Fantasy Football Start or Sit, Week 8

We’re back in action for Week 8 of the NFL season, ready to tell you players that need to be starting in your Fantasy Football lineup and who needs sat glued to you bench!

I do apologize for not having this Fantasy Football column last week, but we’re ready to go this week! I’m going to make a small shift for the next couple weeks and discuss a smaller pool of players. The reasoning is there’s a lot of bye weeks so most teams are being forced into decisions no matter how they feel about a player. Once we get past some of the byes, we’ll go back to the normal format. For now, we’ll have one featured player for each position and designation and a quick blurb on some others who you can consider.

Fantasy Football – Quarterback

Start Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles – vs Jacksonville Jaguars(in London) 

There’s a lot of folks who have Wentz and have to be a little concerned this week. First, London games always make me itch. They just tend to be weird games and not go to script like we all think they should. Despite their issues at times, the Jaguars have given up the third fewest points to quarterbacks so far this year. All of these factors are well and good, but I’m still starting Wentz. He’s really looked spectacular since he’s come back from injury and I’m sticking with him despite the poor matchup. Wentz is averaging 50 more yards per game this season than he did last year when he was in line to win the MVP. The touchdown rate has come down but that was to be expected. The Eagles are outside the top 16 in rushing yards so far and the offense is going to come down to Wentz.

Also Consider Starting – Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears – vs New York Jets –  Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions – vs Seattle Seahawks

Sit Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans – vs Miami Dolphins 

Yes, he is listed as a starter in the Thursday night preview but that is mostly for the DFS sense and if your playing in a 2QB or SuperFlex league. If you’re playing in a standard, 1QB league I would at least think about other options this week. The main reason is Watson is playing but is clearly injured. He wasn’t permitted to fly with the team to Jacksonville last week and had to take a bus because the team was concerned about the air pressure on the plane. That’s not something you do for a healthy player. Houston has given up the third most sacks so this isn’t a surprise. Miami isn’t a terrible matchup but the 11th feast points to quarterbacks isn’t bad either. It’s scary to sit a player like Watson but if have the ability to, you likely should.

Also Consider Sitting – Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns – At Pittsburgh Steelers – Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks – at Detroit Lions

Fantasy Football – Running Back

Start T.J Yeldon, Jacksonville Jaguars – vs Philadelphia Eagles(in London) 

Much like the Wentz call, there might not seem to be a lot of logic to start Yeldon. Not only does he have a terrible matchup against the Eagles(second fewest rushing yards per game allowed), but he now has a complimentary player in Carlos Hyde in his backfield. There’s no real way to tell what kind of split to expect with Hyde and Yeldon. What Yeldon does bring though is receiving prowess. Yeldon has at least three receptions, 29 yards or a touchdown in four straight games. Philly is a bad matchup for running backs but one thing they do give up is receptions. They’ve allowed 47, fourth most in the league. In a game where the Jaguars should need to score, Yeldon is going to be sorely needed.

Also Consider Starting – Jalen Richard/Doug Martin, Oakland Raiders – vs Indianapolis Colts – Raheem Mostert, San Francisco 49ers – at Arizona Cardinals – Lamar Miller, Houston Texans – vs Miami Dolphins

Sit Latavius Murray, Minnesota Vikings – vs New Orleans Saints 

Everyone is excited for Murray for these next couple of weeks since Dalvin Cook is likely out until the bye in Week 10. As hard as it is to turn away from a back that we expect to get the volume Murray should get, I’m not running to submit my lineup with him this week. New Orleans allows the fewest yards per game on the ground in the league. This game could be high scoring and won through the air. That’s not good for Murray, who only has 12 receptions on the year. He’s just not going to see a lot of work in the passing game. Unless he falls into the end zone, you’re almost guaranteed to not get a good game here. Murray will be in my lineup as a nice fill in, just not this week.

Also Consider Sitting – Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears – vs New York Jets – Kenyan Drake, Miami Dolphins – at Houston Texans – Corey Clement/Wendell Smallwood, Philadelphia Eagles – vs Jacksonville Jaguars

Fantasy Football – Wide Receiver

Start Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals – vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Whatever you do, don’t get scared off of Boyd after a dud last week. I understand that you assumed Boyd would smash in Kansas City. It just didn’t work out that way and every receiver has games like that. This week he gets to come home and gets one of the few matchups that are actually even better than the Chiefs. Tampa is giving up the most yards per game, the most passing touchdowns(even with a bye!), 26 passes of 20 yards or more and a 125.8 passer rating. Boyd operates out of the slot more often than not and nine of those 18 passing touchdowns allowed have come from the slot. Don’t miss out on the big game from Boyd because of what he did last time out.

Also Consider Starting – John Brown, Baltimore Ravens – at Carolina Panthers – Will Fuller, Houston Texans – vs Miami Dolphins – Kenny Golladay, Detroit Lions – vs Seattle Seahawks

Sit Josh Gordon, New England Patriots – at Buffalo Bills 

I don’t want to start Josh Gordon this week if I don’t have to. That sounds weird since he’s been gaining momentum in the Patriots offense with snaps, targets and production. However, Tre’Davious White lurks on the other side of the ball. Through Week 6, White has been targeted 23 times this season and given up nine receptions and one touchdown. Gordon has run almost exclusively from the outside of the formation and White travels to both sides of the ball. There’s an easy path for for Tom Brady to use Julian Edelman, James White, Chris Hogan and possibly Rob Gronkowski. I want Gordon wherever I can get him and I’m hoping he gets shut down this week so I can make a buy low offer during the prep for Week 9.

Also Consider Sitting – Sterling Shepard, New York Giants – vs Washington Redskins – Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers – vs Baltimore Ravens – Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks – at Detroit Lions

Fantasy Football – Tight End

Start O.J. Howard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Cincinnati Bengals 

If you have O.J. Howard, you’re likely going to start him. Look around at tight end right now. I’ve mentioned Chris Herndon, a rookie for the New York Jets in a bad offense as a potential starter this week. Still the point needs to be driven home. He’s seen a total of 13 targets in his two games with Jameis Winston and a team that is sneakily bad against tight ends this season just happens to be the Bengals. They’re giving up the fourth most amount of points to tight ends in football.  Howard will always have some touchdown equity as well with his size and speed combo, despite just three red zone targets on the season. The ball is being spread out in Tampa but Howard should be able to get his share just about every week.

Also Consider Starting – Vance McDonald, Pittsburgh Steelers – vs Cleveland Browns – Ben Watson, New Orleans Saints – at Minnesota

Sit Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers – vs Baltimore Ravens 

It’s very hard to wrap your head around sitting a tight end with the name cache of Olsen given what we’re dealing with at the position. Still, he’s dealing with some tough factors here. It’s not even that he popped up as “questionable” for this game. Given his situation with his foot, he’s going to not practice that much the rest of the way. The issues are he draws a middle of the road matchup against the Ravens and he’s not been very good since his return from injury. He’s only caught six passes for 53 yards. If not for a very late touchdown last week, he would have totally destroyed your team. Don’t get suckered by the name. Let Olsen earn his way back into your lineup.

Also Consider Sitting – Evan Engram, New York Giants – vs Washington Giants – Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings – vs New Orleans Saints

Stay tuned for all of our DFS news leading up to Sunday kickoffs. We also have you covered every night in the NBA and your college football Saturday!