Brandon LaFell, Julian Edelman's Instant Fantasy Reaction After Week 8

Despite reports that the New England Patriots offensive unit was dead in the water, Tom Brady leaned on wide receiver Brandon LaFell and tight end Rob Gronkowski during the Week 8 matchup against the Chicago Bears.

For other fantasy owners, the lack of production from Julian Edelman was alarming. 

LaFell had the best game of his New England career against Chicago, racking up 11 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. The receiver has now gone six of the last seven weeks with at least four receptions and has four touchdowns over that stretch.

Player	Receptions	Targets	Yards	Touchdowns
Rob Gronkowski	9	9	149	3
Brandon LaFell	11	11	124	1
Tim Wright	7	7	61	1
Shane Vereen	3	5	23	0
Julian Edelman	1	4	14	0
Danny Amendola	2	2	5	0

If LaFell is still on the waiver wire in your fantasy league, pick him up this week.

While LaFell looked like a star on Sunday, Edelman struggled to make an impact in the game and was not one of Brady’s primary targets. Coming into Sunday’s game, Edelman had been targeted 65 times in seven games, but only caught one pass in Week 8 on four targets.

Whether it was Chicago’s coverage or the Patriots’ game plan, fantasy owners who started Edelman were utterly disappointed by his performance. Don’t abandon ship on the speedy receiver, though, as this could be a one-week anomaly.

Expect Edelman to bounce back in Week 9 against the Denver Broncos.

*Stats via NFL.com.

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