Week 8 WR Rankings PPR: Wide Receiver Fantasy Stats & Projections

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There is always one receiver that totally outperforms all expectations which is again what happened in Week 7. Looking ahead to Week 8, I’ve gone through each matchup and created my rankings for wide receivers. I factor in both matchup and past performance when assessing ranks. Here are my wide receiver rankings for Week 8.

Week 8 WR Rankings

Crazy Week 7

Marvin Jones Jr. had an absolute killer game last week for the Lions in a losing effort to the Vikings. Jones collected 10 receptions for 93 yards with 4 touchdowns. This almost doubled his previous season-high reception total in a game. Typically Kenny Golladay has been the main target for Matthew Stafford, but Jones gave him the week off. He picked up all the Lions’ touchdowns in a game where their defense let them down. Only 15 players in NFL history have scored 5 or more touchdowns in a game which makes Jones tied for 16th with a bunch of other players in the single-game touchdown leaders list. This week the Lions take on the Giants. While there is below a 1% chance of Jones getting 4 touchdowns again, I do expect him to get some work. The Giants have allowed the ninth-most receiving yards per game this season which sets the Lions receivers up for big games. I expect Golladay to take back his leading role in the receiving game but don’t count out Jones as he has put up big numbers in some weeks.

Is He Legit?

The Colts had a big win over the Texans last week which was led by Jacoby Brissett at quarterback. You would expect T.Y. Hilton to be the main contributor in the receiving game, but this was not the case this week. Zach Pascal stepped up with 6 receptions for 106 yards with 2 touchdowns. Now the question is if he can continue this type of play. To determine this I look at previous games and see if there is a trend giving any hope for the future. Pascal has had barely any work in the offense previous to this game with just 7 total receptions through the Colts’ first 5 games. Even when T.Y. Hilton sat out, he did not receive much of a spike in production. From this, I would say that he will be taking a step back in the coming weeks. Hilton didn’t have an off week in any sense, but I would expect some of Pascal’s targets to return back to Hilton. He isn’t going anywhere and still will get action in the Colts’ offense, but don’t expect many, if any more, 100+ yard games.

Good Matchup

Michael Thomas has a fantastic matchup this week. He is coming off a huge game of 9 receptions for 131 yards. He just didn’t get lucky with finding the endzone this week or else his week would’ve been among the top. Despite having Drew Brees out, Thomas has not seen a drop in production. He has had 3 100+ yard games but just has had problems finding the endzone this season. Brees is supposedly returning to practice this week and has the potential to return for Week 8. His return would only add to the potential monster game for Thomas this week. The Cardinals have been one of the worst teams against the pass this season. They have averaged 285.6 receiving yards per game which Michael Thomas will get a major bulk of. The Cardinals have also allowed the most receiving touchdowns in the league at 17. The likelihood of Thomas being able to get one or two this week is high. For these reasons, I have him ranked number one for this week.

Bad Matchup

D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel face a difficult matchup against the 49ers this week. The 49ers have allowed just 159 receiving yards per game this season which ranks the best in the NFL. Last week, the 49ers shut out the Redskins and limited Case Keenum to just 77 total passing yards. The Panthers are coming off their bye week and Cam Newton will continue to miss games including this week. Christian McCaffrey has been hoarding most of the team’s touchdowns this season outside of Samuel’s Week 6 game against the Buccaneers. The Panthers will have a hard time moving the ball this week which makes them a reach for starting both Moore or Samuel this week.