We’re almost halfway through the NFL season which means we’re definitely halfway through the fantasy season. If your team is over .500, congrats! Look at what moves you might need to make to finish strong. If you’re under .500 then it might be time for some bigger swings. Don’t be afraid to change things up and throw out the pre-draft rankings. We’re in a whole new world now, and here are some players that have changed value in that world recently.
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Week 8 Value Risers
Maybe the Giants are legit? And by proxy, maybe Jones is also legit? The team is 6-1 after defeating the Jaguars on the road this week, and Jones finished as QB2 in the process. He outscored Patrick Mahomes by almost 2 full points largely because he ran for over 100 yards and a touchdown while passing for just over 200 and a touchdown through the air. He did it all, and his fantasy value has gone up as a result.
If your team is QB-needy I’m not sure I’d be targeting Jones right now due to this recent bump. However, if you started Jones because Jalen Hurts or Josh Allen was on a bye then I would be shopping Jones to a QB-needy team. It’s really hard to gauge what you can get but I’d be happy getting someone like Geno Smith and a high-upside bench player back in a trade. The more the merrier, obviously, but if the offer doesn’t feel right don’t be afraid to hold him and enjoy the ride along with Giants fans as the season goes along.
Yes, that’s right, Robinson is a Jet, not a Jaguar. Due to the recent injury to rookie Breece Hall, the Jets decided to send a late-round draft pick to the Jags for Robinson to help bolster their RB room. I was fully anticipating listing Robinson as one of my fallers due to his goose egg in Week 7, but this changes everything. I’m holding Robinson and avoiding him if he’s not on my team. The risk is just too much until we learn what his true role will be on his new team. He could be a bell cow, but he could be a full backup, we just don’t know yet. Either way, it’s no doubt that his value is higher now than it was a week ago when he was buried behind Travis Etienne.
I’m double-dipping with Jacobs here. He was on my risers list a couple of weeks back and his value has gone up again. He finished as the RB2 on the week in PPR scoring but that was only because Austin Ekeler caught 12 passes for the Chargers. Jacobs scored three touchdowns while racking up 143 yards on 20 carries in the Raiders’ win over the Texans. He was a beast. If you roster him you aren’t likely to trade him away for anything less than a haul, and if you don’t have him you likely won’t get him for cheap anymore. The cat is out of the bag here, and Jacobs is a true stud in a bleak RB landscape this year. He’s just fun to watch right now.
I feel like Boyd has largely gone unnoticed in fantasy leagues this year, but he made his presence known in Week 7. Boyd finished as WR2 behind his teammate Ja’Marr Chase with 29.5 PPR points. He had a team-high 155 receiving yards on 8 catches and a 60-yard touchdown to open the game against the Falcons. Boyd may not always finish this high in the rankings, but the potential is definitely there. Tee Higgins has been banged up lately, but he’s still the name fantasy managers want. They’re not wrong, but you should want Boyd on your team too. Send an offer and add him to your bench if the price is right. Bye weeks are in full swing, and Boyd could be a starter for your team.
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Week 8 Value Fallers
The Ravens beat the Browns in a close game, but Jackson wasn’t much of a factor. He finished as QB20 in fantasy, only completing 9 of 16 passes for a meager 120 yards and no touchdowns. He ran 10 times for 59 yards, which helped his stats, but overall he was very underwhelming. It’s hard to say if this is what the Ravens wanted him to do or if it was just all they could muster, but either way, I’m down on Jackson as a result. If Mark Andrews or Rashod Bateman misses any time then Jackson might end up being benched in some leagues. Now is the time to send an offer if the Jackson manager lost this week or is just fed up with the ups and downs. This might be a tiny buy-low window on him for the year, so you might as well try.
With the news of Hall’s ACL injury, fantasy managers were already assuming Carter would be the next man up. Not so fast. The team made a trade for Robinson less than 24 hours after their game. Clearly, they didn’t think Carter was the answer, so neither do I. Robinson got a value bump but Carter definitely got a value hit. You can’t trade Carter now, you have to wait until he at least puts something on the board, but you sure can trade for him. It could be a sneaky play to send a lowball offer for Carter on this news and see how it plays out. Injuries always happen, and Robinson has a history of injuries himself. Carter could still be fantasy relevant, so adding him for cheap could be a great move looking back on the year. Who knows, right?
Another boring performance from Johnson came in Week 7, with him only catching 5 of his 10 targets for 42 yards on Sunday night. The Steelers offense struggled as a whole, but they’re still finding their new identity with Kenny Pickett under center so it’s not unexpected. Johnson, however, just feels ignored on his own offense at times. Sure, he got the most targets, but he just seems to do very little with them. Rookie George Pickens is starting to stand out and got the lone touchdown from Pickett again this week. I’m not sure Johnson is bench-worthy just yet, but he’s getting close. Maybe you can add him in exchange for a depth RB option in your league but only do that if you have the RB depth to afford to lose some.
Drake London (WR – ATL)/Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL)
The Falcons looked lost on Sunday. Marcus Mariota only completed 8 of 13 passes, and the two young studs on the team were involved in just about half of them but only combined for 18 yards of offense. London caught his lone target for 9 yards and Pitts caught 3 of his 5 targets for 9 yards as well. This was just ugly all around. London and Pitts deserve better, and heading into the season were both expected to be better. It’s just not happening right now. Until the team makes some major changes, I’m benching both. I’m not trading for either of them but I’m also not looking to trade them away. They’re just annoying roster cloggers for now, but the upside hasn’t changed. Maybe things can turn around, but until then I don’t want them in my lineup tanking my chances at winning my matchup.
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Andrew Hall is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, follow him @AndrewHallFF.