Week 8 of the 2025 fantasy football season featured huge performances by several star running backs, but also several disappointing efforts by a few of the league’s best fantasy options.
Who were the big winners and losers?
Matt Bowen and Tristan H. Cockcroft offer their analyses.
Jump to a topic:
Ranking winners | Ranking losers
Biggest injuries and what’s next
Ranking fantasy winners of Week 8
1. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts: His sheer dominance of the division-rival Tennessee Titans continued on Sunday, as for his third consecutive game against them, he scored three touchdowns and at least 32 fantasy points. Taylor’s 37.4 fantasy points represented a season best, as well as his fourth 30-point performance in the past six weeks. He and the Colts’ offense are on a massive hot streak to begin 2025, and it should continue into a Week 9 meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers and their disappointing-to-date defense. — Cockcroft
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Takeaways from James Cook’s nice fantasy game
Liz Loza breaks reacts to James Cook’s big fantasy game vs. the Panthers.
2. James Cook III, RB, Buffalo Bills: Is there any question now that his 2024 breakthrough was wholly legitimate, and that he’s one of the league’s best running backs? Cook rushed for 216 yards, two touchdowns and scored 33.6 fantasy points, tops among all players from the 1 p.m. ET games, giving him a whopping 138.2 points through seven games. Seven of his 19 carries went for double-digit yardage, a career best, as he and the Bills romped over the Andy Dalton-led Carolina Panthers. Expect a much more competitive contest in Week 9 against the Kansas City Chiefs, though Cook remains a fantasy RB1 for that game. — Cockcroft
3. Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles: Barkley left the game against the Giants at the end of the third quarter with a hamstring injury, so we’ll have to monitor his status throughout the upcoming bye week. Before exiting, however, Barkley produced season-highs in total yards (174), touchdowns (two) and points (33.4). His speed was up on his 65-yard touchdown run. There’s the home run ability we’ve been waiting for this season. Barkley also had four receptions for 24 yards, which included a touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Jalen Hurts. If Barkley can’t go when the Eagles return from the bye in Week 10 versus the Packers, Tank Bigsby (19.4% rostered) would elevate into the No.1 role. — Bowen
4. Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets: While his 32.86 fantasy points didn’t represent a career high (43.10, in Week 16 of 2023), Hall’s performance in Week 8 was arguably his personal best in four years in the NFL. He shredded a bad Cincinnati Bengals defense for 7.4 yards per carry, four rushing plays for double-digit yardage, and capped his day with the winning, four-yard passing touchdown to tight end Mason Taylor. You read that right, the Jets are off the schneid after starting the year 0-7. Hall remains a rumored name on the trade block, and perhaps this effort highlighted what he might do on a more well-rounded offense. If he remains in New York beyond the Nov. 4 deadline, however, he’ll face back-to-back challenging matchups against the Cleveland Browns (Week 10) and New England Patriots (Week 11) following his team’s Week 9 bye. — Cockcroft
5. Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots: In a tough matchup versus the Browns’ defense, Maye’s 26.28 points led all quarterbacks through the early window. Maye stayed efficient as a thrower, completing 18 of 24 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Big plays down the field, too. Plus, Maye produced on the ground, rushing for 50 yards on seven carries. Maye has now rushed for 50 or more yards in back-to-back games, and he has scored 23 or more points in four of five. With a Week 9 game versus the Falcons, I’ll have Maye locked-in as a top-5 player at the position, and I don’t think that really changes much moving forward. He’s a star. — Bowen
6. Joe Flacco, QB, and Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals: While the Bengals’ defense melted down in spectacular fashion, losing a heartbreaker, 39-38, to a New York Jets team that began the season 0-7, their offense remained as solid as it has been in each of Flacco’s three starts since being acquired from the Cleveland Browns. Flacco scored 24.32 fantasy points, while Brown totaled a season-high 25.5. Flacco’s arrival has breathed new life into this offense, which again should be able to pile up fantasy points against a so-so Chicago Bears defense in Week 9. — Cockcroft
7. Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins: Despite unexpectedly popping up on the injury report mid-week with issues with both of his hamstrings, as well as his facing a suboptimal matchup against the hot-starting Atlanta Falcons defense, Waddle scored 20.9 fantasy points, only two-tenths of a point shy of the wide receiver lead from the 1 p.m. ET games. That he did it while mostly aligned across from Mike Hughes, who up to this point had been the Falcons’ best-performing cornerback in coverage, made it all the more impressive. Though his offense had seemingly been given up for dead after last week, Waddle looks like a viable fantasy WR2 for Week 9’s matchup against the underperforming Baltimore Ravens defense. — Cockcroft
8. Oronde Gadsden II, TE, Los Angeles Chargers: In the Thursday night win over the Vikings, Gadsden caught all five of his targets for 77 yards and a touchdown (18.7 points). Look, that’s two straight games with a touchdown for Gadsden, and he’s averaged 20.0 PPG over his last three. Gadsden is an easy mover at 6-foot-5, which creates catch and run opportunities in the Chargers offense, plus he can work the seams/third level for quarterback Justin Herbert. Gadsden will be a TE1 in my ranks for the Week 9 matchup versus the Titans, and he’s still available in over 30% of ESPN leagues. Go get him. — Bowen
9. C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans: The Texans absolutely controlled tempo in the win over the 49ers, holding the ball for almost 42 minutes. And Stroud produced his best numbers of the season (21.72 points) – without No.1 receiver Nico Collins (concussion). Stroud distributed the ball to 10 different targets, completing 30 of 39 passes, while topping the 300-yard passing mark for the first time this season. With a Week 9 game versus the Denver defense, Stroud will slide back down to the QB2 ranks, but he can be used as a matchup-based streaming option over the second half of the season. — Bowen
10. Troy Franklin, WR, Denver Broncos: Franklin’s season-high 26.9 points in the win over the Cowboys led all wide receivers through the late window on Sunday. A popular streaming pick-up with six teams on a bye this week, Franklin caught six of a team-high eight targets for 89 yards, and he scored two touchdowns. Franklin has now seen 19 targets over his last two games – with at least two end zone targets and a touchdown in each. With the usage climbing, and his role expanding in Sean Payton’s offense, Franklin should be a priority waiver add this week. Franklin is currently available in over 55% of ESPN leagues. — Bowen
Ranking fantasy losers of Week 8
1. Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers: I wrote about McCaffrey this week. The run game upside there with tight end George Kittle back on the field. All good, right? Not on Sunday in the loss to the Texans. Yes, the 49ers’ inability to establish any sense of rhythm/tempo played a major role here, as Kyle Shanahan’s team had the football for only 18:38 minutes. Rough. But CMC was still a bust in Week 8, as he finished with a season low 9.8 points — after scoring 22 or more in seven straight games. McCaffrey managed just eight carries for 23 yards, and he added three receptions for 43. McCaffrey (and the entire 49ers’ football team) will look to rebound in the Week 9 matchup versus the Giants. — Bowen
2. Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons: Place some of the blame for his 5.8 fantasy point performance — that his worst since Weeks 7 (0.3) and 15 (0.4) of his 2023 rookie campaign — on the Falcons’ offense, which struggled mightily with both quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (knee) and top receiver Drake London (hip) sidelined. That said, Robinson still warrants some himself, having averaged 2.8 yards per carry, been stuffed once on his nine carries and rushing for 12 yards fewer than expected (per Next Gen Stats). His fantasy managers are surely hoping for the healthy returns of those two players so that Robinson’s rebound chances are excellent for his Week 9 meeting with the New England Patriots. — Cockcroft
3. Baker Mayfield, QB, and Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Fantasy managers who see the Buccaneers’ 23-3 victory over the New Orleans Saints will be disappointed to learn that neither of these players exceeded 6.5 fantasy points, nor did anyone from the offense except Sean Tucker (10.2) reach double-digits. The Buccaneers’ defense did most of the dirty work in this game, and by the early stages of the third quarter, neither Mayfield nor Egbuka was needed to contribute much statistically. That won’t be the case against better offenses, such as the New England Patriots (Week 10), Buffalo Bills (Week 11) and Los Angeles Rams (Week 12), the Buccaneers’ next three opponents after their Week 9 bye. — Cockcroft
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Is Rico Dowdle still worth a fantasy start?
Matthew Bowen breaks down why the return of Chuba Hubbard makes Rico Dowdle a low-end flex play for Week 9.
4. Rico Dowdle, RB, Carolina Panthers: In the blowout loss to the Bills, Dowdle (5.4 points) was out-touched by Chuba Hubbard 12-to-8, despite averaging 6.8 YPC. And it’s easy to question this Panthers’ backfield split when we can see the noticeable difference in Dowdle’s play speed. He simply brings more juice to the Carolina run game. However, without No.1 usage, Dowdle’s value will continue to slide. He’s a better fit for deeper formats in Week 9 at Green Bay. — Bowen
5. Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys: That Denver defense is a tough matchup for quarterbacks, but I still expected more from Prescott given his recent run on production. After four straight games with 22 or more points, Prescott had a season-low 6.62 points in Sunday’s loss to the Broncos. Prescott failed to throw a touchdown for the first time since back in Week 1, he completed only 61.3% of his throws and he was intercepted twice. Rough day for Dak, who will look to bounce back with a more positive Week 9 matchup versus the Cardinals defense. — Bowen
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Is Caleb Williams still a viable fantasy starter?
Matthew Bowen explains why you can still feel good about starting Caleb Williams in Week 9 against a porous Bengals defense.
6. Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears: Ben Johnson’s opening play scripts work. And the Bears had opportunities early in Sunday’s loss to the Ravens to score touchdowns. But with a lack of red zone execution, and just one offensive score on the day, Williams finished with 11.8 points. Sure, Williams completed 25 of 38 passes for 285 yards, plus he rushed for another 24 yards (on three carries). Not bad. Without the scoring plays, however, and a late interception that really put Chicago in a tough spot, Williams had a below-average game. The Bears get the Bengals defense up next in Week 9, and that’s a positive matchup for Williams. He can be started in 12 team leagues for that one. — Bowen
7. Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots: He went from scoring 16.8 fantasy points in Week 7 to 5.9 on Sunday, and lo and behold, those came with him facing matchups at opposite extremes on the spectrum! Stevenson’s yards per carry average (2.4) against the Cleveland Browns was less than half what it was against the Tennessee Titans (4.9) a week ago, and it’s particularly troubling in light of rookie TreVeyon Henderson turning three of his own 10 carries for double-digit gains. The two might see a narrowing of their rushing-chores gap come Week 9 against the Atlanta Falcons. — Cockcroft
Injury impact
Cam Skattebo, RB, New York Giants
What we know: He caught his ankle underneath a defender on a throw from Jaxson Dart in the second quarter, and was carted off the field in an aircast. Skattebo was diagnosed with a dislocated ankle, and per Adam Schefter was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
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How much of a hit did Jackson Dart’s fantasy potential take in Week 8?
Tristan H. Cockcroft explains why Cam Skattebo’s injury will have a direct impact on Jaxson Dart’s fantasy upside moving forward.
What’s next: Tyrone Tracy Jr., who totaled 34 yards on eight touches after Skattebo’s departure, will reclaim the Giants’ starting running back job, making him a must-add in any of the season-high 58.2% of ESPN leagues in which he is available. Devin Singletary, who caught a 28-yard pass late in the game, will back Tracy up and warrants a stash in deeper leagues. Expect the Giants’ passing game to take a significant step backwards with both Malik Nabers (knee) and now Skattebo sidelined. — Cockcroft
Quinshon Judkins, RB, Cleveland Browns
What we know: He left Sunday’s game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury, finishing his day with only 4.7 fantasy points. The Browns were trailing by two scores at the time.
What’s next: There’s a good chance that the Browns were merely taking precautions with Judkins’ injury, considering the game result, and the team does have a Week 9 bye to help him heal. Should this be a lingering issue, however, Dylan Sampson would take over as the team’s starter with Jerome Ford backing him up. — Cockcroft