Week 8 was certainly a strange one in fantasy land, as we had some epic performances mixed with some absolute clunkers. While Joe Burrow was winning many fantasy matchups with a six-touchdown day, standouts like Jonathan Taylor, Drake London and George Pickens underwhelmed as their offenses fell completely flat.
With the trade deadline approaching, making fantasy calls on some of these players is tricky since a few of them could be changing teams between now and the start of Week 10. With that in mind, let's take a look at another edition of Start, Drop or Bench after the Week 8 Sunday slate.
Start, Drop or Bench after Week 8
RB Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
If the Colts were hoping to showcase Taylor for a potential deadline trade, Sunday's 42-7 blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars didn't help the cause. Jacksonville stacked the box to stuff Taylor and was highly successful, limiting him to just eight carries for 23 yards, while Taylor was able to add four catches for 24 yards to soften the blow for his fantasy managers in PPR leagues.
The matchup against Jacksonville has always been a bad one for the Colts, but they do have the good fortune of drawing Dallas' atrocious defense in Week 9. That factor, combined with a desire to potentially showcase Taylor again ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline, should result in a huge day for him on Sunday.
Verdict: Start
WR George Pickens, Dallas Cowboys
The see-saw ride of Pickens' season took a downturn on Sunday as he was surprisingly uninvolved in a 33-30 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Dak Prescott looked Pickens' way just four times in the game and Pickens caught two of them for 48 yards, trailing way behind CeeDee Lamb's team-high 11 targets.
It is possible that Pickens wasn't fully over lingering hamstring and shoulder injuries that limited his practice reps during the week. A matchup with the struggling Colts also feels like a prime get-right spot for Pickens, who Prescott will need to get more involved to prevent Indianapolis from locking in on Lamb too heavily.
Verdict: Start
Baltimore Ravens Pass Catchers
We're lumping this group, which includes Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman and Ja'Kobi Lane, together as a result of Baltimore's horrible quarterback situation. Lamar Jackson's return lasted just one play before a dislocated thumb sent him to injured reserve while backup Tyler Huntley also left the loss to Buffalo with an injury, leaving undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano in charge of the offense.
The Ravens will likely get another quarterback in the building soon, but they will be up against it with a short week game against the stout Jaguars' defense on Thursday. Regardless of who takes the opening snap for Baltimore on Thursday it's best to avoid all of your Ravens' receivers until we see how the offense adjusts going forward.
Verdict: Bench
WR Drake London and TE Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
It's been a minute since the patron saint of Start, Drop or Bench returned to this space but Pitts (and London) are back in here after a debacle from Atlanta in Week 8. A driving rainstorm in Tampa Bay had Michael Penix out of sorts, leading to dismal efforts from both Pitts (2 catches for 6 yards) and London (1 catch for 8 yards) on a day where Penix completed just eight passes.
The extreme weather in Tampa certainly qualifies as an outlier and we should be prepared to give both players a mulligan given the circumstances. Week 9 sees Atlanta head abroad to take on the toastable Bengals' defense, which just gave up over 300 yards passing to Cam Ward, so you can safely start both Pitts and London with confidence.
Verdict: Start
QB Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
We'll stick with that bizarre weather game with a look at Mayfield, who made NFL history by helping the Bucs win a game without completing a pass, making Tampa Bay the first team to do that since 1974. Mayfield only dropped back four times in the game, taking one sack and tossing three incompletions, while Tampa Bay ran over 50 times since Atlanta had no capacity of stopping the ground game.
While we said the weather is an outlier for the Falcons' pass catchers above, this is actually the second game in a row that Mayfield got limited work since Tampa is relying on its running game to bludgeon opponents. The Buccaneers may be trying to protect Mayfield's right thumb, which caused him to miss three games after he dislocated it early in the season, so it is smart to bench him (even in a plus matchup against the Bears' defense) until Tampa Bay shows they are ready to let Mayfield rip it.
Verdict: Bench
RB Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders
It appears that Jeanty's downward spiral as a runner has cost him the trust of the Las Vegas coaching staff, which sent him a clear message on Sunday by essentially benching Jeanty. Mike Washington Jr dominated the backfield workload, racking up 25 carries compared to just two for Jeanty, who worked as the third down back in a win over the Jets.
It is possible that Jeanty is moved by the Raiders prior to the deadline since Klint Kubiak appears to prefer Washington as his primary running back. A change of scenery could bolster Jeanty's value but he wasn't offering much in terms of production to begin with, making this a clear drop call for fantasy players.
Verdict: Drop
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