With a lot of fantasy stars coming off bye, and a few that emerged as viable plug-ins, there isn't as much of a frenzy around the wire this week. With Baltimore and Las Vegas taking the week off, there are a few teams that will be down a few players. Let's take a look at who we should be grabbing off the wire as we get into week 8.
1. RB Elijah Mitchell, SF
Mitchell is the clear RB1 in SF, although he is completely absent in the passing game. He provides a solid floor and has completely eliminated Trey Sermon from the contest, Mitchell is a solid flex play moving forward.
2. RB Kenneth Gainwell, PHI
Miles Sanders suffered what is likely a low ankle sprain and Gainwell saw a ton of action in his place after a few down weeks. Gainwell has the potential to retain his role even when Sanders returns, although Boston Scott did get most of the red zone work.
3. RB Kenyan Drake, LV
Drake has had back-to-back productive weeks and with Jacobs suffering a chest injury, Drake profiles to see more action. The Raiders are on bye this week, but if you have the roster space he is a solid add in shallow leagues.
4. TE CJ Uzomah, CIN
After his second two-score game of the year, Uzomah is no longer a fluke play and can be relied upon for a consistent floor and the chance to pop on a weekly basis in the explosive Bengals offense.
5. TE Zach Ertz, ARI
Ertz scored a touchdown in his first game after being traded to Arizona, and while his fantasy value wouldn't have been great without that fairly broken scoring play, he is the first A-list tight end Kyler Murray has had in Arizona, and I expect him to be a red zone magnet moving forward.
6. WR Rashod Bateman, BAL
Bateman missed the beginning of the year to injury but slid right in the Baltimore offense the last two weeks, racking up enough targets and yards to warrant a rostering. He was one of the hottest waiver pickups last week, but if he is still available go get him.
Here are some free agent options that are more likely to be available in your league if you play in a 12-team, or simply more competitive league than the average ESPN league where their roster data comes from.
1. RB Brandon Bolden, NE
With James White out, Bolden has taken over the role to the point where they made Rhamondre Stevenson a healthy scratch last week despite a good outing the week before. Bolden possesses all the receiving skills Belichick wants from his backfield, and is a great compliment to starter Damian Harris.
2. WR Russell Gage, ATL
Gage came back from injury and scored a touchdown opposite Calvin Ridley, and while we can't expect huge outings from anyone in Atlanta consistently, Gage will profit from the emergence of rookie tight end Kyle Pitts. Matt Ryan still has talent in that arm, and the quirkiness of the Falcons offense with hybrid Cordarrelle Patterson will open the field up for Gage more than he saw in the first few weeks of the season.
3. RB Samaje Perine, CIN
Joe Mixon is healthy, but not the most durable back, which resulted in Perine getting over 30% of the snaps last week. The blowout situation also added to Mixon's usage being lowered, but Perine has established himself as a productive RB2 that should be rostered especially by Mixon owners as a reliable handcuff.
4. WR Allen Lazard, GB
Can you trust anyone in GB outside of Adams and Jones? Probably not, especially with Valdez-Scantling returning soon. Devante Adams will likely miss Thursday's matchup with Arizona, which means Rodgers will have to find a new go-to guy. Lazard scored a touchdown last week and is a huge plug-n-play flex option for Week 8, although there is a good chance familiar veteran Randall Cobb absorbs the action in Adams' absence. On top of that, Lazard's value rapidly decreases with a healthy MVS and Devante Adams back on the field, so he is more of a quick add for this week and move on.
5. WR AJ Green, ARI
Green is available in most leagues, as is Rondale Moore and Christian Kirk, depending on who had the best game most recently. It's been a merry-go-round with the receivers in Arizona, but each have had their games, and when the dust settles after seven we see that AJ Green is the most consistently targeted across all situations (red zone, third down, etc). The addition of Zach Ertz may actually help Green get more targets, and while I don't love flexing him weekly, he does appear to have the best floor out of the AZ receivers.
6. TE Evan Engram, NYG
Engram was rostered in a ton of leagues when he got healthy, as the TE situation has been a struggle for many fantasy teams. Engram didn't do much with his first few starts and was dropped by most teams in favor of tight ends that simply weren't Evan Engram. Well, with most of the receivers out in New York, Engram once again has situational value with Daniel Jones, and for more desperate teams he is worth an add for the week 8 matchup against Chiefs on Monday night.
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