Greetings, friends. In this space, I’ll share my rapid reactions via the notes I took all day while watching every NFL game. I will focus on Week 8 news, notes and waiver wire targets in an attempt to keep the content digestible. Here are my key takeaways from a wild Week 7 Sunday. Let’s dive in.

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Fantasy Football Reactions & Takeaways

Javonte Williams: Breakout or Sell-High?

Williams had easily his best game of the season on Wednesday and finished with 25 fantasy points, give or take. That’s at least nine points more than any other game this season and more than 15 points more than five of his previous six games. After a slow start to the year, Williams has posted two really solid performances in his last three games. Personally, I’m looking to sell high. But maybe I’ll wait until after this Week 8 matchup against the Panthers and sell him before he heads on the road to face the Ravens and Chiefs in subsequent weeks.

Tank Bigsby RB1?

Well, we finally got the Tank Bigsby week we were hoping for. With Travis Etienne Jr. out, Bigsby rushed 26 (!!!) times for 118 yards and a touchdown as the Jaguars took down the Patriots. We can celebrate now, right? Tank Bigsby is going to stick as Jacksonville’s RB1 and be a borderline RB1 in fantasy rest of season? Umm, not necessarily. This was a rare positive game script for the Jaguars, and they have a gauntlet of a schedule coming up with matchups against the Packers, Eagles, Vikings, and Lions before their bye week, then a matchup with the Texans in Week 13. Bigsby had one target in the passing game on Sunday, which doubles his season total to two. He just isn’t involved in the passing attack, which is a role Etienne thrives in. So, our best case scenario here is a committee approach where Etienne sees some of the carries and ALL of the targets.

Bigsby’s value might never be higher than it is right now. I’m trying to sell, preferably to the nervous Etienne manager if I can.

Brian Thomas Jr. is WR_ Rest of Season?

Despite the aforementioned game script that saw the Jaguars throw the ball just 20 times against 39 runs, Brian Thomas Jr. managed to catch all eight of his targets for 89 yards and a touchdown, including a long reception of 58 yards. He has a touchdown in three of his last four games, and he has caught at least five passes in four of his last five games. He’s currently WR28 in FantasyPros ROS Rankings, but I expect him to be firmly in WR2 territory this week as the experts adjust their rankings.

Should You Be Worried About Malik Nabers?

Maybe this is blasphemy, but I think the answer is yes. I’m at least mildly concerned about Malik Nabers because of the Andrew Thomas injury. The Giants offensive line already wasn’t great, and it was a disaster in its first game without Thomas. Daniel Jones was seeing ghosts, as he has been known to do when faced with pressure. On Sunday against the Eagles, Nabers caught four of his eight targets for just 41 yards, while Jones and backup QB Drew Luck were sacked eight times.

He still had eight targets, which is great. But, after missing two games, those eight targets were his fewest since Week 1. His four receptions are his fewest of the season. We saw his ceiling in weeks 2-4, when he averaged 26 PPR points, 10 receptions, and 15 targets per game. But if the New York offense is really going to crumble without Thomas holding down LT, then we might not get the same kind of consistent production from Nabers.

Should you panic? No. But it’s something to monitor and consider.

Breece Hall the Jets leading receiver?

The Jets traded for WR and Aaron Rodgers BFF Davante Adams this week, and NFL and fantasy football analysts spent all week speculating about how it would impact the offense in New York. The Steelers beat up on the Jets on Sunday night, and the latter’s offense was, in a word, strange. Sure, it will take some time to incorporate Adams into the offense even with his familiarity with the offense and Rodgers. But Adams was tied with Garrett Wilson and RB Breece Hall for the team lead with nine targets. Hall turned his nine into six receptions for 103 yards. Wilson caught five of his for 61 yards. Adams caught just three of his for 30 yards. Is it time to panic? No, this offense and Adams should both be fine. More importantly, Hall managers know that he will still be featured now. The Jets threw the ball 39 times against just 15 runs, but Hall saw 12 of the runs and nine of the targets for a total of 18 touches for 141 yards and a TD.

Buy Low on DeVonta Smith

Smith caught just one pass for negative two yards in Sunday’s blowout win over the Giants. But this was largely game script. The Eagles got off to yet another slow start on offense — they remain the only team in the NFL to not score a single point in the first quarter this season — but then they steamrolled Daniel Jones and the G-Men. The Saquon Barkley Revenge Game turned out to be a real thing, as he rushed 17 times for 176. yards and a TD and caught two of his three targets for 11 more yards. Philly ran the ball 45 times against just 15 passes, in large part because Saquon was averaging over 10 yards per carry, and then the game was over by the start of the fourth quarter and both teams pulled their starters. This isn’t the time to panic about DeVonta Smith. It’s a great time to buy low and see if you can acquire him while his fantasy manager in your league is frustrated.

Russell Wilson Looks Really Bad OK?

The boo birds were out early on Sunday night for Russell Wilson and the Steelers offense, but then something happened. Things seemed to click. The offense started moving the ball. Russ connected with George Pickens on a few chunk plays. While there were calls in the first quarter on social media for Justin Fields to return, those, too, changed as the game went on. Maybe Russ isn’t cooked just yet? And maybe, just maybe, this will be a good thing for Pickens, who caught five of his nine targets for 111 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Jets. If the Steelers can figure out a viable WR2 for this offense (maybe old friend Diontae Johnson could be available via trade, hehe), Pittsburgh might just have something there.

Drake Maye Changes Everything in New England

Drake Maye now has two starts under his belt, and he looks like he can play. More importantly, he has changed the entire offense in New England and makes some of their other pieces interesting. The Patriots aren’t going to be a top offense in the league, but Maye has shown he can move the ball, drive this offense, and support multiple playmakers.

On Sunday against the Jaguars, he completed 26 of his 37 pass attempts for 276 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 18 yards. Hunter Henry caught eight passes for 92 yards. The running game, other than Maye, was nonexistent, but there were flashes in the passing game. You don’t need to go crazy adding pieces of the Patriots offense, but this is no longer a barren wasteland for fantasy. This is a situation that should be monitored, especially in deeper leagues.

Early Week 8 Waiver Targets

Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall (WRs – SF)

Jauan Jennings should be your top target this week, but Ricky Pearsall is a name worth grabbing and stashing as well. It looks like Brandon Aiyuk is going to miss the rest of the season, and we’ve already seen Jennings step up and be a WR1 when given the opportunity. Pearsall we haven’t seen much of as he just debuted in Week 7, where he caught three of his five targets for 21 yards. I’m not the biggest Pearsall fan after watching him at last year’s Senior Bowl, but I won’t deny that he is an intriguing target in fantasy and should be a great fit for this offense.

Jennings is banged up, so that could further complicate this situation. Maybe it means you can get him for cheaper in FAAB. Or maybe Pearsall will be that much more valuable if both Aiyuk and Jennings are out. The 49ers play the Cowboys in Week 8 and have a bye in Week 9, so it’s very possible Jennings is held out to give him extra rest.

Jaylen Warren (RB – PIT)

Najee Harris was still the lead back in Sunday night’s win over the Jets, but Jaylen Warren was plenty involved in his first game back. He received 14 touches Sunday, with 12 carries for 44 yards and two receptions on three targets for 15 yards. He’s only rostered in 41% of leagues, but he should be a valuable flex option for the rest of the season, especially if Russell Wilson can unlock this offense even more.

Keon Coleman (WR – BUF)

Is it possible that the arrival of Amari Cooper in Buffalo could be a good thing for Keon Coleman? As of this writing (pending the Monday Night Football games), Coleman is the WR12 in Half-PPR formats for Week 7 with 14.50 points. His four receptions are his most since Week 1, and his 125 receiving yards are easily his most of the season (his previous high was 51 yards, which he posted in both Week 1 and Week 4).

Is this a breakout? Or is it just a temporary bump in what will continue to be an inconsistent season? My guess is it’s somewhere in between, and he’ll continue to be inconsistent. But his ceiling is worth targeting, especially since we have a key change we can point to for his sudden production: the Amari Cooper arrival. Don’t go nuts with your FAAB, but Coleman is worth stashing if you can.

Cedric Tillman (WR – CLE)

The Deshaun Watson injury changes everything in Cleveland, and Cedric Tillman looks like he might be the WR taking the most advantage. He came into Sunday’s game against the Bengals with just three receptions on the year. He left with 11, as he caught eight of his 12 targets for 81 yards. Someone has to step up in Cleveland, and with Watson out for the season and Amari Cooper shipped off to Buffalo, there are opportunities and targets up for grabs.

You shouldn’t have to break the bank for Tillman, but he’s worth a look, especially in deeper leagues. I don’t think he’ll see 12 targets every week, but he might have a steady role in what will be a new-look offense as we get into the second half of the season.

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