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Webster's defines a trend as: "the general movement over time of a statistically detectable change". Here at drinkfive.com, we generally like trends that show 3 weeks of an uptick or regression of player's usage, effectiveness or general point scoring. Check out the Fantasy Finish Line podcast to hear a more in-depth discussion about all of these players. All fantasy point totals are based on Yahoo standard scoring, unless otherwise indicated.

Aaron Rodgers, Wk 5 @ DAL 9.42, Wk 6 vs DET 19.32, Wk 7 vs OAK 43.76.

This year, Aaron Rodgers has not quite looked like himself. For the first 6 weeks, he only had one game above 20 points. His utterly dominant performance in Week 7 seems to indicate that he’s gotten back on track. Over the past three weeks, he’s gone from his lowest total (mainly due to Aaron Jones’ huge game in Dallas) up to arguably his best game of his career last week against Oakland. The Packers offense did look pretty terrible to start the season, and personally I felt that it was the fault of the play calling. It seems like this has improved, and some of Rodgers’ passing numbers are looking pretty good. He has 12.5 yards per completion, his best since 2014 when he was an All-pro. His 8.1 yards per pass attempt is also the highest it’s been since 2014 (the Pack went 12-4 that season). As long as his receiving group doesn’t just completely fall apart (he’ll eventually get Davante Adams back), he should continue to creep up the QB list – he’s currently the QB7 in fantasy football.

David Montgomery, Wk 4 vs MIN 6.70, Wk 5 @ OAK 9.60, Wk 7 vs NO -0.10.

Montgomery was quite a hyped back coming into the season, and he’s still owned in 88% of Yahoo leagues, but the Bears run game has disappeared. Montgomery’s carries have gone from a season high of 21 in Wk 4 down to 11 and then just 2 carries last week. The Bears have totally abandoned the run game, and have been heavily criticized by the Chicago media because of it. Aside from a random score in Week 5, he has belonged firmly on your bench, which is not befitting of a player who has this kind of ownership share in leagues. The Bears upcoming games are vs LAC, @PHI and vs DET. The Chargers and Lions are both giving up top 10 points to opposing RBs, but I have no faith in the team to run the ball consistently. Not knowing what to expect from this situation, I suggest just staying away from it – don’t be tempted by good matchups or thinking that outside pressure will change the way they call plays.

Chase Edmonds, Wk 5 @ CIN 14.60, Wk 6 vs ATL 12.70, Wk 7 @ NYG 33.00.

Edmonds has been very impressive the last 3 weeks, and coincidentally (or not), the Cardinals have won all 3 of those games. David Johnson was limited last week with a back injury (he should ask Jalen Ramsey about his guy…), but now he’s missing practice with an ankle injury, so I expect to see more Edmonds in Week 8. Edmonds snap percentage had been varying from about 10-40% with Johnson in, but with him out, he was in on 94% of offensive snaps last week. Sure, the Cardinals signed Alfred Morris and Zach Zenner, but they’re just guys to fill out the roster. Edmonds has 5 TDs in the last 3 weeks and will be full steam ahead, even against a tough New Orleans team, who will find the Cardinals a much tougher opponent than the one they faced last week.

John Brown, Wk 4 vs NE 6.90, Wk 5 @TEN 7.50, Wk 7 vs MIA 14.30.

The Bills offense has been a bit shaky, but John Brown has remained steady. He’s got 5 catches per game during this stretch, and his yardage has gone up in each game, from 69 to 75 to 83 last week with a TD tacked on. Brown is on the field for 80+% of snaps every game, with two of the last three going above 90%. He led the team in targets the last 2 weeks and is just 1 behind Cole Beasley for the team lead in targets for the season. He has a significant lead on receiving yards on the team this year. Brown should continue to trend in the right direction as he has great matchups coming up. His next 3 games are vs PHI, vs WAS and @CLE. The Eagles and Redskins are both in the top 10 giving up points to WRs, and Cleveland is 19th. Brown is the WR22 in standard scoring this year, keep him in your lineup for the time being.

Larry Fitzgerald, Wk 5 @CIN 5.80, Wk 6 vs ATL 6.90, Wk 7 @NYG 1.20.

Fitz started the season with back-to-back 100+ yard games and 2 TDs in his first 3, but has not done a lot since then. His yardage high is just 69 during the last 5 weeks, and that came against a really soft Atlanta defense. Last week against the Giants, who are just as soft, he managed just one catch for 12 yards, though that probably had more to do with the way the game was going and how well the Cardinals were running the ball. Regardless, he often trails the RBs in receiving yardage and it’s possible that his age is finally catching up with him. He has to play in New Orleans this week and then plays the 49ers twice in the following three weeks. These are all bad matchups for him and he should probably be on your bench, or the trading block, if you can drum up any interest.

Welcome back to the Rookie Report! I hope you managed to avoid any landmines in your lineups last week and didn’t run into anyone starting Aaron Rodgers, Marvin Jones or Chase Edmonds.  It was a wild week 7, probably the most unpredictable week of the season so far. A number of players who seemed to be in prime matchups to set the world on fire last week fell flat instead – Kyler Murray, Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz. Daniel Jones, David Johnson, Phillip Lindsay, Devin Singletary, Larry Fitzgerald, Kenny Golladay, Michael Gallup, Zach Ertz, Evan Engram. It was a messy week to be sure, but it’s a good time for an important etiquette reminder:

If you’re upset about the performance of a player on your fantasy team, don’t go to their social media pages to let them know about it. The players and coaches do not and should not care about your fantasy teams. The players don’t owe you anything if they have a poor fantasy day. They get paid to help their team win, not yours. If their performance cost their own team a win, I assure you they feel worse about it than you do. There is no reason to rub that in.

With that PSA out of the way, let’s take a look at what to expect from the rookies in week 8…

Rookies to Start:

RB Josh Jacobs, OAK (Wk. 8: @Hou.): Keep a close eye on the injury report with Jacobs. Head coach Jon Gruden claims that he is truly ‘questionable’ for this week’s game with a shoulder injury despite returning to the game last week after suffering it. If he does play, he should be in your lineups unless you have multiple studs ahead of him. Jacobs is the RB12 on the year in terms of points per game and has at least 79 rushing yards in all but one contest. This matchup isn’t an ideal one. The Texans allow the 8^th-fewest RB points per game on the year and rank 5^th in Football Outsiders’ run defense DVOA stat, but the Raiders’ commitment to getting Jacobs the football should make him a fine RB2 again this week if he’s able to suit up.

WR Terry McLaurin, WAS (Wk. 8: @Min.): There was a time when Xavier Rhodes was a corner to be feared, but so far this year that hasn’t been the case. Rhodes has graded as just the 88^th-best corner in the league according to Pro Football Focus and the Vikings have given up the 10^th-most wide receiver points per game. They have been carved up by several perimeter receivers so far: Davante Adams (7-106), Allen Robinson (7-77), Darius Slayton (4-62-1), Alshon Jeffrey (10-76-1), and Marvin Jones (10-93-4). Fire up McLaurin this week as a WR2 and completely wipe the monsoon game last weekend from your memory.

Borderline Rookies:

QB Kyler Murray, ARI (Wk. 8: @NO): Coming off his worst passing game of the season, Murray gets to face a red-hot Saints defense that has held opposing QBs to just 13 fantasy points per game over the past 4 weeks. That would rank as the 5^th-best mark in the league if it were over the whole season. The Saints did show some vulnerability against running QBs early in the year, giving up rushing lines of 4-40-1 to Deshaun Watson and 7-51-2 to Russell Wilson. The Cardinals have an implied total just below 20 points this week, so Vegas doesn’t see a ton of upside for their offense as a whole. If I have a solid QB1 on my roster I’d probably be starting them over Murray this week.

QB Gardner Minshew, JAX (Wk. 8: vs. NYJ): Aside from a forgettable performance in week 6 against the Saints, Minshew has been a dependable QB2 every week with at least 16 points in every other game. This week’s matchup probably limits his upside a bit. There are 9 teams that average giving up more fantasy points to the QB than the Jets allowed in their worst outing of the year. Despite the matchup Gardner should be fine as a QB2 once again this week. The Jets rank just 17^th in pass defense DVOA despite how well they’ve limited QBs, so they aren’t likely to completely shut the mustachioed gunslinger down. With every solid outing he moves closer to keeping the job when Nick Foles returns.

RB David Montgomery, CHI (Wk. 8: vs. LAC): I’m sure if you got burned by Montgomery last week you’re unlikely to go back to that well again, but he was more of a victim of a poor game plan than his own poor performance. His first career fumble didn’t help him any, but he didn’t get his first carry of the game until the second half. That’s inexcusable for Matt Nagy and he knows it, saying after the game “I know we have to run the ball more. I’m not an idiot.” As comical as that quote is, it convinces me the Bears are going to get the ball to Monty much earlier and much more often this week. The Chargers are a porous run defense. They rank 24^th in run defense DVOA and have allowed 5 of the 7 lead backs they’ve faced to top 15 fantasy points (half PPR scoring). As we’ve seen this year Montgomery is never a sure thing, but I like his chances of posting a solid fantasy game this week.

RB Ty Johnson, DET (Wk. 8: vs. NYG): With Kerryon Johnson hitting injured reserve this week, Ty Johnson became the biggest priority waiver claim of the week. The Lions did sign Paul Perkins and could still bring in another runner (possibly CJ Anderson who opened the year with the team), but with just Johnson and JD McKissic available last week Johnson out-snapped JD 49-19 and out-touched him 14-7. It appears Johnson will be the lead back of the committee in the immediate future, and this week he faces a Giants team that has allowed the 5^th-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. The Lions are a touchdown favorite, so they should be able to keep running. Johnson has RB2 upside this week in a great matchup. Keep on eye on team updates and make sure Perkins won’t have a bigger role than expected before pulling the trigger on Johnson.

WR DK Metcalf, SEA (Wk. 8: @Atl.): Metcalf has lived on the borderline this season. He’s made several big plays but limited overall volume for Seattle’s passing attack has prevented DK from becoming a weekly fantasy starter. Metcalf has finished in the top 30 receivers in PPR scoring 3 times this year but has not finished in the top 24 yet. Could this be the week? It’s definitely possible. The Falcons have been among the worst defenses in the league. They rank 31^st in pass defense DVOA and have coughed up the 5^th-most wide receiver points per game. They’re also tied for the 3^rd-most pass plays of 20+ yards allowed, which plays into Metcalf’s strengths as a deep threat. The upside is there, but his limited volume and 50% catch rate on the year will continue to cap his ceiling for the time being. He’s worth WR3 consideration this week.

WR Diontae Johnson, PIT (Wk. 8: vs. Mia.): The return of Mason Rudolph and a matchup with the sad sack Dolphins make Johnson a reasonable streamer this week if you’re looking for a fill-in wide receiver. Johnson and Juju Smith-Schuster have the same 21.3% target share with Rudolph at QB and the Dolphins have allowed 11 WR touchdowns in just 6 games. They’ve also given up the 9^th-most WR points per game and rank dead last in pass defense DVOA. The points allowed would be even worse if they weren’t frequently getting blown out. Johnson probably shouldn’t be that much behind Juju in the WR rankings this week.

TE TJ Hockenson, DET (Wk. 8: vs. NYG): The volume and overall production hasn’t exactly been there for Hockenson so far outside of week 1, and this looks like a tough matchup on paper, but I feel good about Hockenson’s chances of getting in the end zone in this one. The Giants have allowed the 5^th-fewest TE points per game on the year, but they’ve faced just about the least impressive lineup of tight ends imaginable so far. After giving up two scores to the Cowboys’ tight ends in week 1, they’ve faced off with Dawson Knox, OJ Howard, Jeremy Sprinkle, Kyle Rudolph, Ryan Izzo and Charles Clay. They gave up 3-66 to Howard, his best fantasy game of the year. Marvin Jones’ 4-TD outburst last week should draw more attention his way in the red zone, and the Lions have an implied total of more than 28 points and don’t have Kerryon to give the ball to at the goal line. We’ve seen the floor isn’t high for TJ, but the TE position is bad when you get outside the top 8 or so options. He’s worth streamer consideration this week.

Rookies to Sit:

QB Daniel Jones, NYG (Wk. 8: @Det.): I’ve expected good things from Jones a couple of times recently, and he hasn’t delivered since his sensational debut against the Bucs. In 4 games since, we’ve seen lackluster performances in good matchups and bad, and in situations where his weapons were healthy and where they weren’t healthy. The Lions are typically a defense to target with QBs, allowing multiple scores in 4 of 6 games and 280+ yards passing in 5 of 6, but Jones hasn’t reached even 13 fantasy points since his debut. I wouldn’t count on everything suddenly clicking this week and would look elsewhere even for a QB2.

RB Devin Singletary, BUF (Wk. 8: vs. Phi.): I wouldn’t be thrilled to take my chances with Singletary this week. The Eagles have been a dominant run defense for much of the year. Ezekiel Elliott broke through against them on Sunday night for a big game, but he was the first starting running back all year to average 3 yards per carry or better against Philly. They also haven’t allowed a single receiving score to an opposing back this year. There is a potential path to a decent game for Singletary. The Eagles have let two change of pace RB2s have success against them (Ito Smith 4-32, and Alexander Mattison 14-63), and they have allowed 4 different backs to post 6+ catches in just 7 games. If the Bills fall behind Singletary would be in line for a healthy receiving line. For what it’s worth, the Bills are a point and a half favorite in this game. I’d be inclined to think of Singletary as closer to borderline in PPR formats, and more of a guy to bench in non-PPR.

RB Miles Sanders, PHI (Wk. 8: @Buf.): On the other side of the Bills-Eagles tilt, Sanders has just 9 rushing attempts and 6 targets in the past 2 games. He’s clearly taken a back seat to Jordan Howard in the running game and Howard gets all the carries in close, so Sanders needs to make his biggest impact in the passing game. Thus far the Bills have only allowed 1 running back to reach 40 receiving yards (James White), and haven’t allowed a single RB receiving score. A long touchdown would give you the production you’re hoping for from Miles, but I would be looking for a safer bet for my lineups.

WR Jakobi Meyers, NE (Wk. 8: vs. Cle.): Despite Josh Gordon getting placed on injured reserve, it was not a good week for Meyers’ rest-of-season outlook. The Pats have traded for Mohamed Sanu and designated N’Keal Harry to return from IR. Harry can’t return until week 9 at the earliest, but Sanu can suit up this week. It’s hard to say what the WR rotation will look like this week. Sanu muddies things up enough that it’s tough to trust Meyers in any lineups. He has played well enough to earn more opportunity, catching all 9 of his targets over the past 2 weeks for 101 yards. I’m just not sure the playing time will continue to be there for him. He played just 51% of the offensive snaps last week without Sanu on the roster.

WR Mecole Hardman, KC (Wk. 8: vs. GB): Tyreek Hill was back to being a full-time player in week 7, and Hardman saw his lowest snap share of the season as a result. He also lost his starting QB for the time being which will cap the entire offense’s upside for the immediate future. Even if Sammy Watkins sits again, Hardman is no more than a big play dart throw with Matt Moore at QB.

WR Darius Slayton, NYG (Wk. 8: @Det.): Slayton saw his targets drop dramatically with the Giants’ other primary weapons back. Slayton still worked as a full-time player, but with Engram and Saquon back in the lineup he was targeted just twice despite Daniel Jones throwing 35 times. The Lions are just a middling defense against wide receivers, but Slayton will be competing for scraps with Bennie Fowler and Cody Latimer after Tate, Engram and Barkley get theirs.

WR Deebo Samuel, SF (Wk. 8: vs. Car.): Samuel’s status for this week is still up in the air, but his status in your lineup shouldn’t be. Dante Pettis has led the WR group in snaps in each of the last 3 weeks, and the Manny Sanders trade should push Samuel down to fighting for snaps with Marquise Goodwin and Kendrick Bourne each week. He’s droppable in most season-long leagues. Sanders likely won’t need much ramp up time to learn the offense in San Francisco since his OC in Denver had spent 3 of the past 4 years coaching on Kyle Shanahan’s staff.

WRs Keelan Doss & Hunter Renfrow, OAK (Wk. 8: @Hou.): Renfrow is an easy call to sit since he still hasn’t topped 4 catches and 30 yards in a game this year. Doss had a nice day Sunday with Tyrell Williams ailing, posting a 3-54 line on just 29 offensive snaps. The matchup this week is decent with Houston allowing the 4^th-most WR points per game, but Tyrell is fully expected to return this week and there just isn’t enough volume to go around after Tyrell and Waller to trust any other Raiders’ pass catcher in fantasy.

WRs KeeSean Johnson & Andy Isabella, ARI (Wk. 8: @NO): Isabella collected his first 2 catches of the year last Sunday, but he and Johnson combined for just 15 snaps and Christian Kirk wasn’t even active. Kirk may return this week, but the rookie duo has given way to Damiere Byrd and Trent Sherfield for the time being. There isn’t any reason to look at them for your lineups even against a Saints team that allows the 7^th-most WR points per game.

WR Parris Campbell, IND (Wk. 8: vs. Den.): It sounds like Campbell may return this week from an abdominal injury, but he just hasn’t done enough so far this year to warrant consideration. He faces a Denver defense that has allowed the 7^th-fewest WR points per game, and Campbell has totaled just 10 catches on 13 targets through 5 games played and averages just 6.2 yards per catch. I need to see more from him before I consider him in lineups.

TE Irv Smith Jr, MIN (Wk. 8: vs. Was.): With Adam Thielen sidelined this week, the Vikings will have to look elsewhere in the passing game. Smith is coming off his best game as a pro with season-highs of 41 snaps, 5 catches and 60 yards. The absence of Thielen could result in an uptick in targets for Irv this week, but Washington has kept tight ends in check for the most part. They haven’t let any tight end reach 60 yards this season and they’ve faced Zach Ertz, Evan Engram and George Kittle. There is another Viking rookie pass catcher that I would be more inclined to look to this week. You can read more about him in the Sleeper section below. I’d look for other streaming options if considering Smith this week.

TE Noah Fant, DEN (Wk. 8: @Ind.): Fant gets a favorable matchup this week against a Colts’ defense that has allowed the 6^th-most tight end points per game, but he just hasn’t been productive enough to trust in lineups at this point. He’s reached 8 PPR points just once all year and has just 4 catches for 29 yards in the last 3 games combined. There are some positives for Fant. He set a season-high with 5 targets last week and could see increased opportunity with Emmanuel Sanders out of the picture, but that’s not enough for me to justify using him even in a seemingly good matchup. The Colts have allowed 4 tight ends to top 50 receiving yards this year, and all 4 were quality players (Kelce, Waller, Hooper and Hunter Henry).

TE Dawson Knox, BUF (Wk. 8: vs. Phi.): The Eagles are allowing just 41 receiving yards per game to opposing tight ends, and if you throw out Vernon Davis’s ridiculous hurdling touchdown from week 1 that number drops below 35 yards per game. Knox has seen his targets slowly go up as the season has gone on, but over his past two games he’s turned a total of 10 targets into just 4 catches for 34 yards. This is unlikely to be the week he gets it going again.

TE Foster Moreau, OAK (Wk. 8: @Hou.): Moreau continues to get a decent amount of playing time but will also continue to be a low upside option as long as Darren Waller is around. He’s been targeted 11 times in the last 3 games and turned them into 9-100-2 over that span. He’d need another touchdown this week to return value and the Texans have only allowed one to the tight end position on the season. Houston also has allowed the 7^th-fewest fantasy points per game to the position.

TE Josh Oliver, JAX (Wk. 8: vs. NYJ): Despite injuries to Geoff Swaim and James O’Shaughnessy in recent weeks, Oliver still served as the TE3 for the Jaguars last week behind Seth DeValve and Ben Koyack. He was not targeted in 25 snaps, and this week faces a defense that has allowed the 5^th-fewest tight end points per game. There is no reason to expect production from the San Jose State product this week.

Rookies on byes in week 8: RB Justice Hill, BAL, RB Tony Pollard, DAL, WR Marquise Brown, BAL, WR Miles Boykin, BAL

Deep League Sleepers, Stashes, and Cheap DFS Options:

RB Darrell Henderson, LAR (Wk. 8: vs. Cin.): Malcolm Brown will be sidelined again this week, and the Rams are a 13-point favorite against the hapless Bengals, who allow the most RB fantasy points per game. Todd Gurley should still work as the lead back, but Henderson will likely wind up in the 12-15 touch range if the game goes as expected. Against Cincinnati that’s enough work to put a running back firmly on the flex radar. He’s a great upside option now that Brown has been officially ruled out.

RB Benny Snell, PIT (Wk. 8: vs. Mia.): The Steelers will be without Jaylen Samuels in this one, and they are a heavy favorite against the league-worst Dolphins. James Conner should get plenty of work early, but the Pittsburgh RB2 role has averaged more than 13 touches per game over the last 3. Some of that is skewed by Conner’s injury against the Chargers, but I can’t imagine the Steelers won’t turn to Snell once they get control of the game. Snell impressed ahead of the team’s bye with 75 yards on 17 carries against the Bolts. The Dolphins rank dead last in the NFL in run defense DVOA and give up the 2^nd-most RB points per game. Snell could be in play as a flex option for deeper leagues.

RB Alexander Mattison, MIN (Wk. 8: vs. Was.): Week 7 was the first time all season that Mattison was held below 49 yards in a Minnesota win, but he’s still had at least 7 carries in each. This week is the easiest to predict win for the Vikings that they’ll have had thus far (assuming they get it). Minnesota is favored by more than 2 touchdowns, so there is a great chance at a runaway victory. That means extended run for Mattison. Washington is a below average run defense, ranking 18^th in run defense DVOA. Mattison is best used in deeper non-PPR leagues since he’ll give you nothing in the passing game, but he’s a good bet for 50+ yards and a possible garbage time score this week.

WR AJ Brown, TEN (Wk. 8: vs. TB): For at least one week, Ryan Tannehill seemed to be just what the doctor ordered to fix the Titans’ broken passing game. Corey Davis was the biggest beneficiary of the change but Brown set season-highs with 8 targets and 6 catches. This week he faces a Tampa defense that has allowed 5 different wide receivers to reach 20 fantasy points (half-PPR) in the past 4 games. We’ve already seen Brown be a DFS week winner when he went 3-94-2 in week 4 against Atlanta. The Bucs give up more WR points per game than Atlanta does. At just $4,100 in DraftKings this is another good week to take a shot on Brown in GPP tournaments.

WR Olabisi Johnson, MIN (Wk. 8: vs. Was.): The Vikings are without Adam Thielen on Thursday night, so Johnson should slot in as the Vikings’ number 2 wide receiver. Washington has been bad against WRs overall, allowing the 9^th-most points per game to the position, but oddly they rank 1^st in pass defense DVOA on throws to the opposing number 1 wide receiver and dead last in DVOA on throws to the number 2 receiver. The Vikings have a healthy implied total of 29 points, and Johnson was targeted 8 times last week. I like him if you’re scouring the waiver wire for a fill in WR in deep leagues. He’ll have to produce his points before the Vikes put the game out of reach, but that hasn’t been a problem for most teams against Washington.

WR Preston Williams, MIA (Wk. 8: @Pit.): Williams posted a surprisingly strong performance last week against the stingy Bills secondary, posting 6-82 on 8 targets. He did lose a fumble, but this was the 4^th time in 6 games that Williams has either found the end zone or topped 60 yards. It was nice to see him perform well with Fitzpatrick at QB. DeVante Parker has been visiting the end zone more frequently than Williams with touchdowns in 3 straight, but that may just mean Williams is due for one. The Steelers are a decent pass defense, ranking 10^th in pass defense DVOA, but they are just a middling defense when it comes to limiting WR points (18^th most WR points allowed). Williams is an option in the deepest of leagues and as a DFS dart throw.

WR Scotty Miller, TB (Wk. 8: @Ten.): A lot of folks may have forgotten about Miller since Tampa was on a bye last week, but against Carolina in London Miller played 60% of the Bucs’ offensive snaps and was targeted 7 times. He isn’t a guy I would roll out in lineups this week against a Titans team that allows the 6^th-fewest WR points per game, but he is worth stashing in deeper leagues in case that usage continues. He could eventually be the Adam Humphries replacement the Tampa offense has been missing. At the bare minimum cost on DraftKings, there is an argument to be made for him in GPP tournaments. The Titans don’t give up a ton of WR points, but they rank just 23rd in pass defense DVOA.

That’s all I’ve got for this week. Hopefully it helps you with the tougher lineup decisions you have involving the rookies. Keep an eye on the injury report throughout the week to make sure there are no big changes that affect your fantasy team. If you want to yell at me about anything written above or have any specific questions, feel free to hit me up on twitter and let me know (@Shawn_Foss). As always: Good luck, trust your gut, and have fun. It’s just a game.

Well, I was really pulling for the Redskins on Thursday night as nearly 2/3rds of the remaining players had selected the Minnesota Vikings. Having used the Vikings week 5 they were not an option for me this week. So I narrowed it down to another two big favorites that I like this week.

First is the Los Angeles Rams against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals look to be the weakest team the Rams will face the rest of the season, so this might be the best game to take the Rams had it not been in London. I have yet to see a team perform well across the pond, I think they legislate we kick more field goals or something when the NFL sends teams over. With the close call this week I am going to save a solid Rams team for another week.

So that led me to the other team that I ultimately picked, the Pittsburgh Steelers going up against the Miami Dolphins at home where they are two-touchdown favorites. Without Ben Roethlisberger this is the only game on the Steelers schedule that I would feel comfortable picking them. Now I wish I was getting Josh Rosen against this Steeler defense but I think they can get a few turnovers from old man Fitzpatrick regardless.

Welcome to Statistically (in)Significant, the place to find great stats that probably only matter at the water cooler (or bar). Each week I'll dig through the stats of the week gone by and deliver you some choice conversation starters. All fantasy stats are standard Yahoo scoring unless otherwise noted.

0 Punts

On Thursday night’s game, the Minnesota Vikings managed to not have to punt the ball for the first time in 15 years. Despite that amazing offensive feat, they put up a meager 19 points on offense. The Vikings had two 70+ yard drives that resulted in short field goals in a thoroughly underwhelming performance against perhaps the biggest dumpster fire of a team in the league (though the Bengals may have something to say about that). The Washington Redskins were led in fantasy by Adrian Peterson (10.3 whole points) in his, uh, revenge game? There were lots of “revenge” storylines in this game, with Kirk Cousins and probably Case Keenum too. None of them really lived to up to the pregame hype, considering it was maybe the worst Thursday night game all year. Heck, at least the Titans and Jaguars annual Thursday night suckfest featured Gardner Minshew.

45% Average Ownership

This may be the most chaotic week at the tight end position so far this year, and on “National Tight End Day”, of course. On average, the top 10 TEs were owned in only 45% of Yahoo leagues. For a snapshot example, only 4 of the top 10 TEs were owned in the drinkfive fantasy league. From week to week, we wind up seeing random players like Ryan Griffin (0% owned) leading the week in points. He had 20.6, courtesy of 2 TDs, 66 yards and a 2-pointer to top it off. Behind him were Darren Fells (18%) and Jonnu Smith (19%) which rounded out the top 3 TEs on the week. It’s surprising to me that Darren Fells is still in this group, as he’s now the TE6 on the season with 54.4 points, outscoring both George Kittle and Zach Ertz, who were early-to-mid round draft picks. Perhaps most surprising to me is that Travis Kelce, the TE2 overall on the season, put up just his second double-digit performance on Sunday night, scoring his 2^nd TD of the season and putting up the 5^th best performance by a TE this week. This position is all messed up from a fantasy aspect, so don’t expect any worthwhile insights from anyone, anywhere. Other than starting Austin Hooper, of course.

21 (more) Fantasy Points

The New England Patriots D/ST continued their amazing pace this week, scoring another 21 points against the turnover prone Cleveland Browns. How prone are they? Well, the Browns turned the ball over on 3 straight offensive snaps in the first quarter.  This is the 5^th time this season that the Pats D/ST has scored 21+ points out of 8 games. Their low mark was 10 points in Week 1. They have a total of 173 points on the year, which is blowing the 2^nd place 49ers out of the water by 71 points and more than double that of the D/ST3 Panthers, who sit at 75 points total on the year. Among all fantasy players, the Patriots D/ST would now be the 4^th highest scoring “player” in all of fantasy football. Can we nominate an entire unit for MVP? They’re definitely the fantasy MVP this season. Through half a season, the Pats now have more points on D/ST than all teams last season except for the Bears, who finished 2018 with a paltry 187 points. And we thought that they were impressive.

3 of the Top 10 WRs

Unknown tight ends were not the only group having fun on Sunday. We also saw 3 WRs make it into the top 10 of WR points who are owned in very few leagues. Darius Slayton (4% owned) caught a pair of TDs from fellow rookie Daniel Jones to put up a 17-point performance and clocked in as the WR5 on the week. Right behind him was Chris Conley (3%) who caught 5 passes on 7 targets for 103 yards and a score. Conley now has 15 targets in the last 2 games and double-digits in each performance. Check him out this week for waiver wire adds, as he’s definitely available in your league. Rounding out the top 10 WRs was Hunter Renfrow (1%) who scored his first TD on a 65-yard catch and run early in the game in Houston. Honorable mentions go to Josh Reynolds, WR13 and Marvin Hall, WR17, who are both owned in 0% of Yahoo leagues. These rounding errors both found the end zone and put up double-digit points while helping their teams to victory in Week 8.

28.18 Fantasy Points

This week’s leading QB was not a guy named Watson, Rodgers, Brees or even Wilson. No sir, it was the plain and boring QB for big blue, Daniel Jones. Jones had an impressive day - 322 passing yards with 4 TDs and no interceptions. This performance was just enough to land him on the top of the QB list for Week 8, and I don’t think it’s a reach to say that nobody in the Monday night game will pass him. If it wasn’t for the fumble he gave up that was returned for a TD, he might have even been able to win his third game of the season. At this point, it’s pretty clear that the Giants have found their successor to Eli Manning. Elsewhere, we see that many of the top 10 QBs this week are still a bit random. We saw a favorite of this column, Gardner Minshew, put up his second straight 20+ point performance, showing he’s back on track after a tough Week 6 against New Orleans. Derek Carr had a great game on the road, his best of the season in fact. Honorable mentions go to Matt Schaub and Matt Moore, both impressing in relief of their starters. This was only statistically impressive, however, as both guys lost.