The eye-catching fantasy football performances began Thursday night, with two young pass-catchers turning heads. One of the teased pass-catchers and another young tight end had performances that might have a lasting impact at the position.

In a week filled with many quarterback happenings, a rookie had a brilliant performance. Carolina had their first win of the season, but did anything change with their new play-caller? Finally, a second-year quarterback did something this week he’s never done before. Here are all of my takeaways for the week. Below we dive into a few notable players.

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Fantasy Football Week 8 Takeaways

The Titans Might Have an Answer at the Quarterback Position
Will Levis was a trainwreck in the preseason. Yet, his showing in his first NFL start reminded everyone the preseason means essentially nothing. He completed 19 of 29 pass attempts for 238 yards and four touchdowns. Equally important, he didn’t turn the ball over and took only two sacks.

The strong-armed rookie directed six of his 29 passes to DeAndre Hopkins, resulting in four receptions for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Hopkins’ fantasy value might not crater if he remains on the Titans after Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Circling back to Levis’s showing, he wasn’t a box-score stud who succeeded with smoke and mirrors. As the following cut-up of the rookie quarterback’s throws shows, he has a cannon and is willing to throw 50/50 balls.

Every Will Levis pass attempt from his dazzling NFL debut for the #Titans pic.twitter.com/4jz47XHU7J

– Justin Graver (@titansfilmroom) October 30, 2023

The rookie quarterback might breathe life into Tennessee’s offense, even if he’ll almost assuredly endure some rookie hiccups.

Thomas Brown’s First Game Calling Plays Wasn’t a Massive Success
The Panthers were on a bye in Week 7 and changed play-callers during the break. Head coach Frank Reich ceded the responsibility to his offensive coordinator, Thomas Brown. Carolina won their first contest of the 2023 campaign, but it was continued pathetic play from their offense. Bryce Young was sacked six times, and Carolina’s running backs toted the rock 20 times for 33 yards.

There was a significant shift in the backfield playing time. Per PFF, Chuba Hubbard played 45 snaps, Miles Sanders played 12 and Raheem Blackshear played 10. Hubbard has convincingly cleared Sanders on the depth chart. The third-year pro is inefficient, but he’s an acceptable emergency RB2 during bye weeks.

Adam Thielen is still the focal point of the passing game and the only exciting, relatively speaking, option on the Panthers. He had 11 targets, eight receptions and 72 receiving yards. Although, Jonathan Mingo is an intriguing bench option. The rookie wideout had five targets, four receptions and a season-high 62 receiving yards against the Texans. Carolina’s second-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft was tied for the team-high in routes (39).

Young must play better to support multiple fantasy players, but he could improve as he continues to acclimate himself to the professional level. Mingo’s first game after Carolina’s bye was an encouraging data point for a post-bye rookie bump.

Watch Was Quiet in Washington
Sam Howell was sacked once in Week 8. He’s taken at least four sacks in every other game this year, and Howell was sacked three times in his only start last season. The second-year quarterback also had career-highs for pass attempts (52), completions (39), passing yards (397) and touchdown passes (four).

Unsurprisingly, Howell got the ball out faster. The following table has Howell’s time to throw per week via NFL Next Gen Stats.

If Howell continues to get the ball out quickly, he can elevate his floor. He might have something cooking.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.