Dan Johnson inventories his top five wide receivers due for breakout games in Week 8, like Ricky Pearsall and Jalen McMillan and…Sam LaPorta? Happy National Tight Ends Day!
Fridays are for Five Lists of Five here at DKNetwork, and it’s both Week 8 and National Tight Ends day! You know what that means: we’re going to try to fit at least one tight end per list, so long as I earnestly believe they belong there. (Sam LaPorta, you feel me?).
A reminder of the premise behind this specific series of lists: All I want is for you to be better than your friends. You’re going to be surrounded by them on Sunday, probably. How sweet would it be if you could be sure you’ve checked every box possible that might guarantee you a resounding victory this week? Some kick-your-feet-up insights? I’ve got some.
Again—I know my audience. The smoke-break audience. The quick-scan-of-the-phone-on-the-way-to-the-fridge audience. The give-me-as-much-info-as-possible-as-fast-as-possible audience. I’m a man of the people.
And so, once more: Five Lists of Five. Think of these as byte-sized, two-minutes-to-yourself lists to scan during your weekend as you foam at the mouth for any competitive fantasy edge. As much relevant analysis as I can fit into, like, 250 words per player.
Keeping things rolling this week with five wide receivers due for breakout games in NFL Week 8, beginning with this week’s darling: Cedric Tillman!
Also available from my Week 8 Friday’s Five Lists of Five:
You know how much I’m a fan of my venerable colleague Zach Thompson’s fantasy advice. He’s been on Tillman since Monday, when he wrote up Cedric Tillman as a deep waiver add. Here’s what Zach said:
Cedric Tillman was a third-round pick by the Browns out of Tennessee before last season. He has 21 catches on 44 targets last year for 224 yards. He had two games with over 50 receiving yards but never caught more than four passes, had more than 60 yards or scored a touchdown. This season, he only had three catches in his first six games for a grand total of five yards.
His season did a 180 in a hurry on Sunday against the Bengals, though, as he finsihed second on the team with 12 targets and posted new career-highs with eight catches for 81 yards. He also snagged a contested two-point conversion which brought the Browns to within seven with under two minutes remaining. The fact that he was trusted with that target over Jeudy speaks volumes about the status of both players.
Tillman also led the team in air yards with a 39% share and while playing a whopping 82% of snaps.
I expect this’ll be quite the game for Njoku, too. But Cedric Tillman has as good a chance as any to be the pass-catcher on the Browns with a sparkling stat line against the Ravens on Sunday.
I wrote about Pearsall’s athletic profile before Aiyuk tore his ACL last week in my very-ambiguously titled Stash Ricky Pearsall in fantasy football ahead of NFL Week 7 column:
Pearsall was one of the buzzier deep-sleeper names for standard leagues in drafts this year. He was super popular in industry rookie/dynasty drafts.
Why? Well, other than his knack for cirque-de-hooray catches on Saturdays, Pearsall had a heck of a run in Indianapolis at the NFL combine. His 4.41 40-yard dash time raised eyebrows so much it stretched faces. He would then go on to perform well in the on-field drills.
Here are Pearsall’s raw athleticism grades (based on combine workouts) as it relates to their percentiles among the 2024 rookie class, according to PlayerProfiler:
- 40-yard dash: 4.41 (92nd percentile)
- Speed score: 99.9 (72nd percentile)
- Burst score: 135.9 (98th percentile)
- Agility score: 10.69 (97th percentile)
- Catch radius: 10.44 (98th percentile)
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the profile of an elite athletic skillset.
The Cowboys defense is not that great. Maybe I’m wishing this into existence. But I see Pearsall getting six-to-eight targets this week from Brock Purdy.
Last chance saloon for my man Rome Odunze, unfortunately. We were able to explain away his barren performances as Caleb Williams found his footing, and as the Bears sought to find a run game to balance their air attack.
Yeah, well. They’ve done that. In his last three games, Caleb Williams has thrown nine touchdown passes and only one interception! His QBR has steadily improved, highlighted by a nutters 126.2 rating in his 36-10 win over the Panthers. And Rome, really, has yet to eat, except for Week 3 against the Colts.
The Commanders defense is susceptible. Someone’s gonna eat in this air game on Sunday. Maybe the other most exciting rookie on the field opposite Caleb Williams will be, finally, Rome Odunze. (Though I’m totally hoping for a Caleb vs. Jayden Daniels barn-burner).
Hey now! From one former Washington Huskie to the next. I actually wrote about McMillan back in August and called him one of the better undrafted fantasy assets to watchlist:
2024’s No. 92-overall pick Jalen McMillan very well could have had the season at Washington in 2023 that Rome Odunze had, were it not for health concerns. In the season prior (2022), McMillan broke out with 1,098 receiving yards and 9 receiving TDs.
A knee injury then seemed to derail any shot at reaching his potential. At Washington in 2023, he caught 45 receptions to 559 yards and five receiving touchdowns. Most recently, he scored a touchdown in both the CFB playoffs vs Texas and Michigan in the National Championship.
Good news: He didn’t appear at all injured at NFL combine, where he ran a 4.47 40-yard dash and registered a high jump of 37” inches. All this at 6’1″ and only 197 pounds—McMillan can get over the top of a defense and be physical at the point of contested catches.
His only issue was volume and depth chart. Issue no more, what with the absolute-bummer injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Baker Mayfield will probably use Cade Otton and Sterling Shepherd plenty against the Falcons on Sunday. But McMillan is a gamebreaker.
Simple stuff, here.
Those of you who held onto him, get ready to be rewarded this week. Tennessee’s defense is really good! But it’s no match for this Lions offense. This has gotta be Sam LaPorta’s 2024 arrival—I’m sure of it.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is thegreatdansby9) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information
