Fantasy Football Rankings: Players Hayden Winks is higher and lower on than consensus for Week 8

To critique Wilson, there are too many targets that end up contested. There are some speed and QB issues that play into that, but there’s just no way Wilson can match his truly elite usage. Wilson is the WR35 on WR6 (!!!) expected half PPR points per game this year. I’m still holding onto WR2 hope.

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The matchup is a great one. The Cowboys have allowed 29.5 half PPR points per game to WRs (sixth), and the Cardinals project for 23.75 points in a negative game script. This is textbook dome garbage time for Jacoby Brissett. Wilson will see plenty of CB1 Joey Porter Jr., but there’s been too many coverage busts and clean looks to be worried about that. Dallas has allowed a top-17 WR in four straight games, including to Makai Lemon last week.

Jeremiyah Love, RB, Cardinals – 54.5 proj. total yards

Love is hopefully healed from both of his ankle sprains after taking two weeks off, and I will say that he was leaping over defenders in Week 5 after suffering both of them. He’s a freak athlete, and the hope is the Cardinals were precautionary so they can get the best version of him to wind down the year.

It’s best to throw out a lot of his season when trying to project forward. There were too many injured games and an outing against the Seahawks to try to tangle with. What I did notice was Bam freaking Knight having RB12 and RB18 usage over the past two weeks while Tyler Allgeier was kept in what coach Matt LaFleur calls a “complementary role”. It’s possible Knight is a short-term thorn in his side, but Allgeier being the one to prevent Love from being a fantasy RB2 is not likely at this point. We’ll wait for better news later on to decide where in RB2 Land Love belongs.

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Dallas enters Week 8 ranked seventh in half PPR points allowed to RBs at 22.6 points per game. While they sit 15th in receiving points allowed to the position, the Cowboys have surrendered the fifth-most rushing points per game to opposing backfields. Opponents have attacked them relentlessly on the ground, as Dallas has faced a 44% neutral pass rate (lowest in the league). Bucky Irving delivered 30.5 half PPR points (RB3) against them in Week 5, while Saquon Barkley posted 14.1 points (RB20) in Week 7 on 10 dang snaps. Arizona travels as 6.5-point road underdogs with an implied team total of 23.75 points (12th).

Makai Lemon, WR, Eagles – 39.5 proj. receiving yards

Players Hayden is lower on

Jonah Coleman, RB, Broncos – 59.5 proj. total yards

Coleman returned from IR to post an RB35 on RB37 finish as a contributor in a frustrating 3-RB committee. The rookie played the most snaps in the fourth quarter while up 14 points, but even in the first three quarters, Coleman was out there for 15 snaps to J.K. Dobbins’ 13 and RJ Harvey’s 12. Coleman caught a couple of checkdowns while splitting late-down snaps with Harvey. His carries were up-and-down. He is not an above-average athlete or powerful rusher, and he did overthink some runs, in my opinion. That said, he did find some hidden yards, too. It was a passable but not a needle-moving performance. Dobbins and Harvey were rock solid themselves.

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I’d be surprised if Coleman Wally Pipps Dobbins off this outing. It’ll likely take some time, barring injury. Coleman is a bench stash only, one that other fantasy football fans like far more than I do.

Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Browns – 39.5 proj. yards

Hey! Fannin got his first screen target of the season, obviously resulting in two missed tackles and a first down. He was throwing Titans off him for much of the game, finishing as the TE14 on TE9 usage after two duds leading into that outing. At the same time, he won’t be left wide open for 36-yard gains like he was in this one very often.

Fannin is fighting the breakouts of rookies KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, so he’s only been the TE17 on TE18 usage this year as the most volatile player at his position. Deshaun Watson is missing just enough throws to rule out the upside case, while making enough plays to keep TE1/2 border hope alive.

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A date with the Steelers adds to the mess. They’ve been solid against TEs, and the Browns team total is only at 18.0 points. Fannin had 27 and 30 yards in his last games against Pittsburgh, too.

Quinshon Judkins, RB, Browns – 59 proj. total yards

Judkins had his best game of the year (RB3 on RB22 usage), right as RB2 Dylan Sampson returned from injury. He scored twice, once from distance and once inside the 10-yard line. Judkins ran with burst and particularly had success running behind top-10 rookie pick LT Spencer Fano, who switched sides this offseason. This OL could gel more after that Week 6 bye, and Judkins stands to benefit most.

That said, Judkins’ snaps and receiving role took a hit with Sampson back. He simply won’t maintain the 3+ reception average (RB12) he had in Weeks 1-5 without him, so I’d view his current RB19 on RB16 standing as closer to his ceiling than baseline. The Browns will also run Deshaun Watson in short yardage and sprinkle in KC Concepcion carries, too. The good news is Judkins’ tape and the OL’s tape seemed to be the best all year.

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Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts – 79.5 proj. total yards

Taylor’s 11.8 expected half PPR points last week (RB24) were his fewest since Week 9 of last year if we remove his partial Week 18 game. The culprits were more Seth McGowan than normal, a bad offense and a bad matchup. Taylor is so good that he still finished with 18.0 half PPR points on 18 carries, but the margins are getting thinner within the confines of these spreadsheets. He’s the RB9 on RB6 usage this month without Alec Pierce clearing space for the offense.

Now he’ll be without the best guard in the NFL after the Colts traded away Quenton Nelson. Right now, the Colts are fourth in PFF run-blocking grade at OG. That won’t hold up now. McGowan is a sharp bench stash for 12-team leagues while we approach Nov. 10. Taylor easily could be next.

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Jacksonville ranks 31st against fantasy RBs, giving up just 14.6 half PPR points per game overall and an NFL-low 8.2 points per game on the ground (32nd). Offenses facing them have run the ball in neutral situations at the lowest rate (38%), too. The Colts don’t have another way to move the ball consistently, so they may go down swinging anyways. A 19.5-point team total (23rd) for the Colts is less than ideal.

Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs – 49.5 proj. yards

We’ll probably look back at the first three weeks of the year when Kelce was literally leading the NFL in yards after catch as the outlier of the season. Over the past month, Kelce is the TE18 on TE20 despite injuries to multiple WRs. On tape, Kelce looks okay, but even more of his production now is slipping out after chip help or four seconds after the play as Patrick Mahomes runs around. That’s fun. It’s just going to come with far less consistency, especially when Rice is back (which looks like it’ll be this week)

Denver ranks ninth-friendliest against the position, allowing 12.7 half PPR points per game to TEs. The Broncos just yielded a massive 10-111-1 receiving line on 13 targets to Trey McBride (TE2) in Week 7 and conceded a score to George Kittle (TE4) in Week 4. Kelce had 71 yards in Week 1 and was the TE21 and TE3 in 2025 against them. Kansas City enters as 1.5-point road favorites with a 21.5-point team total (20th).

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Caleb Williams, QB, Bears – 16.7 proj. points

Williams is dicing defenses up from the pocket far more now than he ever has before. Scary. He hasn’t needed to run as much since the hamstring injury, but now that we’re in the third game back, he can probably start leaning into it more when needed. Williams is the QB5 in EPA per dropback this season and has been fantasy’s QB1, QB15 and QB7 in his three games away from the Flores in the rain game. He won’t have TE2 Cole Kmet now, but that could mean fewer under center runs in favor of more 3-WR sets that get Luther Burden III onto the field more. Not a bad swap for Williams.

The Seahawks are easily a top-two defense in the NFL. They’ve allowed just 12.7 fantasy points per game to QBs (31st) on the fewest passing yards per game (158). They are the best rushing defense by a mile as well. If there is a weakness, it’s in the secondary at post safety and CB2, and Williams has the skill set to buy time and deliver it that way. It’s just a very small window. Just ask Patrick Mahomes (179 scoreless yards) and Bo Nix (109 scoreless yards) most recently. The closer comp is probably Brock Purdy, who was the QB17 with 16.2 fantasy points in Week 5. Chicago heads into Lumen Field as 3-point road underdogs with a 21.75-point team total (18th).