Fantasy Football Week 8 Takeaways
We’ve witnessed eight weeks of football so far, and fantasy football is heating up. We’re seeing some players breakout, underperform, and return from injuries. Before we dive into the article today, I wanted to start by addressing a few necessary pieces of fantasy news. First off, as all of you should know by now, Derrick Henry has suffered a fractured foot and is likely to be out for the season. Also, Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley has taken a leave of absence in order to focus on his mental health. It is unknown when he will return. Lastly, Michael Thomas has announced that he will not be returning to football this season, a big letdown for those owners who have stashed him all season. With that out of the way, let’s get to the picks for this week.
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Boom: Michael Carter
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My boom for this week is Jets running back Michael Carter. He exceeded all other running backs in week eight, finishing easily as the RB1. Carter put up 32.2 points, 7 points more than any other running back this week, which solidifies him as my pick for the boom of the week. If you read my week three article, you may remember that my buy of that week was Najee Harris after he saw 14 targets in one game. Well, Carter did just that this week. He had 9 receptions on 14 targets and rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown. These are insane numbers for any running back, but especially one who was being drafted in the last few rounds or not even at all. Also, this receiving production wasn’t a one-time thing as Carter also saw 9 targets in week seven. Obviously, Carter won’t be putting up 30 points a game, but he is definitely showing some great signs, and he might end up being one of the bigger steals of the draft.
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Bust: Travis Kelce
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Travis Kelce was a consensus first-round pick this year, but he didn’t play like it in week eight. He posted a very disappointing 4.7 points during Monday Night Football. Am I worried, though? No. Kelce has lived up to his expectations all season, and one bad game by no means changes his outlook for the rest of the season. Besides this performance, Kelce has only had one other outing with his points in the single digits. He is still the TE1 on the year by far, and even with his quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ recent struggles, there are no signs that Kelce won’t keep up with his impressive season. The only thing that this rare off-week from Kelce means is that now is the time to trade for him if any of his owners are for some reason worried about his unusually bad outing.
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Buy: George Kittle
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This is the first time this year that I have had two tight ends in one article, but since it is such a shallow position, especially this season, it is important to be on top of what to do with the tight end position. This week, I’m recommending that you go buy George Kittle. He was being drafted as the TE2 or 3 but has only disappointed since. He got off to a rocky start, averaging just over 10 points a game. Then, he immediately went down with an injury and has been out for the past four weeks. Coming back from his injury now is your last chance to buy him at such low value. Even though he wasn’t producing much while he was healthy, he had 9 and 10 target games in his last two outings. Additionally, he hasn’t received even one touchdown this year, which is another reason that his points were low. Since the 49ers don’t have too many weapons on offense this year, they’ll need to utilize Kittle significantly once he returns. This means he could easily be a top-three tight end for the rest of the season.
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Sell: Alvin Kamara
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This was not an easy pick for me as he was the best player in all of fantasy football last year and could easily bounce back and return to last year’s form. With that being said, Alvin Kamara has a lot of red flags that could hurt his fantasy value drastically. By no means is Kamara having a bad season, nor is he going to become a bum all of a sudden. My concern comes from Saints’ quarterback Jameis Winston’s recent ACL tear. Taysom Hill is set to become the starting quarterback now, and last year when Hill became the starting quarterback of the Saints, we saw an immediate drop in Kamara’s production. There is a good chance the same happens this year. Additionally, in Mark Ingram’s first game back on the Saints via a trade with the Texans, Kamara posted a season-low in snap share, and Ingram took away some of Kamara’s carries and targets. With Winston out and the new presence of Mark Ingram, Kamara is likely not going to be the same running back that we all expect him to be. Keep in mind that Kamara is still elite, so be smart and don’t trade him away just for the sake of trading him.
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(All scoring is based on ESPN point-per-reception leagues)