It is Monday morning, which means that in a few scant hours, the phrases “Bye-pacalypse” and “National Tight End’s Week” will be a thing of the past.
Thank goodness.
With Arizona, Detroit, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Seattle, and the Los Angeles Rams all on bye, fantasy managers were scrambling to fill their lineups with healthy bodies (not necessarily productive, just healthy). Though several of the matchups appeared intriguing on paper, Week 8 will ultimately be remembered for double-digit victories, major injuries at the running back position, the importance of rostering a backup quarterback, and underperforming teams finally securing victories in an attempt to save their season.
Here are a few of the more notable performances from Week 8:
Fantasy Football Studs & Duds: Week 8
Quarterbacks
Stud: Jalen Hurts (QB – PHI)
Philadelphia used Week 8 as a “get right” game against their divisional foe, New York, manhandling the Giants in a 38-20 victory. The Eagles were able to gash the hapless New York defense both on the ground (as a team, they finished with an absurd 276 rushing yards) and through the air (Hurts threw four touchdowns in the contest). Even though his passing totals weren’t particularly gaudy (just 179 yards on the afternoon), Hurts’ ultra-efficiency when asked to pass was notable, even in the absence of wideout A.J. Brown. Philadelphia will head into its bye during Week 9 full of confidence, firmly secure atop the NFC East. The Eagles have two challenging matchups with Green Bay and Detroit once they return, and both contests will help shape the playoff race.
Stud: Jordan Love (QB – GB)
They say that “iron sharpens iron” – perhaps that is the case when squaring off against your former mentor? The Packers traveled to Pittsburgh, squaring off against Aaron Rodgers‘ Steelers in a much-anticipated Sunday Night game. It turns out that one quarterback received the “National Tight End’s Week” memo, and the other was lost in the mail. Love peppered Tucker Kraft up and down the field at a whim, benefitting from the tight end’s uncanny knack for picking up yards after contact. Completing 29-of-37 attempts for 360 yards and three touchdowns, Love now sits on a sparkling 13:3 TD: INT ratio, and sits as the QB11 on the young season. Green Bay will play consecutive games at home against Carolina and Philadelphia in the upcoming weeks, and both should be competitive matchups.
Dud: Baker Mayfield (QB – TB)
Mayfield has been trending in the wrong direction since Week 5, with diminished passing totals in each contest. Pegged by analysts as a top-10 option at the position against a middling New Orleans Saints defense, Mayfield struggled to get anything going and was under constant pressure every time that he dropped back to pass. Tampa Bay instead claimed victory on the heels of their defense, special teams, and running game units – each phase scored a touchdown. The Bucs have to be pleased with their 6-2 record as they enter their Week 9 bye, but injuries sustained at wide receiver have really hampered Mayfield’s totals of late. Hopefully, Tampa Bay can have Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin return to full health after the break to reignite the passing game.
Dud: Dak Prescott (QB – DAL)
Prescott had been on an utter tear since Week 4, passing for 13 touchdowns without throwing a pick during that time span. Denver’s defense said enough was enough, holding him to just 19 completions on 31 attempts for a paltry 188 yards and two interceptions. With the game totally out of reach in the fourth quarter, Dallas opted to bench Prescott in favor of Joe Milton. An unrelenting pass rush forced Prescott to become skittish in the pocket, causing him to scramble for short-yardage gains rather than allowing plays to develop downfield. We aren’t terribly concerned about a down Week 8 for Prescott, as he should continue to post gaudy passing totals in an effort to keep the Cowboys competitive, thanks to their terrible defense. Dallas squares off against Arizona on Monday Night Football in Week 9, and the Cardinals surrender the eighth-most passing yards each week (235 yds/g) in the league. Look for a bounce-back game.
Running Backs
Stud: Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)
This is officially getting ridiculous. Taylor scored three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving) at home against Tennessee, amidst a 38-14 blowout over the Titans. Sunday marked the fourth time in eight games that Taylor has found the end zone three times, and we’re honestly running out of superlatives to throw his way. The focal point of Indianapolis’ dangerous offense, Taylor will look to keep the momentum going against Pittsburgh and Atlanta the next two weeks, before the Colts’ Week 11 bye. His continued usage in the passing game and ability to exploit holes created by an elite offensive line give him a solid floor of points each week, and we don’t see this breakout season slowing down any time soon.
Stud: Breece Hall (RB – NYJ)
Hall entered Week 8 with a questionable tag due to a lingering knee injury that resulted in limited practices on Wednesday and Thursday. That didn’t appear to be an issue. Hall rushed for a season-high 133 yards, scoring his first two rushing touchdowns on the season against a porous Cincinnati Bengals front. New York’s willingness to stick with its bread-and-butter running game, even when trailing from behind late in the contest, was definitely an encouraging sign. The cherry on top of Hall’s stat line was a passing touchdown to tight end Mason Taylor to give the Jets their first lead of the contest late in the fourth quarter. New York will enjoy the benefit of a Week 9 bye, allowing Hall some much-needed rest get back to 100 percent. Hall will continue to head a potent one-two punch with Isaiah Davis in the backfield.
Dud: Bijan Robinson (RB – ATL)
Robinson entered Week 8 with the highest projected point total at the position across many sites, so to see him flop this miserably was shocking. Atlanta entered the game against Miami without the services of Michael Penix and Drake London, so all expectations were that the Falcons would pound the Dolphins’ defense into submission. This should have been a relatively easy feat, given Miami’s struggles against opposing running backs (they were surrendering over 150 yards per contest rushing prior to this). Instead, Robinson finished with his lowest number of touches on the season (just 12 total, and nine rushing attempts), en route to a 4.8-point total finish in full-PPR formats – by far his worst of the year. Fantasy’s top selection of 2025, Robinson has eclipsed the 75-yard rushing total just once since Week 2 and has instead been buoyed by his strong totals as a receiver. Robinson has two difficult matchups upcoming against New England and Indianapolis – both are top-10 units against the run.
Dud: Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF)
Following his epic Week 7 performance, where he totaled 201 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns, “CMC” flopped mightily on the road against Houston on Sunday, finishing with 25 rushing yards and 43 receiving yards on three catches. With San Francisco perpetually playing from behind, I was hopeful that McCaffrey’s usage as the leading receiver for quarterback Mac Jones would keep his totals afloat (like what occurred during the first five weeks of the season). Not so much. CMC finished with his first single-digit finish of 2025, marking the sixth time this season he has posted a 3.2 YPC or less. The good news? San Francisco squares off against the New York Giants in Week 9, a team that just allowed 276 yards on the ground against Philadelphia. We’d expect McCaffrey to go ballistic and reclaim his spot as the overall RB1.
Wide Receivers
Stud: Troy Franklin (WR – DEN)
As a whole, passing totals were somewhat depressed in Week 8, even in lopsided victories. That said, it still feels nice to highlight someone new atop the leaderboard in this column at the position. Franklin caught six of eight targets for 89 yards and two touchdowns, consistently abusing a dilapidated Dallas secondary that could not stop anyone. Unlike last week’s 3/19 performance on 10 targets, Franklin was much more efficient with his looks this time out. Denver’s dearth of wideouts has us reluctant to put too much faith in this being a repeatable effort, but we are encouraged by his usage. Denver has a much stiffer challenge on the road against Houston in Week 9, which surrenders the fourth-fewest passing yards in the NFL. Franklin is a risky FLEX play at best.
Stud: Michael Pittman Jr. (WR – IND)
The fact that both Pittman and Taylor make appearances under the “stud” section tells you everything about how this game went on Sunday. Pittman caught 8-of-9 targets for 95 yards, including one of the most electric touchdown grabs in recent memory. This marks his sixth score on the season, matching his previous career high set in 2021. Though it pains me to write this as a Giants fan, Daniel Jones has been utterly remarkable to start the 2025 season. Currently ranked as the WR7 on the season, Pittman will look to keep his streak going against Pittsburgh on the road in Week 9, against a secondary that was torched by Jordan Love in Green Bay. Although he doesn’t have eye-popping yardage totals, Pittman has found pay dirt in five of the last six outings.
Dud: Emeka Egbuka (WR – TB)
After a stellar start to his rookie season, where he was seemingly scoring a touchdown every contest, Egbuka has laid a dud for three consecutive weeks, even with modest target volume. Constant collapsing pockets have resulted in Baker Mayfield becoming scattershot of late, to the detriment of all his receivers. On Sunday, Egbuka caught 3-of-9 targets that were in his general direction (I use that phrase loosely; some of these passes were truly horrific) for just 35 yards, amidst a 23-3 win over New Orleans. Operating as the alpha wideout with veterans Mike Evans and Chris Godwin sidelined, Egbuka was playing at less than 100 percent, still recovering from a hamstring injury. As alluded to earlier, Tampa Bay thankfully has a Week 9 bye, allowing Egbuka (and Godwin, to a lesser extent) to heal up and prepare for the back half of the season.
Tight Ends
Stud: Tucker Kraft (TE – GB)
Kraft took “National Tight End’s week” personally, single-handedly destroying a beleaguered Pittsburgh secondary for 143 yards on seven receptions and two touchdowns. Now up to the TE2 overall on the 2025 season, Kraft is sitting on a 29/469/6 split through seven games, and is a locked-in top-five option at the position for the remainder of the season. The most reliable weekly asset in Green Bay’s aerial attack, Kraft is Jordan Love’s favorite target to look for in dire situations, and his uncanny knack for picking up yards after the catch and being a load to tackle is Travis Kelce-esque. Enjoy the breakout.
Dud: Jake Ferguson (TE – DAL)
Ferguson entered Week 8 on a total tear, catching seven or more passes in five of the previous six contests as a safety valve for Dak Prescott in the Dallas offense. That came to a crashing halt this weekend against Denver, who made a clear emphasis to take him out of the game entirely. Ferguson saw just one target his way all afternoon (which he missed), resulting in a goose egg. In this case, there is nowhere to go but up, and we anticipate a significant rebound at home against Arizona on Monday Night Football. Don’t overthink one bad performance, keep rolling with Ferguson.
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