Week 8 of the 2022 NFL season concludes with the Battle of Ohio: Bengals vs. Browns.
I have two players to target — one from each team — in this AFC North clash. These players aren’t the flashiest of names and are more bargain guys who could pop.
WR Mike Thomas, Bengals
Thomas should step into a starting role with Ja’Marr Chase (hip) slated to miss the next 4-6 weeks. Thomas leads all Bengals WRs with a 15.7 aDOT, so he could get the opportunity to make a splash play or two in single coverage.
WR David Bell, Browns
With David Njoku (ankle) out, the Browns will likely shift to more 3WR sets. Bell has seen an uptick in usage lately, running a route on 66% of Jacoby Brissett’s dropbacks over the past two games.
The Bengals play man coverage at a top-10 rate, and per PFF, Bell has caught 4-of-4 targets for 58 yards against man this season, while Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz have combined to catch just 51.9% over their targets against man.
