The Top 10: Week 8

Featuring fantasy-oriented insights rooted in film-driven football analysis to help GMs manage their fantasy squads.

Matt Waldman's The Top 10: Week 8 Matt Waldman Published 10/21/2025

© Katie Stratman-Imagn Images fantasy

MISSION

The mission of this column—and a lot of my work—is to bridge the gap between the fantasy and reality of football analysis.

The goal of this feature is to provide you with actionable recommendations that will help you get results. The fundamental mission is to get the process right.

While it's a rush to see the box score or highlights and claim you made the right calls, doing so without a sustainable process makes success ephemeral.

The Top 10 will cover topics that attempt to get the process right (reality) while understanding that fantasy owners may not have time to wait for the necessary data to determine the best course of action (fantasy).

My specialty is film analysis. I've been scouting the techniques, concepts, and physical skills of offensive skill talent as my business for nearly 20 years.

The Top 10 will give you fantasy-oriented insights rooted in football analysis that have made the Rookie Scouting Portfolio one of the two most purchased independent draft guides among NFL scouts. This is what Atlanta Falcons Area Scout and former SEC recruiter Alex Brown has told me over the past 8-10 years.

Sigmund Bloom's Waiver Wire piece, available every Monday night during the season, is a viable source of information to kick-start your week as a fantasy GM. 

The theme this week...Details aren't nitpicking, but the difference between the players considered the best in the world. 

STRAIGHT, NO CHASER: WEEK 7'S CLIFF'S NOTES

  1. If you thought Ja'Marr Chase would lose a tier of value without Joe Burrow, think again.
  2. Davante Adams has lived up to his billing in the L.A. offense
  3. Jonathan Taylor and Tyler Warren have a symbiotic relationship that's aiding Daniel Jones' value.
  4. Jaxson Dart delivered most of his pre-draft scouting report on tape against Denver -- he's divisive.
  5. I mentioned a few weeks ago that Cameron Ward's success is linked to footwork. His new coach agrees.
  6. Michael Wilson is the most underrated receiver in the NFL. 
  7. Jacoby Brissett is a wakeup call to his fanbase where Kyler Murray is lacking.
  8. Start your tight ends against S Andrew Wingard.
  9. Oronde Gadsden has become fantasy-worthy. Justin Herbert is the biggest reason. 
  10. What's the frequency, Kenneth? Jaylen Warren ain't giving it up. 

1. Ja'Marr Chase Losing Value? Think Again...

When Joe Burrow got hurt, the conventional thought in the fantasy community was that Chase would lose about a tier of value -- dropping from an elite fantasy wide receiver to a volatile fantasy WR2. I agreed with this notion, but shared on my Monday show with Bob Harris that there was a meaningful possibility the Bengals would ride Chase more heavily, and a slight chance it could lead to record numbers. 

Enter Joe Flacco. Say what you will about Flacco, but he's an aggressive thrower, a veteran with enough experience with different offenses, and skilled enough pre-snap to adjust to defensive looks and get the Bengals out of bad plays and into better ones. 

Chase is a do-it-all talent, and the factors keeping his value afloat every week are his ability to be an extension of the run game and his skills to work underneath on quick-hitters and timing routes. 

Chase is as crafty as they come. Watch him school the Steelers' defensive back into committing a defensive pass interference (DPI) call. 

Drawing DPIs may not earn most leagues fantasy points, but it creates more opportunities of the offense and often leads to targets in scoring range for Chase. 

Chase leads all fantasy receivers heading into Monday night's games. Even if you only project him for 16 games, he's on track for 130 receptions, 1,437 yards, and 11 touchdowns. 

If you take a more conservative estimate and take 10-15 receptions, 100-200 yards, and 2-3 scores off those totals, you're still looking at a good fantasy WR1. If you can pry Chase from a GM in a megadeal because that GM is worried about Chase's consistency, I'd consider it. 

2. Davante Adams has Lived Up to His Billing

I disagree with the staff news commentary about Davante Adams not quite living up to his billing as Puka Nacua's running game. Adams was WR15 during the first five weeks of the season -- the weeks Nacua was healthy. 

Adams didn't earn Nacua's volume -- no one did. Nacua clearly benefitted from opposing defenses placing their best resources on Adams in man-to-man coverage. The Rams also used Adams to stretch zones for Nacua's benefit. 

Nacua is an excellent zone receiver and a decent man-to-man option. As we've discussed in this column earlier in the year, Nacua draws the easier assignments and benefits from the long-time threat of Adams' skills to an opposing defense.

Nacua beats defenses on the scorecard with an occasional knockout blow -- 11 touchdowns in 3 seasons. Adams is a knockout artist -- 30 touchdowns in 3 seasons and with multiple quarterbacks and teams. With Nacua out, Adams' 3-touchdown game shouldn't be minimized because he only had a 5-catch, 35-yard performance otherwise.

We also shouldn't worry about the 4-39-0 performance the week before against the Ravens. Baltimore's offense and injured defense may have lost 17-3, but without Lamar Jackson, it might as well have been 71-3. 

Adams is one of the outliers -- the exception to the fantasy guideline -- that you shouldn't count on touchdowns. While unwise to count on one every week, it would be equally foolish with a sharpshooter like Matthew Stafford to believe Adams will routinely serve up yardage totals under 50 while Nacua is gone.

The releases, routes, hands, timing, and body control are too good. So is the quarterback. 

Adams is the WR7 overall heading into Monday night after his hat-trick against the Jaguars. He will at least deliver fantasy WR2 (top-24 production at his position) value when Nacua returns. That's where his ADP was and if you're disappointed that he's ADP15 instead of ADP13, you need to lighten up, Francis. 

3. The Symbiotic Relationship Creating Value for Daniel Jones 

Last week, I profiled Daniel Jones and Tyler Warren's first six weeks, showing why their hot starts will likely continue. You can find it here, but here are some of the main insights: 

  • Jones is spreading the ball around effectively. 
  • Jones' vertical passing game has had impressive moments.
  • Jones' middle-of-the-field decision-making has had big hits -- and (unpunished) big mistakes.
  • The Colts' ground game forces a lot of defenses to play more Cover 1 and makes Jones' life easier.
  • The Colts offense has done a great job of scheming Tyler Warren open for chunk yardage every week.

Let's dig into these last two insights, because they are the biggest factors with Jones' success. If they begin to disappear (click the link above to learn what to look for), we'll see Jones and Warren lose value.

I'm not counting on it, and the reason why is the symbiotic relationship between Tyler Warren and Jonathan Taylor. The Colts are using the threat of Taylor to generate wide-open looks for Warren -- not just with play-action rollouts, but with Taylor as a receiving threat. 

Now, they're using Warren to open things up for Taylor's benefit. 

Warren is still benefitting from clever scheming that baits flat defenders inside -- even when they don't have coverage responsibilities there. It's like rolling Free Parking at will in Monopoly, and the pot is full. 

Warren earned 4 catches, 69 yards, and a score in Week 6. Half of his catches and 58 yards of his total came on these last two plays above. While 2 catches for 11 yards and a score is still a viable lineup filler in a non-PPR format, it's modest, at best, in PPR. 

If opposing defenses play more disciplined in the flats, the Colts will be forced to target Warren in more difficult circumstances. These plays also pad Jones' stats and keep opposing defenses off-balance.

So far, they seem clueless, but that can change abruptly when opponents begin implementing scouting reports. We'll see. 

Jones, Warren, and GMs better hope Jonathan Taylor remains healthy. 

4. Jaxson Dart Is A Divisive Rookie -- Week 7 Was A Good Example

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Tags:
footballguys Matt Waldman the top 10 Week 8 NFL Ja'Marr Chase Davante Adams Daniel Jones Jaxson Dart Pat Freiermuth Jonathan Taylor tyler warren Michael Wilson Cameron Ward Jacoby Brissett Kyler Murray Andrew Wingard Oronde Gadsden II
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