NFL Week 8 Reactions, Results, Takeaways & Recap - Fantasy Football 2024
Published: Oct 28, 2024
Week 8 had ZERO bye weeks. There was also only one Thursday game and one Monday game which means we got a full fourteen games on Sunday. And, on top of all of that, it was National Tight Ends Day with a whopping 15 touchdowns scored by tight ends. Does it get any better than that? I don't think so.
With all that Sunday action, Andrew Cooper is here as always to share his initial Week 8 reactions and comb through the data to help you make sense of everything that went down. The snaps, the targets, the carries, the injuries - all of that in a quick half hour show!
Player News
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said that wide receiver Rashee Rice (knee) will be a full participant at Chiefs training camp.
That is welcomed news for the Chiefs. Last year, Rice caught 24 passes for 288 yards and two scores in three games before going down with a knee injury in Week 4. Rice has been a full participant at voluntary OTAs and mandatory minicamp and appears on track to be fully healthy for the start of the 2025 season. As a rookie in 2023, Rice ranked second on the team in both receptions (79) and receiving yards (938) and played a pivotal role in the Chiefs’ most recent Super Bowl title. Chiefs training camp is slated to begin on July 21.
Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving is looking to build off 2024 rookie season.
The 2024 fourth-round draft pick is not resting on his laurels he established as a rookie. “Nobody cares about what you did last year,” said Irving, who led all rookies with 1,122 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns last year. “It’s, ‘What can you do for me now?’ But I’ve always been that guy that pretty much never gets stuck in the past and always [am] where my feet [are] and work hard every day.” In April’s NFL Draft, the Buccaneers added to their depth on offense by adding Emeka Egbuka to a receiving corps that already features Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. That combined with Irving and Rachaad White in the backfield, and Baker Mayfield at quarterback should have the Buccaneers poised to win a fifth straight NFC South title.
CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports that LB C.J. Mosley is retiring following a 10-year NFL career.
Originally drafted by the Ravens in 2014, Mosley made five career Pro Bowls and had 1,083 career combined tackles, 10 forced fumbles, 12 interceptions, and 12 sacks over his 10-season career. Mosley joined the jets in 2019, and was a team captain on defense. Mosley’s 2024 season was limited to just four games due to a neck injury, and he managed just 17 total tackles in the games he appeared in.
The Athletic’s Michael Silver reports that former Vikings QB Sam Darnold, now with the Seahawks, is well aware that he needs to bounce back from how the 2024 season ended.
“For lack of a better term, we laid an egg as an offense,” Darnold said on how the 2024 season ended. In the Vikings’ final two games, including a playoff loss, the team averaged only nine points. Darnold, who put up career highs in both passing yards and touchdowns during his lone season in Minnesota, signed a three-year contract worth $100.5 million with the Seahawks in March. One key player who is enthusiastic about Darnold’s future is wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who also signed with the Seahawks during the offseason. “I think without a doubt, he’s got his best football ahead of him,” said the Super Bowl LVI MVP. “I love his competitiveness. He’s not OK with things being just OK.”
Browns QB Shedeur Sanders was cited for speeding on Tuesday morning.
Sanders was caught doing 101 miles per hour in a 60 MPH zone in Strongsville, Ohio. He must either pay a $250 fine for the fourth-degree misdemeanor or fight the ticket in Strongsville Mayor’s Court on July 3. Sanders, 23, a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is competing for the Browns starting job with Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel, though The Athletic reported in May that there is “almost no scenario” in which Sanders or Gabriel get the Week 1 starting nod. We’ll see if this incident affects his standing with the organization.
The Athletic’s Joe Person reports the Panthers’ wide receiver competition will be competitive.
Person relayed that head coach Dave Canales thinks the competition for the last couple spots on the depth chart will be “very difficult”. With Adam Thielen, Tetairoa McMillan, and Xavier Legette locks for the roster, sixth-rounder Jimmy Horn Jr., 2024 UDFA Jalen Coker, and veteran Hunter Renfrow are among those in the mix to fill out the rest of the group. Horn could be the team’s punt returner while Coker posted 478 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie last season. Renfrow was a 2021 Pro-Bowler, but did not play last season. It is notable that Canales seems to think the competition is fierce and Carolina’s depth chart is one to keep an eye on, given Thielen will be 35-years-old soon.