Dontayvion Wicks, Rico Dowdle and more

Another week of NFL action is upon us and the NFL wide receiver trade market remains in full force. After trades a few weeks ago landed Amari Cooper and Davante Adams in new homes, the Chiefs have already seen a trade for DeAndre Hopkins this week, while rumors of a Cooper Kupp trade are also percolating.

None of these names are sleepers, but one of the four players being traded is part of the reason why one name is on this list. Is that a good enough connection? Certainly.

To qualify as a sleeper, quarterbacks and tight ends must be ranked outside the top 15 at their position FantasyPros’ weekly rankingswhile running backs are outside the top 20 and wide receivers are outside the top 25.

Ranking week 8: QB23

The Cleveland Browns have made a change at quarterback. Not by choice, as many once expected, but out of necessity when starter Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles tendon last week.

Perhaps this change will light some kind of fire under the Browns offense, which has looked hapless this season. The team didn’t even have 200 passing yards in a game before the Bengals game, when Watson, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Jameis Winston combined to finally get over that mark.

Now Winston takes over as the team’s quarterback and has no choice but to move up. Winston isn’t the same guy who led the league in passing yards in 2019, but chances are he’s a big improvement over what Watson gave the team.

And he’ll be in a solid position to prove that in Week 8 when he takes on the Baltimore Ravens, a pass defense that has seen better days. The Ravens are allowing 287.1 passing yards per game, the worst mark in the NFL.

Ranking week 8: RB28

Rico Dowdle was picked off last time out against the Lions, but the entire Cowboys offense looked lame, so I don’t want to hold it against Dowdle too much. He had a top-20 fantasy finish the last two weeks and has a juicy matchup against the 49ers this week.

San Fran has struggled to stop receiving backs, allowing the sixth-most receiving yards and seventh-most receptions at the position. In the receiving game, Dowdle has really impressed, with both of his touchdowns this season coming on receptions. He has five or more goals in half of his games.

Dowdle is a player that’s hard to trust based on his 2024 production, but if I start this week looking at a running back ranked outside the top 25, Dowdle is the only one that really stands out.

You could get really weird about it and play Hunter Luepke in a deep league for the same reason you’d play Dowdle – the Niners and their struggles against receiving backs – but that’s obviously much riskier because he’s barely involved in the run game. He has four carries all season, while he has eight goals.

Ranking week 8: WR41

I wrote about it earlier this week why I like the Green Bay Packers offense this week in the context of why I loved Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs this week:

“Jacksonville has allowed the second-most passing yards in the NFL this season, behind only the Ravens. Additionally, the team has allowed a league-high 16 passing touchdowns while picking off just one pass all year. Teams were able to move up and down the field against the Jags. Meanwhile, Jordan Love has thrown three or more touchdown passes in three of the four games since returning to the lineup.”

Reed and Doubs are the most likely players to benefit, but don’t count Dontayvion Wicks. After an explosive Week 4 in which he grabbed two touchdowns, Wicks looked like a potential breakout candidate, but he disappointed in the next two games, combining for three receptions and 29 yards.

However, last week against Houston we saw a little more of the good version of Wicks. He was targeted six times and caught three passes for 48 yards and a score. He has four touchdown passes this season and is a very attractive WR3/4 option.

Ranking week 8: WR53

We have to talk about fantasy world ranking Rashod Bateman being so low every week.

Because here’s the thing: He’s not a superstar, but he finished as a top 20 fantasy receiver in two of the last three games, including WR1 last week. He’s ranked as the WR53 this week, but has only one game where he didn’t finish in the top 50.

Bateman doesn’t get a lot of volume, with only one game all year with more than five goals, but he makes the most of the opportunities he gets. He finished with exactly four receptions in three straight games, but has two touchdowns and is averaging 83 yards per game in that span.

And then there’s the Zay Flowers situation this weekend. Flowers is listed as questionable and did not practice on Thursday because he is dealing with an ankle injury. Are Flowers suitable this weekend? If he doesn’t, Bateman has even more upside as the team’s No. 1 receiver.

Ranking week 8: TE39

We’re going deep at tight end this week, but sometimes that’s what you have to do to find some value.

Brock Bowers is a star for the Raiders. He’s off to one of the best starts ever for a tight end and gets into a juicy matchup against a Chiefs defense that’s allowing the most fantasy points per game to the position.

But this game could also go in Harison Bryant’s favor, assuming the injury that forced him out of last week’s game doesn’t cost him a chance to play this weekend.

Two games ago against Pittsburgh, Bryant played 57 percent of the team’s goals and saw a season-high five goals. He caught three for 24 yards. Bryant has had multiple receptions in three of the past four games. These aren’t great numbers, but this matchup with KC is attractive. The Chiefs are one of only two teams to allow more than 500 receiving yards to tight ends this year.