FFB Week 8: Twelve Takeaways

That's right, it's another Twelve Takeaways presented by Olive Garden. 

Happy Halloween to YOU! 

The best Halloween movie of all time, no debate, is Ernest Scared Stupid. If you don't agree with that statement, click at the top right of this window and get out. 

Now. 

I'm serious.

You don't deserve Ernest, and you sure as HELL don't deserve Rimshot.

Sorry to get aggressive there, don't leave. 

It's just that here at the Fantasy Football Boys Fantasy Football Department, we pay homage to the great work done by Jim Varney over the years. May he freakin' rest in peace. 

As we all know, Halloween can be a very spooky time of the year. You wanna know what's more terrifying than Halloween and all its goblins and ghouls? Having a bad fantasy football team and all your friends making fun of you. Hopefully if you've been reading this every week, your season hasn't been overly frightful, plagued by injuries and bad-luck losses. Whatever the case, don't fret, because I'm here for you. 

Let's get into this week's takeaways. As always, waivers are at the bottom. 

1. Nothing hits quite like a walk-off Hail Mary. We had a true "HOLY SHIT!" moment with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.   

Wanna see karma play out in real time? Check out cool guy Tyrique Stevenson talking shit to the Commanders sideline, celebrating early, then deciding "sure, I'll participate in the play" just to be the one to tip it into Noah Brown's hands. 

The Bears staff might want to update their resumés and Eberflus deflecting the blame is a horrible look, so I'd say they're all on the hot-seat. "Inexcusable" gets thrown around a lot, but this is truly an embodiment of that term, a loss that cannot happen - I'm sure Ryan Poles would agree. 

How many times does this have to happen before teams figure it out? So many teams still do it, but only rushing only three guys is a room-temperature IQ approach. For this to work, Jayden Daniels has to hold the ball and let it all develop in or near the endzone, and the Bears just let him do it! He held it for something like 13 seconds and had an eternity to let his guys get down the field. Hell, the Bears even spied Daniels, opting not to put an iota of pressure on him, and eliminating a linebacker from the play altogether. 

Ultimately, I'm 99.9% sure the message was "bat it down" as it always is, but when it comes time your guys just have to do it. Win one single rep and bat the ball down. Even with 8 guys back there (once Stevenson decided to show), someone still got behind the Bears defenders and that blows my mind. A massively deflating failure on multiple fronts. 

It wasn't his best day offensively for the Commanders, but Jayden Daniels is snatching bodies and he's the new Boogeyman in the NFC East. He's been not just the Rookie of the Year, but one of the best quarterbacks in the entire league. He's totaled 2,160 yards and 11 TDs through his first 7 games (8 games if you count the game his ribs got hurt and he left after the first drive). Who ever would've expected him to be QB3 going into week 9 with the Commanders controlling their own fate at 6-2? 

2. There's a full-on clash taking place between the Cowboys and the local media in Dallas.  

The Cowboys are actively melting down before our eyes. 

I get it, Trevon Diggs is upset. It's bad enough the Cowboys are 3-4 after coming out of the bye and losing to a 49ers roster that's at ~60% strength, now this reporter comes in from the clouds with a very mean tweet questioning his effort? The nerve! If you're gonna come at a player like that, the response is fair game and I'll give credit where credit is due: a well-timed "deez nuts" still cuts deep. That reporter might have to retire.  

Trevon Diggs with the immediate name-search as soon as he hits the locker room is truly insane stuff, but he must’ve found this tweet and took offense: 

Is it all that farfetched to think that the Cowboys received a team-wide email with direct orders from Jerry Jones to be vile to the media? This feels like a very "Jerry Jones" move and he's already mad at everyone that criticizes him, so I'm choosing to subscribe to that theory. If Jerry Jones is dead set on making their life a living hell, there's no doubt in my mind that he's given everyone in the organization the same clearance to be assholes. 

The Cowboys - the roster that Jerry Jones built but now doesn't want to be held accountable for - are a middling team, a one-dimensional offense with little to nothing going in the run game, hanging by a thread in their division and staring down another underwhelming season with the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history. Their next four upcoming games are against the Falcons, Eagles, Texans, and Commanders - not a particularly easy stretch when you need to climb out of a hole. 

Thank God for CeeDee Lamb who is just about the only championship-caliber player on that offense. He accounted for most of their production again and jumps all the way to WR5 after putting up 33.1 fantasy points on Sunday night. The same can't be said for Dak who is disappearing down the rankings at QB19.

I know things are tense and the Cowboys are feeling hypersensitive about it. And yeah, maybe it was a little weird for the reporter to single him out, but really... what was Trevon Diggs doing on that play?     

3. Bench Patrick Mahomes. 

In week 8, Patrick Mahomes had his best game of the season. 19.2 fantasy points.

Once again, he did not surpass 20 fantasy points and hasn't done so since week 12 of last year. 

His highest fantasy output of the season now has him at a 8:9 TD to INT ratio. He's tied for the most interceptions in the league with Baker Mayfield (21:9 TD/INT) and Jordan Love (15:9 TD/INT). 

The Mahomes "fantasy vs. real-life" dichotomy continues to be a very real phenomenon.

I've been thinking, and I'm ready to put it out there. 

I have a love/hate relationship with Patrick Mahomes and my brain is conflicted most Sundays as I watch him. Any time you're the best at something, you're inevitably going to get some hate. I certainly don't hate the guy, but he's getting what I've loosely coined as "the Lebron Treatment". I get annoyed with Patrick Mahomes.  

Believe it or not, I generally like Mahomes, and I can acknowledge his greatness without a shadow of a doubt. Nobody would waste their breath arguing that he isn't the best quarterback in the league playing for the best team, but he does shit like this, and it's annoying. 

Annoying because the refs will throw a flag if defenders so much as lays a finger on Mahomes, more so than other quarterbacks, and he knows that. Lebron tends to get the same treatment on the basketball court with more calls going in his favor simply because of who he is. 

On the flip side, I'm not too dense to recognize that it's cerebral and forward-thinking to get free yardage in a league where yardage is very much a difficult thing to come by, so he does it as frequently as he can get away with. 

Anyway, back to reality. Mahomes is still a bench piece right now at QB21 and doesn't deserve a fantasy roster spot until he can earn it and be consistent. In the meantime, it looks like the Chiefs might just keep winning games and secure a third consecutive Super Bowl while us fantasy owners lament.  

4. The Anthony Richardson Experience is dead. 

Weeeeeeee! What a ride! 10 for 32 for 175 yards, 1 TD and an INT. His completion percentage is now at 44.4% through 6 games as the Colts' fearless leader.   

Where do you go from here if you're an Anthony Richardson fantasy owner? Well, Shane Steichen was pressed on the matter and wouldn't commit to Richardson as their starter for week 9, so not only has he been a nightmare as a passer, he pissed off his head coach and possibly some teammates in the process. Therefore, it'd probably be a wise decision to look into Joe Flacco as a safety net until AR can start completing passes and/or stop doing dumb shit, like taking himself out of the game because he was "tired". 

NOTE: This was written Tuesday morning, prior to the announcement that Anthony Richardson has, in fact, been benched. I think leaving the before and after thoughts on here is interesting. 

I guess taking a play off was the cherry on top of being historically bad this year, but I hope this is just a stern message and a learning moment. He's 10 starts in and it's been ugly, but the Colts had to know that he was a longer-term investment as opposed the immediate fix. Bailing on the former 4th overall pick this early feels shortsighted, but we'll see.  

For now, it's Flacco time in Indy for the foreseeable future. Steichen says he's the starter for the rest of the season "for now". This is a positive for fantasy, and can start the Colts' receivers now. 

6. Bo Nix is putting together an under-the-radar great rookie season.

Box scores ain't everything and the Broncos are still trailing the Chiefs, but they're a respectable 5-3 with a +53 point differential. Just for comparisons' sake, the Chiefs are 7-0 with a +50 point differential. 

Jayden Daniels is getting all the shine, and rightfully so because he's incredible, but don't ignore the fact that Nix is sneaky balling out. I know it was against the Panthers defense, but after Sunday's 29.8 fantasy point day, he's inside the fantasy QB9 without any skill players inside the top-30.

7. Jameis Winston is the man. 

Never seen someone so dialed. 

He stepped in for his first start since week 3 of 2022 and revived the Browns to the tune of 27-for-41 for 334 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs. 

With the snap of an achilles a finger, this group of skill guys is back on the map and there's actual top-10 potential again with Jameis under center. Cedric Tillman was WR3 on the week with 7 catches for 99 yards and 2 TDs. David Njoku was TE8 with 5 catches for 61 yards and a TD. Nick Chubb is still getting back to game speed, but he carries league-winner top-10 status when he gets back to full health. 

He was QB10 on the week, but fear not - Jameis is still good for some unhinged plays like this one that make you wonder what's going through his head. The league is unquestionably a better, more entertaining place when he's playing. 

8. It took a few weeks, but tight ends had themselves BIG day. 

Apparently, six years ago George Kittle took it upon himself to make up a holiday honoring tight ends. He wanted to shine the spotlight on himself and his friends at the position. 

When you think about it, tight ends are pretty badass able to take on offensive linemen and receivers duties all at once. The movement caught on and Sunday was National Tight Ends Day. So how did the league's tight ends perform as a collective group? 

Two words:

There were 177 receptions by tight ends on Sunday, the most on any day in league history with 14 different dudes catching a total of 16 touchdowns. It was a thing of beauty.

When you think about it, tight ends are kind of a hybrid between offensive linemen and receivers, which is righteous. Today's breed is basically built like a left tackle on Ozempic with plus speed and soft hands. 

There are some incredibly fun, athletic young tight ends to go with long-time staples like George Kittle and Mark Andrews, etc. Even Travis Kelce (dates Taylor Swift in case you didn't know) got in on the fun for his first TD of the year and is now TE13 with some momentum! 

Chances are, you got a touchdown out of the tight end that you started on Sunday and the tight end position is fantasy-relevant once again.

9. The Jets made history on Sunday.

What a disaster the Rodgers Era has been for the Jets. 

On the one hand, it's unfathomable that the Jets lost this game. A comedy of errors to the nth degree. While not technically impossible to do what they did, it's pretty damn close. On the other hand, maybe they were trying to spoil the Patriots' plans for tanking and in that case, mission accomplished.

I don't even have a snide comment to make about Rodgers. Wish I did, but I don't. It's not really his fault. He's QB14 and the stars for the Jets are producing at a decent clip - Breece Hall is RB12 and Garrett Wilson is WR9, so we're not fading the Jets offense right yet. 

The bigger issue is that Greg Zuerlein needs to be put out to pasture. Sometimes kickers get inside their own head and they're forever ruined. It might happen when they're early on in their career and they can't get the ball through the uprights. It's been a good run for Greg Zuerlein, but he's 36 and quite literally can't make a field goal. It's over. 

10. Sean Payton broke the Panthers.

We got Jaycee Horn fussing at the other team's coach because of a fake field goal attempt, accusing him of trying to "running up the score" (the final score was 28-14). We also have the team owner David Tepper trying to get Broncos fans booted out of the stadium. The Panthers are pure chaos!

[Apparently there were "Broncos spokesmen" that debunked the rumor, saying that wasn't the case and there was some small issue that got resolved quickly.]

Nice try. That's exactly what someone would say if David Tepper had, oh I dunno, thrown a drink on a fan or gotten into a shouting match or stolen someone's hat off their head. I trust my eyes, and that's not at all what this looks like. It looks like someone from the Tepper owner's box is pitching a fit.

The Panthers are a mess, this is known. They've finally decided to lean in and accept their role as the dumpster lords, and the fact their #1 overall draft pick might be a bust, so they shipped Diontae Johnson and a 6th round pick to the Ravens for a 5th round pick. 

Naturally, this has a ripple effect for fantasy owners. 

Diontae Johnson is immediately inserted into a more favorable situation but has to compete with Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Rashod Bateman for targets, so I'm not sure just how much better it is even with the upgrade at quarterback. Not to mention the generally run-heavy nature of the Ravens offense. He's averaging 8 targets a game and 26.5% target share, but I expect that to go down in an offense with half a dozen hungry mouths to feed.   

11. The Birds are flying high.
The Eagles have won three straight to get to 5-2, we're hearing less about how big of a dipshit Nick Sirianni is, and maybe the dust has settled in Philly. 

It helps when you're at full strength, Jalen Hurts is playing like a rockstar daddy, his big two receivers are making plays, and Saquon Barkley is a certified wagon. 

Barkley is RB2, Hurts is QB7, and AJ Brown is averaging 14.7 fantasy points in the four games he's been healthy. This Eagles offense is one that I believe in!

12. The Dolphins are fun again!

Tua learned to slide. This is huge.
Mike McDaniel is doing fun stuff again.

The Dolphins are back*.

*-They lost to the Cardinals, but you can start Tyreek Hill and De'Von Achane again now that Tua is back in the mix. That's still a heavy-hitting offense that you should feel safe about. 

BONUS: Tommy DeVito's agent has resurfaced and he is still money.

WEEK 9 WIN THE WAIVER WIRE sponsored by Olive Garden:

Thank you to our new sponsor, Olive Garden, for believing in us here at the Fantasy Football Boys Fantasy Football Department. 

"When you're here, you're family™"
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Another week, more injuries to be aware of. This week's victims were Stefon Diggs, out for the year with an ACL and Christian Kirk out with a broken collarbone. Jordan Love tweaked his groin, Brian Thomas has a chest injury, and the 49ers (Jordan Mason, Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey) are all less than 100%. Monitor closely and spend your FAAB wisely, my friends.
  • Jameis Winston - Buyer beware: Jameis can go for 300 and 3 TDs or he can go for 150 and 4 INTs. That's the inherent risk you run, but the risk vs. reward is worth a gamble if you're pressed. 
  • Bo Nix - See above. He may not be the sexiest option, but he could be sitting unclaimed and he's rounding into form. 3 out of 4 of his last games at 20+ fantasy points and last week 29.8, don't be stagnant.
  • Tyrone Tracy Jr. - The NYG backfield is his. He's in concussion protocol, so make sure he's active this week, but he's worth the pickup even if he doesn't play this week. 
  • Isaac Guerendo - Jordan Mason hurt, Christian McCaffrey still out. 
  • Josh Downs - Richardson out, Flacco in. Pittman and Pierce are also elevated, but Downs has a big ceiling.
  • Cedric Tillman - I said it last week, get him now if you still can. All Browns pass-catchers are on the table now with Jameis throwing it.
  • Jalen McMillan - Evans is still out and Baker is firing on all cylinders as fantasy's QB2, so he should get plenty of looks.
  • Xavier Legette - With Diontae Johnson traded, there's a WR1 vacancy in Charlotte. Legette is a big red zone target and has 3 TDs so far.
  • Parker Washington - Everyone is hurt for the Jags. If Brian Thomas Jr. can't go then he's in for a big week.
  • Kalif Raymond - Big-play ability is there as long as Jameson Williams is still suspended. He had just 2 catches, but one of them was a touchdown, and he returned a punt 90 yards for a TD as well. 
  • Jakobi Meyers - Quarterback play stinks in Las Vegas, but he's still commanding 7-10 targets a game without Davante Adams around.


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