Here are my top takeaways from Week 7 and the fantasy football stats you need to know as you prepare for Week 8. You can find my full Usage Report here.

• Week 8 Waiver Wire Advice
• Fantasy Trade Advice: Buy & Sell
• Week 8 Waiver Wire Rankings
• Erickson’s Week 7 Rapid Reactions & Top Performers

Check out the rest of our weekly fantasy football advice

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Erickson’s Top Takeaways

• Zach Ertz only saw four targets in Week 7, but he maintained his elite role by running a route on 88% of dropbacks. Don’t be concerned about the down game. The Saints have been elite versus fantasy TEs all season.
• Mark Andrews with the rare goose egg in Week 7, but was on the injury report all week. And after the game Lamar Jackson said the Browns did everything they could to take him away. So it’s a blip on the radar. The 90% route participation was elite and suggests he will be back to form in Week 8. I’d target aggressively if someone thinks this is a trend.
• Just one target for Tommy Tremble, but he is pulling away as the TE1 in Carolina. 71% route participation and a touchdown scored. Keep tabs on him in deeper formats.
• Mike Gesicki‘s role dipped slightly from Week 6 to Week 7. 76% route participation fell to 68%…although he saw 7 targets for the second straight week. However, playing alongside two alphas like Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill is going to make him tough to trust.
• Be bearish with Gerald Everett. No Donald Parham Jr. or Josh Palmer in Week 7, but Everett still only ran a route on 58% of dropbacks. With those guys back after the bye week – even with Mike Williams slated to miss time- I wouldn’t feel bad dropping Everett if I have to. His usage has been fringe at best and the Chargers offense has not been as great as we all hoped.
• David Njoku suffered a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss 2-5 weeks. Earliest he would come back seems like Week 10 after the bye week. With Njoku sidelined, expect an increased workload for Harrison Bryant. He ran a route on 47% of dropbacks in Week 7 and played 57% of the snaps.
• Tyler Conklin back from the dead? Maybe. With the Jets having so many WR issues, Conklin’s route participation spiked to 75% in Week 7. He also led with a 25% target share. If New York is down Corey Davis next week, I’d expect Conklin to have a solid role.

Fantasy Football Week 8 Rankings

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