Welcome to Week 8 of the fantasy football season! Below I have some players I think you should start and some I think you should sit. As usual, your mileage may vary depending on your available choices, so don’t just blindly bench someone if you don’t have a better option!
Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers
Dak Prescott, Cowboys vs. Cardinals
Prescott has been up and down this season, but he’s coming off a strong Monday night game against the Eagles and now faces a bad Cardinals pass defense. Arizona has given up the most adjusted yards per attempt, the most receiving touchdowns, the second worst QB rating, and the second most yards per completion. Prescott is poised to pick up where he left off on Monday night.
Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals at Cowboys
If the Cardinals had better backup quarterbacks, I would be worried that Brissett might be benched during a game, but they don’t. This week, as long as Brissett plays the whole game, it will be difficult for him not to accumulate fantasy points. I expect the Cowboys will be able to score on the Cardinals, while Brissett inefficiently tries to keep up through the air. Dallas, so far, has allowed the third worst completion percentage, the seventh worst average yards per attempt, and the third-worst yards per completion to opposing quarterbacks.
Kyler Murray, Vikings vs. Lions
Murray continued to play poorly last week, but the Vikings also continued to win. Not trailing in games hurts Murray, as he doesn’t need to run and throw as much to try to make up points. This week they’ll face a Lions offense that should have more success against Brian Flores’ top defense than any team this year. The Lions defense also remains the absolute worst at giving up fantasy points to quarterbacks. That has a lot to do with the Lions keeping teams throwing the ball from a deficit, but the results are hard to ignore.
Michael Penix Jr., Falcons at Buccaneers
Penix Jr. has been on a tear with back-to-back three touchdown games. There’s no doubt he’s played better than many thought he would, but I don’t love this week’s matchup. The Buccaneers defense has been playing lights out this season, both against the run and pass. We saw them completely shut down Bryce Young last week, making him look like his old self. They are actually better against the run than pass, but if they can slow down Bijan Robinson, they slow down the passing game efficiency as well.
Caleb Williams, Bears at Seahawks
Williams looks like he’s on his way to being one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He may already be there, but traveling to Seattle to take on the Seahawks defense will be a big test. So far, The Seahawks have allowed just 144 passing yards per game, the best in the league. Only the Vikings have given up fewer fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season.
Bayshul Tuten/Chris Rodriguez, Jaguars vs. Colts
The Colts are hosting a fire sale and just lost their best defensive player in DT Jeffery Simmons. And even with Simmons there, they were still giving up a lot of yardage on the ground. They currently rank third-worst in yards per carry to running backs at 4.8. And as 9.5-point favorites at home against a tanking team, I like both Jaguars running backs to be startable. Tuten has the most upside and is an easy start, but Rodriguez looked good against the Texans, rushing 11 times for 55 yards in a loss. If the Jags get up in this one, I expect Rodriguez will be flex-worthy.
Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots vs Dolphins
Stevenson is coming off his best receiving game of the season, catching 5-of-5 targets for 93 yards and a touchdown against the Bears last week. He’s been all over the place in fantasy from week-to-week, as his workload fluctuates. But, it seems like the team isn’t happy with what TreVeyon Henderson has done this season, as they gave him just five touches in Week 7. The good news is that the Dolphins running back defense has been bad, allowing the third-most fantasy points, fifth-most receiving yards, and the most receiving touchdowns. I expect Stevenson to continue his work in the receiving game this week.
J.K. Dobbins, Broncos at Chiefs
This matchup is going to be tough for all the Broncos running backs, of which there are many. The Chiefs have allowed the seventh-fewest fantasy points and the third-best yards per carry mark at 3.6. And last week, rookie Jonah Coleman returned from his injury to be the nominal lead back in his first game after returning. Dobbins hasn’t been the same player this season, rushing for just 3.6 yards per carry, and Coleman appears to be taking advantage of that. If you start anyone in this tough matchup, make it Coleman over Dobbins and RJ Harvey.
Tyler Allgeier, Cardinals at Cowboys
Allgeier has been downright bad this season. He’s had a good chance to take over the lead role with rookie Jeremiyah Love out with an ankle injury, but instead, he allowed journeyman Bam Knight to beat him out for work. This matchup against the Cowboys is good, but I’d much rather have Knight if Love once again can’t go.
Garrett Wilson, Jets vs. Raiders
Wilson started the season well, but has seen his numbers drop with the emergence of rookie Omar Cooper Jr. I like Cooper a lot, but back-to-back 100+ yard games, with a touchdown in each, isn’t sustainable. Wilson is still the true No. 1 receiver and was visibly frustrated in their last game when they lost to the Dolphins. This is a plus matchup at home against the Raiders and I expect Geno Smith will get Wilson the ball plenty this week.
Keenan Allen, Colts at Jaguars
Before the Vikings came to town, Allen had 29 targets in the previous three matchups. He ended with five or more receptions in each of those games. This week the Colts head to Jacksonville as 9.5-point underdogs and will be forced to throw the ball. The Jaguars will probably take a lead and push Daniel Jones to throw more and even if it is close, their run defense is one of the best in the league. The Jaguars pass defense is decent, but they rank fourth-worst in giving up fantasy points to wide receivers. Allen is just a PPR play, but there is room for more in this matchup.
Kendrick Bourne, Cardinals at Cowboys
The Cardinals lost Jalen Brooks to a wrist injury, which should help Bourne see a bigger helping of snaps this week. Bourne has already seen good volume, with 8, 8, and 6 targets one the last three weeks. His best game was against the Lions and his worst was against the Broncos. That makes sense and this week he faces a pass defense with worse numbers than the Lions and he won’t have Brooks to worry about. I’d also expect the Cowboys best corner, Joey Porter Jr., to spend extra time with Michael Wilson, giving Bourne better matchups.
Caleb Douglas, Dolphins at Patriots
Douglas is good. Douglas may even turn out to be great, but I do not like his matchup this week. It isn’t a given that Patriots top CB Christian Gonzalez will follow Douglas on the field, but it’s a distinct possibility. Gonzalez has proven to be a shutdown corner when healthy this season, and I expect Douglas will have trouble putting up efficient numbers like he has against the Raiders and the Jets.
Carnell Tate, Titans at Bengals
The Bengals top cornerback DJ Turner has been at the top of his game this year and should spend plenty of time on the rookie Tate. Last week Zay Flowers went off against the Bengals, but only by avoiding Turner, who only allowed one reception for six yards to Flowers. Yes, you can get away from him, but Flowers is used all around the formation, while Tate is mostly stuck on the outside where he’ll face Turner.
Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Commanders
The Eagles are hard to trust, but Goedert gets an excellent matchup here against the Commanders. On the season they’ve allowed the second-most touchdowns, the fifth-most yards and the second-most fantasy points to the position. In Week 1 Goedert caught 4-of-5 targets for 77 yards and two touchdowns against this same team. That was with Jalen Hurts of course, but Tanner McKee is targeting Goedert, as he has 17 receptions over their last three games. Unfortunately those receptions haven’t led to a lot of fantasy scoring, but this week I like his chances to find the end zone.
TJ Hockenson, Vikings vs Lions
Kyler Murray loves throwing to his tight ends and this week the matchup calls for it. The Lions are the worst in the league at allowing fantasy points to tight ends. They’ve also allowed the most receptions, yards and touchdowns despite already having their bye week. Eight tight ends have hit double-digit fantasy points against them through just six games!
Sam LaPorta, Lions vs. Vikings
It’s always tough to sit tight ends with good track records, as tough matchups aren’t always going to lock them down. But, the Viking defense has been so good that I’d worry about LaPorta this week. They have been the best at stopping tight ends this season, as they’ve allowed the fewest yards, receptions, touchdowns (0), and fantasy points.
