Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings Early Look: Colston Loveland Is Climbing The Ranks

We're nearly halfway through the NFL season, in the midst of bye-week hell, and the fantasy football trade calculator is working faster than a high school sophomore rushing to finish his first-period bio homework before class.

With so many moving pieces across the board, let's dive into some movers in Freedman's early Week 8 fantasy football rankings who have been climbing the ranks.

Teams on bye: Niners, Giants, Texans, Saints

Early Standouts In The Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings

Josh Jacobs | Packers | RB10

Jacobs returned from the Commissioner's Exempt List for his season debut in Week 7 and assumed the clear RB1 role we've grown accustomed to throughout his Packers tenure.

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His 7 targets accounted for 17% of the total pie and, while we shouldn't expect this much involvement in the passing game week to week, we should expect more work on the ground than the 11 attempts he saw against the Lions.

His 84 Utilization Score was higher than he saw in each of the last two seasons (74, 77), and given how the ground game has struggled without him, it makes sense he'll be the sole focal point of the backfield. He sits as a back-end RB1 in Freedman's early Week 8 rankings against a vulnerable Panthers D surrendering the 4th-highest fantasy boost (+3.6) to running backs this season. As a 3.5-point home favorite on Thursday in a plus matchup, Jacobs is a confident RB1 start with upside.

Jonah Coleman | Broncos | RB29

Speaking of RBs returning, Jonah Coleman returned from his brief IR stint and immediately assumed pole position in the Broncos backfield against the Cardinals in Week 7.

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While it was RJ Harvey who led the backfield in scoring thanks to a big-play touchdown, Coleman led in snaps (50%), rush attempts (41%), routes (25%), and UR score (50). With how ineffective J.K. Dobbins has been and this offense starving for production, Coleman should continue to see his role expand, and these numbers point to exactly that.

He may not be available in your league, but he's a priority pickup on the waiver wire if so, and a serviceable RB3/Flex starter against the Chiefs in Week 8.

Zay Flowers | Ravens | WR5

The year of Zay Flowers continues. For the fourth week in a row, he ran at least 89% of the routes and drew at least 30% of the targets, finishing as the overall WR3 despite working with backup QB Tyler Huntley in Week 7. This marks his third top-six positional finish in six games, one of which he only played in the first half because of injury (Week 1). He ranks as the WR5 in target share on the season (31%), WR4 in targets per route run (0.31), WR2 in yards per route run (3.73) among players with 100+ routes, and WR5 in points per game (20.4).

Now, in Week 8, he's hopeful to get Lamar Jackson back under center against a Bills team that's allowing the most fantasy points per game (35.2) and the largest fantasy boost (+8.7) to opposing wideouts. Giddy up.

Omar Cooper | Jets | WR24

While Flowers ranks as the WR2 in yards per route run among wideouts with at least 100 routes run this season, Omar Cooper actually ranks as the overall WR1 in YPRR (4.77) if you lower the threshold to 50+ routes. That's how good he's been in his two games since returning from injury.

Over those two games, Cooper has posted a 22% target share, 0.24 targets per route run, a 35% share of the air yards, and 19.7 points per game (WR3). While his routes (85% -> 70%) and target share (24% -> 19%) dipped with the return of Adonai Mitchell in Week 7, Cooper was still targeted more and ran more routes. He seems to have a stranglehold on the WR2 position in New York, and entering a neutral matchup (-0.9 fantasy boost) against the Raiders, Cooper profiles as a strong WR3/FLEX play with four teams on a bye.

Colston Loveland | Bears | TE4

After back-to-back top-four positional finishes, it's starting to become apparent that the Colston Loveland breakout we all expected this summer might be coming to fruition. Sure, we would've liked it out of the gate, but better late than never, right?

After seeing a 12% target share or lower in three weeks to open the season, Loveland has seen that number balloon to at least 22% in three of his last four games, with Utilization Scores of 86 or higher in those contests.

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On top of the increased utilization in the passing game, his route (and snap share) just got a bit more secure with Cole Kmet landing on IR. Sure, it could mean he's on the field to block more, but the fact remains that he should be on the field more going forward.

The buy-low window on Loveland has likely passed, but there's still a good chance you could acquire him for less than his rest-of-season value truly is, and that starts in Week 8, when he finds himself as a top-four option at the position even in a difficult matchup against the Seahawks.