Fantasy

10/27/22

8 min read

Wheeler's Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings

By Kev Wheeler

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The fantasy football season is definitely in full swing, the tension is high among my students. Some are taking victory laps about being 6-1 but don’t realize how fortunate they have been with injuries, match-ups and not running into bye-week issues. Others are begging for help with a stacked line-up but have just had awful timing with opponents and/or injuries. When you play head-to-head sometimes, it’s just luck of the draw.

The data is as sticky as it’s going to get, meaning we can be fairly confident with certain data and statistics, but we also have to keep in mind situations can pivot on a dime. I use the past five weeks of player data as a baseline. At this point, I think what happened in the first couple of weeks is of little relevance to us. Entire team dynamics have changed for most of the NFL.

Every fantasy season always seems like it's the craziest fantasy season ever. Like, we acknowledge that they are all a little goofy in their own ways, but past seasons always seem pretty "normal" compared to the current year
1/6

— Dan Williamson (@OverHypedSleepr) October 24, 2022

Injuries and bye weeks are the main reasons for adjustments in the fantasy landscape now, and not just players going down, but we are starting to see players coming back. Make sure to check our News and Notes daily.

🚑 Week 7 Injury Fallout 🚑

I postponed my usual Sunday Night Football beer consumption to deliver my fantasy thoughts on the litany of injuries suffered today

(you're welcome, I'm a hero)

FREE to read on @The33rdTeamFB sitehttps://t.co/AyIxXVhD17

— Josh Larky (@jlarkytweets) October 24, 2022

Week 8 Rankings

When examining these rankings, consider I am only looking at positional ranks, not flex or overall rankings. When it comes to who you start in the flex, a lot will depend on your specific league rules and roster construction. If players are ranked within three spots of each other, the difference between them is negligible. They are expected to score the same amount of points; in those cases, go to our Discord.

Quarterback

Not that it matters for fantasy football, but the Patriots have taken Mac Jones off the injury report and have named him the starter this week. 

Running Back

Kenneth Walker III now working in the two-minute offense and pushing for every-down status, y'all 🔥

✅ 75% Snaps
✅ 71% Rushing attempts
📈 65% Route participation
✅ 67% Short yardage
❌ 22% Long-down distance
📈 100% Two-minute offense

Oh yeah, he is also a badass. RB1 SZN🚀

— Dwain McFarland (@dwainmcfarland) October 24, 2022

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott missed practice today with a knee sprain. Elliott isn’t ready to rule himself out of the Chicago game in Week 8, “We’ve still got a lot of time before Sunday,” he said. “Right now, I’m focused on getting this knee as healthy as I can.”

Running backs James Conner and Darrel Williams returned to Cardinals practice on Wednesday. Eno Benjamin will have to return to your bench, as the backfield will probably be a three-way split for a while.

Wide Receiver

I found this interesting: during the past four weeks, the Denver wide receivers have flipped:

DK Metcalf suffered a potentially serious knee injury in Week 7 against the Chargers. Pete Carroll told reporters that initial x-rays on Metcalf’s knee were negative, but we really shouldn’t trust Carroll as he has NEVER been honest about injury news.

Mike Williams suffered a sprained right ankle, and it’s likely a serious one after getting carted off in Week 7 against Seattle. Should Williams miss significant time, I like picking up DeAndre Carter off waivers as Josh Palmer has proven to be less-than-adequate. Keenan Allen should be back after the Chargers' Week 8 bye. 

Tight End

Broncos rookie TE Greg Dulcich should be considered a viable starter for the rest of the season. The team was enamored with him during the preseason and has been targeting him heavily since his return from injury. 

Browns TE David Njoku sprained his ankle in Week 7 against Baltimore; reports indicate it is “not serious”. Assuming Njoku misses the next couple of games, TE Harrison Bryant can be started in his absence, if you are desperate.

Rest of Season Rankings

Way back, before I started ranking players and writing about fantasy, I would search for analysts' “Rest of Season” rankings. At the time, there were few people actually them, so when I started writing it became a large part of my process. Rest of Season rankings help me with waiver wire or free-agent pick-ups before Sunday game-time.

Weekly Rankings Update

Check this link throughout the week and on Sunday morning for the latest updates.

Good Luck this week!

WATCH MORE: Which Team Should Trade for Chase Claypool?

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Kev Wheeler

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Kev Wheeler is a former high school baseball and football coach who has been a fantasy football addict for more than 25 years. As a coach, Wheeler's teams accomplished five county and two regional championships. Wheeler has translated his on-field success to the fantasy football arena.