Chig Okonkwo has played his way into Week 8 fantasy lineup consideration, and NFL.com fantasy analyst Matt Okada says managers should be ready to start him if they picked him up.
Okada placed Okonkwo as the No. 3 priority in this week's waiver wire column, then followed that up with a clear recommendation: if fantasy managers added him, he should be in the lineup. The reason is simple. Okonkwo has delivered four-plus catches and 60-plus yards in consecutive games, which is exactly the kind of recent production fantasy managers look for when deciding on a tight end start.
Why Okonkwo is getting the Week 8 nod
The recent surge matters because tight end can be a difficult position to trust from week to week. Okonkwo's back-to-back games with four or more receptions and at least 60 receiving yards give him a much stronger short-term case than many other streaming options.
Okada also pointed to the surrounding offense as part of the appeal. He said Okonkwo will be a top target for Jayden Daniels with Terry McLaurin out for the year, which adds to the confidence in his Week 8 outlook. For fantasy managers, that combination of role and recent output makes him a straightforward start if he is on the roster.
How he fits into the Week 8 tight end picture
Okonkwo is not the only tight end drawing attention in the latest round of fantasy advice. T.J. Hockenson’s 13-catch, 119-yard performance against the Lions in Week 4 and Dalton Kincaid’s Week 6 bounce-back with eight targets and seven catches show how quickly the position can shift from week to week.
That is what makes Okonkwo's rise notable. He does not need a long résumé to matter in fantasy right now. He only needs to keep producing in the same range he has over the last two games. If that continues, Okada's Week 8 start recommendation looks like a practical call rather than a speculative one.
