The eighth week of the NFL season is officially behind us. The long-awaited Sunday has come and gone in a blink of an eye. After countless hours of only moving from the couch to use the bathroom, we look ahead to week nine. With everyone scrambling to the waiver wire, this article will look beyond that.
This is the eighth installment of the weekly series, One Week Ahead. We will use our fantasy football crystal ball to look ahead to future weeks and try to predict players who will emerge with fantasy relevance. We will try to get a leg up on our opponents by picking up potential fantasy assets before they become a major waiver wire pick-up.
Hayden Hurst – TE Atlanta Falcons
After the Atlanta Falcons drafted Kyle Pitts, fellow tight end Hayden Hurst became the forgotten man among the fantasy community. While he hasn’t made too much of an impact, he is still seeing some work in the passing game. Coming off a week eight where he played on 62% of the offensive snaps, Hurst is still seeing the field a good amount.
With the tight end landscape looking barren these days, a dart throw on a potential streamer can’t hurt if your team has the space for it. Although Hurst is coming off a poor performance, recording just two catches for four yards, there is a silver lining. He has seen at least four targets in half of the games this season.
Furthermore, his snap share could go up and he could earn even more targets if star wide receiver Calvin Ridley remains out of action. While Pitts is the obvious first look in this offense, he is more of a receiver if anything. The tight end role is still open for Hurst to operate in and find success.
Ameer Abdullah – RB Carolina Panthers
In just his second week with the Carolina Panthers, running back Ameer Abdullah already saw snaps and received touches. Playing on just 30% of the offensive snaps, Abdullah rushed the ball eight times for 31 yards while adding three catches for 35 yards on five targets.
He out-snapped Royce Freeman who was assumed to be the backup to Chuba Hubbard. It looks like the tables could be turning, however. Earning more touches than Freeman, Abdullah made the most of them. He even outplayed Hubbard in the passing game.
There is still some uncertainty regarding Christian McCaffrey’s injury and his timetable to return. As long as he remains out, I think Abdullah will continue to receive meaningful touches. While it may not be enough to start him right away, it could turn into more as the season goes on.
If McCaffrey stays sidelined for longer or gets reinjured, the Panthers could be forced to give Abdullah more playing time if he continues to find success. In a time where running back depth is crucial, I am willing to look ahead and pick up Abdullah as a deep league stash.
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