NFL Target & Percentage Ownership Report: Week 8

Running Backs (Week 8)

Ezekiel Elliott – Behind his dominant offensive line, he proved in his last game versus the stout Packers run defense that matchups basically do not matter to him. The Cowboys are going to feed it to him 20-plus times (has rushed this many times in all but one game) and that likely will result in 100-plus rushing yards as it has in each of his last four contests including a career-high 157 yards against the Packers. No defense can be expected to slow him down much and the Eagles rank middle of the pack in terms of run defense; they have allowed the 16^th most fantasy points to the position. Unless Ezekiel Elliott is squaring off against the Monstars, he is worth using in virtually all formats if salary is available.

Christine Michael – No team has allowed more fantasy points to opposing backs than the Saints neither has any team allowed more rushing TDs (10) or total TDs (12) to the position. Once again last week, Christine Michael dominated the playing time in the backfield to the tune of 46 snaps for him compared to just 16 for C.J. Prosise. Considering Russell Wilson is playing through both knee and ankle injuries, the team would be foolish to not continue pounding the ball with Michael. Since Week 3, Michael has touched the ball 19-plus times in each game including two-plus receptions every time out. Against a porous defense such as the Saints, these opportunities will no doubt translate into fantasy production especially because he dominates the goal line work (has received 66.7-percent of the team's carries inside the 20 yard line). 100-plus yards and a TD is definitely not a stretch.

Spencer Ware – Spencer Ware goes from facing the Saints last week (and dropping 21.10 fantasy points on them) to facing the Colts who are just about the next best matchup. Backs like Melvin Gordon, Jordan Howard, Lamar Miller and DeMarco Murray last week (24.70 DraftKings/FantasyDraft points) have gone absolutely bonkers against this defense and there is no reason Ware should not as well. He is locked in as the bell cow even with Jamaal Charles back in the rotation. After Ware's monster performance last week, he now ranks as RB5 in PPR formats and has gained more yards through the air than any back not named Tevin Coleman or David Johnson. Just like last week, he is an easy start in an elite matchup.

Jacquizz Rodgers – Over the past two games, Jacquizz Rodgers has touched the ball 35 and 27 times respectively and has rushed for a combined 255 yards. Without Doug Martin, Rodgers is being given all the work he can handle and he once again draws an upper-echelon matchup against the Raiders defense. Not only have the Raiders allowed the ninth most fantasy points to opposing backs but they have surrendered the third most rushing yards. The Buccaneers offensive line has exceeded expectations especially on the right side of the line (led by Demar Dotson) and Rodgers is faring like a top 10 back in Martin's absence. In yet another plus matchup, Rodgers is still underpriced comparably to the other workhorses and deserves to be deployed for the value alone.

Latavius Murray – Speaking of value, there is plenty to be had in the other backfield of the Buccaneers/Raiders matchup as well because Latavius Murray is only listed as $8,800 on FantasyDraft. At a sub-$9,000 cost, Murray catapulted right into the lead back role in his first game last week and there is no reason he should not continue to dominate snaps. In Week 7 alone, Murray played 42 snaps to Jamize Olawale's 25, DeAndre Washington's 15 and Jalen Richard's two. Murray is not overly talented but the Raiders offensive line gives the Cowboys a run for their money. Furthermore, Murray dominated the snaps inside the red zone last week which led to both a two yard and a nine yard TD. The Raiders offense is more than capable as a whole and finds itself in the red zone quite often. With the Raiders listed as only slight underdogs in a game with an over/under of 50, it certainly is not outside the realm of possibility Murray scores. The issue is what he does otherwise although he is averaging a respectable 4.3 yards per carry (YPC) so far this season so maybe he is not even totally TD-dependent.

Wide Receivers (Week 8)

Julio Jones – Prior to the Bears' QB disaster last weekend on Thursday (mostly with Matt Barkley under center), the Packers' secondary was giving it up to everybody. Once again, they may be without their top three cornerbacks this weekend. While that may fly against the lowly Bears, an injury-plagued secondary is not going to slow down the offensive machine that is the Falcons. Both Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are on a tear right now and Jones leads all WRs in receiving yards by nearly 60 yards. He is simply a machine and this is a bad secondary so there is no reason not to consider him the top cash game priority at the position by a large margin.

Mike Evans – No defense has allowed more yards to opposing WRs than the Raiders but they clamped down in recent weeks. During the past two ballgames, the Raiders have allowed zero TDs to opposing receivers and near the league-average in terms of yardage. Have no fear because Mike Evans is nearly a one-man show in the passing game as he has been targeted at least 11 times in every game since Week 1. Oakland's top cornerback, David Amerson, stands 6'1" so he could present a tough matchup to Evans but the volume should supersede the risk. Evans has scored on all but one week this season and is clicking much more with his respective QB than Allen Robinson was when he flopped against this defense last week. While Evans is probably a better GPP play, his ceiling is monstrous as per usual.

Brandon Marshall – According to Ian Rappaport, Geno Smith tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2016 NFL season. Therefore, Ryan Fitzpatrick will step back into the starting role which should benefit the team's number one target: Brandon Marshall. In 2015, Fitzpatrick developed a rapport with Marshall and he had been trustworthy in targeting Marshall at least eight times in every game prior to Week 6's difficult meeting with the Cardinals. With Smith playing nearly half the game, Marshall eclipsed just 39 yards on three receptions (RECs) total in Week 7 and two of those came via a pass from Fitzpatrick. It is pretty clear Fitzpatrick is the better fit for Marshall's skill set mostly because he keeps chucking it up to him (even though Marshall's catch rate overall is still only 48-percent). However, this may be the week for him to shine against a likely Joe Haden-less Browns secondary. Just look at what A.J. Green did to the Browns last week: eight RECs for 169 yards and a TD. If you want to consider the 48 yard Hail Mary pass a fluke then he still caught seven passes for 120 yards. As a whole, the Browns have allowed the third most fantasy points to opposing WRs including 10 TDs. While Marshall feels awfully volatile heading into the weekend, he will not feel so iffy once he drops a solid performance on the lowly Browns.

Julian Edelman – In Week 7, Julian Edelman morphed back in the version of himself that the fantasy community knows and loves. For the first time since Week 2, Edelman exceeded five receptions (RECs) and he actually caught a season-high nine passes on 10 targets. If rostering Edelman, he needs to have one of those PPR gold type games and the matchup against the Bills presents one of those sort of matchups. Even though their cornerbacks are tough, Edelman's agility is nearly impossible to cover. In his last meeting against the Bills, Edelman hauled in 11-19 targets for 97 yards and two TDs. While he cannot be expected to duplicate those numbers, it shows he has the ability to torch this difficult secondary. If looking for a mid-tier cash game option, there really is no one safer.

Ty Montgomery – According to Aaron Rodgers, “Ty is a RB now." The snap count last week confirms Ty Montgomery is mostly playing out of the backfield these days: he played 48 snaps at RB, 10 in the slow and two as an outside WR is Week 7. For the second consecutive week, his transition to RB led to 10 RECs and 19-plus DK/FDr fantasy points. Oh and he also rushed for 6.7 YPC on nine attempts. Clearly a WR running routes out of the backfield is giving opponents havoc. With literally all of the team's backs other than the recently acquired Knile Davis hurt, there is no reason for Montgomery's role to change in the near future. With a whole bunch of targets headed his way, his price still has not risen enough to dissuade rostering him.

Tight Ends (Week 8)

Rob Gronkowski – The game's best TE has certainly looked like it since Tom Brady returned as he has either caught a TD or exceeded 100 yards in all three games (including accomplishing both in Week 6). In seven career games against the Bills with Tom Brady under center, Rob Gronkowski has averaged 20.09 PPR fantasy points against them (compared to 17.73 outside of the split). What more needs to be said?

Jimmy Graham – Sure the Saints have allowed the sixth most fantasy points to opposing TEs but what is a more riveting story line this weekend than the Jimmy Graham revenge game? Players tend to show up against their former teams (although I have no solid evidence to back this up) but Graham is worth rostering whether or not you believe in narratives. He played a stifling Cardinals defense (especially against TEs) in Week 7 and struggled so he should be given a pass. Look for Graham to rebound in a big way against his former squad.

Jack Doyle – No Dwayne Allen always caused an uptick in production for Coby Fleener when he was a member of the Colts and it did the same for Jack Doyle in Week 7. Not only did he see an uptick but he finished as TE1 for the week on the heels of nine RECs for 78 yards and a TD. In a committee situation, one member always gets a boost when the other sits out regardless of position. This is no different especially with Andrew Luck throwing Doyle the ball. He flashed his upside in Week 7 and the Colts offense is in another great position to explode this weekend against the Chiefs at home.

Cameron Brate – While the Raiders rank in the middle of the pack in terms of fantasy points allowed to opposing TEs, they rank 26^th in terms of Football Outsiders' defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) statistic which paints a better picture. Cameron Brate sees a limited amount of targets but they typically count; only four TEs have been targeted on a larger share of their respective team's red zone targets. In recent weeks, Brate's price has been on the decline but he has managed at least 38 receiving yards in all but one game since Week 3. With all the targets he receives near the goal line, he is bound to score again soon. Will this be the week? Roster him in tournaments and find out.

C.J. Fiedorowicz – Quietly, C.J. Fiedorowicz finished as TE8 between Weeks 6 and 7 and he even played a season-high 74.3-percent of the team's offensive snaps so he is quite distinctly the starter moving forward. This week, he draws the absolute dream matchup against a Lions defense that has allowed 19 TDs to opposing TEs in the past 23 games. Hell, they were just burned by Vernon Davis for six RECs (on six targets) for 79 yards and he even dropped a TD. At a basement price tag, Fiedorowicz easily projects as the punt TE with the most upside.