Tua Tagovailoa and Myles Gaskin look to dominate, while Rashod Bateman, Taysom Hill, and Van Jefferson could all break out this week.
Week 8 is in the books, and it was another wild one. As the majority of you heard, Derrick Henry could be dealing with a potential season-ending injury and Calvin Ridley announced that he needs to take some time off from football to focus on his mental health. I wish nothing but the best for these players.
I’ll take a look at my Week 8 bold predictions and see how right or wrong I was, and dive into Week 9 predictions as well.
Week 8 Review
Jonathan Taylor rushes for 170 yards and two touchdowns.
Frank Reich keeps holding Taylor back and I’m not sure why. Taylor produced 122 scrimmage yards and one touchdown on Sunday but gave him only one touch on two drives in their OT loss. Taylor also had a 33-yard run negated by a penalty, so this prediction wasn’t too far off.
Tyler Higbee is a top-five TE on the week.
Higbee busted this week even though the Rams scored 38 points. He wasn’t very involved throughout the game and only received three targets on the day, which lead to a (3-25) stat-line and disappointed all fantasy managers. Stafford loves throwing to his wide receivers, so unless Higbee dominates red-zone looks, it’ll be hard to trust him as anything more than a low-end TE1/2.
Chase Claypool is a top-five WR on the week.
Claypool had a decent fantasy output against the Browns, but nowhere near the top-five. He caught four passes for 45 yards and added 16 rushing yards on the day. Not terrible, but it wasn’t close to being top-five like I projected. Big Ben loves to target Diontae Johnson, so Claypool will have to be hyper-efficient to reach his ceiling.
Sam Darnold throws for 300 yards and three touchdowns.
I completely missed this one. I believed Darnold would turn things around and I was completely wrong. Never again will I bet on Darnold. He only had 129 passing yards on the day and no touchdowns. The Falcons didn’t do as well as I projected either with the sudden announcement of Calvin Ridley stepping away. Darnold is looking more and more like the Jets Sam Darnold, which is not good.
Calvin Ridley finishes as the WR1 overall.
Ridley announced on Twitter that he is stepping away from football to focus on his mental health. He did not give a time on which he will return. So, this prediction was incorrect before the game even started. I wish Ridley nothing but the best. Mental Health is more important than a game.
Week 9 Bold Predictions
Rashod Bateman breaks out for 125 yards and a touchdown.
Bateman’s role in the offense has been steadily increasing since coming back from the IR. He’s gotten six targets in each of the past two games and just produced 80 yards against the Bengals in Week 7.
Against the Vikings, he could officially breakout. The Vikings just allowed Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb to combine for 234 yards and a touchdown in Week 8 with Cooper Rush throwing them the ball. Bateman is an elite talent and will only get better from here.
Tua Tagovailoa finishes inside the top-eight QBs.
After facing the Bills’ tough defense, the Dolphins take on one of the worst defenses in the NFL in the Texans. The Texans give up 22.1 points to fantasy quarterbacks (fourth-worst) and Tagovailoa just got DeVante Parker back. Tagovailoa is a great start this week and this could be a three TD game with over 300 passing yards for the sophomore QB.
Taysom Hill starts and finishes as a top-five QB.
Hill is on track to start this week and he’s coming into a great matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. Hill started four games last year and produced: 24.2, 18.5, 23.6, and 19.9 fantasy points during Weeks 11-14. He was the QB6 during that stretch ahead of QBs like Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson, and Justin Herbert.
While Hill doesn’t have Michael Thomas, he makes his money with his rushing. Look for an explosive start against the Falcons.
Myles Gaskin finishes inside the Top-12 RBs.
It’s an odd-numbered week, so expect a great game for Gaskin! It’s been weird, but Gaskin has only produced when it’s been an odd-numbered week instead of the even-numbered weeks. The real reason I’m excited for Gaskin this week is because of the matchup against Houston.
The Texans are coughing up the fifth-most points to opposing running backs and Gaskin is set to smash this week.
Van Jefferson finishes as a WR2 against the Titans.
Jefferson has been producing well the past few weeks. The Rams just released Desean Jackson, which solidifies Jefferson’s role in the offense. The Titans are giving up 28.2 fantasy points to WR’s and, while Stafford’s first and second reads are Kupp and Woods, I believe Jefferson could connect on a long touchdown this game. He’s a great start this week.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this round of predictions goes a little bit better than last week. Football is so unpredictable and it’s hard to determine exactly what will happen on a week-to-week basis. The opportunity is there for these players to play extremely well and produce for their fantasy managers. It’s officially the second half of the season and more craziness is about to insure.
Thank you for my NFL Bold Predictions for Week 9! You can follow me on Twitter @ConbonNFL and check out more of my work on my IDP Guys Author page or my website.
