Dontayvion Wicks, Rico Dowdle and more

Another week of NFL action is upon us and the NFL wide receiver trade market is still in full force. After trades a couple of weeks ago saw Amari Cooper and Davante Adams end up in new homes, this week has already seen the Chiefs trade for DeAndre Hopkins, while rumors of a Cooper Kupp trade are also leaking.

None of those names are sleepers, but one of those four players being traded is partly part of why a name is on this list. Is that a good enough connection? Sure.

To count as sleepers, quarterbacks and tight ends must be ranked outside the top 15 at their position in FantasyPros Weekly Rankingwhile running backs are ranked outside the top 20 and wide receivers are ranked outside the top 25.

Week 8 standings: QB23

The Cleveland Browns have made a quarterback change. Not by choice, as many hoped would have happened at some point, but by necessity, as starter Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles tendon last week.

Maybe this change will light some kind of fire under the Browns offense, which has looked hapless this season. The team had yet to reach 200 passing yards in a game before the game against the Bengals, when Watson, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Jameis Winston combined to finally surpass that mark.

Now, Winston takes over as the team’s quarterback and there is no other place to go but up. Winston isn’t the same guy who led the league in passing yards in 2019, but there’s a good chance he’ll be a major upgrade over what Watson was giving the team.

And he’ll be in a strong position to prove it in Week 8 when he faces the Baltimore Ravens, a pass defense that has seen better days. The Ravens allow 287.1 passing yards per game, the worst mark in the NFL.

Week 8 standings: RB28

Rico Dowdle was shut down last time against the Lions, but the entire Cowboys offense looked weak in that one, so I don’t want to blame Dowdle too much. He had top-20 fantasy finishes the previous two weeks and has a juicy matchup against the 49ers this week.

San Francisco has struggled to stop receiving backs, allowing the sixth-most receiving yards and seventh-most receptions at the position. The receiving game is where Dowdle has really made his impact, with both of his touchdowns this season coming off receptions. He has five or more goals in half of his games.

Dowdle is a tough player to trust based on his 2024 production, but if I start a running back ranked outside the top 25 this week, Dowdle is the only one who really stands out.

You could Get really weird about it and play Hunter Luepke in a deep league for the same reason you’d play Dowdle (the Niners and their struggles against receiving backs), but that’s obviously a lot riskier since he’s barely in the game. land. He has four carries all season against eight targets.

Week 8 standings: WR41

Earlier this week, I wrote about why I like the Green Bay Packers passing attack this week in the context of why I loved Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs this week:

“Jacksonville has allowed the second-most passing yards in the NFL this season, behind only the Ravens. Additionally, the team has allowed a league-high 16 touchdown passes and has made just one pass all year. Teams have been able to move up and down the field against the Jags. Meanwhile, Jordan Love has thrown three or more touchdown passes in three of the four games since returning to the lineup.”

Reed and Doubs are the players most likely to take advantage of this, but don’t count out Dontayvion Wicks. After an explosive Week 4 in which he caught two touchdowns, Wicks looked like a potential breakaway candidate, but he disappointed in the next two games, combining for three catches and 29 yards.

However, we saw a little more of the good version of Wicks last week against Houston. He was targeted six times, catching three passes for 48 yards and a score. He has four touchdown passes this season and is a really attractive WR3/4 option.

Week 8 standings: WR53

We need to talk about Rashod Bateman’s world fantasy ranking, which is so low every week.

Because here’s the thing: He’s not a superstar, but he’s finished as a top-20 fantasy receiver in two of the last three games, including as a WR1 last week. He’s rated WR53 this week, but only has one game in which he didn’t finish in the top 50.

Bateman doesn’t have much bulk, with just one game all year with more than five targets, but he makes the most of the opportunities he gets. He has finished with exactly four receptions in three straight games, but has two touchdowns and is averaging 83 yards per game in that span.

And then there’s the Zay Flowers situation this weekend. Flowers is listed as questionable and did not practice Thursday due to an ankle injury. Will Flores dress up this weekend? If he doesn’t, Bateman has even more upside as the team’s No. 1 receiver.

Week 8 standings: TE39

We’re going to go a lot deeper into tight end this week, but sometimes that’s what you have to do to find some value.

Brock Bowers is a star for the Raiders. He’s off to one of the best starts ever for a tight end and will have a juicy matchup with a Chiefs defense that allows the most fantasy points per game for the position.

But this matchup could also work in Harison Bryant’s favor, assuming the injury that kept him out of last week’s game doesn’t cost him his chance to play this weekend.

Two games ago against Pittsburgh, Bryant played 57 percent of the team’s snaps and saw a season-high five targets. He caught three of them for 24 yards. Bryant has multiple receptions in three of the last four games. They aren’t great numbers, but this matchup with KC is attractive. The Chiefs are one of two teams allowing more than 500 receiving yards to tight ends this year.