Fantasy Football NFL Week 8 Target Report: DeAndre Hopkins Traded To Chiefs

Not to be left out after Davante Adams was traded to the New York Jets and Amari Cooper was traded to the Buffalo Bills, it was announced early Wednesday morning that DeAndre Hopkins was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

And, as with any trade, that’s going to shake up the target pecking order for TWO teams. That plus injuries like the ones to Brandon Aiyuk and Chris Godwin are going to cause some major movement and major changes to our Fantasy Football Week 8 Target Report. 

So, buckle up everybody as we’ve got some speculative research to do in our Fantasy Football Week 8 Target Report that could change the entire trajectory of our fantasy football teams!

2024 Fantasy Football NFL Week 8 Target Report Preview

Why do we do this? Well, historically incredibly rare for a team to have three players all get 100+ targets. It’s happened only once over the last three years and less than 3% of the time over the last five years. 

More teams will have ZERO players get 100+ targets than have three. And, last year, every top 24 WR except one got 100+ targets (and that was Deebo Samuel who scored 5 rushing touchdowns). That’s why the NFL Fantasy Football Week 8 Target Report is so important.

In the chart below you will see our PROJECTION for what we believe will happen. That projection is a mix of what we are seeing on the field, who is actually healthy, and what we predict for the rest of the season. 

Naturally, that is going to change from week to week and it’s important to check the notes section at the bottom as to why. Our 2024 NFL Fantasy Football Week 8 Target Report has a note for every single team. So, let’s take a look!

Fantasy Football Target Chart 2024 NFL Week 8

Fantasy Football Week 8 Target Report Advice & Takeaways

NOTE: If a team moved from where they were in the Week 7 NFL target report, they will be denoted with ***

Clear Top Two

Arizona Cardinals

• Trey McBride
• Marvin Harrison Jr
  • There are two clear top guys here. They’re both technically on pace for 100+ targets despite each essentially missing an entire game with injury but the results have been a bit disappointing overall. McBride has been solid for a tight end, especially in PPR, but he’s yet to score. And Marvin Harrison and Kyler Murray are clearly not on the same page. Murray has struggled for over two years now to deliver passes beyond 20 yards accurately so it might be time to switch up Marv’s route tree. 

Atlanta Falcons

• Drake London
• Darnell Mooney
  • No change here - Drake London and Darnell Mooney are both clearly ahead in the target pecking order. The high pass volume has allowed Kyle Pitts and Ray-Ray McCloud to have relevance, especially in recent games, but the concern is what it might look like for matchups that aren’t so pass happy. Still, the weak TE position and the athleticism of Pitts has him in your lineups. 

Cincinnati Bengals

• Ja'Marr Chase
• Tee Higgins
  • The question here is not whether both guys get 100+ targets. The question is whether both guys can get 125+ and potentially both push WR1 status down the stretch. Tee Higgins is often underrated in rankings because of his “WR2 status” but he has big upside. Andrei Iosivas is back to being more of the next man up/random dart throw while the tight ends all rotate too much for us to utilize them.

New Orlean Saints***

• Chris Olave
• Alvin Kamara
  • The Rashid Shaheed injury hurts, not going to lie. We had him everywhere after touting him this offseason. For now, Olave and Kamara remain at the top of the pecking order. Guys like Mason Tipton, Bub Means, and Juwan Johnson will now duke it out for fantasy relevance. Mason Tipton filled in for Shaheed while Bub Means filled in for Olave, so we skew Tipton there. 

New York Jets

• Davante Adams
• Garrett Wilson
  • Garrett Wilson is leading the entire NFL in targets. That is a fact. A 20-target game was obviously a big part of that. And Davante Adams is there now so that won’t happen again. But this week they were able to both get looks, even if the Jets didn’t get the result they want. So, both players are still on the table for us. 

Philadelphia Eagles

• AJ Brown
• DeVonta Smith
  • DeVonta Smith has a tendency to disapear at times - we knew that. But he still manages to get his targets at the end of the day and offer boom weeks as well. For now, we are sticking with him unless we start getting far more bad weeks than good ones. AJ Brown is a locked in superstar, as always. 

San Francisco 49ers***

• Deebo Samuel
• George Kittle
  • For now, this team goes here. But there is room for one more WR. We say that because they heavily use the fullback. If Jauan Jennings or Ricky Pearsall can claim that full Aiyuk role on the outside, their value goes way up. The other will be inconsistent at best. When CMC gets back, we’ll have to factor those targets. But Jordan Mason is not involved in that way, he has 12 targets in 7 games. We think Jennings has the best shot, as we wrote in the waiver article. 

High Consolidation

Houston Texans

• Nico Collins (IR)
• Stefon Diggs
• Tank Dell
• Dalton Schultz
  • No change here though Dalton Schultz has really not made it easy to start him. Honestly, Tank Dell has been a tough start as well. When Nico Collins returns, it will likely go back to being those two as trustworthy and Dell and Schultz as spot starts. That makes them trade candidates in fantasy. 

Miami Dolphins

• Tyreek Hill
• Jaylen Waddle
• De’Vone Achane
  • Tua Tagovailoa is expected back this week to, hopefully, salvage this team. He’s expected to be a full go so we’re moving these guys back up close to where they were in the rankings, barring a little rust. Fingers crossed. 

New York Giants

• Malik Nabers
• Wan’Dale Robinson
  • We learned an important lesson along the way - whenever Malik Nabers is out, Darius Slayton is the guy. But, with Nabers back, Slayton went back into the bottle. Both Nabers and Robinson are on pace for 125+ targets. 

One Stud, Then Uncertainty

Baltimore Ravens

• Zay Flowers
  • Rashod Bateman has quietly been the second most consistent Raven in terms of targets. Outside of the Bills games where Derrick Henry ran over everyone, he’s getting at least four a game. Despite the recent scoring surge for Mark Andrews, he’s still only running around 50% of the routes. You can start him since the Ravens are rolling but just be aware of the floor. 

Buffalo Bills

• Amari Cooper
  • Despite only running 19 routes, Amari Cooper got five targets and scored a touchdown. They traded for him for a reason and, despite him having a limited playbook in his first week, they proved that. Keon Coleman had a solid game, but he and Cooper were not often on the field at the same time so be careful there. Kincaid is still the next best bet with his valuable TE eligibility, but they might not have two guys crack 100+ targets. There are always more teams that have one than two. 

Carolina Panthers

• Diontae Johnson
  • Don’t look now but rookie Ja’Tavion Sanders now quietly has the third most targets on the team after 13 looks over the last two weeks. We can’t move him up just yet because Tommy Tremble is expected to return which will dilute the snaps. Diontae Johnson is the only guy you cna start right now but the rookie Xavier Leggette, JT Sanders, and, of course, Jonathan Brooks, all remain interesting stashes. 

Chicago Bears

• DJ Moore
  • If you take out the game Keenan Allen missed where the Bears threw 54 times and Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet both got 10+ targets, there’s really no one outside of DJ Moore is close to a 100+ target pace. This team will likely need some injury consolidation to truly have a trustworthy option outside of Moore.

Dallas Cowboys

• CeeDee Lamb
  • Both Jake Ferguson and Jalen Tolbert have a golden opportunity here to separate themselves as the clear second pass-catchers. We naturally root for Ferguson because he has the TE eligibility, but he certainly didn’t do much against the Lions. Coming out of the bye, he has a tough assignment with Fred Warner and DeVondre Campbell, so Jalen Tolbert once again has a chance to show us something.

Denver Broncos

• Courtland Sutton
  • This team has been a mess here. In true Joe Lombardi fashion, Javonte Williams has the second most target on the team. Troy Franklin is currently your best bet as he has seen a bump in snaps two weeks in a row now to the 55-60% range. Which might not sound like much, but he tied for the second most snaps behind Courtland Sutton this past week. Lucas Krull remains on the deep dart throw tight end radar. 

Detroit Lions

• Amon Ra St. Brown
  • A two-game suspension for Jameson Williams could open up the door here for someone like Sam LaPorta or Jahmyr Gibbs to claw away a bigger role. But the reality here seems to be that the Lions are content with being a more balanced offense this year. Amon-Ra St. Brown remains must start but LaPorta has fallen into the range where it’s a question. 

Indianapolis Colts***

• Michael Pittman
  • Whelp, we learned an important lesson there. Josh Downs is a start when Joe Flacco is the quarterback. But not when Anthony Richardson is. In fact, it’s tough to start anyone with Anthony Richardson at QB until Richardson shows us he can run this offense at even a serviceable level. Pittman is still clearly the top guy, but Downs was hardly involved last week with the QB change.

Jacksonville Jaguars

• Brian Thomas Jr
  • We were afraid this might happen. The return of Evan Engram sure poured some cold water on the Christian Kirk train. Evan Engram got 10 targets in his first game back then 5 last week (which actually represented a 25% target share because they threw only 10 times).  

Kansas City Chiefs***

• Travis Kelce
  • Alright, here we go. The Chiefs traded for DeAndre Hopkins. Travis Kelce will remain a top two target on the team, so we’ll put him in that #1 chair. You don’t trade for Hopkins to not us him, so the question is how heavily he gets looks. Does he slot in ahead of Kelce? Both locked in top 2? Kelce and then uncertainty? That’s where we live now but you have to be happy if you are holding Hopkins. And maybe not so happy if you have Xavier Worthy or JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Las Vegas Raiders

• Brock Bowers
  • Brock Bowers rules. He’s been destroying teams regardless of whether they have lined up with single or two high safeties. He’s been beating them without Davante Adams or Jakobi Meyers, when they know what is coming. He’s arguably one of the most valuable dynasty assets out there given his age and the positional scarcity. 

Los Angeles Chargers***

• Ladd McConkey
  •  We’re ready to move McConkey up here given how he has separated himself from the pack and the Chargers have shown they are somewhat willing to throw. He’s the only Chargers on pace for over 100 targets and a clear preferred target on that team as he leads in targets, receptions, and yards. 

Los Angeles Rams

• Cooper Kupp
  • Cooper Kupp returns this week and, barring these trade rumors coming true, he will resume his spot at the top. With Jordan Whittington already taking a backseat, it should be Kupp, Tutu Atwell, and Demarcus Robinson. The 21-day practice window for Puka Nacua has been activated so the next question is who keeps their job out of Atwell or Robinson when he returns.

Minnesota Vikings

• Justin Jefferson
  • T.J. Hockenson is expected to return soon, and the big question will be upon us. Justin Jefferson will get his targets. Can one of T.J. Hockenson or Jordan Addison separate themselves? Or will they be doomed to split targets leading to inconsistency and capped upside? We’ll soon find out. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

• George Pickens
  • No change here as we’ve only seen one Russell Wilson game and it was against the Jets. We’re hoping Russ finds Freiermuth on some looks here, but he does not have a well-documented history of throwing to the tight end. The scheme is TE friendly and Freiermuth has caught 24 of his 27 targets so you’d think they would look his way. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers***

• Mike Evans
  • Goodnight, sweet prince. Chris Godwin was our star player this year in fantasy football and, unfortunately, he suffered a season ending ankle injury. Now the likes of Jalen McMillan, Sterling Shepard, and Trey Palmer will battle for that job. We are rooting for McMillan but would not be surprised to see Shepard take over in the slot. Cade Otton gets a bump as well.

Washington Commanders

• Terry McLaurin
  • Not much change here. No one is truly emerging after Terry McLaurin. That has allowed for Zach Ertz to be a decent PPR spot start but he’s not going to rack up a ton of YAC at his age. Noah Brown is the next best bet.

Too Many Mouths To Feed?

Green Bay Packers

• Jayden Reed
• Romeo Doubs
• Christian Watson
• Tucker Kraft
• Josh Jacobs
• Emmanuel Wilson
• Dontayvion Wicks
• Luke Musgrave (OUT)
  • You would think all the injuries allow the way might help us sort things out here but not really. Romeo Doubs is actually the closes to a 100 target pace at 5.5 per game with Jayden Reed right behind at 5.4. Reed gets the benefits of a few carries each game which makes him the best start here. Wicks and Watson rotate which hurts them. The targets have just been spread out which is good GB, bad for us. 

Seattle Seahawks

• DK Metcalf
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba
• Tyler Lockett
• Noah Fant
• Kenneth Walker
  • We are waiting for an update here on the knee for DK Metcalf. But it’s not expected to be season ending. Jake Bobo would step up if he misses time but JSN and Tyler Lockett played the two WR sets in the snaps he missed. The Seahawks have thrown a high volume of passes, but they have been spread out to some degree which worries us for the down games. 

Wide Open

Cleveland Browns

• After this game, a lot of folks will want to jump to the conclusion that David Njoku and Cedric Tillman are now stars. But crazy things can happen when you drop back to pass 62 times in an NFL game. We need to see at least a full game with Jameis Winston before we crown anyone here, but we are hopeful for David Njoku, Jerry Jeudy, and Cedric Tillman. Elijah Moore has been one of the least efficient receivers in the league. 

New England Patriots

• There are still a lot of moving parts here and growing pains to get through. Demario Douglas got sick this week, so he left the game early. We expect him to get the most targets followed by Hunter Henry. Ja’Lynn Polk is technically third here, but he has not been efficient with his looks. We’re hoping he can step up here. It’s still pretty open.

Tennessee Titans

• It feels like the Titans are giving up here. But they still need to play the games. Trading DeAndre Hopkins should give a boost to Ridley and Boyd. This team is having trouble supporting any fantasy relevant pass-catchers so asking for more than one or two is crazy.