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Eli analyzes players who overperformed and underperformed from last week to find potential Week 8 fantasy football buy-lows, sleepers and risers based on play-calling and historical data for the 2022 NFL season.
This is the eighth week of this series where I dive into offensive areas that will improve or decline based on past coaching trends in order to glean insight as to fantasy football value.
In Week 8, we saw stat lines such as the Arizona Cardinals running back room combining for 30 rushing yards, the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver room scoring four touchdowns, and the Tennessee Titans' wide receiver room seeing three targets.
After these types of performances, it is important to look at each of these teams' coaches and their playcalling tendencies to see if these performances are likely to continue, if they will change for the better, or if they will change for the worse.
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Fantasy Football Improvement Ahead?
This article will take a look at which of these areas are in line for improvement and which areas are in line for a decline in future weeks. Let's dive in! These are the areas and positions that will likely improve in the coming weeks, based on the team's play-caller tendencies in the past.
Arizona Cardinals Running Backs
Kliff Kingsbury
| RB Carries | RB Rush Yds | RB Rush TD | RB Rec. | RB Tgts | RB Rec. Yds | RB Rec. TD | |
| 2021 Cardinals | 21.24 | 87.94 | 1.06 | 5.24 | 6.06 | 44.82 | 0.18 |
| Kliff Kingsbury Prior (48 games) | 19.90 | 84.60 | 0.90 | 5.04 | 6.29 | 41.13 | 0.27 |
| Cardinals RBs vs. Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 29 | 0 |
The Arizona Cardinals running back room combined for 14 carries, 30 rushing yards, zero rushing touchdowns, six receptions, 10 targets, 29 receiving yards, and zero receiving touchdowns in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings this past Sunday. On the season this group has now totaled 153 carries (19.13 per game), 610 rushing yards (76.25 per game), five rushing touchdowns (0.63 per game), 43 receptions (5.38 per game), 61 targets (7.63 per game), 304 receiving yards (38 per game), and zero receiving touchdowns (zero per game).
While Sunday's performance was disappointing, on the season the Cardinals running back room is being utilized around the same level that Kliff Kingsbury's running back room typically is. If you are rostering one of the Cardinals running backs, you really need their efficiency to improve because otherwise, it's unlikely that they escape FLEX territory.
Fantasy players this impacts: James Conner, Eno Benjamin, Darrel Williams, Keaontay Ingram
Tennessee Titans Wide Receivers
Todd Downing
| WR Rec. | WR Tgts | WR Rec. Yds | WR Rec. TD | |
| 2021 Titans | 11.41 | 18.29 | 143.24 | 0.76 |
| Todd Downing Prior (33 games) | 11.61 | 19.18 | 142.88 | 0.97 |
| Titans WRs vs. Houston Texans | 2 | 3 | 26 | 0 |
The Tennessee Titans pulled out the victory over the Houston Texans this past week, winning the game 17-10. In this game, the Titans wide receiver room was seldom used as they combined for two receptions on three targets for 26 receiving yards and zero receiving touchdowns. After this game, this group has totaled 51 receptions (7.29 per game) on 83 targets (11.86 per game) for 658 receiving yards (94 per game) and one receiving touchdown (0.14 per game) on the season.
These numbers are all extremely low for any wide receiver room and based on Todd Downing's previous track record with wide receivers it seems clear that there will be a bounce-back for this group in the future. Now is a great time to acquire Robert Woods and Treylon Burks in your fantasy league(s) if you are looking for a cheap FLEX play.
Fantasy players this impacts: Robert Woods, Treylon Burks, Kyle Philips, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Cody Hollister, Mason Kinsey
Las Vegas Raiders Running Backs
Josh McDaniels & Mick Lombardi
| RB Carries | RB Rush Yds | RB Rush TD | RB Rec. | RB Tgts | RB Rec. Yds | RB Rec. TD | |
| 2021 Raiders | 20.29 | 81.59 | 0.76 | 6.35 | 7.82 | 46.12 | 0.06 |
| Josh McDaniels Prior (253 games) | 24.30 | 104.22 | 0.89 | 5.16 | 7.04 | 45.04 | 0.27 |
| Raiders RBs vs. New Orleans Saints | 10 | 43 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 39 | 0 |
The Las Vegas Raiders were embarrassed this past Sunday against the New Orleans Saints as they got shutout 24-0. In this game, the Raiders running back room struggled as they combined for 10 carries, 43 rushing yards, zero rushing touchdowns, six receptions, nine targets, 39 receiving yards, and zero receiving touchdowns. After this game, this group has totaled 133 carries (19 per game), 726 rushing yards (103.71 per game), six rushing touchdowns (0.86 per game), 37 receptions (5.29 per game), 43 targets (6.14 per game), 263 receiving yards (37.57 per game), and one receiving touchdown (0.14 per game) on the season.
Sunday's performance was disappointing, but for the most part, the season totals are in line with what we normally expect from a Josh McDaniels running back room. Continue to hold Josh Jacobs and enjoy the fact that you drafted a value RB1.
Fantasy players this impacts: Josh Jacobs, Zamir White, Brandon Bolden, Ameer Abdullah
Decline Ahead?
As mentioned above, this article also looks at which teams and areas are in line for a decline in future weeks. These are the areas and positions that will likely decline in the coming weeks based on the team's play-caller tendencies in the past.
Philadelphia Eagles Wide Receivers
Nick Sirianni & Shane Steichen
| WR Rec. | WR Tgts | WR Rec. Yds | WR Rec. TD | |
| 2021 Eagles | 8.76 | 14.06 | 117.24 | 0.65 |
| Nick Sirianni Prior (65 games) | 10.75 | 17.09 | 138.03 | 0.8 |
| Shane Steichen Prior (41 games) | 10.54 | 16.85 | 144.41 | 0.85 |
| Eagles WRs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers | 13 | 22 | 226 | 4 |
The Philadelphia Eagles continued their dominance this season in the 35-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. In this game, the team's wide receiver room combined for 13 receptions on 22 targets for 226 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. On the season this group has now totaled 91 receptions (13 per game) on 134 targets (19.14 per game) for 1263 receiving yards (180.43 per game) and nine receiving touchdowns (1.29 per game).
We already know it's hard to count on a position group scoring four touchdowns each week, so the big question is whether or not the season totals are sustainable. Based on Nick Sirianni (Eagles head coach) and Shane Steichen's (Eagles offensive coordinator) previous numbers, it certainly looks like the Eagles wide receiver room is currently performing on the higher side of what we should expect from this group. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith will still be good fantasy assets for the rest of the season, but if you get a strong trade offer involving a player producing around a similar level you should probably take it.
Fantasy players this impacts: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Zach Pascal, Quez Watkins
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