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Top 10 Fantasy Football Takeaways from Week 8 Usage

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Playing time and touches are the backbone of fantasy scoring. 

Chasing one-week box scores can be dangerous. Investing in players who are on the field and getting the football is more reliable.

That’s why we study playing time and usage every week during the season. It can give us a tangible edge in start/sit decisions, waiver moves, and trades.

Here are the top 10 takeaways from Week 8 usage:

1. Buying Opportunity On Aaron Jones?

Starting in Week 3 -- and omitting the Week 5 game he left early -- Jones has been one of the league's true workhorse backs. He's racked up 74 carries and 16 targets in those four healthy games vs. just 12 carries and 1 target for all other Minnesota RBs.

For perspective, Jones' snap rate, carry share, and target share over this stretch would all rank top-5 among RBs on the season. His 19.4 expected PPR points per game across those weeks ranks fourth at his position.

Jones looks like at least a top-10 fantasy RB going forward. You might be able to acquire him for cheaper than that right now. Because of his Week 5 injury and Week 6 bye, Jones has only had one big game in the last month. That could have his owners willing to give him away at a discount.

2. Nick Chubb’s Encouraging Start

It wasn't surprising to see Chubb's usage climb from Week 7 to Week 8. But I didn't expect him to already be up to a 70% carry share and 16 carries in just his second game back from a brutal knee injury.

Also encouraging: A 42% route rate that Chubb topped in just 33% of his games over the previous three seasons. I'd expect that to dip a bit when RB Jerome Ford returns from his hamstring injury. But just the possibility of Chubb playing that big a role in the passing game adds to his fantasy upside.

Chubb hasn't lit up the stat sheet yet, averaging just 2.7 yards per carry. But, as @Clevta pointed out, Chubb was the first RB this season to average more rushing yards per carry than expected against a stout Ravens run defense.

Agreed. Dont worry about the low ypc from Chubb yesterday. Absolutely nobody can run on the Ravens this year. But Chubb did have the best RB performance all season vs this BAL D by rush yards over expected yesterday. He created everything on his own. Its coming https://t.co/aq1OC4lxgN pic.twitter.com/kYlsHtdQ0Z

— Clevta (@Clevta) October 28, 2024

Chubb should get more efficient as he puts that knee injury further behind him. And, with this type of usage, he's capable of RB2 numbers over the second half of the season.

3. Tyrone Tracy Locks Down Starting Job

Tracy led the Giants backfield in Week 7, but it was fair to wonder if Singletary was limited in that one coming off his groin injury. There's no more wondering after Week 8.

Tracy dominated playing time and out-carried Singletary 20 to 2 on Monday night. The rookie ripped off 145 yards and a TD against a Steelers defense that hadn't allowed a RB to top 88 rushing yards in any of its first seven games.

The playing time gap would have been even bigger had Tracy not exited with about four minutes left with a concussion. That injury has him unlikely to play in Week 9. But, once he's cleared, Tracy looks like a top-25 fantasy RB the rest of the way.

4. Jonathan Taylor Busy In Return From Injury

We often see RBs eased back into action coming off high-ankle sprains. That was not the case with Taylor.

He played 81% of the snaps in the loss to Houston and hogged 21 of 23 RB opportunities. RBs Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson each saw a target but didn't carry.

Outside of a funky Week 2, Taylor has posted a 73+% snap rate and a 48+% route rate in each of his other four games. He's a workhorse.

The QB change from Anthony Richardson to Joe Flacco should also be an upgrade for Taylor. While the Colts will run it less with Flacco, Taylor will get a bigger share of the total carries. He'll see more targets. And his TD upside will grow in what should be a more effective offense.

Taylor is an easy RB1 going forward and has top-5 upside.

5. How High Is Cedric Tillman’s Ceiling?

No played has gained more fantasy value over the last two weeks than Tillman. First, the Amari Cooper trade opened up a starting job for him. Then QB Jameis Winston brought Cleveland's passing game to life.

Over the last two weeks, Tillman ranks:

• 2nd in targets
• 3rd in air yards
• 4th in expected PPR points per game
• 2nd in actual PPR points per game

Is Tillman a top-5 fantasy WR going forward? Nah. The Browns have thrown 93 passes over the last two weeks and faced a pair of bottom-6 WR defenses. The passing volume will come down. And Cleveland's remaining WR schedule is second toughest, according to our adjusted fantasy points allowed metric.

But if Tillman continues getting this level of usage, it'll be tough for him to not produce as a top-25 WR going forward.

6. James Conner Getting Workhorse Usage Lately

There was panic over Conner after a Week 6 that saw him play just 29% of Arizona's snaps. I wrote then to bet on Conner remaining the clear lead runner but continuing to lose passing-down work.

I was half right. Conner has gone back to dominating Arizona's rushing work, racking up 39 carries over the last two weeks. But he's also seen a spike in passing-game usage, registering two of his three biggest route rates of the season. That's led to seven targets in his last two games.

Only eight RBs have averaged more expected PPR points per game than Conner over the last two weeks.

I'm skeptical that the increased passing-game usage will hold. Conner had a 42% route rate under this same coaching staff last year. But, if it does hold, he'll be a fantasy RB1. If not, the rushing role will keep him safely inside RB2 territory.

7. PPR Cheat Code: Jakobi Meyers

The three weeks listed above are Meyers' games without WR Davante Adams. He's racked up 26 total targets in those outings -- tied for 13th most among WRs.

Meyers ranks 29th among WRs in expected PPR points per game over that stretch, which is a better approximation of his fantasy value going forward.

He won't be a league-winner in a bad Raiders passing game. But volume should push Meyers to consistent WR3-level production the rest of the way.

8. Is Jonnu Smith a TE1?

We're up to three straight games of solid usage for Smith. Over that span, he ranks:

• 8th among TEs in targets
• 11th in expected PPR points per game

This three-game stretch follows largely underwhelming usage over Smith's first four games. It's certainly possible that he goes back to being unreliable the rest of the way.

But, at minimum, Smith is worth a stash for fantasy managers without a locked-in weekly starter at TE. You can even consider starting him in Week 9 in a rematch against a Bills defense he beat for a 6-53-0 line earlier this season.

9. Sell Mark Andrews

Andrews finished as a top-12 PPR TE in just one of his first five games. He's done it in each of his last three.

What's changed? He's seen a slight boost in route rate and a nice uptick in target share. But his production has been largely fueled by four TDs over those last three games.

The underlying usage in those three contests has remained underwhelming. Andrews is tied for 15th among TEs in targets over that span and ranks 12th in expected PPR points per game.

And he'll now face additional target competition with the arrival of WR Diontae Johnson.

Andrews looks like just a fringe TE1 going forward. If you can find a manager if your league that views him as a top-6 TE again, kiss him goodbye.

10. Don't Give Up On Jalen McMillan

McMillan mustered just 35 scoreless yards on four catches in his first game without WRs Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. His seven targets were just 14% of QB Baker Mayfield's 50 total attempts. And McMillan didn't soak up much of Godwin's slot work, playing just 32% of his snaps on the inside.

There's some good news, though. McMillan led the Bucs in both route rate and air-yards share. That gives him fantasy upside going forward, especially if Mayfield continues to play as well as he has so far.

Keep McMillan stashed if you scooped him off waivers last week. He gets a tough Week 9 matchup against the Chiefs and should be on fantasy benches. But he could be playable in Week 10 in a neutral matchup vs. the 49ers.

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks 1st among 133 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.