Fantasy Football: 3 Things We Learned in Week 8

Perhaps more than anything, fantasy football is a game of adjustments. Season-long fantasy doesn't end at the draft, and smart managers learn to take the trends and data that each week of games offers and apply it to their roster decisions moving forward.

This weekly piece will look at trends from the previous slate of games and determine which trends in snaps, usage, and matchups are actionable moving forward. Let's dive in and look at some interesting pieces of information from Week 8.

Robert Woods Isn't Retired Yet

After four weeks of this NFL season, I'm willing to get if you had already written off Robert Woods this season. I certainly had.

Cooper Kupp was (and still is) setting the fantasy football world on fire through four weeks with 30 catches for 481 yards and 5 touchdowns. Woods managed two scores in four weeks but averaged only 43 yards per week and had a target share below 20%. Van Jefferson had more receiving yards and air yards than Woods.

But then the squeaky wheel appeared, and the story changed.

In Week 5, Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford got out the grease to make sure Woods was satisfied, but it didn't end there. In the four games since, Woods is averaging 8.5 targets per game with eight red zone targets and three total scores. According to FantasyPros, here are the top 10 wide receivers in half-PPR formats from Week 5 to Week 8:

Kupp is still lapping the field, of course, but Woods is up to ninth, ahead of Tyreek Hill, DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise Brown, and a whole host of other elite options.

With DeSean Jackson out of the picture, the simple fact is that this offense is dominant and efficient enough to support a bell-cow running back, three wide receivers, and a top-10 tight end.

If you bought low on Woods, congratulations. But if there is a manager in your league who is frustrated by fewer than 40 receiving yards in two of his past three games, now is the time to act.

Michael Carter Has a New Best Friend

He might not admit it publicly, but we can't blame Michael Carter if he is not in the camp that is rushing to get Zach Wilson back under center.

Carter had 14 total targets in Weeks 1-5, but he saw exactly 14 just in Week 8 alone with Mike White running the offense. Certainly, that number is not sustainable no matter who is at quarterback, but the fact that Carter saw nine targets the week before is eye-opening.

Similar to Woods, Carter has shot up the fantasy ranks the past couple of weeks. On the season, Carter is RB21 in half-PPR formats. But in the last three weeks, he is RB13, and he's second overall in the past two.

Carter checks all of the boxes during this hot streak, as well. Snaps? Over 70% each of the last two weeks. Rushing attempts? He was 11th among all backs in Weeks 7-8. Receiving? His 162 yards leads all rushers. Red zone usage? He is top-10 with seven carries inside the 20.

And now the 800-pound gorilla in the room is what happens when Wilson returns from injury? Will they continue to feature Carter when Wilson has made it clear with his tendencies that he likes to take deep shots? If the Jets trade Jamison Crowder and if Corey Davis remains banged up, does Carter get more work?

There are a lot of questions surrounding Carter's future usage, but it's clear he is now the lead back on this team and his role should expand moving forward.

Dan Arnold Has Top-10 Tight End Upside

Prior to Sunday's matchup with the Seattle Seahawks, Dan Arnold had one career game with more than six targets. In his new role as a featured offensive piece in Jacksonville, Arnold set career highs with 10 targets and 8 receptions in Week 8. His 68 receiving yards were the second-most of his career, and he caught a touchdown for good measure.

With both D.J. Chark and James O'Shaughnessy on injured reserve, it looks as though Arnold could be in line for a big role. Considering the pass-happy nature of the Jaguars this year, Arnold is a player worth pursuing.

The Jaguars rank seventh in the NFL in percentage of pass plays (63.7%). That number jumps to 65.8% in their last three, as the Jaguars continue to face negative game scripts week after week. There are certainly no signs of that changing anytime soon, so Arnold should continue to play heavy snaps with the majority as a route runner instead of a blocker.

Since his trade from Carolina to Jacksonville, Arnold has played more than 72% of snaps in two of three games and was at 63% in the other. To put that in context, Arnold had played more than 70% of snaps just once since 2018 before the trade.

The signs are clear that the Jaguars want to use Arnold as a pass-catcher, so grab him any way you can this week if your team is tight end desperate.