Here's a breakdown of notable wide receivers featured in Sean Koerner, Chris Raybon and Matthew Freedman's Week 8 fantasy football rankings.
The No. 1 WR
Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
Thielen will go for his eighth straight game with 100-plus receiving yards. Fortunately for him, the Saints are allowing a league-high 10.56 yards per attempt and 230.67 receiving yards per game to just the wide receiver positions, per Sports Info Solutions.
He leads all wideouts in median and ceiling projections in the FantasyLabs Player Models.
Most Favorable Matchups
A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals draw everyone's favorite defense to target in the passing game — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — as Tampa has been gashed through the air this year, allowing 8.8 yards per attempt and 327.5 passing yards per game.
It's an excellent spot for both Green and Boyd:
The Buccaneers have allowed a league-high 202.17 passing yards per game to the slot.
Targets and snap% from the slot:
Tyler Boyd: 45 – 70.5%
A.J. Green: 28 – 29.9%
C.J. Uzomah: 8 – 45.6%Four of Green's five touchdowns have come from the slot this year.
— Justin Bailey (@justinbailey32) October 23, 2018
Michael Crabtree and John Brown, Baltimore Ravens
The Panthers have been mediocre against the pass this year, checking in as Pro Football Focus' No. 23 unit in pass coverage. Crabtree leads the Ravens with 21.5% of their target share, while Brown has a respectable 18%. That said, Brown has the higher ceiling as his 1,014 air yards rank third in the league.
Our rankers have Crabtree ranked as the No. 27 wideout, while Brown checks in at No. 28.
Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers
Brown and JuJu are dominating the passing game for the Steelers, combining for 52% of their market share of targets.
Although according to the FantasyLabs Player Models, Brown and JuJu have a correlation of -0.61 together, meaning when one player has a big fantasy day, the other usually suffers, but that doesn't really matter for season-long purposes.
Both receivers rank inside the top 10 among our rankers.
Matchup Downgrade
Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers
Funchess is in a tough spot Sunday against a Ravens defense that's allowing just 6.49 yards per attempt (lowest) and 214.29 receiving yards per game (second-lowest) to opposing wideouts, per Sports Info Solutions.
Funchess has an abysmal average rank of 33.0 among Week 8 receivers.
Want another edge? Be sure to keep up with the week's news on FantasyLabs.
