Triple Threats! 2022 Week 8 Fantasy Football Sunday Recap

On Broadway and in your community center production of Hamilton, a “triple threat” is somebody who can sing, dance, and act. Oh, you thought I was threatening you because it’s Halloween? No, no, no! I have something much scarier than a bedsheet ghost costume to present to you: it’s a player who can run, pass, and catch! On Sunday, our favorite comeback kid Christian McCaffrey scored touchdowns by rushing, receiving, and passing. Of course in an offense with Jimmy Garoppolo, it would take a brand new running back to actually throw a passing TD, amirite? With the days of Kordell Stewart and Antwan Randle-El long gone, could we have the next — dare I say Joe Webb? — could we have the next great gadget player in Christian McCaffrey? 

Let’s see who made the news and saved your fantasy team in week 8 of the 2022 fantasy football season. 

Quick Hits

Week 8 News and Notes

Christian McCaffrey: Given the fact that fantasy platforms can’t figure out how to code scoring, CMC’s passing touchdown probably didn’t count for your team. Just like Zach Wilson’s receiving touchdown earlier in the year probably didn’t count for your team, either. Remember when we had Tuesday Night Football during the Covid shutdowns and the platforms ceased functioning entirely for like a week? Good times. Well, CMC did a rare triple threat on Sunday, scoring by arm, by leg, and by hand. I haven’t seen somebody score like that since Tony in Freshman year! I kid — I played Halo all Freshman year and saw absolutely nothing outside of the Wendy’s dollar menu. There’s really nothing actionable here, just a celebration of our favorite RB. 

Greg Dulcich: There’s a supposition that lesser QBs dump passes to their RBs and TEs more often than top QBs. With that said, Russell Wilson gave Dulcich 5 targets (4 completions) and 87 yards out in London. Of course, on a team with Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton, the rookie third-round draft pick Dulcich would outperform them — combined. Yeesh. Well, it’s not like barely beating the Jaguars in London demonstrates that anything is “better” with the Broncos, but Dulcich has 14 targets in two weeks and 140 receiving yards. If you’re in the TE abyss, Dulcich has become a streaming consideration. But keep in mind, The Watcher is also a streaming consideration, and people say it has the worst ending ever. Will Dulcich also have the worst ending ever? Will I ever understand the Transitive Property? Tune in next week to find out! 

Tony Pollard: 14 rushes, 131 yards, 3 TDs. Y’all wondered why we were a bit worried about Ezekiel Elliott’s playing time this year? Whereas Zeke has generally put up league average numbers over the past couple fantasy stretches, Pollard has been the Khalil Herbert-like explosive backup when given the lead role. Maybe Dallas will realize their  receiver cadre isn’t as good as they think it is and give Pollard more action when Zeke returns, but for now, just enjoy those sweet, sweet backup RB points. 

Melvin Gordon: It’s not like I want to write about your third-string RB, but MelGor has been just so useful as a FLEX play for so long that I can’t help but give some sort of fantasy eulogy. Sure, MelGor snuck into the end zone — which in England they actually call the “Chomper” — but his utilization and yards per gain have been abysmal for the past six weeks. He’s failed to top 10 rush attempts 3 times in that span, and he hasn’t topped 4 yards per carry since week 2. Latavius Murray out-rushed Gordon yet again this week, and there’s gotta be some level of introspection that one does when they find themselves out-performed by a professional backup. DFS players can probably keep putting in MelGor for cheap TD possibilities. The rest of us are probably refreshing Ian Rappaport’s feed on Monday to see A) will he wear a see-through shirt again, and B) will the Broncos trade Gordon somewhere where he might be useful for fantasy. If this current split keeps up, Gordon is a drop in all but the deepest of leagues. 

Justin Fields: I mean, you’re not really gonna believe me on this, but Justin Fields has been a top 10 fantasy QB over the past month. Sure, he’s a pretty bad QB in terms of throwing, but he’s got those legs that move faster than me hunting down a McDouble that I dropped under the bed. On Sunday, Fields threw for a paltry 150ish yards, but his 2 passing TDs and 60 rushing yards and rushing TD will probably land him in top 10 QB territory again. Fields did this [waves hands around] last year as well, which is why he ended up being a best ball late round draft favorite in the 2022 pre-season. From a practical standpoint, he sits at the bottom of the weekly production charts, but those TDs — Those TDs! [chef’s kiss but with less cultural imperialism and more interest in steak tartare]. The Bears have Miami, Atlanta, Detroit, the Jets, and the Packers coming up — if you’ve been stuck in QB hell, see if there’s Fields of gold awaiting you [puts Sting on Spotify]. 

D’Onta Foreman: Yeah, just start him from here on out. Nothing makes sense with whatever the Panthers are doing. Benched QB1? Check. Traded generational RB1? Check. Tanking? Check. Backups who probably wouldn’t hold a roster spot on any other team than the Jets suddenly saving your fantasy season? Check. 

Michael Carter / James Robinson: Remember back like 2 weeks ago when the Jets had 5 rushing TDs? Carter and Robinson just combined to rush a total of 12 times. Yeesh. Sure, Robinson will get some more action once he learns the playbook — I said that in high school too much — but they’re both looking like Flex plays down the fantasy stretch that might not net you any wins. 

Derek Carr: As fun as it is to laugh about Carr heading to the bench while Jarrett Stidham helmed the Raiders to a balmy [checks notes] 0 points, Carr was actually the QB12 on the year going into the game. So, if you did a 12-team draft of the best QBs, Carr would have been the last starter before the bench fodder. Neato! That’s basically been Carr’s M.O. for the past couple years — good enough to play in spurts for your fantasy team, but basically no duration or accuracy. The thing about Derek Carr, is that those big air yards opened up the field for Josh Jacobs. Oh, remember when Jacobs put up like 500 yards in 3 games? I do! Because I wrote about it last week. You think Stidham being behind center will help a guy like Jacobs? If you do, then I’ve got a timeshare on the west coast of Florida to sell you right about now. Maybe Carr just needed to be humbled a bit — for a franchise QB, he’s been yawnstipating. Maybe next week he’s back to fantasy productivity, but for now, you’re at least benching him until we know the ROS trajectory for his playing time. Need a replacement? [laughs internally] Try Justin Fields if my above blurb didn’t scare you away. 

Malik Willis: Speaking of QBs that don’t really matter, the Titans asked Willis to throw a mere 10 times in his NFL debut while letting Derrick Henry run 32 times for a metric bajillion yards. It’s zero surprise that Henry is good — I don’t need to write about him. But the Titans aren’t gonna throw the ball, are they? Robert Woods with 2 catches and 26 yards is…something. Guess you’re avoiding everyTitan not named Henry for now. 

Jonathan Taylor: Ankle injury took him from chunks of the game. We know JT’s just gonna play through it every week, so you’re starting him if he’s in the starting lineup. Meanwhile, uber-kind Deon Jackson has been absolutely invisible since JT returned. Is his jersey number Eleven or something? [spooky music starts playing] Despite the fact the Colts could, you know, use a guy who was averaging 6+ yards per touch, we’re getting [checks notes] whatever the upside-down this is. Did you know that a demonic horse is called a Nightmare? No wonder your fantasy team is in shambles! 

Brian Robinson: It’s probably worthwhile to point out that feel good stories don’t always make for fantasy useful stories. Robinson hasn’t cracked 4 yards per carry in any of his games and has been a fringe fantasy starter in only one of those games. Rookies usually aren’t that helpful for fantasy anyway. After going 8 carries for 20 yards on Sunday, Robinson should find his way to your fantasy bench. 

All right ghosts and goblins! How are your hellish teams doing? If you’re not trick-or-treating, catch the Fantasy Besties on Monday at 7:15 PM Eastern on the Razzball YouTube Channel. Their takes will chill your bones!