Fantasy Football Outlook: Chigoziem Okonkwo, Tyjae Spears, Najee Harris, DeAndre Hopkins

Every week, I’ll be writing a comprehensive primer on every NFL matchup and all of the relevant players, matchups, pace and playcalling notes, and injuries. It covers everything you need to know when setting your lineups. But since that article is massive and requires a full pot of coffee, we’re also going to offer these more focused matchup overviews to help you prepare for Thursday Night Football: Titans vs. Steelers. Here’s the full Thursday Night Fantasy Football Primer. Below we dive into a few notable players.

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Thursday Night Football Primer & Start/Sit Advice

Tyjae Spears: Last week, Spears had his second-lowest snap share of the season as the Titans whooped the Falcons. Spears has averaged 7.5 touches and 45.4 total yards. This could be another game where he doesn’t see the field as much if Henry can run the ball down their throats early, but he could still be a productive flex play this week. The matchup is there for him to have a superbly efficient outing on minimal touches. Spears remains one of the most efficient running backs in the NFL. If anything ever happened to Henry, Spears would be a weekly RB1. He is second in explosive run rate, third in missed tackles forced per attempt, and fifth in yards after contact per attempt. The Steelers have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game to running backs. Week 9 Positional Value: RB3/flex play

Najee Harris: Harris’s role has remained steady, with 49-58% of the snaps played weekly while averaging 13.9 touches and 58.1 total yards. Among 65 qualifying backs, Harris ranks 27th in missed tackles forced per attempt and 29th in yards after contact per attempt. Harris has not rushed for more than 71 yards in any game this season. Harris’s season won’t turn around this week as he faces the Titan’s elite run defense. Tennessee has contained backs with the lowest explosive run rate, the eighth-lowest missed tackles per attempt, and the 11th-lowest yards after contact per attempt allowed. Week 9 Positional Value: RB3/4

DeAndre Hopkins: After last week’s monster game, Hopkins is the WR23 in fantasy. Among 119 qualifying wide receivers, he is 17th in target share (25.8%), tenth in air-yard share (41.7%), ninth in yards per route run (YPRR, 2,8), and 14th in first-read share (33.6%). Since Week 4, Pittsburgh has utilized man coverage at the second-highest rate in the league (41.7%). Against man, Hopkins has seen his numbers increase in target share (28.6%), YPRR (3.16), and first-read share (36.1%). Hopkins will run about 75% of his routes against Joey Porter Jr. (21.4% catch rate and 9.8 passer rating) and Patrick Peterson (58.8% catch rate and 115.6 passer rating). Week 9 Positional Value: WR2/3

Chigoziem Okonkwo: Okonkwo has been a huge disappointment this season. He has had a 16.0% target share, an 11.2% air-yard share, and only 0.99 YPRR to show for it. He has only two red zone targets this season. This isn’t the matchup to consider streaming him. Pittsburgh has given up the fourth-fewest receiving yards and the third-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends. Week 9 Positional Value: TE2