Ameer Abdullah is a great talent, we think. Far too much was made about him all preseason in the fantasy universe, that much should be obvious by now. Abdullah touched the ball once in Week 8 as Joique Bell carried the ball seven times for 56 yards, and looked pretty solid doing it. Abdullah is on pace for four touchdowns, 26 receptions and 450 rushing yards and his star seems to be fading.

Keenan Allen was hurt, but before his kidney forced him from the game he caught five balls for 35 yards and a score in Week 8. Allen has 67 receptions through eight games, just two behind the all-time record through eight contests held by Marvin Harrison. His season will end with that total unfortunately.

Gary Barnidge the last six weeks has averaged six receptions, 85 yards and a touchdown per game. That’s bonkers. Moreover, in each of the last six games he’s caught at least six passes or scored twice. Nutso.

Tom Brady had a 155.8 QB rating on nine plays where pass action was called for in Week 8. A perfect rating is 158.3.

This is why you always play Drew Brees, always. He tied the NFL record with seven passing touchdowns and threw for more than 500 yards in Week 8. He was 34-for-40 with 469 yards and six scores when he wasn’t pressured.

Antonio Brown has not been what was expected. Obviously, we can blame the signal callers. Still, Brown is on a 16-game pace for 104 receptions, 1,400 yards and six touchdowns. That would be a hell of a season would it not be?

Derek Carr got rid of the ball at an average of 2.27 seconds per throw in Week 8. That’s the second-fastest mark in the league in Week 8. He tossed four scores to become the first Raiders QB since Kerry Collins in 2004 to have back-to-back games with three passing scores. Carr is on pace to throw for 4,100 yards and 34 touchdowns.

What are the Chargers doing in the backfield? Danny Woodhead carried the ball three times and caught two passes leading to 45 yards in Week 8. So much for him being super involved every single week. Branden Oliver carried the ball four times and caught two passes leading to 34 yards. Melvin Gordon, who a week earlier couldn’t even get out onto the field until halfway through the third quarter, carried the ball 18 times and caught five passes in Week 8. That’s right, 23 touches for Gordon versus 11 times for the other two runners. At least there might be some clarity since Oliver has been playing on injured reserve with turf toe, that is unless the crazy-pants Bolts decide to get Donald Brown involved.

Randall Cobb caught six passes for 27 yards last week. Yikes. He generated only eight yards after the catch, his lowest mark in a game with at least two catches since Week 10 of his rookie campaign. He simply had nowhere to run against the Broncos' taught defense.

Marques Colston caught eight balls for 114 yards and a score in Week 8. It was his first score of the season. Talk about an out-of-nowhere performance… Colston had caught eight passes for 75 yards the previous three games.

Brandin Cooks has, like A. Brown, failed to match preseason expectations. We have to move past that at this point. He is coming off his best effort of the season – six receptions, 88 yards and two scores – and with that effort he’s pushed his season long pace to 82 receptions, 1,065 yards and six scores. Still playable is it not? By the by, teammate Willie Snead is on pace for 75 catches, 1,075 yards and six scores.

Andy Dalton was picked off twice in Week 8 after throwing just two picks his first six games this season. He also tossed one score, just the second time in seven outings he’s failed to toss multiple touchdown passes.

Andre Ellington was going to get more work according to head coach Bruce Arians. Yeah, right. He carried the ball three times in Week 8. Yet another example of a coach not being honest with us. Chris Johnson carried the ball 30 times for 109 yards in Week 8 as he was run into the ground. CJ2K is only 33 yards behind Devonta Freeman for the NFL lead in rushing yards at this point, 676 to 709, and that’s just nuts. No one wanted Johnson all offseason. He’s running as well as he has in about four years.

Michael Floyd had a touchdown overturned due to a penalty, the third time that has happened to him this season. He’s coming…

Todd Gurley has run for 125 yards in each of his four career starts, an NFL record. He’s also run for 566 yards in four games, the most in NFL history for a player in his first four career starts (Billy Sims ran for 539 yards for the 1980 Lions). He’s already had four runs of at least 48 yards. He busted loose for 71 yards on a run against the Niners in Week 8, meaning he carried the ball 19 times for 62 yards in the rest of the game. It was all him, too, as the offensive line didn’t do much to help.

Brian Hartline scored twice in Week 8. He scored twice last season and had a total of 12 touchdowns in his first 99 NFL games. He’s out in Week 9 with a concussion.

DeAndre Hopkins saw 11 targets in Week 8. That’s a huge number, but it’s also the lowest number of passes thrown his way this season. Only 12 of the 94 yards he posted were after the catch in Week 8, a shockingly low total.

Alshon Jeffery has played three games this season. He’s seen at least 11 targets in all three games. He’s averaged 114 yards and 0.67 scores a game. Stay on the field Alshon.

Julio Jones has seen 102 targets this season turning them into 70 catches. Through eight games Jones is on pace for 140 receptions, 1,784 yards and 12 scores. No player in NFL history has ever hit all three of those numbers in one season.

Travis Kelce has caught at least five passes in each of the past three games. He’s only hit 90 yards once this season, and has just one touchdown his last seven games. Still, he’s on pace for 80 receptions, 1,080 yards and six scores. He caught 67 for 862 and five last season as a rookie.

Eli Manning became the first quarterback to throw for six touchdowns, not be picked off and lose a football game (he did fumble twice). Manning, on passes that were in the air for at least 10 yards and thrown between the numbers on the field, was 5-for-6 for 120 yards and three scores. On passes over 10 yards in the air, and thrown outside the numbers, Manning was 0-for-6.

Doug Martin carried the ball 23 times for only 71 yards in Week 8. Sounds lacking no doubt. Still, he generated 54 yards after contact in the game doing most of the damage all on his own. The offensive line continues to be a concern for Martin.

Heath Miller saw 13 targets leading to 10 receptions and 105 yards in Ben Roethlisberger’s first game back. The previous six games here were his numbers: nine receptions, 84 yards and one score. Be very weary of giving him your complete trust even with Big Ben back on the field.

Carson Palmer threw for 374 yards and four scores in Week 8. He attempted nine passes that were in the air for at least 20 yards, completing five of them for a whopping 185 yards.

Philip Rivers threw for 301 yards and three scores in Week 8. That’s the seventh time in eight outings that he’s thrown for at least two scores (he’s on pace for 36 touchdown passes – his career best is 34). Rivers has also thrown for 300 yards in six of eight games including five in a row. On the year he’s averaging 344 passing yards a game. He’s never thrown for more than 294 yards in a contest in any season during his 11-year career.

Matthew Stafford was awful on passes underneath in Week 8. He threw for 65 yards and was picked off going 10-for-17 on passes under nine yards from the line of scrimmage.

Ryan Tannehill threw for 168 yards when pressured by the Patriots on 17 pass attempts. On the 27 attempts in which he wasn’t under pressure he only threw for 132 yards and was picked off twice.

Benjamin Watson, for the second time in three games, caught at least nine passes for 125 yards and a touchdown. Rob Gronkowski hasn’t done that this season. Those two massive efforts put Watson on pace for 76 receptions, 945 yards and six scores. Watson began his career in 2004. He’s caught 50 passes in a season once. He’s reached 650 yards once. He’s scored six times once. In his 12th NFL season, his current pace is remarkable. 

 

THE FANTASY ALARM PODCAST IS AVAILABLE (TUESDAY AND FRIDAY EACH WEEK). MANS AND FLOWERS TALK FOOTBALL, LADIES, BOOZE, DFS... YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. NEITHER DO WE.