actually be breaking out.
Stefon Diggs suffers non-contact knee injury as Texans’ offense continues to underwhelm. It can be a bit hard to believe since the Texans are 6-2, but their offense is actually one of the biggest disappointments of the year. Things are about to get worse with fading veteran Diggs appearing to wreck his knee against the Colts. “Wreck” is what opposing defenses have been doing to the Texans’ hilariously bad offensive line, making it difficult for C.J. Stroud to get anyone in rhythm, including himself. The only option at this point seems to be to wait for Nico Collins’ (hamstring) impending Week 10 return. Stroud won’t find himself anywhere close to QB1 value for Thursday night’s game against the Jets, and it isn’t worth finding out which member of the Bob Woods Brigade behind Tank Dell operates as the No. 2 receiver.
Jordan Love picks up new injury and doesn’t finish game vs. Jags. Hobbling around for the better part of three quarters after tweaking his knee, Love got a cheap shot love tap from Travon Walker when he wasn’t watching and somehow suffered a game-ending groin injury. This being Love — already proven to be one tough cookie — he spent an eternity limping around trying to get back into the contest, but he ultimately had to finish on the sidelines. It’s a brutal blow with a potentially NFC North-deciding contest with the Lions on tap for Week 9, but with the Packers on bye in Week 10, I’m expecting Love to get a week of rest. That renders everyone but Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft unplayable in this offense, and even they will be risky, boom-or-bust options with Malik Willis under center.
Injury apocalypse befalls Jaguars’ receiver corps. Love wasn’t the only injury in Jacksonville. Far from it. At the risk of being hyperbolic, there was something of a final destination-ing going on in the Jags’ wideout group, with Gabe Davis (shoulder) being the first to fall in the second quarter. Then came Brian Thomas Jr. (ribs) in the third and Christian Kirk (collarbone) in the fourth. Kirk is already out for the season. That leaves Davis and BTJ to stay glued to the rehab table ahead of Week 9 against the Eagles. Although it’s awful news for a Jags team that — 1. Either needed Kirk’s depth, or 2. Could have traded Kirk — it’s ultimately a good development for BTJ’s fantasy managers provided he’s avoided serious injury. The WR1 statlines are finally going to be accompanied by WR1 workloads.
Jets and Aaron Rodgers have fewer answers than ever. The schedule had been admittedly brutal. 2-5 wasn’t acceptable, either way, but the Bills, Broncos, Mike Tomlin, Brian Flores … those are not fun defenses to play. The Patriots were supposed to be part of the long-awaited letup. Instead, they functionally ended the Aaron Rodgers era in New York, rug pulling the Jets for the worst loss of the season and leaving them in need of a miracle to make the playoffs. Even a strong 7-2 finish would probably leave them on the outside looking in at 9-8. For fantasy purposes, Davante Adams appears to have cleared down-field space for Garrett Wilson, but with the Jets’ operation moving molasses slow and proving addicted to pre-snap penalties and burned timeouts, the play volume might not exist for both receivers to produce top-20 numbers.
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Five More Week 8 Storylines
Dolphins’ offense resumes normal operations with Tua Tagovailoa. Unfortunately, that also included not being quite as efficient or explosive as last season. De’Von Achane was an exception to that rule, looking much more like his 2023 self than struggling 2024 version with backup quarterbacks Tyler Huntley and Tim Boyle. The questions now turn to the receiver corps, where neither Tyreek Hill nor Jaylen Waddle were really jump-started against a not-great Cardinals defense. “Not great” will be a theme in the season’s middle stretch — @LAR, vs. LV, vs. NE — but not in Week 9. The same Bills team that injured Tua in Week 2 and ultimately dominated Mike McDaniel’s offensive machine is hosting the Dolphins after obliterating the Seahawks on Sunday. Even when the ‘Fins play well against Buffalo, it tends to be lower scoring. Don’t expect the Hill and Waddle breakouts just yet.
Keon Coleman and Khalil Shakir have huge games for new-ish look Bills. Which brings us to those Bills. One constant of Amari Cooper’s career? Statistical letdowns impressive in their poor timing. Fantasy managers were expecting step two after Cooper’s solid 4/66/1 Bills debut. What they got instead was one catch for three yards as Shakir had the best game of his career and Coleman officially started a hot streak after breaking out in Week 7. Cooper’s role in all this has been hard to pin down. The Bills’ passing attack has been much more explosive since his arrival. Is it because teams are defending them differently, or did the Bills decide to go more pass heavy before acquiring Cooper? It doesn’t really matter. With the Bills seemingly giving up on their sluggish early-season approach, Cooper is a strong WR3, Shakir a floor-based WR3/4, and Coleman an upside WR4.
Calvin Ridley finally wakes up for Titans’ offense. The Titans claimed they weren’t going to just force the ball to Ridley upon DeAndre Hopkins’ trade out of town. Tell that to his six first quarter targets. When the dust settled, Ridley had his most receptions (10) and yards (143) since Week 15 2020 with the Falcons. It was partly a function of score-chasing in a 52-14 blowout loss, but again, the ball was being forced his way while the game was still in doubt. There’s also a paucity of not only better options in Tennessee, but any options. Is Mason Rudolph going to jam the ball to Tyler Boyd and Chig Okonkwo? And speaking of Rudolph, this is what he did with George Pickens upon his insertion as signal caller in Pittsburgh last season. Will Levis could return under center with the Titans’ season already over, but Rudolph would be Ridley’s ticket to steady WR2 value.
Anthony Richardson regresses instead of moving forward. Richardson is running out of tests to fail. One. That’s how many Colts pass catchers had more than one reception Sunday. Once. That’s how many times Richardson has completed more than 10 passes this season. Once. That’s how many times Richardson … asked out of Sunday’s loss because he was tired? This experiment is spiraling along with Richardson’s 44.4 completion percentage on 133 throws. Since 2000, there have only been three QBs with a worse completion percentage on that many attempts: 2000 Akili Smith, 2013 Josh Freeman, and 2002 “Mike McMahon.” It’s getting harder to justify even rostering talented players like Josh Downs and Michael Pittman Jr., let alone start them. There’s not going to be a Week 9 reprieve vs. the Vikings’ foreboding defense.
Bo Nix steps further into streamerland. If Richardson has been where supposed QB2 streamer value has gone to die, Bix is where it is surprisingly thriving. Well, QB2 streamer could be under-selling it. Nix is now the … QB16 by average fantasy points, hinting at a player who could end up pushing for QB1 value if he keeps running and improving as a passer. I’m not holding my breath just yet. Nix is still averaging fewer than six yards per attempt and 200 yards per week. Sunday’s QB2 overall smash was against the most embarrassing team in the league. The Broncos still have no one breaking out in the passing game or backfield. This is a highly-conservative attack. But, but … if you want to get really wild, Week 9 opponent Baltimore is allowing the third most QB fantasy points and most weekly passing yards.
Don’t miss episodes of Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry and Rotoworld Football Show all season long for the latest player news, waiver wire help, start/sit advice, and much more.
Questions
1. This is more of a statement than a question: Kyle Hamilton, bro…
2. So, uhh, any other teams want to let a player run the entire franchise?
3. Can someone tell the Bears they can keep re-living the 1986 Super Bowl for as long as they like as long as they don’t try to re-create it during the game?
Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
QB: Matthew Stafford (@SEA), Trevor Lawrence (@PHI), Justin Herbert (@CLE), Jameis Winston (vs. LAC), Bo Nix (@BAL), Derek Carr (@CAR)
RB: Tyler Allgeier, Braelon Allen, Jaylen Warren, Ray Davis, Jaleel McLaughlin, Kimani Vidal, Audric Estime
WR: Cedric Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, Keon Coleman, Josh Downs, Ricky Pearsall, Jalen McMillan, Rashod Bateman, Kayson Boutte, Elijah Moore
TE: Hunter Henry, Taysom Hill, Zach Ertz, Tyler Conklin, Will Dissly, Jonnu Smith, Brenton Strange
DEF: Saints (@CAR), Commanders (@NYG), Bengals (vs. LV), Titans (vs. NE), Patriots (@TEN)
Stats of the Week
The state of the Jets, via Dan Orlovsky’s statsman: Scored 20-plus points. Didn’t turn it over. Allowed fewer than 250 yards. In NFL history, teams are 750-1 (including playoffs) when generating that box score. The only loss was the Jets yesterday.”
More Jets pain, from Brian Costello: “The Jets have scored three points on their opening drives this season.”
Via Ian Hartitz: “Baker Mayfield has thrown an NFL-high 49 touchdowns since Week 1 of last season.”
Ian again: “Per Pro Football Reference, the Lions’ 61 passing yards are the fewest by a team when scoring 50-plus points in the Super Bowl era. Previous low mark was 117.”
And just like that, Ladd McConkey is inside the top 24 by average PPR WR points.
Awards Section
Week 8 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Jalen Hurts, RB Josh Jacobs, RB De’Von Achane, WR CeeDee Lamb, WR Ladd McConkey, WR Cedric Tillman, TE Cade Otton
Week 8 All Bank Examiner Squad: QB Caleb Williams, RB Kenneth Walker, RB Jordan Mason, WR Davante Adams, WR DJ Moore, WR Amari Cooper, TE Jake Ferguson
Tweet of the Week, from Mark Paul: “A relatively normal Sirianni press conference. Things really may be turning around.”
Tweet of the Week II, from Jason Brown: “Why does it feel like Panthers Broncos play at 4est every week?”
