Week 8: Fantasy Football Hail Marys

QB Johnny Manziel, ---

There is a chance that Josh McCown can play through his shoulder injury this week. If so, obviously Manziel would be pretty much useless. Then again, McCown would be susceptible to re-aggravating his already banged up shoulder. Manziel has reportedly taken almost all the first-team reps this week. However, there was some concern Johnny Football would not be eligible to suit up this week thanks to his involvement in a domestic squabble on October 12. Manziel met with NFL investigators on Thursday and NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported that he is not expected to face any discipline from the league. Right now it's looking about 50/50 that he'll be starting for the Browns Week 8. If nothing else, at least he'll be active and playing behind a brittle, banged up old man.

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RB Marcel Reece, ---

The Jets are a nightmare to try to run against. Last week the Patriots handed the ball off just five times and managed one yard. Because of this, you may see the Raiders utilize their backs much more as pass-catchers this week. They love using their fullback Reece on passing downs, but he only has two carries this season. Nonetheless, he has 17 receptions for 177 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Just two weeks ago he caught seven passes for 49 yards and a TD. It would not be at all surprising to see him used in a similar manner in Week 8 and moving forward. When given the opportunity, Reece has always been very effective. He's one of the more underrated players in the league and a very good football player.

RB Zac Stacy, ---

On the other side of that Raiders and Jets matchup, we have Stacy. The Jets' running backs have been very banged up. Bilal Powell has been sidelined with an ankle injury and the oft-injured Chris Ivory has been dealing with a dinged up quad. Stacy has stepped in as the RB2. He's a safe bet to carry the ball between 5-10 times and catch a pass or two. At times he's even in there in the red zone. If Ivory is forced out of the game or limited like he was two weeks ago, Stacy could be a very valuable Hail Mary play. This is definitely a longshot but not as long as you may think. Plus, that's pretty much the whole point of this article. The upside is definitely there though for a potential of a decent volume of touches in a run-heavy offense.

WR Justin Hardy, ---

Leonard Hankerson has been all but ruled out this week with a hamstring injury. Justin Hardy is expected to be activated for the first time this season. We continuously see rookie wideouts held out for an extended period and burst onto the scene. Martavis Bryant went nuts last year after sitting six weeks. Two weeks ago we saw Jaelen Strong catch two touchdown passes in the first action of his career. Diggs started his career off with 19 receptions for 324 yards and a TD in his first three games. Then there was Odell Beckham Jr, the success of the Madden Cover boy has been very well documented. Of course this is not the norm, but it's also not as rare as you might think.

Notable Receivers in their first active game after sitting at least four games

WR Jeff Janis, ---

Pretty much every Packers wide receiver is less than 100 percent and has been pretty much all year. Of course Jordy Nelson has missed the entire season with a torn ACL. Randall Cobb is also not expected to be 100 percent at all this season while playing through a shoulder injury. He has been noticeably hindered and has fallen well short of lofty expectations that were set after Nelson went down. Ty Montgomery has been limping around all week and has not practiced. It looks like he is much closer to doubtful than probable. Don't be shocked if he's ruled out on Friday. Davante Adams has been sidelined with an ankle sprain he swears isn't a high-ankle sprain. Nevertheless, it has all the same symptoms and apparent timetable for recovery. He's questionable for this week even after a bye. Adams has been limited in practice. James Jones is actually healthy, however, there is reason to believe he'll struggle this week.

The Packers are taking on the Denver Broncos this week. Denver has the best defense in football, bar none. If you watch them on film, it's incredible how dominant they really are. Their cornerbacks, Chris Harris and Aqib Talib, are so good they can take away a team's top-two wideouts. They also have Bradley Roby, T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart to help cover the extra receivers and tight ends. On top of that, linebacker Brandon Marshall is one of the best in the league against pass-catching running backs and the pass rush is relentless.

Guys like DeMarcus Ware, Malik Jackson and Von Miller are so tough to handle up front. This forces quarterbacks to dig deep into their receiving corps and get the ball out quick. Janis will be lined up in four-wide sets and can run those quick slants and get lost in the defense. This is the perfect storm for him to have a big game. The last time the Packers played, he caught his first two passes of the season for 79 yards against the Chargers, another tough pass defense. Of course it never hurts when your quarterback is Aaron Rodgers. That Rodgers kid is pretty good, might have a future in this league.

TE Clive Walford, ---

Walford is by far the best tight end in his rookie class. He is well-rounded and NFL ready. Unfortunately he missed most of camp with a hamstring injury and really set him back after he was well on his way to winning the starting job. Well, it looks like he's back to where he hoped to be before the injury. Walford caught a 33-yard pass before the bye week, his first big play of the year and his first target since Week 2. Heading into the bye, head coach Jack Del Rio said one of the team's priorities was to get Walford more involved in the offense. They also wanted to work on the rushing attack and Walford is a strong blocker. He helped pave the way for Duke Johnson to become the Miami Hurricanes' all-time leading rusher. Walford also happens to be the Canes' all-time leading receiver at TE. Anyway, last week in the first game after the bye, he caught two passes for 42 yards and a TD, all season highs. I fully expect him to continue to trend in the right direction. By season's end he'll be considered a high-end TE2.

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Remember to read all our columns for this week and use our Who To Start Rankings