No byes this week which should mean that your lineup decisions are easy. Except for the fact that injuries have been a nightmare this year, especially at the wide receiver position. Here are the wide receiver sleepers and streamers for Week 8.
Week 8 Wide Receiver Sleepers and Streamers
Streamers
Romeo Doubs – Green Bay Packers
I’ve been banging the table all year for Romeo Doubs. To me, he is the most consistent Packers wide receiver. He is playing on two wide sets and continues to see solid targets. He isn’t the big play, over-the-top guy like Christian Watson. He isn’t the gadget player that Jayden Reed is but he is the sure-handed receiver that Jordan Love trusts.
The week 8 matchup is great for Doubs and all the Packers wideouts. The Jaguars are giving up the second most points to wide receivers. They don’t have a corner that PFF.com rates higher than 82nd in coverage out of 102 cornerbacks. The Jaguars have been coming on lately so we could see a sneaky shootout game here. Jordan Love has thrown the ball over 30 times in the past two games and four out of his five games. The consistency is there. The matchup is there and the volume is there. All signs point to Romeo Doubs having a solid fantasy game in Week 8.
Troy Franklin – Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos have been searching for a wide receiver to step up across the field from Courtland Sutton. We thought it might be Devaughn Vele, who has shown sparks but has been inconsistent. It was never going to be Marvin Mims who is just a return man. In the past two games, it has been Troy Franklin.
Franklin was a college teammate with quarterback Bo Nix and that chemistry has started to show and Franklin is getting more snaps. After averaging only 23% of the Broncos snaps Weeks 2- 5 the past two games Franklin has averaged 58% of the snaps. In that span, he scored a touchdown in Week 6 and then had five receptions for 50 yards on six targets in Week 7. Now getting to go against the Carolina Panthers he should continue to be fantasy-relevant.
The Panthers have one good cornerback in Jaycee Horn. He projects to be on Sutton leaving Miek Jackson to cover Franklin. Jackson is ranked by PFF.com as the 67th-best cover corner. It’s a matchup I expect the Broncos to exploit this week and make Troy Franklin a viable wide receiver streamer.
Darnell Mooney – Atlanta Falcons
People forget that back in 2021 Darnell Mooney was WR23 on the year. He saw 140 targets and had four touchdowns. He has since left the Chicago Bears and now with the Atlanta Falcons is on pace for 129 targets and already has three touchdowns. If you have Mooney on your fantasy team you are probably torn every week on whether you should start him and I’m here to tell you Yes you should, especially this week.
The Falcons play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who are giving up the 13th most fantasy points to wide receivers. Mooney will most likely see coverage from Tyrek Funderburk as Jamel Dean continues to struggle with a hamstring injury forcing Zyon McCollum on Drake London. It’s a solid matchup for Mooney. He continues to be an often-looked-at option for Kirk Cousins as the Falcons continue to push for the division lead. It’s a divisional matchup that currently has a 48.5 over/under line. With both teams capable of scoring 30 or more points I expect passing to be more important late in the game giving Mooney plenty of opportunities and producing solid fantasy numbers.
Sleepers
Cedrick Tillman – Cleveland Browns
Deshaun Watson is done for the year with a torn Achilles. In steps either Dorian Thompson-Robinson or Jameis Winston. On top of the quarterback change, the Cleveland Browns traded away wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills. This has opened the door for someone to step up and what we saw in Week 7 was Cedrick Tillman fill the void.
Let’s start with the connection to the quarterback. Tillman hasn’t played more than 37% of the Browns snaps until this week. He has been practicing with the second team for most of the season. That chemistry can not be understated. Whoever is under center will be looking for someone to help them out because the offensive line for the Browns has not been great. Watson had been sacked a league-high 31 times. Familiarity with a receiver will make a wide receiver the first read when the blitz is coming.
The matchup against the Baltimore Ravens will come down to matchups. The Ravens have two solid corners in Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens. Humphrey moves into the slot on three-wide sets. Tillman has been splitting his time there but Elijah Moore is the main slot receiver for the Browns. If Tillman can find himself matched up with Nate Wiggins he should be able to succeed. Will he be able to replicate his twelve targets, and eight receptions for the 81-yard game he had in Week 7? Probably not but he should still be capable of producing six or more fantasy points with upside if he can score a touchdown. Everyone will be speculating on who will be the main guy for the Browns and I’m putting my money on Tillman.
Kalif Raymond – Detroit Lions
The bye week gives teams a chance to not only get some extra rest but also the opportunity to implement new plays and work guys into the offensive scheme. That is what we have seen with the Detroit Lions and Kalif Raymond. In the two weeks since their bye week, Raymond has seen 10 targets which is double what he saw in the four weeks before it. He continues to be an integral part of the Lions offense especially late in games.
Raymond is a veteran receiver who is only playing on 35% of the team’s snaps but he is able ti use his experience to make the most out of the matchups he is seeing against often a linebacker or fourth-best corner on a team.
Week 8 brings in the Tennessee Titans. The team Raymodn played for before joining the Lions in 2021. A small revenge game for the Holy Cross grad. Raymond’s production will probably hinge on the Titan’s ability to keep the score close, keeping the Lions from becoming one-dimensional and running the ball for the majority of the game. I’m willing to slide Raymond into my lineup if I’m desperate or looking for a big upside play.
Mason Tipton – New Orleans Saints
Did you like having Chris Olave on your team? How about Rashid Shaheed? How about a guy who was second on the team in routes run and first in targets when both of them missed the game? That is Mason Tipton. While most people were buying the Bub Means hype. A player I really liked, Tipton seems to be the other side of that coin.
He’s a rookie who played for Yale in college and in his senior year had 10 receiving touchdowns. Often the Ivy League schools get overlooked. Tipton has struggled to catch his targets so far, only catching 50% of them and the matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers is tough. I like the fact that the Saints will continue to get practices with Tipton and Means as their primary receivers and if the defense can’t stop the Chargers from scoring they will have to throw the ball.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!