Heading into Week 8 means heading into the second half of the 2024 fantasy football regular season. The game of fantasy football can change in an instant. There is no greater example of that than the Chris Godwin season-ending injury in Week 7. With just 0:43 left of the Buccaneer’s Monday Night Football game, down 10 points, Godwin catches his seventh pass of the game, but is unable to get up with an ankle injury. Brutal. As we continue making a push to the playoffs, identifying Week 8 risers and fallers is important especially as injuries pile up and a large wave of bye weeks approaches.
The players below are a mix of obvious studs and some others you may justifiably still have reservations about heading into Week 8. I’m including this particular group of players because I think they’re more important to discuss than others. Before you dive in, feel free to review my Week 7 risers, fallers, and the player on the hot seat that I named before last weekend.
Week 8 Risers, Fallers, and a Player on the Hot Seat
Risers
D’Andre Hopkins, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Another week, another big name wide receiver on the move. After discussing Davante Adams and Amari Cooper on the Week 7 risers list, we now have D’Andre Hopkins on the Week 8 risers list. This is following his trade from the Tennessee Titans to the Kansas City Chiefs. More importantly, his trade from Will Levis/Mason Rudolph to Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback.
This trade vaults Hopkins back into fantasy football relevancy. In some leagues, managers who woke up before others on Wednesday morning may have even had a chance to add Hopkins in free agency. Another reminder that this game changes daily, at all hours of the day.
Now, Hopkins is 32 years old and did enter this season with a reported knee injury. It’s hard to point to these factors as the reason for an unproductive first half of the season when the quarterback play has been so poor, however. It’s hard to imagine the Chiefs, in their quest for a “Three-peat” of Super Bowl championships would acquire Hopkins if they truly believed he was washed.
If Hopkins is good to go for Week 8, the Las Vegas Raiders are a solid matchup for him to get acclimated. Since there aren’t any teams on bye, it may be best to leave Hopkins on fantasy benches this weekend. He should be on rosters everywhere by now as a major riser serving as Patrick Mahomes’ new top wide receiver.
Jalen McMillan, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Everyone is scrambling trying to figure out which Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver to add to their roster. This, of course, is after losing Chris Godwin (ankle) for the rest of the season and Mike Evans (hamstring) for multiple weeks after Week 7 in-game injuries.
I think rookie Jalen McMillan has a shot to be one of the best waiver wire pickups of the season. In Week 7, McMillan logged a season-high eight targets. That’s even before Chris Godwin’s season-ending injury with 0:43 left in the game. Now, I expect the Buccaneers to plug McMillan into Godwin’s role as the primary slot receiver. That’s a role he thrived in during his college career at the University of Washington. He ran 67% of his routes in college out of the slot.
If McMillan does operate primarily out of the slot, I don’t expect him to match Chris Godwin’s top-five fantasy wide receiver production. However, it’s a fantastic role to inherit; something I expected McMillan to have been drafted for considering Godwin is a free agent after this season.
Even if McMillan plays on the outside, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans leave behind a combined 45.9% combined target share. McMillan will have as good of a shot as any to draw targets from Baker Mayfield. It’s also worth noting McMillan logged one rush attempt early on in Week 7. It’s always good to see manufactured touches for players we want to rely on in fantasy football. For these reasons, I believe Jalen McMillan to be the biggest Week 8 riser amongst Buccaneers wide receivers.
How about a quick note for tight end Cade Otton, as well? He has six or more targets in four of his last five games. That includes catching eight of 10 for 100 yards in Week 7. Without the Bucs’ stud wide receivers, Otton is a riser in Tampa’s passing game.
Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Admittedly, after the first two weeks, I was skeptical of Kyren Williams’ value for the 2024 fantasy football season. In his first two games, Williams rushed 30 times for a total of 75 yards. That’s just a 2.5 yards per carry average. To make matters worse, the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive line was falling apart. Williams did score a touchdown in each of his first two games but from distances of two yards and four yards respectively. He seemed like a good sell-high candidate as he was seemingly touchdown-dependent.
Boy, was I wrong!
Kyren Williams’ production continues to improve week after week. Since Week 3, Williams is averaging 4.19 yards per carry. He has at least 76 rushing yards in his last four games with an average of 21.5 carries per game. Despite a Week 6 bye, Williams still ranks first in red zone touches (36), he’s fifth in total carries (116), and, most importantly, the RB6 on a points-per-game (19.5) basis.
Heading into Week 8, Kyren Williams is looking to score a touchdown in his 10th-straight game dating back to last season. This season, Williams’ nine touchdowns are second to only Derrick Henry (10) in one less game played.
As we move into the second half of the 2024 fantasy football regular season, Kyren Williams is a riser with a legitimate case to finish the season as the overall RB1. Not only is Williams’ bye behind him, which is valuable in of itself, but his rest of the season schedule is extremely fantasy friendly. Five of the Rams’ next seven opponents rank inside the top eight in fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. Williams has handled 82.9% of the team’s running back opportunities (carries + targets) this season. If you are looking to make a playoff push, Kyren Williams is on a short list of running backs I’d want to help do so.
The Miami Dolphins Passing Offense
It appears Tua Tagovailoa will return in Week 8 after suffering a concussion in Week 2. It’s Tua’s third diagnosed concussion since 2022. While it will be difficult to watch him take hits as a fan, the other side of that coin is how much more successful the Dolphin’s passing game will be if he can stay healthy.
Tyreek Hill is averaging 35 receiving yards per game in Tua’s absence. He has not scored a touchdown since Week 1. Jaylen Waddle is averaging 29.5 receiving yards per game in Tua’s absence. He has not scored a touchdown this season. In Week 1, the only game Tua Tagovailoa started and finished this season, both Hill and Waddle logged over 100 receiving yards on at least five receptions each.
Tua Tagovailoa gets an advantageous matchup at home in Week 8 against the Arizona Cardinals. They’re allowing the seventh-most passing yards (236.9) per game this season. This could be a potential shootout going up against Kyler Murray and his weapons, as well. Without hesitation, both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle should be in Week 8 lineups. There will always be a risk starting Tua Tagovailoa moving forward. He’s not a must-start in Week 8 in 1QB leagues since there aren’t any teams on bye, but it’s a conversation between him and whoever some of your other options may be.
Fallers
Diontae Johnson, WR, Carolina Panthers
Diontae Johnson is truly a specific Week 8 faller. After quarterback Andy Dalton suffered a thumb injury in a car accident earlier this week, Bryce Young is set to start once again for the Panthers. This alone makes starting Diontae Johnson extremely questionable. Johnson did draw six targets in each of Young’s two starts to begin this season. However, he averaged just 4.2 fantasy points per game logging less than 20 receiving yards in each.
Additionally, Diontae Johnson’s name continues to get tossed around in the trade rumors. After the Kansas City Chiefs made a move to acquire DeAndre Hopkins, that’s one less team that would make Johnson a major riser in fantasy football. He still could end up on the move, but the Chiefs were a prime landing spot for his talent, role, and a quarterback upgrade. For Week 8, I’m leaving Johnson on the bench, especially with more options as no teams are on bye.
Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns
I’m just as happy as you all are that Nick Chubb is back playing football. He’s one of my favorite running backs of the last five-plus years. If Derrick Henry didn’t exist, and Chubb didn’t suffer such a devastating knee injury last season, we’re arguably talking about him as the best running back in football. He ranks 2nd, 7th, 2nd, and 3rd in total rushing from 2019 through 2022.
However, I’m here to talk fantasy football. In his return to action, Chubb rushed 11 times for 22 yards; a 2.0 yards per carry average. That’s against a Cincinnati Bengals defense allowing over 4.0 yards per carry to running backs this season. Chubb did score a one-yard touchdown but looked (expectedly) slower than usual swinging it wide to do so. We didn’t have an opportunity to see him in the open field attempt to reach top speed and I’m worried about his ability to do so.
The Browns offense will now move forward with Jameis Winston as their quarterback following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending Achilles injury. It’s yet to be seen how effective this offense will be with Winston. Overall, the Browns have arguably the worst offensive personnel in the league. Additionally, Cleveland ranks 27th in rush attempts per game. In Week 8 specifically, he faces a Baltimore Ravens defense allowing a league-low 51 rushing yards to opposing running backs. If Chubb isn’t seeing the volume, and Cleveland continues to fail to score, he’s justifiably a faller in fantasy football. That won’t stop me from rooting for him each week. I just won’t depend on him in my lineups.
Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts
As long as Anthony Richardson is the Colts quarterback, consider Josh Downs a faller in fantasy football. That is, of course, unless we see the two finally connect on a consistent basis. So far, in two games with Richardson as his quarterback, Downs has just four total receptions for 25 scoreless yards. Compare that to three games with Joe Flacco in which Downs averaged 19.2 fantasy points per game. That’s with at least 66 receiving yards in all three games and a touchdown in two of them.
Anthony Richardson has completed just 46 of 97 pass attempts this season. That’s a 47.4% completion percentage. In four starts, Richardson has thrown just three passing touchdowns, as well. Two of them have exceeded 50 yards through the air.
It’s hard to trust any Colts receiver wholeheartedly with Richardson under center right now. Even Michael Pittman Jr. is averaging just 8.5 fantasy points per game with Richardson. In Week 8, the Colts will head to Houston for a rematch with the Texans. In their first matchup in Week 1, Richardson threw for 212 yards, two touchdowns, and added another 56 yards and a score on the ground. Maybe he’ll find a groove once again in this AFC South showdown, but I’m not confidently plugging Downs or any Colts receiver in my lineup if I don’t have to.
Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens
Mark Andrews is on the Week 8 fallers list because a lot of people are saying “he’s back.” I’m not so sure. Andrews has three touchdowns over his last two games. Naturally, that’s going to draw fantasy managers back to him as a reliable starter. I’m not so sure of that either.
The Baltimore Ravens remain the league’s run-heaviest team. So, while it’s great Andrews recorded a season-high 19% target share in Week 7, it was still only four targets, two of which he caught for a touchdown. Rashod Bateman and Isaiah Likely also had four targets, tying for the team lead. Over Andrews’ last three weeks of gradual fantasy production, he’s still third in targets (13) during that span, and barely ahead of Likely (11) and Nelson Agholor (9). Andrews has also played fewer snaps than Likely in every game since Week 3, as well.
So, while Mark Andrews has been a beacon of hope lately amongst mostly disappointing tight end options, he’s still touchdown-dependent. It helps that Lamar Jackson is the MVP front runner and the Ravens are averaging the most points per game (31.1) in the league. It doesn’t help that he faces the Cleveland Browns in Week 8. They’re one of five teams who haven’t allowed a touchdown to opposing tight ends yet this season.
Check out all of our Week 8 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex
The Week 8 Hot Seat
Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona Cardinals
There’s a lot of discourse out there surrounding Marvin Harrison Jr. The bottom line is that he has yet to yield enough production to match his Average Draft Position over the summer. Over his last three games, one of which Harrison Jr. left with a concussion, he has just five receptions for 57 total scoreless yards. This is after three straight weeks of 45 or more yards and a touchdown from Weeks 2 through 4.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is on the Week 8 hot seat, but it’s hard to justify sitting him. In six games he started and finished, the rookie receiver has a 26% target share. His 6.8 targets per game ranks inside the top 30 amongst the position, as well. We’ve also seen a two-touchdown game with a 130-yard ceiling from Harrison Jr. which, based on his role, is a weekly possibility.
Scott Barrett, of Fantasy Points, points out that Harrison Jr. ranks inside the top six in separation on comeback, crossing, and post routes. However, he details that these three routes together make up just 24.6% of Harrison’s route tree this season. Meanwhile, Harrison Jr. is running a go route on 23.4% of his routes and has the fifth-worst separation.
Kyler Murray is far from perfect. Marvin Harrison Jr. has made some mistakes of his own, as well. It’s hard to argue, though, that the fourth-overall pick wide receiver isn’t being utilized correctly in the Cardinals’ offense. Expanding his route tree would go a long way for Harrison Jr., Kyler Murray, and the offense as a whole. While Harrison Jr. himself isn’t acting as a “squeaky wheel”, perhaps the overwhelming frustration from fans is enough to fix this situation and get Harrison Jr. off of the hot seat.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!