Fantasy Football Week 8 Winners & Losers: The Mike Washington-Ashton Jeanty Timeshare

We’re somehow already eight weeks into the season.

While there were a few awesome performances, Week 8 honestly featured more bad than good in the fantasy football landscape. Injuries to key players, changing roles and poor performances told the story.

Week 8 Fantasy Football Winners

Mike Washington | RB | Las Vegas Raiders

During the week, Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty mentioned that there were a few players on the Jets defense that “don’t really want to tackle.” 

On Sunday, Jeanty didn’t get to test his theory.

In a somewhat surprising development, the Raiders turned to the rookie Washington as the clear lead running back, giving him 25 carries to Jeanty’s 2. Washington has been the more explosive and efficient player on the ground all year long, warranting more carries, but it was still shocking to see this massive shift actually happen. Jeanty, whose fantasy value has been salvaged by his work through the air, remained the pass-catching option, hauling in 3 passes for 64 yards, but his playing time drastically plummeted. 

On the day, Jeanty ended up logging just 22 snaps to Washington’s 38. After the game, HC Klint Kubiak stated that the change in RB usage was his call and that it had nothing to do with Jeanty’s comments during the week. Kubiak has been a difficult coach to fully trust this year, but he also mentioned that the Raiders wanted to give Washington more opportunities, and that both he and Jeanty would both be huge parts of their success going forward.

Going forward, the Raiders backfield usage obviously won’t look like it did today. But considering Washington has been better between the tackles and Jeanty has been stellar through the air, I don’t think it’s out of the question that Washington gets the edge on early downs. It’s entirely possible that this backfield starts to resemble Pittsburgh’s or Minnesota’s the rest of the way. That would vault Washington into weekly FLEX consideration, though you’d certainly prefer him in games the Raiders are either leading or at least competitive. 

Jonah Coleman | RB | Denver Broncos

Full disclosure: This is subject to change.

Coleman’s Sunday was a massive step in the right direction for his fantasy value. With RJ Harvey sidelined, JK Dobbins drew the start for the Broncos, handling the first 5 carries of the game, while Coleman took most of the passing work. It appeared we were in store for Dobbins playing his usual role and Coleman taking Harvey’s. 

But everything changed to end the first half.

Late in the second quarter, Coleman started to play much more. And then Denver got inside the 5-yard line where Coleman played every single snap, though he was stuffed over and over again. Still, the Broncos started the second half the same way they ended the first—with Coleman dominating the backfield. During the final two quarters, Coleman out-snapped Dobbins 18-1, with the rookie making some key plays to help Denver defeat Kansas City, including a 52-yard catch-and-run followed by a 5-yard touchdown run. For the game, Coleman ultimately played 68% of the snaps and touched the ball 15 times. Dobbins’ lone second-half snap only happened because Coleman needed a break and came off for a play. 

It appears Coleman is set to fully take over this backfield, and the upcoming schedule is pretty favorable. The Broncos get the Panthers before the bye, followed by the Raiders, Steelers, Dolphins, Jets, Raiders and Bills. The only thing that can derail a second-half breakout from Coleman is a running back trade by the Broncos. Dobbins’ disappearing act in the second half had me wondering if a trade was already in the works, but maybe the Broncos are content with rolling with the rookie the rest of the way. 

The NFL Trade Deadline is a week from Tuesday. 

Harold Fannin | TE | Cleveland Browns

Following a bounceback Week 7 (6-91-0), Fannin kept it going on Sunday. He hauled in 10-of-12 targets for a career-high 154 yards against the Steelers and has now seen a massive spike in usage over the past two weeks. During that span, Fannin has been targeted 21 times, tied for the sixth most in all of football. Fannin is sporting a strong 28% target share over his past two games, operating as the focal point of Cleveland’s passing attack. Now building plenty of momentum, Fannin gets a plus matchup with a Saints defense coughing up the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends on the season. 

Week 8 Fantasy Football Losers

Zay Flowers | WR | Baltimore Ravens

Flowers has yet to play a full game alongside Lamar Jackson this season. 

And it doesn't seem like he’s going to anytime soon. If at all. 

Jackson returned from a three-game absence on Sunday, only to injure his thumb on the first play of the game. He did not return and to make things worse for Flowers and the Ravens, backup Tyler Huntley left with turf toe and also didn’t return. That left Baltimore with undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano under center, which cratered the entire offense. Flowers, who has been one of the best wideouts in all of football, ended the day with zero catches against a team allowing the most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. 

Fantasy football is brutal.

Jackson has already been placed on injured reserve and could miss the rest of the season. Huntley, meanwhile, could miss the next few weeks. And oh, by the way … Did we mention the Ravens turn around and play the Jaguars on Thursday? The Ravens will surely trade for a veteran quarterback at some point, but regardless of who they bring in, Flowers’ league-winning upside appears to be gone. I still have faith in the way Declan Doyle has been scheming him open in this offense and once the Ravens add a reliable quarterback, Flowers will still be a startable fantasy option. But he obviously needs to be lowered in the rest of season rankings.

Ashton Jeanty | RB | Las Vegas Raiders

You knew this one was coming.

With Washington on the rise following a huge usage game, Jeanty obviously is losing value. His 36.7% snap share was easily his lowest rate in a game this season, as Jeanty has now failed to eclipse 10 carries in each of his last four games. Even if you remove Sunday's contest, Jeanty was already losing carries and drives to Washington over the previous four weeks. Will Jeanty see just 2 carries in a game again? No, probably not. But his 44 carries during Weeks 1 and 2 appear to be a mirage. Jeanty is going to continue to make plenty of plays in the passing game to give him a boost in PPR formats, but the best-case scenario for this Raiders backfield feels like a 60/40 split. 

Jordan Mason | RB | Minnesota Vikings

How quickly things can change.

In this very column last week, Mason was on the rise following his return to the lineup. During that game, Mason logged 64% of the snaps and handled 15 touches. Unfortunately, Minnesota’s two-man backfield added a third player this week, as DeeJay Dallas played 17 snaps to Mason’s 15, while logging all but one of the team’s third-down snaps. I really wish I knew why Dallas even saw any playing time at all with both Mason and Aaron Jones active. And when you add the fact that the Vikings have reportedly expressed interest in Jonathan Taylor, this backfield could completely flip if a move is made before the trade deadline. Mason appeared to be gaining momentum as a FLEX and occasional low-end RB2, but he’s now shaping up as more of a bench piece until we get more clarity on what’s going on with this backfield.