Through seven weeks of the fantasy football season, we have learned a few things: You cannot trust coaches, injury reports, or kickers; start everyone against the Dolphins, Cardinals, Bengals, and Redskins; the Patriots are really good.
With only the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys on a bye in Week 8, there are plenty of good matchups you can use to your advantage when setting your fantasy football lineups. Below are some good plays for this week, as well as some other players you should consider avoiding.
Who to Start
— Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals (QB): Goff has the potential for a second solid game in a row due to matchup alone. Last week, he had 268 passing yards and three touchdowns in Atlanta and in Week 8 faces the Bengals, who are bottom five in the league in almost every defensive category, including points scored against, sacks and interceptions. He has the potential to finish as the top quarterback in fantasy this week.
— Chase Edmonds, Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints (RB): The Cardinals signed veteran running back Alfred Morris on Tuesday to add some depth to the backfield. This comes as another unsettling omen for David Johnson owners after he had one carry for two yards on Sunday. Meanwhile, Edmonds went off on the Giants and had 27 rushing attempts, two catches, 150 yards and three touchdowns. The Saints run defense is good but the volume should be there for Edmonds to put up points. He is a low-end RB2 this week.
— Ty Johnson, Detroit Lions vs. New York Giants (RB): Another popular waiver add in light of Kerryon Johnson’s designation to injured reserve on Tuesday was Ty Johnson. Ty will likely be in a timeshare with J.D. McKissic, but both should have many opportunities to score this week versus the Giants, who gave up three rushing touchdowns to Edmonds last week. Johnson is a borderline RB2 this week.
— Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos at Indianapolis Colts (WR): Emmanuel Sanders was traded on Tuesday afternoon to the 49ers, which should mean a big bump for Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton. Sutton has not scored a touchdown since Week 5, but has managed to be productive in spite of Joe Flacco. He had six catches on eight targets for 87 yards in Week 7 against the Chiefs. He should see significant targets and has WR1 upside this week against the Colts.
— Kenny Stills, Houston Texans vs. Oakland Raiders (WR): Will Fuller suffered a significant hamstring pull in Week 7 during the Texans’ first series of the game and will miss several weeks. DeAndre Hopkins will get more targets, and so will the newly acquired Stills, who had four catches on five targets for 105 yards on Sunday. With a nice Week 8 matchup against Oakland, he is a WR3/flex with upside.
— Jimmy Graham, Green Bay Packers at Kansas City Chiefs (TE): Graham caught all four of his targets on Sunday against Oakland for 65 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers should continue to lean on him with the entire Packers receiving corps banged up against a bad Chiefs defense on Sunday night.
— Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST vs. Miami Dolphins: It’s been a safe bet all season to start your players against the Dolphins, and this is no exception. Pittsburgh has been good on defense this year: they are fifth in the league in sacks and third in interceptions. They should have no problem putting up points on a feeble Miami team.
Who to Sit
— Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers at Chicago Bears (QB): Rivers has put up decent fantasy numbers in spite of finding novel ways to lose football games each week. He falls out of the QB1 conversation this week in a difficult matchup against the Bears.
— Devin Singletary, Buffalo Bills vs. Philadelphia Eagles (RB): Singletary returned to the field in Week 7 after missing three games with a hamstring injury. The Bills went back to using a committee with Singletary and Frank Gore, with Gore having 11 carries to Singletary’s seven. He failed to exploit the matchup against Miami last week and faces a strong Eagles front seven. He drops into RB3/flex territory.
— Adrian Peterson, Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings (RB): Peterson plans to play on Thursday against the Vikings despite having suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 7 against the 49ers. With Derrius Guice and Chris Thompson out, the Redskins were forced to lean heavily on Peterson and he finished the day with 20 rushes for 81 yards. Avoid him this week if you can with looming health concerns.
— Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons vs. Seattle Seahawks (WR): There is a chance Matt Ryan does not play on Sunday against the Seahawks after suffering an ankle sprain in Week 7 that forced him from the game. The entire Falcons offense is downgraded if backup Matt Schaub has to start, and their receivers will face a challenging secondary that has just been edified by the acquisition of safety Quandre Diggs from the Lions.
— Jarvis Landry, Cleveland Browns at New England Patriots (WR): Expect the entire Browns offense to be stymied this week opposite the best defense in the league. Even if quarterback Baker Mayfield manages to not be sacked on every drive, the Browns receivers will be tightly guarded by a lights-out secondary led by cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty and Jonathan Jones. Landry is a low-end flex option this week.
— Eric Ebron, Indianapolis Colts vs. Denver Broncos (TE): Ebron is a quintessential touchdown-dependent tight end. In the three games this year in which he did not score, he accrued a total of seven fantasy points. In spite of a slow start, the Broncos defense has picked up a bit and has allowed one touchdown to opposing tight ends this year (James O’Shaughnessy in Week 4). They even held Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce to 44 yards and no touchdowns in Week 7. Ebron is a sit this week.
— Carolina Panthers D/ST at San Francisco 49ers: A bad Week 8 matchup trumps the Panthers’ impressive performance to date. Carolina leads the league in sacks and is second to the Patriots in interceptions, but it will be tested against an undefeated 49ers team. The trade-deadline addition of Emmanuel Sanders should strengthen Jimmy Garoppolo’s attack through the air. Consider streaming another defense for this week.