Browns @ Seahawks Week 8 Game Preview
Jonathan Fuller breaks down the Week 8 matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks from a fantasy football and betting perspective.
Cleveland Browns @ Seattle Seahawks
Fresh off their thrilling (and controversial) Week 7 win over the Colts, the Browns will travel to Seattle for one of just two games this week that will feature two teams with a winning record.
The Seahawks are also coming off a win, although theirs was much less dramatic as they took care of the Cardinals 20-10.
Unfortunately for fantasy managers, the game total sits at just 38.5 points which suggests a shootout is unlikely. Both squads rank fairly well in terms of rushing efficiency, but it’s a different story in the passing game. The Browns rank dead last in terms of EPA per play on dropbacks, while the Seahawks are a top-10 team.
Deshaun Watson has already been ruled out for Week 8, so PJ Walker will be under center again. He only managed to throw for 178 yards and no scores in Week 7 despite the team putting up 39 points.
This will make the Browns' game plan for Week 8 an interesting conundrum as the team would undoubtedly like to lean on the run game, but the Seahawks' defense has been much stronger against the run than the pass. To further complicate matters, the Browns will likely be without Jerome Ford, who picked up an injury last week.
As a result, Kareem Hunt appears poised to lead the backfield and is currently the RB28 in the Fantasy Life consensus ranks for Week 8.
The only other Brown who should for sure be in your lineups is Amari Cooper, who has earned incredibly consistent target volume this season and is a borderline WR2 as a result.
Lastly, David Njoku is startable in a pinch, but he hasn’t finished higher than the TE11 in any week this season, so unless he gets his first receiving TD of the season this week, you probably won’t be too thrilled with his output.
The Seahawks are expected to get WR DK Metcalf back this week after he missed Week 7. His absence led to breakout games for both Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jake Bobo, who each caught a TD and finished as top-20 WRs in PPR scoring.
JSN’s role in the offense was on the rise prior to Metcalf missing Week 7, so his breakout seems much more sustainable, but it will be interesting to see what his role looks like with Metcalf back.
The Seahawks face a much tougher test this week against a Browns’ defense that has been truly elite this season. As a result, both Tyler Lockett and Metcalf are more in the WR3/FLEX territory for this week.
In the backfield, Kenneth Walker is an every-week starter due to his role and ability to create explosive plays. I expect the Seattle offense to continue to lean on him in this tough matchup, and he may be underutilized in DFS contests due to the matchup.
The RB picture might get a bit murkier if Zach Charbonnet returns this week, but he has only gone over 5 rushing attempts once this season, so it seems unlikely he will hurt Walker’s workload much.