Gaffney's 2025 NFL Week 8 Team of the Week

Happy belated National Tight End Day to all who celebrate/d. Not a bad day to be a tight end on this past Sunday of all Sundays, and there were a ton of great performances, none, however, better than Green Bay's Tucker Kraft, who went nuclear in Pittsburgh, but guys like rookies Oronde Gadsen and Harold Fannin, vets like George Kittle and Kyle Pitts, and a ton more. Of course, this isn't just about the big boys out in space; here's my top performers across the board in Week 8.

Gaffney's 2025 NFL Week 8 Team of the Week (First-Team)

Offense: Jordan Love (QB, GB), Quinn Meinerz (OL, DEN), James Cook (RB, BUF), Tucker Kraft (Pass Catcher, GB)

May as well start with the Packer duo of Jordan Love and Tucker Kraft, who spent the better part of Sunday Night Football dusting the Pittsburgh Steelers defense in what ended up being a 10-point victory for Green Bay. Much to my surprise, Love's brilliant evening didn't end up being the best game of the week on the EPA metrics. Still, we all saw the same thing: A third-year starter stepping up huge in primetime when the opposition trotted out the guy Love replaced as a Packer. Kraft was unreal in this tilt as well. His seven catch, 143-yard, two-touchdown performance reminded me a ton of Gronk's "coming out party" game, also in Pittsburgh on Sunday Night, back in 2010. They had absolutely no answer for him before, during, or after the catch, the entire game.

Feels cruel that Jonathan Taylor has been getting relegated to second team these last few weeks, but James Cook was nothing short of superb in his own right for the Bills out in Charlotte. His 216 yards rushing are the most any back has gained in any game so far, and he's now only the fourth running back in league history to put up 215-plus yards and two touchdowns in less than 20 carries. Cook joins Derrick Henry, Bobby Mitchell, and some guy named Bo Jackson as the group of four.

The Broncos' offensive line has been playing at an elite clip all year, and you could make the argument that if not for some of Garrett Bolles' heroics in 2025, their right guard Quinn Meinerz is the best guy they have upfront. Just watch what he does here on this touchdown run by RJ Harvey.

Defense: DeForest Buckner (IDL, IND), Myles Garrett (EDGE, CLE), Robert Spillane (LB, NE), Antoine Winfield (DB, TB)

The tape speaks for itself. Myles Garrett is the best pass rusher on the planet, and it's not close. Meanwhile, DeForest Buckner, while not as dominant as he was vs. Los Angeles last week in a freakish performance, came up big with a fourth-down sack of Cam Ward and played a decent role in the shutdown of the Titans' running attack over the weekend. Shoutout to Patriots linebacker Bob Spillane as well, who racked up a freebie pick of Dillion Gabriel, but also over a dozen tackles (a couple for loss), and then a massive hit stick on a trick pass play that turned into a fire drill.

Every time the RedZone feed would cut to the Bucs-Saints game, it genuinely felt like Antoine Winfield had scored or generated a turnover without fail. Ok, maybe not every time, but outside of a scoop-and-score being taken away from him, Winfield did record his first interception of 2025 and his best coverage EPA of 2025 at -4.8. Good time for him to show out, too, given how the last 10-14 days have gone for the Buccaneers.

Rookies: Oronde Gadsden II (TE, LAC) and Carson Schwesinger (LB, CLE)

Gadsden makes his way back onto our first-team once again in the rookie slot for his stout TNF performance against the Brian Flores Vikings defense, but a guy who was nails for the Browns before an ankle injury took him out with Carson Schwesinger. It sounds like he may be out for the near future, but he became the third player all year to pick off Drake Maye and racked up five tackles.

Gaffney's 2025 NFL Week 8 Team of the Week (Second-Team)

Offense: Drake Maye (QB, NE), Conner McGovern (OL, BUF), Jonathan Taylor (RB, IND), Michael Pittman Jr. (Pass Catcher, IND)

Defense: Justin Eboigbe (IDL, LAC), Anthony Nelson (EDGE, TB), Roquan Smith (LB, BAL), Christian Gonzalez (DB, NE)

Rookies: Tet McMillan (WR, CAR) and Dante Trader Jr. (DB, MIA)

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