The Rookie Report: Week 8

In Fantasy Football, rookies are often the most confusing players to evaluate. Due to their inexperience and lack of sample size in the NFL, they are susceptible to inconsistency and volatility, creating chaos for your fantasy team. To help get a better understanding of how to deal with rookies, each week, I’ll be writing a column breaking down some of the most important rookies for fantasy and helping you decide how to value these players moving forward. Welcome to the Rookie Report.

Notes: Touches for running backs are calculated by adding carries and targets. An asterisk (*) next to a player indicates that they were on bye in Week 8.

Quarterbacks

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars

Lawrence was underwhelming for fantasy this week, finishing with under 13 fantasy points. The performance doesn’t move the needle much on Lawrence’s fantasy value though—I’d continue to treat him as a matchup-dependent streamer. With this being said, stay away from him in the next few weeks with tough matchups against the Bills, Colts, and 49ers coming up.

Zach Wilson, Jets

Zach Wilson missed this week’s game with a knee injury, and backup Mike White came in and immediately looked better than Wilson has in any game this year. Jets coach Robert Saleh has already come out and said that there are no guarantees that Wilson returns from injury as the starter, so definitely don’t roster him in fantasy.

Trey Lance, 49ers

Lance is the clear backup quarterback for the 49ers, so keep him on the waiver wires until things change.

Justin Fields, Bears

Fields had the best game of his career on Sunday, putting up over 25 fantasy points en route to a top-5 fantasy finish at the position. Fields had his first big rushing performance, as he had 103 yards and a touchdown on the ground. This is an incredibly encouraging sign—as we all know, rushing quarterbacks are cheat codes in fantasy football, so Fields finally getting some rushing work is promising. He’s worth a pickup and can be started in a pinch as long as he continues to get rushing volume.

Justin Fields ARE YOU SERIOUS?! #DaBears



📺: #SFvsCHI on FOX

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— NFL (@NFL) October 31, 2021

Mac Jones, Patriots

Jones wasn’t great in the Patriots win this week, completing just 51.4% of his passes and throwing for zero touchdowns. With the dominance of the Patriots rushing attack, I wouldn’t be rostering Jones in fantasy for the time being.

Running Backs

Najee Harris, Steelers

Najee was once again dominant for fantasy, getting a whopping 29 touches and finishing as a top-10 running back. Najee is currently 2nd in the NFL in touches, and should be confidently started as an RB1 each week.

Javonte Williams, Broncos

Williams had a down game against the Washington Football Team, scoring about six fantasy points. However, his fantasy value doesn’t change too much—continue to treat him as a strong option off the bench who can be FLEX-ed in a pinch.

Michael Carter, Jets

Wow. The entire New York Jets team was a surprise this week, but Carter especially. He had 24 touches in the Jets upset win, including an insane 14 targets. New quarterback Mike White showed a propensity to check it down, as running backs made up 21% of White’s pass attempts (White also had an average target depth of just 5.4 yards, lowest of all QBs this week).

Here, we can see that Carter has increased his touches nearly every week and has emerged as the top dog in the Jets' backfield. Pair this with Mike White feeding the running backs in the passing game, and Carter is worth a pickup in most fantasy leagues. I’d spend about 15% of a FAAB budget on him.

Chuba Hubbard, Panthers

Chuba was good for fantasy again, scoring a touchdown and finishing as a top-20 option. Chuba’s fantasy value remains clear—start him as an RB2 while Christian McCaffrey is injured, but bench him once CMC is back.

Kenneth Gainwell, Eagles

Much to the disappointment of fantasy owners who plugged him in with Miles Sanders out, Kenneth did not Gain Well on Sunday. Despite the Eagles putting up 44 points and running for over 200 yards as a team, Gainwell had just 13 carries, most of which came in garbage time. With Boston Scott assuming the #1 back duty and touchdown vulture extraordinaire Jordan Howard stealing the goal-line work, Gainwell is not worth starting even while Miles Sanders is out.

Khalil Herbert, Bears

With David Montgomery once again out due to injury, Herbert remained the top option out of the Chicago backfield. While he wasn’t excellent for fantasy, Herbert still got 23 carries. Continue to start him as long as Monty is out, and keep him on your bench even afterward.

Elijah Mitchell, 49ers

Mitchell continued to assert his dominance of the San Francisco backfield, once again getting 18 carries and a touchdown. He sees enough volume to be a safe RB2 and has shown he has top-10 upside.

Wide Receivers

Note: Giants receiver Kadarius Toney was not included in the initial publishing of this article as he played on Monday Night.

Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals

Ja’Marr Chase had the lowest yardage total of his career this week, but he still had a solid fantasy day thanks to a short touchdown. Chase remains the overall WR2 on the season, so continue to start him with confidence as a WR1.

DeVonta Smith, Eagles

Smitty was rather disappointing for fantasy this week, getting just one catch in the Eagles blowout win. The Eagles were running a lot because of their big lead, so I wouldn’t worry too much about Smith’s poor performance (Jalen Hurts had just 14 pass attempts total). He’s still a FLEX-able player moving forward, especially in PPR.

Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins

Waddle was also a let-down for fantasy managers, having a measly five fantasy points. However, the bright side is that Waddle had 12 targets and commanded a 32.4% target share. If he continues to see this big a slice of the Miami passing offense, he can safely be started as a FLEX.

Rondale Moore, Cardinals

Moore didn’t do too much for fantasy on Thursday Night, having just two fantasy points. This is now the thirrd straight week where Moore has been in the single digits in fantasy points, so I’d leave him on the waiver wire.

Elijah Moore, Jets

The other rookie Moore had the most productive game of his young career versus the Bengals on Sunday, totaling 67 receiving yards on six receptions. It looks like Mike White has elevated the Jets offense as a whole, so Moore might be worth a pickup in deeper leagues. Spend $1 or $2 of FAAB on him if you have an extra bench spot.

Tight Ends

Kyle Pitts, Falcons

Pitts was a huge disappointment for fantasy managers this week. Despite Calvin Ridley being ruled out for the game late, Pitts had just two catches for 13 yards. Even with the poor performance, Pitts is still an elite top-5 tight end moving forward, especially with the news that the aforementioned Ridley will be out indefinitely.

Pat Freiermuth, Steelers

Freiermuth caught a touchdown in the Steelers' win over the Browns, finishing as the TE2 on the week. With JuJu Smith-Schuster likely done for the season with an injury, Freiermuth should see enough volume to be a streaming-level tight end.