NFL Week 8 Fantasy Football Recap: Indianapolis Colts vs. Washington Commanders

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Washington Commanders running back Antonio Gibson (24) runs the ball while Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Grover Stewart (90) defends in the second quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Antonio Gibson: 7 carries, 19 yards, 7 receptions, 58 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown

Nyheim Hines: 5 carries, 20 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions, 29 receiving yards


PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2022.

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DEN@JAX | CAR@ATL | CHI@DAL | MIA@DET | ARZ@MIN
LVR@NO | NE@NYJ | PIT@PHI | TEN@HOU | WSH@IND
SF@LAR | NYG@SEA | GB@BUF


The Commanders’ frustrating three-man committee: Washington’s three backs almost evenly split the workload.

  • Antonio Gibson started the game after coming off the bench the past two weeks.
  • Brian Robinson Jr., who started the previous two weeks, started playing on the second drive.
  • The two players split carries and were equally ineffective.
  • J.D. McKissic seemed to be losing some of his work on third downs to Gibson, but he took a strong hold on the clear receiving situations.
  • McKissic can still be left on the waiver wire, as he’s rarely playing on early downs.
  • This remains a situation to avoid. Different game scripts will favor different running backs, but there probably isn’t a specific script that makes someone worth starting.

Logan Thomas’ return: Thomas saw his first NFL action since Week 4 due to a calf injury.

  • He was still limited in practice all week.
  • Thomas split time with Armani Rogers, and the two were used interchangeably. Meanwhile, John Bates was consistently playing in two- or three-tight end sets.
  • He was not targeted in this game.
  • There is a chance Thomas can take most, if not all, of the snaps from Rogers and see playing time similar to 2021 at his peak.
  • Thomas is a waiver wire target in deeper leagues, as the Commanders have the fourth-easiest remaining schedule for tight ends.

First look at Sam Ehlinger: The second-year quarterback was named the starter for the rest of the season.

  • He focused his attention on outside wide receivers, with over half of his targets going to players lined up there.
  • Ehlinger targeted players lined up in the backfield or as an inline tight end only twice each.
  • This was good news for Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce, who finished first and second in targets, receptions and receiving yards.
  • Pittman posted a 33.3% targets per route run rate. His season high prior to this week was 24.1%.
  • Ehlinger ran the ball six times, with three coming from scrambles and three from designed runs.
  • He is worth a waiver wire target in deeper leagues or superflex leagues, as the Colts will need to rely on him more in games where they don’t have a lead. His rushing production gives him a safer floor.

Table Notes

Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.

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