Week 8 Fantasy Football Strategy | Hank’s Bank
Contents
Hank’s Bank Vocabulary Key
Cash: Start
Deposit: Bench
Asset: Trade Target
Transfer: Trade Away
Invest: Free Agent Acquisition
Loan: Weekly Streamer
Week 8 Banking
Cash: Le’Veon Bell | RB | Kansas City Chiefs
Revenge will be oh, so sweet for Le’Veon Bell this week, so we might as well join in on the fun by starting him as part of this week’s Fantasy Football strategy. In just his second game as a Chief, Bell gets an opportunity to produce against the same New York Jets team that cut him loose just three weeks ago. After signing a hefty contract with the Jets prior to the 2019 season, Bell saw his days in New York fall flat. Tensions were high between him and coach Adam Gase, and poor offensive line play also significantly limited Bell’s football and Fantasy production. Bell played sparingly in his Chiefs debut last week, totaling 39 yards on 6 carries. It was just enough to get his feet wet ahead of the revenge game this week.
An interesting stat to note from Bell’s performance last week was that he averaged 6.5 yards per carry. That’s a full 1.9 yards more than he averaged in either of his games with the Jets this season. While Bell figures to be in a fairly even timeshare with rookie first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire going forward, the sheer competence of the Chiefs offense compared to the Jets should cause his Fantasy value to rise. There’s no better game for the 28-year old to have his Kansas City coming out party than this week. With the Jets allowing the seventh-most Fantasy points to running backs on a per game average (27.63), there’s plenty of room for both Bell and Edwards-Helaire to produce this week.
Deposit: Devante Parker | WR | Miami Dolphins
There’s so much working against Devante Parker this week that I have a very difficult time justifying him holding down the WR29 spot in the Week 8 FantasyPros Expert Consensus Rankings. Parker typically reaps a target share that serves him well when it comes to Fantasy Football production. Unfortunately, that target share is no given this week with the Dolphins making the switch from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Tua Tagovailoa as their quarterback.
It’s an odd spot for Miami to turn the reigns over to their rookie. Tagovailoa will be facing a menacing Los Angeles Rams pass rush led by Aaron Donald in his first career start. Yikes! All Dolphins pass-catchers receive a downgrade this week with Parker being no exception. In addition, the Rams are allowing the second-fewest Fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season at 28.09. Add in the potential of drawing coverage from standout corner Jalen Ramsey and Parker could be facing an even greater uphill battle than other Miami receivers.
Asset: David Montgomery | RB | Chicago Bears
I’ll be the first to admit that the Bears offense is far from glamorous. For whatever reason, Matt Nagy has struggled to replicate the success of his first year calling plays regardless of whether Nick Foles or Mitchell Trubisky has been under center. With that said, David Montgomery is the type of workhorse running back that makes Fantasy Football managers salivate. With Tarik Cohen having been lost for the year to a torn ACL, a good Fantasy Football strategy would be to trade for Montgomery now before his production starts to rise.
Aside from being a lock for high-volume usage every week, Montgomery is also appealing from a Fantasy perspective given Chicago’s upcoming schedule. After taking on the New Orleans Saints this week, Montgomery will have opportunities to run against the Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings twice, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars the rest of the Fantasy season. In order, those teams rank 16th, 17th, 32nd, 28th, 30th, and 27th in terms of Fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. Drawing the Texans, Vikings, and Jaguars as opponents during the Fantasy Playoffs makes Montgomery one of the most valuable backs out there for championship contenders to target. If you are sitting pretty through the first seven or eight weeks and have the depth to spare, make the move.
Transfer: Devin Singletary | RB | Buffalo Bills
From a running back who swells with late-season promise to one who is in a dire situation as it pertains to Fantasy Football strategy. Devin Singletary has consistently fallen short of expectations and projections in nearly every game this season. Aside from Weeks 3 and 4 which saw his Fantasy outputs bolstered by a touchdown and healthy role in the passing game, Singletary and the Bills running game as a whole have disappointed. While you’d like to think Buffalo can find its footing on the ground and create a more balanced offensive attack going forward, Singletary could very well find himself not factoring into said efforts as much as some might think.
Rookie Zack Moss has missed several games this season due to a toe injury, but when he’s played, he has been the better ball carrier. His 47 rushing yards last week easily cleared the 29 Singletary managed despite having one additional carry. Of the two, Moss certainly appears to be the superior between-the-tackles runner. If he can stay healthy, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Bills ride him more often as they try to take pressure off of Josh Allen in what has become a one-dimensional offense. At best, Singletary is working in an even timeshare. At worst, he is relegated to third down and pass-catching roles if Moss takes over the bulk of the workload. Either way, it’s not pretty from a Fantasy standpoint. Look to move him now while his weekly point projections are still high.
Invest: Nelson Agholor | WR | Las Vegas Raiders
Surprise, surprise. We’ve hit the midway point of the NFL season and Nelson Agholor is a name worth adding in Fantasy Football. It used to happen seemingly every year when he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles thanks to injuries. While his role in the Raiders’ offense is a bit more defined, Agholor is once again benefitting from some injuries. Las Vegas is of course without Tyrell Williams for the season, and highly touted rookie Bryan Edwards continues to miss games as he battles through various injuries of his own.
Agholor had his best game of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, totaling 5 receptions, 107 yards, and a touchdown. The most encouraging stat of all from a Fantasy Football strategy standpoint is the fact that Agholor saw 9 targets in the game. Given that he has been on the field for 78% or more of the Raiders offensive snaps in each of the last four games, it seems highly plausible that Agholor could have similar high target shares in the future. Only owned in 24.5% of ESPN leagues, he’s worth an add with a number of favorable Fantasy matchups in the coming weeks.
Loan: Jimmy Garoppolo | QB | San Francisco 49ers
He did miss a couple of games, but Jimmy Garoppolo’s 62.58 Fantasy points on the season are only 10 more than benched Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins. And yet here I am recommending him as the quarterback streamer of the week. The rationale has far more to do with the Seattle Seahawks defense Garoppolo and the 49ers are facing Sunday than Garoppolo himself.
The Seahawks are allowing 26.42 Fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, the most of any team. Seattle also ranks 30th in adjusted defensive efficiency against the pass according to Football Outsiders. A major part of this is the team’s inability to generate a pass rush. The Seahawks attempted to address this by trading for Carlos Dunlap this week, but the 49ers aren’t an easy team to create pressure against either. Garoppolo is in line for a huge day, as is rookie wideout Brandon Aiyuk, who figures to see more targets headed his way with Deebo Samuel sidelined by a hamstring injury.
