Another week of action is in the books after an exciting week 8 in the National Football League, and with it comes new storylines for fantasy football fans to get excited about. As I do every week here at FANTASY IN FRAMES I bring you four observations from this past week’s action which have the potential to positively impact your team’s success going forward this season!
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Now that we have all that out of the way, it’s called paying the bills, let’s take a closer look at my 4-EYED OBSERVATIONS FROM WEEK 8!
4-EYED OBSERVATION #1: Adrian Peterson has been reborn in Burgundy and Gold!
So much for the “30-year-old + running backs can’t hang in the league” narrative anymore. Adrian Peterson turned back the clock on Sunday rushing for 149 yards while averaging 5.7 yards per carry (YPC) and totaling 26.1 fantasy points in 0.5 PPR leagues. Peterson has been a man reborn in Washington which was ranked 13th in rushing offense going into week 8.
Over the past three weeks, Peterson has averaged 5.2 YPC, 15.9 fantasy points, & 115 yards rushing per game. During that time he has been in the Top 20 in yards per carry while facing 8 or more defenders in box 21.3 % of the time for the season. In week 8, he ranked 12th in the league in running back efficiency which is better than other big names in the league such as Todd Gurley, Alvin Kamara, and Kareem Hunt just to name a few. Now you might be wondering, going forward, how much longer can you expect this type of production? Well let’s examine his upcoming schedule:
Wk9: Atlanta Falcons: Allowing 112.7 rushing yards per game
Wk10: Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Allowing 96.9 rushing yards per game
Wk11: Houston Texans: Allowing 95.1 rushing yards per game
Wk12: Dallas Cowboys: Allowing 96.3 rushing yards per game
The immediate future does look pretty promising for Peterson. After week 12 is a little bit of a different story (we’ll deal with that later in the season), but until then you should feel comfortable starting him in your RB2/FLEX spot on your rosters until then!
4-EYED OBSERVATION #2: Is Tyler Boyd an every week starter from here on out?
In 0.5 PPR leagues, on the season, Tyler Boyd ranks 15th in the league in total points scored by a wide receiver and 18th in average fantasy points per game. Clearly becoming one of Andy Dalton’s favorite targets this season, Boyd is becoming one of the league’s best slot wide receivers. However, while he has performed well so far this season, his outlook going forward is a bit murky.
After the team’s bye week in week 9, his fantasy schedule starts off well but then gets tougher. Here are the yards allowed to number 2 wide receivers per game by the following opponents based on data through week 7 of the 2018 season:
Wk10: New Orleans: 106.9 yards
Wk11: Baltimore: 43.8 yards
Wk12: Cleveland: 52.7 yards
Wk13: Denver: 59.8 yards
Wk 14: Los Angeles Chargers: 45.3 yards
Wk15: Oakland: 48.9 yards
Wk16: Cleveland: 52.7 yards
From the looks of it, Boyd seems more like a TD dependent FLEX option going forward the rest of the season than a locked in WR2/FLEX option as he has been so far this season. Fantasy managers might want to look into selling high for Boyd now that he’s on his bye week before he comes back in week 10 for a juicy matchup versus the Saints!
4-EYED OBSERVATION #3: Russell Wilson continues to prove me right! Thank God!
Over the past three games played, Wilson has averaged 223 passing yards, 3 TDs, & 21.4 fantasy points. As I mentioned back in my 4-EYED OBSERVATIONS FROM WEEK 6, the commitment to the running game by the Seahawks should allow for a decrease in passing volume for Wilson, BUT an increase in passing efficiency. Clearly, that has been the case since week 6 and to be honest, there is no reason to think things will get any different going forward.
While he hasn’t done it much this season the threat of Wilson running the ball is forcing opposing defenses to stay honest in defending the running game. If by doing so allows him to average 21.4 points per game going forward can you imagine what his numbers will look like once he finally does re-introduce that wrinkle to his repertoire?! You can feel safe with Wilson as your every week starter going forward this season!
4-EYED OBSERVATION #4: Jaire Alexander is a rare IDP find at the cornerback position!
Targeted early an often in his return from injury the past two weeks, the rookie put forth an amazing effort this past Sunday against the Rams defense totaling 5 passes defensed and 7 solo tackles for a total of 17 fantasy points using FANTASY IN FRAMES’ IDP scoring rubric. In fact, in games played this season he has been averaging 10.1 fantasy points per game and has totaled 24 solo tackles, 6 passes defensed, 1 INT, and 0.5 sack in 5 games played.
Against #LARams yesterday:
7️⃣ tackles (all solo)
5️⃣ passes defensed@JaireAlexander isn’t playing like a rookie right now.💪(via @gmfb | @RealMikeRob)#GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/eJF0teiSAO
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) October 29, 2018
As I said he put up one heck of a performance on Sunday and should be considered to be one of the few cornerbacks that you can count on in IDP leagues going forward this season!
Those, my friends, are my 4-EYED OBSERVATIONS from Week 8!
Stay tuned later this week for our 4-EYED PREVIEWS and Fantasy Football Podcast!
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*Also don’t forget to go back and read over our previous IN SEASON ARTICLES. You might find some nuggets of fantasy football gold that could propel you into the fantasy playoffs and even help you win a fantasy football championship!*