What if I told you the weather’s been too nice, this fine autumn season, for me to wax rhapsodic about the relatively banal comings-and-goings this week in the NFL media circus, Panthers defensive staff aside. Just feels like a waste of breath to flourish the reality of this league—poor officiating, obvious organizational signaling that player health and safety is secondary to bottom lines, the literally-world-wearying and ever-imperializing schedule of international games, etc.—such as it stands instead of watching the leaves fall and lighting a fire in the yard with my dogs. You’re here for lineup advice. I’ve got it.
How to sort through it all this week? Pray for clean football and no flags. I play. Sort of. Of course—I’m here with the Five Lists of Five: Week 8 edition. The season’s turning edition.
For the (somehow) newly-ordained: Soundbite-length blurbs with advanced analysis on my favorite plays of the week. We begin now with my Top five FLEX plays for fantasy football Week 8. Here are my other offerings in this edition:
- Top five must-start WRs for fantasy football Week 8
- Top five must-start RBs for fantasy football Week 8
- Top five sleepers and upside plays for fantasy football Week 8
- Top five streamer plays for fantasy football Week 8
All data provided by Fantasy Points Data Suite 2.0, unless otherwise noted.
Fantasy football Week 8: Top five FLEX plays to start
Hunter Henry, NE (at Dolphins)
New England can barely assemble its intended receiving corps. Patriots wideout A.J. Brown missed Thursday’s practice with ankle and knee trouble, and is now potentially expected to miss several weeks, another miserable setback just as quarterback Drake Maye needed him to help cover for receiver Romeo Doubs landing on injured reserve. Brown’s drops had already made his brief return frustrating enough. Tight end Hunter Henry, meanwhile—ol’ reliable!—caught all seven targets for 71 yards last week and has cleared 44 receiving yards and 11.2 PPR points in four straight games.
Maye knows who will finish a catch, and Miami has given tight ends ample opportunity to oblige. The Dolphins have allowed them 7.3 catches per game, second-most, and 74.7 receiving yards, fourth-most. Against Cover 3 and Cover 6, which Miami plays on half its coverage snaps, Henry has averaged 2.02 yards per route run.
Fellow Patriots tight end Eli Raridon takes some early-down work, limiting Henry to 65.3% route participation. Henry won’t collect every missing receiver’s targets, particularly when he isn’t running a route. But he has spent a month catching what Maye throws him while New England’s receiver plans unravel. I’m happily starting him against a defense that has done precious little to discourage throws to his position.
NOTE: A.J. Brown is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. This changes nothing about my Patriots recommendations on these lists this week. I do not think AJB will take the field Sunday.
Makai Lemon, PHI (at Commanders)
Philadelphia rookie receiver Makai Lemon belongs in the FLEX if fellow Eagles wideout DeVonta Smith misses another game, which looks very likely. Lemon’s involvement preceded last week’s handsome box score: he has run more than 80% of the routes in six of seven games. Against Dallas, he finally attracted enough throws to reward all that running, catching seven of eight targets for 67 yards and a touchdown on 87% route participation.
Both Smith (hamstring) and Eagles receiver Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) missed Friday’s practice. Lemon claimed 23% of Philadelphia’s targets without them last week; with Smith playing, he has commanded only 10.5%. However much I enjoyed the rookie finishing those slants through contact, Smith’s absence remains essential to this recommendation.
Washington has conceded 265.7 passing yards per game while limiting slot receivers to 34.8 receiving yards. Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee still averages a miserable 5.33 yards per attempt, too. Philadelphia badly needs Lemon to catch the shorter throws, withstand the hit, and fight for more yardage. He did that against Dallas. With the receiving corps still depleted, he should get enough work to help us in PPR while McKee labors to complete anything downfield.
Khalil Shakir, BUF (vs. Ravens)
Give me some dependability among the WR3s who either explode or disappear. Buffalo wide receiver Khalil Shakir has reached 11 PPR points in three straight games while fellow Bills receiver DJ Moore has struggled with a shoulder injury. Moore remained limited Thursday, and his return could squeeze Shakir’s workload. Over those three games, though, Shakir has earned 18.8% of Buffalo’s targets and averaged 2.68 yards per route run. He has given quarterback Josh Allen plenty of reason to come back to him.
Baltimore offers another. The Ravens have allowed slot receivers 4.9 catches and 64.0 receiving yards per game, sixth- and seventh-most, respectively. Shakir ranks third among qualifying wideouts with 9.09 yards after the catch per reception. He’s a wonderfully irritating receiver for a defense already struggling to contain catches in his part of the field: completing the tackle becomes its own little ordeal.
Double-digit PPR points can feel downright luxurious when your other WR3 options need a long touchdown to salvage the afternoon. Shakir can turn shorter completions into useful gains, and Allen has been finding him often enough to put that skill to work. I’ll gladly take another week of it.
Ollie Gordon II, MIA (vs. Patriots)
Miami running back Ollie Gordon II gets my vote for waiver pickup of the year, narrowly ahead of New York Jets receiver Omar Cooper Jr. for now. Gordon has scored a touchdown and at least 14.5 PPR points in four straight games, most recently rushing 25 times for 103 yards and a score while playing 83% of the snaps. Fellow Dolphins back Jaylen Wright practiced fully Thursday. Gordon has already won enough work to start him with Wright in the mix.
New England will make him earn his afternoon. The Patriots have allowed just 1.75 adjusted yards before contact per carry, and Gordon has drawn only 7.7% of Miami’s targets over the past three games. He won’t always have enough catches to salvage a difficult day on the ground.
He has broken free often enough to rank fourth among qualifying backs with a 16.4% explosive-run rate, though, and Miami trusts him to finish drives. Over those three games, Gordon has handled 10 of the Dolphins’ 11 backfield carries inside the 10-yard line. Managers found a lead runner with near-exclusive close-range work on waivers. What a windfall. I’m starting him against the tougher front.
T.J. Hockenson, MIN (at Lions)
I’d start Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson together before pairing Jefferson with fellow Vikings receiver Jordan Addison. Hockenson has drawn a target on 28% of his routes, best among qualifying tight ends; Addison has drawn one on 16% of his. Minnesota gives Addison plenty of chances to get open, and quarterback Kyler Murray still isn’t finding him often enough.
Against Indianapolis, Addison ran 90% of the routes and caught two passes for 20 yards. Hockenson ran 66% and caught four for 35 yards and a touchdown. He commands throws even when Minnesota sends him out less frequently, claiming 25% of the Vikings’ targets when we exclude the game he left with a concussion.
Detroit has been appalling against tight ends, allowing a league-worst 9.3 catches and 100.3 receiving yards per game. Hockenson has also averaged 2.36 yards per route run against Cover 3 and Cover 1, which the Lions play on 55.9% of their coverage snaps. Murray attempted only 24 passes last week, so his receivers have to command their share. Hockenson has been doing exactly that. Jefferson and Hockenson give us two excellent receiving options to start against this defense; Addison hasn’t earned an equal claim on Murray’s limited throws.
