Fantasy Football update

Week 8 is upon us and that means six teams will have a bye. Things are starting to heat up as people are starting to look at their league’s playoff pictures. Here are some helpful tips to help you stay in contention.

Waiver Wire Pick Up: Orande Gadsden II

Gadsden has sprung onto the scene as a sneaky one-week rental. The Chargers' rookie tight end had his best game of his young career in Week 7.

The 22-year-old caught seven of nine passes on the day for 164 yards and a touchdown. This ultimately led to a 29.4 fantasy performance last Sunday.

The Chargers’ running game is decimated at the moment, with Najee Harris out for the season and Omarion Hampton out for an extended period. This means Justin Herbert will throw the ball more, which will make Gadsden see more footballs coming his way.

Gadsden has yet to prove if he is a consistent TE1 for fantasy owners. However, if you’re in a pinch, pick him up.

Start: D’Andre Swift

After having a lackluster start to the season, Swift has increased his production in the past two weeks. He has hit 100 rushing yards in back-to-back games, along with a touchdown in each of those two games.

Even with his running partner, Kyle Monangai, sharing a lot of the snap count, Swift is still making all his touches count. His average yards per carry last week was 6.5 yards.

The veteran running back is lining up against a less-than-stellar defense in the Baltimore Ravens.

If you don’t have him in your lineup already, you definitely should now.

Sit: Quinshon Judkins

Quinshon Judkins is an interesting case. He did rush for 84 rushing yards last week, but he did it on 25 attempts. That amounts to only a 3.4 average yards per carry.

This has been a common theme for Judkins, who hasn’t had a whole lot of consistency through seven weeks of the season. The Browns' rookie running back has only rushed for 100 yards once this season.

It doesn’t help that he will be facing one of the best defensive lines in the league. Christian Barmore and Milton Williams will make Judkins' day a living nightmare as they have with other running backs this season.

If you have another quality running back on your bench, you should start them over Judkins for this week.

Will Saltzman is a first-year majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email wns5056@psu.edu