Fantasy football is a grind, to say the least, especially in deeper leagues, where managers are always in a race to catch the next big thing off the waiver wire. For this one, we are going to talk a little bit about Buffalo Bills wide receiver Gabriel Davis, who is only owned in just 3.1 percent of ESPN leagues. The Bills will be making their way back to action in Week 8 after taking a much-deserved rest during a Week 7 bye. Before that, Josh Allen and the Bills suffered a shock loss at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, breaking their winning streak of four games.
What could Davis offer for fantasy managers in Week 8?
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What makes Davis a deep sleeper? Well, even on a healthy Bills’ air attack that’s averaging over 280 passing yards per game, Davis only has gotten just 10 looks from quarterback Josh Allen. Of those targets, Davis has caught six for 104 yards. He’s also found the end zone once, which is a good ornament to have on his stat sheet, given how little attention he’s gotten, thus far this season. Back in Week 6’s 34-31 loss to the Tennessee Titans on the road, Davis caught both targets for 25 yards. Although a very small sample size, Davis going 3 of 3 in the last two Buffalo games is a plus for his minuscule fantasy value.
Davis actually started the season nicely, as he scored a touchdown right out of the gate in Week 1’s 23-16 home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Davis went 2 of 5 for 40 yards, and that was one of the two games in which the former UCF Knights wide receiver was seen failing to secure targeted passes.
Why Gabriel Davis is a fantasy sleeper in Week 8 vs. the Dolphins
The expectations for Davis prior to the season were quite high, especially after John Brown left the Bills. But with the emergence of tight end Dawson Knox as a reliable red-zone target, the addition of veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, and the steadiness of Cole Beasley have all combined to put a cap on Davis' potential to take a big leap in his second year in Bills threads. In his rookie season, Davis caught 35 of 62 targets for 599 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. So far this year, it doesn't look like he's going to reach the numbers he hit in his rookie season, but Davis can start turning heads in Week 8 against the Dolphins.
Like Davis, the Dolphins' defense entered the 2021 NFL season with plenty of promise. But that same Dolphins' stop unit is struggling to stop opposing teams from stomping all over it. The Dolphins are 31st this season in scoring defense, allowing 29.6 points per game and last in total defense, as they are giving up almost 415 total yards per contest. The Dolphins' pass defense has also slid all the way down to 26th overall in terms of pass DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average), per Football Outsiders. This is a tasty matchup for the Bills' offense that's averaging close to 34 points per week.
Diggs and Sanders are going to get their usual looks on the Bills' offense, but with Knox out, Gabriel can shine against that porous Miami defense with a few extra targets coming his way downfield. This is not to say for certain that Davis will explode, but the possibility of discovering fantasy football fortunes with him on your roster is there.
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