The biggest disappointment of Week 8 was Lamar Jackson suffering a potentially season-ending thumb injury on his first pass attempt and landing on injured reserve (IR). However, there isn’t much more to add beyond the obvious: It hurts the fantasy football value of all Baltimore skill players, so mentioning it in the intro is enough.
An offense that got off to a hot start crashed and burned in the last two weeks, and it’s the first featured disappointment. A second-year running back also made the disappointments section.
That said, Week 8 wasn’t all doom and gloom. Instead, another second-year running back exploded out of his bye. Sticking with the successful running back theme, another rushing attack is rolling at an unprecedented level. Finally, a rookie running back might have taken over his backfield in a breakout showing.
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Top 5 Fantasy Football Takeaways
Let’s dive into the biggest takeaways from Week 8.
Fantasy Football Week 8 Surprises
Bhayshul Tuten Blew Up Out of the Bye
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Bhayshul Tuten played 27 snaps and handled 16 carries, compared with 12 and six for Chris Rodriguez Jr. Ameer Abdullah and LeQuint Allen also played, but the game was a blowout, and as Nathan Jahnke pointed out, all of Abdullah’s offensive snaps came in garbage time.
It was a legitimate backfield takeover. Rodriguez is a competent change-of-pace back. Nevertheless, Tuten carried the ball 16 times for 104 yards and a touchdown. The second-year running back also caught two passes for 55 yards and a touchdown on five routes. Gamers with him on their roster should be excited.
The Buccaneers are Bullying Teams
The Buccaneers won 16-0 at home against the Falcons. Tampa Bay didn’t complete a pass. They’ve outscored the Panthers and Falcons by 46 points in the last two weeks while completing only seven of their 14 pass attempts.
Tampa Bay’s defense has stuffed the opposition in a locker. Meanwhile, the running game has clicked on all cylinders. Bucky Irving ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns in Week 7, and Kenny Gainwell had 14 carries for 88 yards. Sean Tucker also had seven rushes for 52 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers. Tucker didn’t factor in this week, leaving Irving and Gainwell to steamroll the Falcons.
Irving had 27 carries for 170 yards and a touchdown. Gainwell also had 26 carries for 140 yards. Eventually, the Buccaneers will need something from Baker Mayfield and the passing attack, but Irving has cleared 100 rushing yards and a touchdown in three of his last four games, and he also caught a touchdown pass during that stretch. Irving is back to the form that excited the fantasy community in his rookie season.
Gainwell has amassed 228 scoreless rushing yards on 39 carries in the last two weeks. At the very least, Gainwell is a top-shelf handcuff: He proved his rushing chops last year, is rolling this season and has always had receiving ability. With the Buccaneers rolling on the ground, Gainwell is also a viable RB2 or FLEX in a pinch during bye weeks.
The Running Back Carousel in Denver Might Have Come to a Halt
The Broncos placed RJ Harvey on IR on Friday. The three-way committee narrowed to J.K. Dobbins and Jonah Coleman entering Week 8. The Broncos might have found their workhorse this week, though.
Dobbins played only 14 snaps, ran four routes and had seven carries for 13 scoreless yards. Coleman played 40 snaps and ran 18 routes. He turned his playing time into 11 carries, 41 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, four receptions and 63 receiving yards. Coleman did it all, leading the team in rushing and receiving, and his 51-yard reception eventually led to him punching in the game’s winning touchdown.
Denver Broncos rookie RB Jonah Coleman in the second half of a Week 8 win:
– 90% snap rate
– the only RB to touch the ballBackfield takeover complete.
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) November 2, 2026
Jim Nantz and J.J. Watt discussed the Broncos as a potential trade destination for Jonathan Taylor during the game, but they also noted it could be an audition for Coleman. The rookie running back did his part to show the organization doesn’t need to move assets for Taylor, but he still risks getting rug-pulled in a trade for Taylor. Otherwise, Coleman’s path to RB2 value is clear.
Fantasy Football Week 8 Disappointments
The Bryce Young Breakout Is Broken
Bryce Young wasn’t perfect after Carolina’s Week 5 bye, but he passed for 281 yards and two touchdowns, with 7.6 adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) against the Eagles, per Fantasy Points Data Suite 2.0. Young also took only two sacks, for a 4.8% sack rate.
Through Week 6, Young was the QB4 in fantasy points per game (22.5). Young rattled off 309.8 passing yards per game, 7.55 ANY/A and 11 passing touchdowns in those games, with only 12 sacks (5.5% sack rate), two interceptions (1% interception rate) and a 1% turnover-worthy-throw rate.
The walls have come crashing down in the past two weeks. On 80 dropbacks in those games, Young averaged 186 passing yards per game with 2.68 ANY/A, two passing touchdowns, 11 sacks (13.8% sack rate), three interceptions (4.4% interception rate) and a 1.5% turnover-worthy-throw rate.
Young’s larger sample of work before his hot six games to start the year was ugly. Coupled with back-to-back stinkers, the clock might have struck midnight on Young’s breakout. In 12-team leagues where gamers were rostering Young as a white-hot backup, they can cut him. Quarterback-needy gamers can return to the streaming well, or at least bench Young for a week and stream someone else in Week 9 to avoid starting him for another dud. If he rebounds in Week 9, gamers can award Young a bit more leash.
Young returning to Earth could also hurt Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker and Chuba Hubbard for the rest of the season. If Young can’t right the ship, it will be difficult or impossible for him to make both McMillan and Coker fantasy relevant weekly, and it would reduce Hubbard’s touchdown equity. Gamers shouldn’t give these players away or even necessarily bench them in many instances. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to put out trade feelers to other managers if you think Young’s first six weeks were a fluke and his rest of the season will look more like pre-2026.
Klint Kubiak Has Some Marbles
According to the Fantasy Points Data Suite 2.0, among 42 running backs with at least 40 rush attempts through Week 7, Ashton Jeanty has recorded the following numbers (rankings in parentheses):
- 15.1 rush attempts per game (16th)
- 46.9 rushing yards per game (29th)
- 3.09 yards per carry (37th)
- 5.2% explosive run rate (37th)
- 44.3% success rate (T-29th)
- 50.9% stuff rate (T-30th)
- -14.8 rush yards over expectation per game (41st)
Jeanty has been a dreadful runner. Mike Washington Jr. has had flaws, including a 40% success rate and 55% stuff rate entering Week 8. That said, he added some explosiveness, with 4.88 yards per carry, a 15.4% explosive run rate, and three rushing yards over expected per game.
Jeanty hasn’t been on the injury report in the past two weeks. Nevertheless, Klint Kubiak had the marbles to make a massive change in the backfield this week.
Washington played 38 snaps, ran seven routes and had 25 carries. Jeanty played only 25 snaps, ran 15 routes, had three targets and carried the ball twice. Washington ran for 83 yards at 3.3 yards per carry, and Jeanty turned his two attempts into nine rushing yards.
In Week 8, the Raiders had their highest rushing success rate since Week 1, per @SumerSports
— Shawn Syed (@SyedSchemes) November 1, 2026
In Jeanty’s defense, he had four targets, three receptions and 64 receiving yards. He’s been a helpful contributor in the passing game. Among 48 running backs with at least 50 routes through Week 7, Jeanty had the following receiving numbers (rankings in parentheses):
- 54.6% route participation rate (7th)
- 16.5% target share (3rd)
- 0.29 targets per route run (TPRR) (4th)
- 15.2% first-read rate (2nd)
- 2.30-yard average depth of target (aDOT) (5th)
- 4.9 receptions per game (T-2nd)
- 44.6 receiving yards per game (2nd)
- 2.03 yards per route run (YPRR) (3rd)
Jeanty has tallied 7.9 expected half-PPR fantasy points per game from his receiving production alone. He can help the Raiders. However, he’s no better than a low-end RB2 in half-PPR and full PPR formats if he’s only a third-down back. Jeanty isn’t a must-start, and with Washington carrying the load in Week 8, he’s unlikely to draw trade interest. Washington could lose the lead gig at a moment’s notice, but his value gets a lift after Sunday’s usage.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
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