NFL Week 8 Fantasy Football Recap: Denver Broncos vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

• Travis Etienne: 24 carries, 156 yards, one touchdown; 3 receptions, 6 receiving yards

• Jerry Jeudy: 6 receptions, 63 yards, one touchdown

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Travis Etienne’s dominance continues: The Jaguars back dominated playing time a week ago, and that trend continued after the Jags traded James Robinson to the Jets.

Etienne was the lead back in every situation. He was substituted out only for breaks after he ran the ball a few times in a row or when he broke a big run.
The only problem there is that he would sit out for a few consecutive plays rather than immediately re-entering the game.
He ended the game with a career-high in carries and rushing yards and tied for a career-high in receptions.
The way the Jaguars use him now gives Etienne top-five fantasy potential, but the offense needs to improve to provide the back with more touchdown opportunities.
He scored his second touchdown of the season against the Broncos, but it wasn’t until the last four minutes of the game.

Broncos two-man committee: The Broncos' three-man running back committee dropped to a two-back rotation after Mike Boone landed on injured reserve.

The Broncos added Marlon Mack from the 49ers practice squad, but he was inactive.
They also signed Devine Ozigbo to the active roster from the practice squad for a potential revenge game, but he didn’t play on offense.
Melvin Gordon III started the game for Denver and took every snap on the first two drives. Latavius Murray didn’t take the field until Drive 3, similar to last week.
They continued to rotate roughly every two drives.
Gordon dominated offensive snaps, as he played in the long drives to end the first half, but Murray led the team in rushing attempts as Denver closed out the game.
The Broncos also cut one of Murray’s drives short — which ended up being the drive Gordon scored.
Murray’s rest-of-season value declines after this game despite one less player to compete with. Gordon remains the top back, and Murray did nothing in this game to show he should be the starter.
He averaged just over 3.0 yards per carry, although scoring the game-winning touchdown doesn’t hurt.

Add Greg Dulcich: The Broncos' rookie tight end led the team in receiving yards (87).

He will likely boast a third-straight week as a top-12 fantasy tight end unless several other players have great games this week.
Dulcich has been the clear tight end in 11 personnel, but his percentage of snaps outside 11 personnel has also increased each week. When he’s off the field, there is a high chance the Broncos are running the ball.
His 19.7% target rate heading into the week was 14th-best for tight ends. That mark went down today, but they were facing a Jaguars defense that allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to tight ends this season.
He’s been a consistent fantasy starting tight end since he became healthy, and there is only room for him to grow. His target share could increase further, and if the offense improves, he could score more.

If you can’t add Dulcich, add Evan Engram: The Jaguars tight end was TE16 heading into the week, but that should increase after scoring his first touchdown of the season.

Engram’s play time has steadily increased throughout the season, and he has mostly left the field in clear run formations.
His 216 routes run were the fourth-most at the position heading into the week.
He gained at least 50 receiving yards for the third time in four weeks.
He was the target of multiple end-zone passes, leading to his first touchdown of the season.
Engram doesn’t have the same upside as Dulcich due to the two players' talent levels, but Engram’s usage makes him a dependable tight end and a great bye-week fill-in.

Drop Marvin Jones: The Jaguars have used more two-tight end sets in the last two weeks, with the offense more focused on Etienne. This has meant less playing time for Jones.

He is third on the depth chart and was consistently off the field in two-tight end sets.
He didn’t catch any of his three targets against the Broncos.
Jones is still capable of good games and will likely have another one or two this season, but it will be much harder for him to do that with any kind of consistency in a reduced role.
He’s traditionally been a threat in the red zone, but the Jaguars aren’t making enough trips to the end zone to take advantage of Jones there.

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.