Fantasy Football Week 8: Starts, Sits, and Sleepers

Photo: USA Today Sports

Week 8 features no bye weeks, leaving fantasy managers with plenty of options for their fantasy lineups. This weekly article is meant to make those lineup decisions a little bit easier. You can always listen to The Footballguys Fantasy Football Show, which releases episodes every weekday - also, check out the free Week 8 Player Rankings.

QUARTERBACKS

Start: Jared Goff vs LV - Listen at 36:14

• Avg Fantasy Points: 19.9 (Before Week 7)
• Opponent vs QBs: 18th
• Week 8 Rank: QB8
• Projected Points: 18.5

Before last week, Jared Goff had been a top-6 fantasy quarterback in three of his last five games. Over the first four weeks of the season, the Raiders were 25th against opposing fantasy quarterbacks, giving up eight passing touchdowns in just four weeks. The Lions are at home, and the home/road splits for Jared Goff are very positive. Goff is infinitely better at home, averaging 23 fantasy points per game compared to just 14.5 on the road. The Raiders defense has been respectable against quarterbacks over the last three weeks, allowing just 1 passing touchdown. The context: those quarterbacks were Tyson Bagent, Mac Jones, and Jordan Love.

Sit: Russell Wilson vs KC

• Avg Fantasy Points: 11.4 (Since Week 6)
• Opponent vs QBs: T-4th
• Week 8 Rank: QB13
• Projected Points: 14.8

Russell Wilson has struggled over the last couple of weeks, averaging just 145 passing yards and 1 TD per game. The last time he played the Chiefs, he had his worst performance of the year and finished as QB23. The Chiefs have held opposing quarterbacks to just 13.2 fantasy points per game. In fact, they have held quarterbacks to less than 15 fantasy points in all but two games.

Sleeper: C.J. Stroud @ CAR

• Avg Fantasy Points: 17.2
• Opponent vs QBs:7th
• Week 8 Rank: QB11
• Projected Points: 17.0

C.J. Stroud and the Texans are coming off a bye week, so they have had plenty of time to prepare for this Panthers defense. Stroud has been unprecedently good for fantasy managers this season. He's been a top-12 fantasy quarterback in three of his last four games, and he's the QB13 in points per game this season. Don't let the Panthers' ranking against quarterbacks scare you. Carolina had some success early against the likes of Desmond Ridder and Derek Carr, but since then, quarterbacks have had good performances against this defense. Over their last three games, the Panthers defense has given up eight passing touchdowns to quarterbacks and two top-3 fantasy performances. Stroud should be a plug-and-play streamer in Week 8.

TIGHT ENDS

Start: Jake Ferguson vs LAR

• Avg Fantasy Points: 7.7
• Opponent vs TEs: 24th
• Week 8 Rank: TE12
• Projected Points: 9.8

Jake Ferguson was on a hot streak of at least seven targets in three of his first four games of the season. Since then, he and the Cowboys offense have cooled off a little bit. The good news for Ferguson is that the starting tight end role is completely his. In week six, he saw an 82% route run rate and remains the leader amongst all tight ends in redzone targets.

Sit: David Njoku @ SEA

• Avg Fantasy Points: 7.3
• Opponent vs TEs: 6th
• Week 8 Rank: TE20
• Projected Points: 6.7

David Njoku has struggled no matter who has been under center. Njoku finally broke the 50-yard threshold last week in a game where he saw his highest amount of targets (9) on the season. The major letdown with Njoku this season is that he has zero redzone targets and zero touchdowns. The Seahawks have not allowed a tight end to score a touchdown this season. In fact, only one tight end has scored more than 7.9 PPR points and totaled more than three receptions. I don't see things improving for David Njoku this week.