RADIO
Thanks to my good friend Joe Nicely for filling the last two weeks. I'm back in action for Week 8, and looking forward to breaking down my fantasy football risers and fallers as always. Let's get right back to it!
We're now seven weeks in with 11 more to go. Week 7 is now officially in the books. We have a lot of good information we can use to help make decisions as we head into Week 8 and beyond.
In this weekly column, we'll be looking at fantasy football players whose arrows may be pointing up and players whose arrows may be pointing down based on the previous week's games. We'll try not to overreact, but instead use relevant data to make informed decisions about certain players. Here are the key risers and fallers heading into Week 8 of the 2023 NFL season.
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Week 8 Fantasy Football Risers
Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts
Downs has seen a massive uptick in work with Gardner Minshew under center. In three games, he's seen his target share increase from 17.8% with Anthony Richardson to 22.4% with Minshew. He's averaging 81 yards per game and has scored a touchdown in each of his last two games. With Richardson under center, Downs never eclipsed 57 receiving yards.
Downs has become a go-to weapon for Minshew on a Colts team that has given up 38 points per game over their last two games. As such, Downs should continue to be a high-volume play as Indy plays catch-up against its opponents.
Darrell Henderson Jr., Los Angeles Rams
Welcome back to the NFL, Darrell Henderson. Not only did he return, but he became the featured back for the Rams in Week 7. He surpassed Zach Evans and Royce Freeman on the depth chart due to his familiarity with Sean McVay and the offense. Check out the utilization courtesy of Adam Levitan:
With Kyren Williams on IR (meaning he's set to miss at least four games), this is now Henderson's backfield. He played 57% of the snaps in his first game back after a year off. Imagine the snap share in his second game back. McVay is known for having a guy and sticking with him. Just look at Williams' production through Week 6. He was the overall RB4 in fantasy football. Henderson is about to be the man!
Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
Slowly but surely, JT is seizing control of this backfield. Zack Moss has looked great at times, but the Colts didn't pay Taylor $42M to play second-fiddle to Moss.
Unlike weeks prior, Taylor was the man in the red zone for the Colts in Week 7. He received all six of the Colts' red zone carries, which included his first touchdown of the season:
He played on 50% of the snaps (up from 42% in Week 6) and saw 22 opportunities (up from 14 opportunities in Week 6). This was the first time this season his opportunity share was higher than Moss'. This trajectory likely continues into Week 8 and beyond.
Emari Demercado, Arizona Cardinals
Did you drop Demercado after Week 6? If you did, you're most certainly not alone. Yours truly also cut bait after seeing the UDFA in a 3-headed backfield led by Damien Williams and Keaontay Ingram. Then Week 7 happened!
Demercado went from playing only on obvious passing downs and third downs in Week 6 (which led to a 43% snap share) to playing a nearly every-down role in Week 7 vs. the Seahawks. In fact, he got 95% of the RB opportunities on 80% of the snaps.
With James Conner slated to miss at least the next two games, Demercado looks to be squarely in the RB2 conversation so long as head coach Jonathan Gannon doesn't pull another fast one on fantasy football managers in Week 8.
Other Fantasy Football Risers:
Week 8 Fantasy Football Fallers
Amari Cooper, Cleveland Browns
Who's the quarterback for the Browns? Deshaun Watson got hurt in Week 7 and was cleared to return, but P.J. Walker remained at quarterback. If Walker remains the quarterback for the Browns, that's a major hit to Cooper's value.
He did have eight targets in Week 7, but that led to just two catches for 22 yards. In the last two weeks, Walker is averaging just 5.6 yards per attempt. Luckily for his fantasy managers, Cooper had a long 58-yard catch in Week 6, but outside of that, it's been an abysmal showing with Walker under center. That could very well continue in Week 8 depending on which direction the Browns want to go at quarterback.
The targets that he is getting are not good ones. Check this out from Hayden Winks:
Brian Robinson Jr., Washington Commanders
Robinson's workload continues to decrease, especially when the Commanders find themselves in a negative gamescript. In Week 7, he failed to crack double-digit opportunities for the first time this season. His RB opportunity sat at just 45% with rookie Chris Rodriguez mixing in on early downs. Just generally speaking, B Rob hasn't been all that good with his opportunities this season:
The Commanders have an upcoming brutal matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, a game in which they're currently 6.5-point home underdogs. Expect another mediocre output for Robinson in that one. In fact, with no teams on bye in Week 8, he's a recommended sit for the week.
Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings
Despite a positive game script vs. the 49ers, Mattison got just 11 opportunities on 53% of the snaps. For the first time this season, he didn't lead Vikings backs in opportunities. Newly acquired Cam Akers led the way with 13 opportunities on a 40% snap share. Part of that may have had to do with Mattison getting banged up in this one, but there's a good chance this is a split backfield moving forward.
As Akers gets more comfortable in the Minnesota system, we can reasonably expect another uptick in snaps (and possibly opportunities) in Week 8 and beyond. And that's generally bad for a running back like Mattison, who has thrived off of volume when given the feature role. He's not a very efficient back, so in order for him to exceed expectations, he needs a heavy workload like he had earlier in the season.
Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver Broncos
The Broncos rookie was looking like a revelation. Then Week 7 happened and he was relegated to third-string once again. After getting nine touches on 40% of the snaps in Week 6, McLaughlin got just six touches on just 17% of the snaps in Week 7. Samaje Perine continued to handle most third downs and obvious passing downs, while McLaughlin was the pure backup to Javonte Williams.
And Williams looked good:
As Williams gets healthier and showcases his explosiveness, expect McLaughlin to take a back seat. Perine isn't going anywhere either, as he's one of the best pass-protecting backs in the league, and Sean Payton utilizes him as such. It's likely going to take a trade or an injury for McLaughlin to be fantasy-relevant again in the near term.
Other Fantasy Football Fallers:
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