Fantasy Football Roster Trends: Adds, Drops & Most Traded (Week 8)

We’re pretty much halfway through the fantasy season and many managers are scrambling. Some teams who have appeared to be true contenders are starting to panic as their team falls apart in front of their eyes. Injuries are always something we have to deal with, but each year feels crazier than the last. With that in mind, here are this week’s players who are on the move the most in linked leagues on MyPlaybook.

*The percentage beside each player indicates the number of linked FantasyPros leagues where the respective player is among the most added, dropped or traded.

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Fantasy Football Roster Trends: Adds, Drops & Most Traded (Week 8)

Most Added

Jalen McMillan (WR – TB) – 7.0%

McMillan is by far the most added player for Week 8, and for good reason. Starting WR Mike Evans suffered a hamstring injury in the second quarter of the team’s Monday Night game against the Ravens. WR Chris Godwin was also injured in the same game. Godwin suffered an ankle injury in the final minute of the game. Evans will likely miss a few weeks, but Godwin will likely miss much more time if not the remainder of the season.

McMillan played in the game himself, getting eight targets of his own. In the current NFL, it’s the next man up, and McMillan appears in line to be that guy. He only caught three of those eight targets in Week 7, matching his total from the previous four games he’s played in. It’s hard to imagine him becoming a stud WR1 option for fantasy, but when the top two guys go down you have to chase that kind of opportunity. Fantasy managers are desperate for WR help, and McMillan is the obvious choice this week.

Jauan Jennings (WR – SF) – 5.0%

Much like McMillan, Jennings was added to a lot of leagues due to an injury to a teammate. In Jennings’ case, it’s because WR Brandon Aiyuk suffered a massive knee injury in the first half of their game against the Chiefs. Jennings has been a fantasy darling once before this year after going 11 for 12 for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns in Week 3. After being one of the most added he was then one of the most dropped just a week later. Aiyuk’s injury changes things. Adding Jennings makes sense to me more now than after his one wild week. Fantasy managers are likely debating on whether or not to start him, but adding him was the right move now.

DeAndre Hopkins (WR – KC) – 3.5%

Hopkins also makes this list for what I would call obvious reasons. After all of the injuries we’ve seen, it’s nice to have a good reason to add a player. After Week 7, the Chiefs traded for Hopkins, getting him from the Titans for a conditional late-round draft pick. Fantasy managers are hungry for WR help, and adding a five-time Pro-Bowler now on the two-time champions to their roster feels like a no-brainer. Hopkins might be a bust, but the Chiefs are a great place to shoot for the stars. Here’s hoping Hopkins still has plenty of juice left in the tank.

Most Dropped

Brandon Aiyuk (WR – SF) – 3.8%
Chris Godwin (WR – TB) – 3.5%

It’s always sad to lose a good player to injury. Whether your team was on fire or struggling, dropping studs like these is never easy. Aiyuk’s season is definitely over which is why he eeks out the top spot over Godwin who has a small chance to return. Another factor might be that Godwin played on Monday night and managers are still deciding what to do with him. Godwin was WR2 through the end of Week 8, so maybe that has a hand in it too. Either way, both of these players will be missed for fantasy no matter your current record.

JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR – KC) – 2.5%

What a difference a week can make. Smith-Schuster caught seven of eight targets for 130 yards against the Saints in Week 5, finishing with 20 PPR points. After the Chiefs bye in Week 6, Smith-Schuster came back with a big old goose egg in Week 7. He was nursing a hamstring injury that was aggravated early in the matchup and will force him to miss Week 8 as well. The team also made a big trade for Hopkins, potentially signalling that the injury is worse than expected. With the Chiefs already losing WR Rashee Rice to injury, fantasy managers are dumping JuJu for the new guy in a hurry heading into Week 8.

Trey Sermon (RB – IND) – 2.4%

Keeping with the trend, Sermon also makes tons of sense to be on the most dropped list. Fellow RB Jonathan Taylor hasn’t played since Week 4 but is expected to come back in Week 8. Sermon played well in Week 5, scoring 18.3 PPR points, but largely disappointed in the other two weeks while Taylor was out. Now that he’s back, Sermon goes back to the waiver wire in many leagues. Even if there’s another injury to their star RB, I don’t think Sermon is someone I will feel comfortable starting for fantasy purposes anytime soon.

Most Traded

Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR – ARI) – 1.5%

Harrison, Jr tops the most traded list this week and I can’t exactly tell why. He’s disappointed from a fantasy standpoint, only scoring 74 PPR points on the year, which is good enough for 31st best at WR. His 10.6 points per week average isn’t exactly something to write home about, but maybe some fantasy managers think he’ll turn it around. It takes two to trade, so one manager’s frustration may be another manager’s optimism. I get the idea of selling him, but I also get the idea of buying him. It all depends on the price for me.

DeVonta Smith (WR – PHI) – 1.3%

Similar to Harrison, Smith has also disappointed thus far this year. He’s WR36 in PPR scoring with 67.1 points on the year but he’s only played in five games. Granted, his negative two yards in Week 7 was not good news, but given the current wide receiver landscape, fantasy managers are likely scrambling for anything they can find. In Smith’s other four games, he scored 14.9 PPR points or more, so he’s got the upside to replace players like Godwin or Aiyuk. I’m just worried that he doesn’t have the consistency I look for from my starting WRs.

Tyreek Hill (WR – MIA) – 1.3%

Hill is tied with Smith for most traded after Week 7 and I think that’s because of the return of his quarterback. QB Tua Tagovailoa comes back from his concussion injury this week and perhaps managers trading for Hill think that’s a good sign. Since Tua has been out, Hill has struggled, which could explain why some managers are out on him. All that aside, a player like Hill is a game-changer, and if you can get him for the right price, I’m all for it.

Andrew Hall is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his profile and follow him @AndrewHallFF.