Fantasy football projections, Week 8: Chiefs-Colts featuring Spencer Ware, Andrew Luck, .T.Y. Hilton, more

The Week 8 matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Indianapolis Colts features teams looking to build on victories. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Running back Jamaal Charles might be back on the team’s active roster, but he was taken out of the Week 7 win over the New Orleans Saints after just one carry. The coaching staff admitted Charles’ surgically repaired knee just doesn’t feel right. That’s good news for owners of Spencer Ware. Ware totaled 131 yards and scored a touchdown on 19 touches against the Saints. He will be heavily involved in the team’s offense in Indianapolis considering the Colts possess one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. Ware will be a top performer in Week 8.

The same can’t necessarily be said for any player in the team’s passing game. That includes wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. Maclin has been held under 50 receiving yards in three of the last four games. As bad as Indianapolis is against running backs, they are very good at defending wide receivers. The chances of Maclin surpassing his projected totals in Week 8 are very slim to say the least. Owners may need to look elsewhere for a top receiver moving forward. The Chiefs simply don’t make the passing game a priority often enough to make any of the team’s pass catchers valuable to fantasy owners.

The Colts have certainly dealt with their share of injuries in the passing game throughout the first half of the season. It has benefited fantasy owners of .T.Y. Hilton to say the least. Hilton caught seven passes for 133 yards and a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans in Week 7. He was targeted 12 times in the game which ties a season high. That brings his total targets for the year to a whopping 76 through seven games. With that kind of volume and Hilton’s talent, it’s no wonder he’s been a top producing pass catcher this year. Only three teams have given up more points to wide receivers than the Kansas City Chiefs. Hilton could post back to back 100-yard games for the first time this season by putting together another impressive performance in Week 8.

Whether or not he does will hinge on quarterback Andrew Luck’s ability to find his top gun down the field. Luck smoked the Titans last Sunday to the tune of 353 passing yards and three touchdowns. His outburst represents the best fantasy performance Luck has put together since the opening week of the season. Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters is one of the best in the league, but with Hilton and Luck on the same page, Week 8 should be a good one for both players.