NFL Week 8 Recap: Instant fantasy football takeaways from Thursday’s game

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Minnesota Vikings @ Los Angeles Chargers

Chargers dig up their running back depth chart: Los Angeles was without a top three running backs from the start of the season.

The Chargers started the season with Omarion Hampton, Najee Harris and Hassan Haskins as their three running backs. Hampton (ankle) was placed on injured reserve after Week 5, Harris (Achilles) has missed the past month and will not return this season, while Haskins (hamstring) did not practice all week and was ruled out Wednesday. This left Los Angeles with Kimani Vidal, who has been the Chargers’ starter in recent weeks, as well as practice squad highs Nyheim Hines and Jaret Patterson. All three were with the Chargers during the preseason.

The Chargers created a game plan that focused on personnel groups that favored the run game. Vidal was the clear lead running back, while Patterson played a few snaps when Vidal needed a break. Hines only saw the field on offense during two-minute situations and garbage time. Vidal ran the ball a lot on the first drive, with minimal success. Fortunately, the game script allowed Los Angeles to stick to the run game on every other drive, and Vidal began to have more success. Vidal also got goal line work, unlike the last two weeks, allowing him to score a touchdown.

Hampton is eligible to return to the Chargers in Week 10, but it initially sounded like he would miss more than four weeks, and there is no clear timeline for when Los Angeles expects him back. Even if Haskins can return next week, Vidal will remain a fantasy starter for at least another week, if not longer. The Chargers have a favorable matchup against the Tennessee Titans next week. After that, it’s two rough games and then the Chargers’ bye week. It might make sense to try to trade Vidal after his strong play this week. It’s better to trade him a week too early than try to trade him a week too late.

Keenan Allen drops below a snap rate of 50%: Allen had played in at least 55% of the Chargers’ offensive snaps in every game this season prior to this game.

The Chargers have generally used Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston in two-receiver sets, while Allen joined them for three-receiver sets, and one of their new wide receivers played in single-receiver sets. Early in the season it was KeAndre Lambert-Smith, but in recent weeks it has been Tre’ Harris.

If a player only plays in three-receiver sets, he typically plays a lot when his team is losing, and not as much when his team is winning. This was only the second time this season that the Chargers won by a touchdown or more. The first came in Week 2, when Allen played a season-low 55.2% of Los Angeles’ offensive snaps. The difference this week is that the Chargers had a game plan that involved using more one- and two-receiver sets early in the game. Los Angeles found success with these staff groups and therefore continued to use them. Luckily, Allen was heavily targeted when he was on the field, so any fantasy manager who started him got at least a few points.

All of Los Angeles’ wide receivers were used the same way this week as they have been in other weeks, and it was just the personnel groups that were the problem. The Chargers have had an average schedule thus far and will continue to have an average schedule for receivers. There will be a few more games where Allen will be a minimal factor, and other games where he should remain a big part of their game plan.

Oronde Gadsden‘s role is increasing: Anyone who took Gadsden off the waiver wire this week got an immediate return on their investment.

Gadsden started the season as a healthy inactive for Los Angeles. An injury to Will Dissly led to Gadsden playing more, and his role in the Chargers’ offense increased each game. Last week he played over 80% of the snaps in single-tight-end snaps on early downs, single-tight-end snaps on late downs and two-tight-end sets. This led to him catching seven passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, the most receiving yards by a tight end in a game this season. The main situation where he wasn’t on the field was 10 men.

This week he was more consistent on the field on third downs and two two-tight end sets. Los Angeles used 10 personnel on 31 plays through the first three weeks because there was no receiving threat at tight end. The Chargers had used just 10 personnel on 14 plays over the past four weeks. They didn’t find a need for it in this game and may not use it for the rest of the season unless Gadsden needs rest. He played 87% of the Chargers’ offensive snaps through the first three quarters, but he wasn’t kept on the field as much in the fourth quarter as they ran out the clock in their blowout win.

His main time off the field in this game was with 21 men, with the Chargers generally running the ball with Scott Matlock and Tucker Fisk as blockers. This meant that Gadsden ran a route on the vast majority of the Chargers’ pass plays at a higher rate than we’ve ever seen from any Chargers tight end since Greg Roman became the offensive coordinator.

While there have been plenty of young waiver-wire targets at tight end who have put together a strong week or two, there are no concerns about Gadsden’s role or the offense he plays in. He could be in fantasy starting lineups in the future. Anyone who picked up Gadsden as a replacement for Trey McBride, Brock Bowers or Sam LaPorta should look to trade one of the two tight ends.

Aaron Jones Sr. makes his return: The Vikings’ lead from last season was activated from injured reserve.

The Vikings started the season with a 50-50 split between Jordan Mason and Jones. Mason played more in run situations and Jones played more in passing situations. Jones was placed on injured reserve after Week 2 due to a hamstring injury, but he returned to practice on a limited basis this week and was activated off injured reserve on Thursday. Zavier Scott took over as primary backup, but Mason’s playing time increased over the past month. Scott was questionable for this game due to a wrist injury.

There were reports that Jones was ready to play last week but couldn’t due to injured reserve rules. Jones started the game, but Mason took over on the third play and played the majority of the snaps on the first and second drives. Minnesota generally stuck with one running back for several plays at a time, regardless of the situation, and then switched to the other. However, as the Vikings fell further behind, they began to turn more toward Jones. Mason is the better early-down back, and Jones is the better passing back, even if they haven’t strictly used the running backs in those situations.

Neither running back found early success in the run game, and after that the team had to abandon the run based on the game script. It didn’t help that center Ryan Kelly remains on injured reserve. Right tackle Brian O’Neill was inactive, and left tackle Christian Darrisaw played just nine snaps before leaving the game due to injury. There’s a chance both running backs will be fantasy starters at points this season, but only if the quarterback play improves and the offensive line gets healthy.

Monitor Josh Oliver‘s health: The Vikings’ second tight end left due to a foot injury and did not return.

Oliver played 39% of Minnesota’s offensive snaps through the first seven weeks, compared to TJ Hockenson’s 81%. Most of Oliver’s snaps have come from sets with two tight ends, but he has taken 48 snaps from Hockenson in sets with one tight end in that time. He has gotten that playing time in single-tight end sets, despite Hockenson being a great receiving tight end, because Oliver is a great run-blocking tight end. Oliver has posted a run-blocking grade of 76.0 over the past five seasons, second-best among tight ends behind George Kittle.

Oliver played just four snaps through the first seven plays of the game, and three came at Hockenson’s expense. After the injury, Ben Yurosek took over as the second tight end, but only for two tight end sets. Hockenson wasn’t substituted in the same way he was with Oliver.

If Oliver’s injury proves to be serious, we can expect Hockenson to play a few more snaps each week, resulting in a few more routes. This wouldn’t have a significant impact on his fantasy production, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.

Miscellaneous notes

• Los Angeles wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith was a healthy scratch, his second straight absence. He has generally been inactive when Derius Davis has been healthy.
• Tight end Will Dissly was a healthy inactive after playing just three offensive snaps last week. Oronde Gadsden has taken over the role of top tight end, while Tucker Fisk has been the primary blocking tight end in two-tight end sets. Tyler Conklin didn’t play any offensive snaps last week, but he’s been involved a lot more on special teams this year.
• Minnesota quarterback JJ McCarthy missed his fifth straight game due to an ankle injury. He was limited in training all week and was ruled doubtful on Wednesday.
• Carson Wentz was limited in practice on Monday and was upgraded to a full participant in practice on Tuesday. He suffered a left shoulder injury.
• Vikings fullback CJ Ham did not practice all week due to a hand injury. He was ruled out on Wednesday.
• The Vikings turned to backups for the final two minutes of the game. This is the only time Max Brosmer, Zavier Scott and Tai Felton played on offense. These were also the only plays without Justin Jefferson and TJ Hockenson (after Oliver’s injury).

Table notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.
• Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be the result of an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
• Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.