Last year in Week 8, Tim Patrick had more fantasy points than JuJu Smith-Schuster, T.Y. Hilton and Kenny Golladay……combined. Derek Carr went off for nearly 30 fantasy points while Drew Brees put up just 6. Over at tight end, Jordan Thomas was the leader of the week (really) and Ed Dickson outperformed Zach Ertz, Evan Engram and George Kittle. Believe it or not, Wendell Smallwood had more fantasy points than Saquon Barkley.
The point is that while everything you are about to read may seem crazy, this is a league where crazy things happen every week. I am merely trying to forecast which scenarios are possible in advance like last week when we hyped up Dallas Goedert and Andy Dalton.
I’ll be posting this article every Saturday, and while these are all players I feel strongly about for the week, these are not my projections by any means. Rather, a bold prediction is something that most people would say has less than 10% chance of happening, but I’ll give it two or even three times better odds. So perhaps use one of these guys in a DFS GPP or if you need help breaking a tie on a start/sit decision. By the way, here is my new weekly article called Quick Grades. It has all my start/sit recommendations in a quick-hitting format.
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#1 Mike Williams will end up a top 12 wideout
Keenan Allen is expected to be a game-time decision for the Chargers with a hamstring injury. Even if he does play, however, Mike Williams is still a great option. Believe it or not, over the last three weeks Williams has been the Chargers’ #1 option with 6 more targets, 5 extra receptions and 81 extra yards. Add in the fact that Chicago’s defense has been a major disappointment and we could be looking at a breakout game for the Chargers’ third-year wideout.
Final Prediction: 8 targets, 6 receptions, 112 yards, 1 TD
#2 Ryan Tannehill will finish as a top 5 QB
Whew, this one is hot, I’m aware but hear me out. Tampa Bay’s secondary is atrocious. There really isn’t any more than needs to be said, as Joe Flacco or Sam Darnold could even eat this pass defense up. Tannehill actually looked good last week too, and is unquestionably an upgrade over Marcus Mariota. Now that Corey Davis is free and A.J. Brown is playing snaps, this passing offense doesn’t look all that bad, and fortunately for fantasy owners “not all that bad” plus an awful Bucs’ secondary should equal a huge day.
Final Prediction: 30 for 38, 342 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
#3 D.J. Chark will be a top 5 receiver this week
Much like Mike Williams and Keenan Allen above, Chark might not actually be the Jags’ #1 anymore, as Dede Westbrook has more targets, receptions and yards over the past four weeks. This week, though, they play the Jets, who just so happen to have one strong cornerback and wouldn’t you know it, he plays in the slot where Westbrook makes his money. With Westbrook preoccupied and Gardner Minshew getting healthier, we should get another big week from Chark.
Final Prediction: 8 targets, 7 receptions, 84 yards, 2 TDs
#4 LeSean McCoy will score 20+ PPR points
With Matt Moore starting in place of Patrick Mahomes, you’d expect the Chiefs to run quite a bit more than usual. When you account for the fact that Green Bay has a top-five secondary and bottom-five run defense, that should lead to even more running, and at this point, it is clear that McCoy is the #1 back in Kansas City. We can lock in 15+ touches from him and that should go a long way in this matchup.
Final Prediction: 14 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD, 2 receptions, 26 yards
#5 The Panthers will win in San Francisco
This is a little BettingPros special for you (our new site). I’m currently among the top five in accuracy among 150+ analysts and a large reason why is targeting the right underdogs in moneyline bets. This is my favorite option of the week because Carolina is coming off the bye and has 23 sacks in the past four weeks. Mike McGlinchey and Joe Staley will both miss this game and the 49ers have three wideouts on the injury report and another who doesn’t know the playbook yet. Most importantly, their defensive success has primarily been a product of an incredibly week schedule. I like Christian McCaffrey to total 150+ yards and multiple scores in the upset.
Final Prediction: Carolina 20, San Francisco 16
The Other Half
#6 Mason Rudolph will be a top 12 QB (Killer matchup at home versus Miami)
Final Prediction: 24 for 30, 283 yards, 3 TDs
#7 Jonnu Smith will end up a top 8 tight end (Likely to absorb all of Delanie Walker‘s work)
Final Prediction: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 82 yards, 1 TD
#8 Tarik Cohen will finish as a top 20 RB (Has been outsnapping Montgomery the last two weeks)
Final Prediction: 5 carries, 12 yards, 8 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TD
#9 Trevor Davis will be a top 30 wideout (Tyrell Williams is questionable + perfect matchup)
Final Prediction: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 48 yards, 1 TD
#10 Mike Gesicki will finish as a top 10 tight end (Great matchup + recent target increase)
Final Prediction: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 61 yards, 1 TD
Thanks for reading and happy football season!
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