Every week in the NFL, there are a handful of quality players that underperform. Whether this is due to the matchup or because of their unexpected lack of involvement, these situations tend to make fantasy managers wary going forward. While it is understood that no one is benching D.K. Metcalf and Travis Kelce after having less than ideal fantasy performances in Week 7, there are some others that you may be on the fence about due to their poor showings. Here are a handful of Week 8 fantasy football bounce back players that you won’t have to worry about and can fire up with confidence in your starting lineup.
Fantasy Football Week 8 Bounce Back Candidates
Quarterback: Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers
Not only is Jimmy Garoppolo barely rostered in a third of fantasy leagues, but his poor-to-mediocre performances don’t boast well for this argument. But after a few decent games before an injury that appeared to have lingering effects as he came back in Week 5, he had a solid 268 yard, three touchdown performance in Week 6 against a tough Los Angeles Rams pass defense. But the defending NFC championship quarterback took a step back last week as the San Francisco 49ers took a big (and early) lead through their dominant running attack which led to a negative passing game script for most of this one.
With all of their injuries on both sides of the ball this season, San Francisco has still managed to win some tough football games. To gain a victory in this week’s highly-anticipated matchup with their division rival Seattle Seahawks, expect the 49ers to put the ball in Jimmy G’s hands. We all know what Russell Wilson has been doing over in Seattle through the air; look for head coach Kyle Shanahan to find ways for Garoppolo to utilize the pass game in a variety of ways as San Francisco looks to take it to Seattle’s second-worst ranked passing defense on Sunday afternoon.
Running Back: Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Josh Jacobs has been the epitome of and up-and-down performer in the first half of the season. After exploding into 2020 with three rushing touchdowns in Week 1, his numbers dipped severely during the next few games before salvaging his Week 5 performance with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. After the Las Vegas Raiders Week 6 bye, Jacobs was shut down, calling his performance ‘embarrassing’, versus a dominant Tampa Bay Buccaneers team last week.
Even with a tough matchup this week against a top ten Cleveland Browns run defense, expect both offenses to be firing the ball down the field while feeding their talented, workhorse backs (Cleveland with Kareem Hunt) the ball early and often. Look for Jacobs to get involved on the ground and through the air to help this Las Vegas team expand the field with their hot quarterback of late, as Jacobs looks to get back to 2019 form.
Josh Jacobs rushing stats:
☠️ 5 red-zone rush TDs (T-2nd)
☠️ 22 missed tackles forced (4th) pic.twitter.com/YCLktrQXYW— PFF (@PFF) October 24, 2020
Wide Receiver: Travis Fulgham, Philadelphia Eagles
When the baton was passed down to Travis Fulgham in Week 4 due to the plethora of injuries to the Philadelphia Eagles pass catchers, he grabbed it and has been leading the race ever since. In his first three games played, he scored a touchdown in each and amassed 284 yards on 18 catches. A lot of the narrative surrounding Fulgham going forward has been about his ability to continue to produce once some of the Eagles weapons return to the lineup. With DeSean Jackson returning in Week 7 (only to leave again in the second half with an ankle injury), Fulgham had his worst outing of his young career, notching just 73 yards on five catches.
However, what these numbers don’t reveal is Fulgham’s consistency and trust that quarterback Carson Wentz has seemed to have found with him (he still was targeted 11 times in that Week 7 matchup). Even with the possibility of Alshon Jeffery and Jalen Reagor returning for this week’s enticing matchup with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, expect the receiver who is second in non-quarterback fantasy points per game over the last four weeks to bounce back against Dallas’s atrocious defense that is allowing a league-worst 34.7 points per game.
Travis Fulgham: 90.3 PFF Grade
2nd highest-grade among all WRs pic.twitter.com/Nd2iVoyuyq
— PFF (@PFF) October 22, 2020
Tight End: Jonnu Smith, Tennessee Titans
What a breakout year Jonnu Smith has been having. After hauling in five touchdowns in his first four games despite all of the shuffling of the Tennessee Titans roster due to the influx of COVID-19 cases that struck many members of the team, Smith has established himself as a viable TE1 on an explosive Titans offense. After leaving in Week 6 with an ankle injury after only recording one catch for 13 yards, he caught just one ball for nine measly yards last week against one of the top defenses in the league of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Even after coming off these two bad weeks, Smith is only behind Travis Kelce and George Kittle at the tight end position in targets and receptions, and has more touchdowns than the latter. With the Titans continuing to produce offensively, averaging 31.3 points per game, and quarterback Ryan Tannehill effectively airing the ball out week after week, look for Jonnu Smith to have a nice bounce-back week against a struggling Cincinnati Bengals team that is giving up the second most fantasy points to tight ends this season.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
