Yards Per Gretch: Week 8

by Ben Gretch (gretch) Last Updated 2018-10-27 01:14:11 Premium Content Part of the product Combo Lite

Ben Gretch, Editor in Chief of Fantasy Insiders, takes an ultra-high resolution look at the upcoming NFL week. If you haven’t yet been introduced to Ben’s level of thinking, get ready for great takes loaded with analytical insight.

Exploitable Situations

Robert Woods / Brandin Cooks vs. GB

The Rams ran 35 times against just 24 passes in an easy Week 7 win against San Francisco, posting a season-low 331 total yards. Week 8 figures to go differently with Green Bay in town. Expect plenty of passing in the slate’s highest-total game, and the Packers’ secondary has been crushed by opposing WRs of late, allowing multiple scores to the position in four of their last five, keeping just the uninspiring Bills’ receiving corps out of the end zone.

The important thing to always keep in mind with the Rams is how concentrated their production is. Before first experiencing injury issues in Week 5 at Seattle, Gurley and the Rams’ wide receiver trio combined for 116 of the team’s 131 targets and 14 of their 15 offensive scores. With Kupp out of the lineup, Josh Reynolds will run plenty of routes, but Woods and Cooks are well-positioned to dominate the downfield looks. Don’t try to figure out which is the right play, have plenty of exposure to both of these heavily-utilized options in one of the league’s best offenses.

Golden Tate / Doug Baldwin SEA @ DET

I talked last week about Tate’s splits with and without Theo Riddick in the lineup — he averages about 2 more targets per game when Riddick misses due to the overlap in the short area of the field where they both operate — and thought he was a strong play given Riddick had totaled 30 targets over the season’s first five games. Instead, the Lions continued a trend of reduced passing volume, as they dominated Miami on the ground and Matthew Stafford threw just 22 times. Tate’s 6 targets did lead the team and were good for a strong 27% share.