Last week was one of my worst weeks in a while. But it has allowed me to notice some things I need to tighten up on. I’m locking down for the remainder of the season as the bye weeks are in full effect. We’ve had some major injuries this past weekend and more uncertainty surrounding a lot of teams. Good news is, we have a lot of season left but it’s getting closer to the end game of the season. Be mindful of upcoming bye weeks. We will only have Chiefs and Chargers on a bye this week but we have six teams on byes in Week 9, four in Week 10 and four more in Week 11. Check out defenses and any position you are streaming to get ahead of the curve, stash them on your bench so you’re not stressing during the waivers the following week. Lets knock Waivers out of the park this week.

Upcoming Bye Weeks

Week 8: KC, LAC

Week 9: CLE, DAL, DEN, SF, PIT, NYG

Week 10: BAL, CIN, NYJ, NE

Week 11: JAX, TB, SEA, MIA

Week 12: NONE

Week 13: ARI, CAR

Week 14: ATL, CHI, GB, IND, WAS, NO

QB

Justin Fields (Chicago Bears)

Fields dropped the QB5 overall score in Week 7, marking the third straight week he has finished as a top 12 QB. Fields is up to 364 yards rushing on the season with at least 47 in each of his last four games, averaging 58.5 per game. This week’s matchup for Fields is a brutal one against the Dallas Cowboys but after that, Fields will face MIA, DET, and ATL. After shredding the New England Patriots in Week 7, it’s quite possible that Fields has turned the corner and is a matchup proof, high floor QB for fantasy purposes. 

Andy Dalton (New Orleans Saints) 

Keep an eye on this situation as I write this without the knowledge of who will 100% be the Saints starter on Sunday. I expect it to be Dalton after he threw for 361 yards and four scores on TNF in Week 7 but he also had three picks, two returned for TDs. Whoever gets the nod for the Saints has a gravy matchup against the worst team in the NFL against QBs. Fire them up confidently with a high ceiling and high floor. I also am praying the Saints will get back both Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry this week. This is strictly a streamer option for Week 8 and I am not looking at this spot as a long term solution.

Daniel Jones (New York Giants)

Daniel Jones isn’t lighting the world on fire at the stat sheet through the air but he is accumulating rushing yards with the best of them. He is averaging 49 rushing yards a game with at least 21 in six of his seven matchups and at least 68 in three of them. Jones is going to consistently float around 200 passing yards with about 50 rushing yards which is good for a floor of 13 points. It is worth noting that Jones has a Bye in Week 9 so you will need to plan ahead for filling that vacancy if you are going to depend on Jones.

Deshaun Watson (Cleveland Browns)

Watson is going to be returning in Week 13 when the Browns take on the Houston Texans. He comes back just in time to save some teams streaming at QB for the fantasy playoffs. Now is the time to snag him and stash him if you are hurting at QB. Watson is immediately a top 8 QB option when he returns. 

RB

 Chubba Hubbard / D’Onta Foreman (Carolina Panthers)

Chubba took the lead 1A role for the Panthers on Sunday. He took about ⅔ of the snaps before he went down with a very minor ankle injury. Both of these backs played well and it was Foreman who led the way with 118 rushing yards on 15 carries but 11 of those came after Hubbard was hurt for 48 yards and a large chunk coming on a 60-yard run. I do think Foreman is a good NFL RB which is why I immediately wanted him over Hubbard and Hubbard was very disappointing his rookie year but Hubbard seems to have taken a step forward. Hubbard is the back I would target for the Panthers moving forward with Foreman a solid secondary target if you miss out on Hubbard.

Rachaad White (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

White has been on a lot of these lists for RBs to pick up throughout the season but he is starting to make some serious week to week starter viability as we progress with more and more games. In week 7, White saw a season high (again) in snaps with 29 (43.3%). He was only out carried by Leonard Fournette 8 to 6 but he was able to outgain Fournette 24 to 19. Fournette only out targeted White 3 to 2 as well. It is not out of the realm of possibilities that white eventually takes over the 60/40 split of this backfield, even without a Fournette injury.

Michael Carter (New York Jets)

Carter isn’t going to light the world on fire but he is going to assume the RB1 role for the Jets moving forward. He is an undersized PPR back but I fully expect him to see 12-15 touches a game with Breece Hall going down for the season. 

Cam Akers (LA Rams)

Don’t forget to check your waivers for Akers. If he gets traded, he should have an immediate fantasy impact. They’re plenty of teams who should be in the market for Akers, including the Ravens, Broncos, and Panthers. 

Gus Edwards (Baltimore Ravens)

I swung and I missed on Kenyan Drake in Week 7. Across the board, I should have seen the demise of Drake and I missed it. That is something I am fixing in my processes moving forward so it doesn’t happen again. However, Edwards isn’t a major waiver priority of mine for Week 8. The Ravens have a gauntlet of very good run defenses coming up against the Bucs on TNF this week in Week 8 and then the Saints on MNF in Week 9. After that, the Ravens have their Bye. You are looking at 2 very tough matchups for a purely ground RB who is going to see about 12-15 touches depending on the hot hand and next to no air work and dependent on getting into the endzone on a scuffling offense. After that they will have back to back middle of the pack matchups against the Panthers and Jaguars, both of whose defenses are improving as the year progresses. Then after we’ve struggled through 5 weeks of Gus Edwards, the Ravens are expected to get JK Dobbins back around that time frame, just in time for the fantasy playoffs. I have no issue with Edwards in a spot start role but I’d go with the guys above him on this list before I target Edwards. 

RB Handcuffs

Here are some end of the bench RB handcuffs that should be widely available if you have a tighter league and just want someone at the end of your bench that has high upside.

• Jaylen Warren (Pittsburgh Steelers)
• JaMycal Hasty (Jacksonville Jaguars)
• Sony Michel (LA Chargers)
• D’Ernest Johnson (Cleveland Browns – ONLY if Hunt gets traded)
• Elijah Mitchell (San Francisco 49ers)
• Chase Edmonds (Miami Dolphins)

WR

Wan’Dale Robinson (New York Giants) 

This is our last chance to lock up Wan’Dale who should be rostered on every single fantasy football roster. Robinson saw 8 targets in the Giants come from behind to win over the Jags in Week 7. Robinson increased his snap participation from 23.1% up to 68.8% in Week 7. I suspect this number to get up over 90% in the coming weeks with Robinson being a near every down player. He has nine receptions for 87 yards and a score in his 2 games so far this season, good for 23.7 PPR points. 

Marquise Goodwin (Seattle Seahawks)

Goodwin saw five targets from Geno Smith in the Seahawks Week 7 win over the LA Chargers. He pulled in four of them for 67 yards and two scores. I don’t expect 22.7 PPR points every week but I do expect a solid 12-16 in games that DK Metcalf may miss. DK went down with a knee injury this past week and although the Seahawks are saying it isn’t serious and DKM has a chance to play Sunday, I’m not buying it. If DK is active, Goodwin is no more than a bench stash in the chance DK re aggravates his injury. 

Julio Jones (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

The Bucs are taking it slow with Julio and letting him heal. This pick up is also the same concept of playing the long game. He is now available in most leagues and can be easily obtained to stash. He could be activated and play at any moment. Once he is active, he is going to see a target share around 18-22%. His main competition for targets behind Godwin and Evans, Russell Gage, came up limp with a hamstring injury towards the end of the Bucs Week 7 loss in Carolina.

Parris Campbell (Indianapolis Colts)

If you remind the clock a year, everyone would be drooling over Parris Campbell. Campbell has had a career riddled with injuries and an underwhelming start to his 2022 redemption tour. Throughout the first five games of the season, Campbell had 15 targets. Well, over his last 2 he has emerged as the WR2 for the Colts. He has back to back double digit target performances with 23 total over his last two games. This is partly due to him earning the targets and getting open at a higher clip but also due to Matt Ryan’s arm being completely done. Campbell runs a lot of shallower routes and has run over 90% of his routes out of the slot the last two weeks. On top of the volume, he has put up back to back impressive PPR weeks of 18.7 and 23. I was previously higher on Campbell but the Colts benching Matt Ryan for Sam Ehlinger indicates they are going to severely decrease their pass rate. This is going to hurt all Colts pass catchers. Ehlinger is a strong armed gun flinger so he would fit Pittman more so than Campbell in theory.

TE

Irv Smith (Minnesota Vikings)

Irv gets the juicy matchup of the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. The Cards have given up the most PPR PPG to the TE position so far this year. Last week they got smoked by Juwan Jonhson for 5/32/2 which led to Johnson being the TE2 of the week. 

Evan Engram (Jacksonville Jaguars) 

Engram has been a rock these last three weeks for Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence. He has seen 23 targets, catching 15 of them for 176 yards. He is averaging 10.9 PPR PPG which is the TE10 over that time frame. Of those top 10 TEs, only David Njoku has scored more points without a TD than Engram. The volume is there for Engram to offer a consistent floor and he is on the positive side of variance for future TD predictability. He has a near neutral matchup in Week 8 against the Denver Broncos in London.

Juwan Johnson (New Orleans Saints)

Back to the well with Johnson. I should have been a little bit more vocal about him last week against the Arizona Cardinals but I won’t make that mistake again (play Irv Smith this week!). Johnson gets another gravy matchup this week at home against the Raiders. The Raiders are giving up the 3rd most PPR points to the TE position per game so far this season. Coming off back to back games where he has played over 73% of the team’s offensive snaps and a game in which he scored 20 PPR points, Johnson isn’t a point chasing play here. F

DST

Washington Commanders

Sam Ehlinger was just named the starting QB for the Indianapolis Colts for the remainder of the 2022 season. Ehlinger is a gunslinger who may make a player or two but is going to take chances, at least from what his history says. In Week 7, the Colts offensive line gave up 3 sacks and 10 QB hits to a Titans team who also turned one of Matt Ryan’s interceptions into a TD, finishing as the DST2 on the week. I expect a similar result in Sam Ehlinger’s first career start.

Tennessee Titans

The Titans have been playing lights out on defense the last month of the NFL season. They are only giving up 16.5 PPG since being absolutely demolished by the Buffalo Bills in Week 2. They are up to 16 sacks on the season and are blitzing at one of the lowest rates in the NFL. In Week 8, they face an underperforming Texans offense led by Davis Mills. The Titans offer a high floor and the increased chance of a defensive score.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts are lining up against the Commanders at home this week. I expect this one to be a low scoring affair so the points against will offer a decent streaming floor. The Commanders have found success on the ground the last two weeks but they have had average to above average matchups against opposing rush defenses. The Colts are a very good run defense and if the Commanders can’t run the ball, they will have to rely on their backup QB, Taylor Heinicke to win the game. Heinicke was hit 9 times in Week 7’s win over the Packers and tossed a pick six.

Droppable:

Aaron Rodgers (QB – Green Bay Packers)

Kenyan Drake (RB – Baltimore Ravens)

Jeff Wilson (RB – San Francisco 49ers)

Devin Duvernay (WR – Baltimore Ravens)