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Which wide receivers will shine in Week 8 for your fantasy football teams? We’ll take a look at all of them in our PPR rankings.
Welcome to Week 8’s look at fantasy wide receivers. At this point in the season they have all been injured, so we’re going to shelve this post for the time being. Wait, I’m getting news that there is an obscure “next man up” policy that the NFL has implemented. So, I guess they are going to continue to play. Okay, well, let’s see what’s up with these receivers.
Week 8 wide receiver bye weeks
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Week 8 wide receiver injuries
Chris Godwin, Buccaneers
Godwin went down on Monday Night Football with a dislocated ankle with seconds left in a game the Buccaneers had no chance of winning. He is done for the season, which means Jalen McMillan, Trey Palmer, or Sterling Shepard will need to step up. With Mike Evans set to miss games with his own injury, I’d expect Palmer to get his work on the outside, while McMillan and Shepard work to replace Godwin out of the slot. McMillan is the young, upside guy there, but Shepard has the experience to win snaps as well.
Mike Evans, Buccaneers
Evans looks to be out for the next three games due to his hamstring injury and as I mentioned above, Trey Palmer is his likely fill-in. Palmer has played well in flashes, but hasn’t been able to show much consistency. He’s still an add on receiver needy teams though.
Chris Olave, Saints
Olave has a chance to return from his concussion this week, per Nick Underhill. The Saints need him, as Rashid Shaheed is out for the season. Olave missed Week 6 with the brain injury and has had multiple concussions in his career.
Jameson Williams, Lions
Williams isn’t injured thankfully, but will miss two games due to a PED suspension. There’s no way around this being bad for Williams and his fantasy backers, but hopefully he can return to being a big play maker in the second half of the season.
Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers
Aiyuk suffered an ACL injury and is done for the season. Jauan Jennings is likely to see the biggest bump in work, but Ricky Pearsall should also get a shot at some extra responsibilities, especially if Jennings can’t return this week from his own injury.
Jauan Jennings, 49ers
Jennings should get an Aiyuk injury bump, but he is dealing with a hip injury that kept him out of their Week 7 game against the Chiefs. We don’t have much good information on this injury other than the fact there’s been no talk of him going on I.R. If he can return to practice this week, he should be on track to return this week or next, but if he can’t, Pearsall should see useful targets.
Deebo Samuel, 49ers
Samuel had fluid in his lungs and missed most of the 49ers Week 7 game. He had to go to the hospital and has been discharged, per Matt Maiocco. There really is no time table for his return just yet, so be prepared that he might miss at least this week, and maybe more.
DK Metcalf, Seahawks
Metcalf suffered a MCL sprain in Week 7, which could keep him out this week, per Adam Schefter. If he can’t go against the Bills, Jake Bobo would likely take his snaps, but Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba would likely be the main beneficiaries.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schustertried to play in Week 7, but didn’t last long before aggravating a hamstring injury. We already know he won’t play this week against the Raiders, but there is no timetable for his return at the moment. As long as he doesn’t go on I.R., he should be back before he misses four games.
Cooper Kupp, Rams
Head coach Sean McVay told reporters he believes Kupp will play on Thursday night against the Vikings. But, the Rams are currently shopping Kupp around in a trade and McVay also told reporters he didn’t know what Kupp’s workload would be. This is probably a situation to avoid on Thursday night if you can.
Week 8 wide receiver sleepers
Jalen McMillian, Buccaneers vs. Falcons
The Bucs will be without their top two receivers against the Falcons this weekend, as Chris Godwin and Mike Evans are both injured. Trying to decipher who will be the go-to receiver behind them is tough, but I like McMillan and expect him to see a lot of work in the slot, which is where Godwin has been dominating this season. The Falcons have been weak against the pass, ranking 26th in schedule adjusted fantasy points allowed to wide receivers this season. Sterling Shepard and Trey Palmer are also in line for work and have some sleeper appeal this week.
Romeo Doubs, Packers at Jaguars
Doubs has been on a role over the last two games and is set up to continue rolling against an awful Jaguars pass defense. The jaguars rank dead last in EPA and DVOA against the pass and 30th in adjust fantasy points to receivers. There is risk here, as the team has multiple strong receivers and any of them could break out in this matchup, but I’ll take the hot hand here.
