Exclusive Week 8 fantasy rewind By Michael Fabiano
In this Halloween edition of the Fantasy Monday morning quarterback, we'll discuss all the tricks and treats from Week 8.
For the first time this regular season, a number of the players drafted in the first few rounds produced solid totals. Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Joseph Addai, Marques Colston, Reggie Wayne, Peyton Manning and Antonio Gates were all in the top 10 based on NFL.com's standard scoring system, while the Cleveland duo of Derek Anderson and Braylon Edwards continued to shine.
One of the biggest stories of the weekend was the continued success of Brady, who is on pace to finish the season with 60-plus total touchdowns and has become as unstoppable as Michael Myers on Halloween. He'll be the consensus No. 1 overall selection in all 2008 drafts, but Brady will never duplicate this rampant pace again.
Another major trend is the continued failures of Frank Gore, who rushed for 41 yards on 12 carries and was forced to miss time due to an injured ankle.
Aside from Brady (41 points), Brees (37 points), Anderson (27 points), Philip Rivers (23 points) and Peyton Manning (22 points) rounded out the top five at the quarterback position. Brees started the season slow, but he threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-10 win over San Francisco and has now thrown for an impressive 801 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions in his past three starts.
The biggest bust at the quarterback position had to be Vince Young, who totaled two points in a win over Oakland. He missed his first start ever in Week 7, returned to face the Raiders and threw for 42 yards and no touchdowns.
Another quarterback, Chad Pennington, wasn't injured but did get pulled due to another nightmarish performance. Kellen Clemens will take over the Jets' new starter, so he'll be a hot name on the waiver wire in leagues with 12-plus teams.
Addai (28 points) had a monster performance with 100 rushing yards and three total touchdowns, and he didn't lose carries to Kenton Keith, which had been reported. Brian Westbrook (20 points) had a solid start in Minnesota, and Willie Parker (18 points) was impressive against a weak Bengals defense. Kevin Jones, who has re-emerged into a solid No. 2 fantasy back, rushed for 105 yards and one touchdown and scored 15 points. LenDale White, who has developed into a touchdown machine in Tennessee, and Brandon Jacobs, rounded out the top five at the position with 13 points.
Several wide receivers produced well in Week 8, but no one was better than Colston. He scored three touchdowns in a blowout win over San Francisco, and his 24 points led the position. Edwards, who is on pace for over 20 touchdowns, finished with 23 points after a 117-yard, one-touchdown performance in St. Louis. Wayne (22 points), Hines Ward (20 points) and Lee Evans (19 points) rounded out the top five among wideouts.