Okay, Week 8 fantasy football rankings are mixing things up again. You’ll see the game previews below, and before the ranks, but sleepers have their own section again. Maybe you like the old way? Let me know, but it seemed that many wanted a separate section, so here we are — what’s old is new again. Alright, let’s get to the rankings and fun!
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Week 8 Waiver Wire
Week 8 SOS Ranks
Fantasy 101 (weather, start/sit, trading, more)
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WEEK 8 FANTASY FOOTBALL PREVIEWS
BYES: None
Vikings at Rams, Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Over the past two seasons, Matthew Stafford averages 1.7 TDs and 16.4 fantasy points (FPs) with Cooper Kupp compared to 0.6 and 11.5 without him… If Kupp plays, Tutu Atwell is still a decent WR4. Sean McVay is being coy about Kupp’s usage, and we finally have confirmation that the Rams are open to trading Kupp… If T.J. Hockenson plays, consider him a Top 10 tight end… I wouldn’t downgrade Jordan Addison much, if at all, with Hockenson in the lineup.
Eagles at Bengals, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Dallas Goedert averages a line of just 4.4-48.7-0.2 in games with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith playing (2022-24)… It was a down game in Week 7, but Chase Brown still handled over 62% of the rush attempts and 63% of the RB total touches for the second-straight game.
Ravens at Browns, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
- NOTES: The Browns run Cover-1 at the highest percentage (35.6), and Zay Flowers has the 11th-best YPRR against it (2.76)… Mark Andrews is now tied for third with Quentin Johnston in TD/TGT% (13.6) behind only Jalen Nailor (18.8) and Christian Watson (14.3) among those with 100+ routes… Since becoming a part-time quarterback in 2020, Jameis Winston leads the NFL in TD/Att while under pressure at 11.7%. Next closest are Caleb Williams (8.5%) and Brock Purdy (7.0%). He’s also eighth in attempts of 20+ air yards, T-7th in YD/Comp (11.9) and fourth in TD/Att% overall (6.1).
Titans at Lions, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
- NOTES: No player has a lower catchable target percentage than Calvin Ridley at 52.9% (among those with at least 20% of his team’s targets). Courtland Sutton is 58.7% and way up at third is Marvin Harrison at 69.0%, which is bad, but not Ridley and Sutton bad… We can hope Sam LaPorta gets going without Jameson Williams, but we only have 11 routes run without Williams on the field for LaPorta this season. It’s not enough to glean much info but, hey, at least it accounted for LaPorta’s only touchdown.
Cardinals at Dolphins, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
- NOTES: As mentioned with Harrison, the connection isn’t what we want so far, and it’s more Kyler Murray than him (as seen with the stat above), as Harrison only has a 4.8 Drop-Rate%, which is 66th and behind the likes of CeeDee Lamb, DK Metcalf, Justin Jefferson and more… I don’t need to give you the numbers, as you are more than aware of how much better all Dolphins will be with Tua Tagovailoa. If he’s back, Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Mostert are near must-starts in addition to the obvious Tyreek Hill and De’Von Achane.
Jets at Patriots, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Davante Adams ran one fewer route than possible (39 of 40) and tied Garrett Wilson for a team-high nine targets. Yes, I’d still rank him as a Top 20 WR knowing those numbers, and I will likely have him there this week… The Patriots had their doors blown off in Week 7, and Rhamondre Stevenson still had 58.3% of the rushes. It should be better this week… Even excusing the DeMario Douglas illness, the Patriots have used a different top-three wideout rotation every week.
Falcons at Buccaneers, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Darnell Mooney remains his boom/bust WR3 self, but the good news this week is that the Buccaneers force the second-lowest 3-and-Out% (22.7 — Cardinals lowest at 19.4%) and eighth-highest TD/Drive% (25.3)… The Buccaneers’ running back committee is here, but there remains some clarity with Rachaad White seeing more passing work, Bucky Irving more “lead runner” work and Sean Tucker as the third option.
As seen last night, the White/Irving split (committee) will be game script dependent
Up by 7+
Irving 66.7 RBTouch%
White 33.3%
Tucker 0.0%Down by 7+
White 57.1%
Irving 35.7%
Tucker 7.1%— Jake Ciely (@allinkid) October 22, 2024
Packers at Jaguars, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
- NOTES: The Christian Watson versus Dontayvion Wicks choice is going to frustrate — see the waiver column — but if you want to chase Watson, who leads the Packers WRs in YPRR against Cover-1 (2.73 for 13th overall — Wicks is fifth on his team, behind Malik Heath, at 0.67) against the Jaguars (second-highest Cover-1 use at 33.5%), it’s an okay gamble… As mentioned in waivers, consider selling high on Tank Bigsby if you can get RB1 value. His touch percentage is significantly higher when the game is close and/or with the lead versus being down by a score, and the Jaguars are at PHI, vs. MIN and at DET before their Week 12 bye.
Colts at Texans, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Jonathan Taylor hasn’t played since Week 4, and yet, only Derrick Henry and Kyren Williams have more GL carries (11 each — Taylor has 9)… Cover-3 has kept Tank Dell in check at a mere 0.65 YPRR against it, and the Colts use Cover-3 48.8% of the time (third-highest)… C.J. Stroud had a 59.1 Comp% (11th) and -0.38 EPA/Dropback (fifth — the league average is -0.53) when under pressure with Nico Collins. Over the past two games, those numbers are 33.3% (23rd) and -0.69 (24th).
Saints at Chargers, Sunday, 4 p.m. ET
- NOTES: I like Bub Means more if Chris Olave plays. Means isn’t equipped to handle top coverage, and it being a tough matchup anyway, Means would still only be a WR4/5 Hail Mary play… Since Week 3, when J.K. Dobbins started seeing bellcow work, he’s fifth in team RBTouch% (77.3) but has zero G2G rush attempts and just one GL attempt. Every other running back with 61.5% or more (15 RBs) has at least three G2G attempts and three GL attempts, except James Conner, who has three and one, respectively. The Chargers lead the NFL in Pass% in G2G (71.4 — Seahawks second at 66.7%) and it’s even worse in GL (83.3% — Cardinals second at 66.7%).
Bills at Seahawks, Sunday, 4 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Despite only running 12 of 35 routes, Josh Allen targeted Amari Cooper on 41.7% of them (five). Khalil Shakir was targeted on 20.0% of his routes with Cooper on the field and 26.3% with Cooper out. Shakir can maintain WR3/4 value… If DK Metcalf sits out, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are WR3s, and if Metcalf plays, he’s a WR2 with Lockett and JSN WR4s given the tougher matchup — fortunately for JSN, the Bills don’t run much Cover-3.
Panthers at Broncos, Sunday, 4 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Only one player has both 10+ red zone and end zone targets, and it’s Diontae Johnson… I wouldn’t expect much of a bounce-back for Courtland Sutton, even against the Panthers, as they use Cover-3 51.8% of the time (highest), and Sutton has 0.31 YPRR against it, which is third lowest (118th overall)… The Broncos allow the sixth-fewest YPC (4.1), fifth-lowest YBC (1.14), and T-11th highest Stuff%.
Chiefs at Raiders, Sunday, 4 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Since Week 4, Kareem Hunt is fourth in team RushAtt% (75.9) and fifth in total RBTouch% (74.7) despite just 45.5% of the touches on 3rd/4th downs (29th)… Mecole Hardman had a random big fantasy day but was still way behind Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson in routes. Hardman is in the waiver column, but it’s tough to start him without seeing a major uptick in routes… If Jakobi Meyers plays, he’s in the WR4 range, as even missing two games and having Davante Adams around the first three weeks, Meyers is still second to Brock Bowers in Raiders targets.
Bears at Commanders, Sunday, 4 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Despite his averaging 21.6 FPPG from Weeks 4-6, D’Andre Swift still ceded 77.8% of the 3rd/4th down touches to Roschon Johnson, who also had three GL rushes to Swift’s five. I’m not suggesting Swift hasn’t turned the corner, but the matchups helped, and Johnson at least raises an eyebrow for when the schedule turns tough in Week 11 (you have time to sell high still)… Terry McLaurin was a perfect 5-for-5 for 95 yards from Marcus Mariota.
Cowboys at 49ers, Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET
- NOTES: Despite having a 0.12 EPA/Play, edging out Aaron Jones and James Conner, Rico Dowdle continues to lose touches to Ezekiel Elliott at -0.69, 96th (of 105). Hopefully, the bye allowed Mike McCarthy to realize he should let Dowdle be the clear lead… Ricky Pearsall has similarities to Jauan Jennings, which means he likely needs Jennings or Deebo Samuel to sit for startability. Pearsall has nice upside, but Jennings will limit his ceiling. As for Jacob Cowing, he’s Wan’Dale Robinson… but smaller… and needs both Jennings and Samuel sidelined to warrant use.
Giants at Steelers, Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET
- NOTES: The Giants lead in sacks per opposing team’s dropbacks at 12.6% (Broncos second 10.3, Jets third 9.3), and the Steelers allow the fifth-highest Pressure% (39.8)… The split for Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary was close, but it grew wider in favor of Tracy as the Giants fell further behind, which is good for Tracy given the Giants’ woes… George Pickens actually had a higher Catchable% on targets with Justin Fields (77.4% to 66.7%). But the boost came from 16.9 AirYD/TGT with Russell Wilson compared to 12.5 with Fields, and three RZ and EZ targets each in one game with Wilson compared to seven and four, respectively, over the first six weeks.
WEEK 8 SLEEPERS
I told you I listen… well, I think… because it sounds like people want sleepers separated from the game previews… maybe? Feel free to comment, as you all always do. So here are this week’s sleepers in one section.
QUARTERBACK
- Jameis Winston, CLE — Here we go! The Ravens defense simply can’t stop the pass, and teams lean into it given the Ravens’ stout run defense (well, before the Buccaneers game).
- C.J. Stroud, HOU — Mentioned the concerns of the pressure rate and how poor he’s been in those situations without Nico Collins, but fortunately, the Colts are among the worst at getting to the quarterback.
RUNNING BACK
- J.K. Dobbins, LAC — Weird G2G work aside (see above), I’d go back to Dobbins in Week 8 with a favorable Saints matchup on tap… especially if Derek Carr and Chris Olave aren’t back and the Chargers can ground-and-pound their way to an easy win.
- Rico Dowdle, DAL — See above. It’s risky to trust that McCarthy will wisen up, but the 49ers run defense isn’t fearsome, and Dowdle has been the Cowboys’ best running back… by far.
WIDE RECEIVER
- Jauan Jennings, SF (or Ricky Pearsall) — You knew this.
- Jalen McMillan, TB — If you missed waivers, McMillan was atop the wideout list, stepping into the Chris Godwin role.
- Cedric Tillman, CLE — Big time gamble, but matchup and Winston.
- Troy Franklin, DEN — Another deep dive — you might not need to risk Tillman or Franklin — but the Panthers defense is highly exploitable, and Sutton has fallen victim to Bo Nix’s rapport with other options, including his college buddy.
TIGHT END
- Will Dissly, LAC — It’s tight end, so any non-obvious start is a risk for a zero, but as mentioned with the Chargers, they love to pass in the red zone, and Dissly was a major factor with Hayden Hurst out (make sure Hurst is out again).
FUN WITH RANKS
I have a mini road trip upcoming, so it’s time to rank the Top 10 road trip artists. Oh, I know this is asking for trouble, but music tastes are wildly different, so let’s all just have some comment fun — name your faves —and be civil (you can still mock my choices). Plus, I wanted to break up the food rankings after last week and next week’s Halloween Candy list. Also, don’t go too crazy over the exact order… I debated mixing up the list eleventy different ways because sometimes it will depend on moods.
- Blink-182
- Linkin Park
- Wu-Tang
- Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Michael Jackson
- Eminem
- Notorious BIG
- 311
- Bob Marley
- My Chemical Romance
DFL: Country music. I know this will infuriate many, but I cannot stand country music.
WEEK 8 FANTASY FOOTBALL PROJECTIONS
🚨 HEADS UP 🚨 These can differ from my rankings, and MY RANKS are the order I’d start players outside of added context, such as, “Need highest upside, even if risky.” Also, based on 4-point TDs for QB, 6-point rest, and Half-PPR
Download Link Added Thursday
WEEK 8 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS
🚨 HEADS UP 🚨
- There is no perfect widget out there, sadly, still. I know many view this on your phone, but 1) use the rankings widget on a PC/laptop/etc. if possible or 2) open in your phone’s browser, especially for Android users, to get the scrolling to work (or Android people can try a two-finger scroll).
- ECR = “Expert” Consensus Ranking (which isn’t updated by everyone consistently, so take with a grain of salt).
- Updated regularly, so check up to lineups locking.
(Top photo of Jalen McMillan: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
