Week 8 fantasy QB rankings: Evaluating stats, matchups for 15 best fantasy quarterbacks this week

Aaron Rodgers clearly isn’t anywhere close to being the MVP-caliber quarterback that dominated this league for so many years. However, he’s also not a bad back-end fantasy QB1 or Superflex starter in Week 8. Interceptions (6 in the last three games) are a big problem, but the New York jets quarterback is also averaging over 270 passing yards per game in the last three weeks. With Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson facing a New England Patriots defense that has allowed 5 touchdown passes and a 96.5 QB rating in the last two games, Rodgers offers a safe floor.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has cleared 200 passing yards in just half of his starts this season and he’s failed to record multiple passing touchdowns in four consecutive contests. For whatever reason, the connection with Marvin Harrison Jr. isn’t there and the Cardinals offense isn’t very explosive or consistent. Lowering his fantasy ceiling even further, this Miami Dolphins defense has allowed the third-lowest QB rating (76.9) and the fewest passing yards per game (154.5) this season. Murray’s rushing ability is the only thing keeping him in our Week 8 fantasy QB rankings.

Related: Highest paid NFL players

Even ona. day when Brock Purdy was awful through the air (3 interceptions and 54.8 percent completion rate), he still bailed out his fantasy football managers with 27 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. This matchup against the Dallas Cowboys isn’t quite as appealing with Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland returning, it’s even worse with Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk out for the San Francisco 49ers. However, we do trust Kyle Shanahan to exploit Mike Zimmer’s defense and a lot of success on the ground with Jordan Mason should set up a few Purdy touchdowns.

For as much respect as we have for this Tennessee Titans defense- 166.7 passing yards per game and 59.6 percent completion rate allowed – Jared Goff is playing at an MVP-like level right now. The Detroit Lions quarterback is responsible for a 9-1 TD-INT line with a 144.8 QB rating and an absurd 83.52 percent completion rate in the last four games. We tend to believe Detroit will take a more run-heavy approach and not need to score as much against Tennessee, but Goff has proven to be one of the best fantasy quarterbacks for a month now.

In his last three games before the bye week, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams completed 74.1 percent of his passes with a 7-1 TD-INT line and a 122.8 QB rating. In Week 8, a duel against Jayden Daniels, Williams takes on a Washington Commanders defense that has allowed the third-highest passing touchdown rate (6.3 percent), the sixth-highest completion rate (70.2 percent) and the third-highest QB rating (107.4). Williams could put up elite fantasy production in this game.

Related: NFL Rookie of the Year candidates

The last time Baker Mayfield faced the Atlanta Falcons (Oct. 3), he recorded 3 touchdowns with 42 rushing yards and 180 passing yards. We wouldn’t be surprised if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback surpasses those totals in Week 8. While the rushing yards will be hard to replicate, the Atlanta Falcons pass rush is non-existent and that’s fantastic news for a quarterback with the second-highest NFL QB rating (113.8, Pro Football Focus) in the league from a clean pocket this season.

Jayden Daniels makes it this low in our fantasy QB rankings for Week 8 because of two things. First, a rib injury suffered last game could at least impact how frequently the Washington Commanders are willing to let him run on Sunday. Second, a matchup against a Chicago Bears defense that has held opponents to 180 passing yards per game (7th in NFL) with the third-lowest touchdown rate (2.1 percent) allowed. Chicago’s secondary matches up very well with the Commanders’ receiving corps, leaving Daniels’ fantasy value up to his legs and ability to extend plays.

Related: Week 8 fantasy kicker rankings

The environment makes Sam Darnold one of the best fantasy quarterbacks this year. On a short week, he faces a Los Angeles Rams defense that has allowed the sixth-highest passing touchdown rate (5.8 percent) with the fifth-highest yards per attempt average (7.9) and the highest yards per completion (12.4). We expect Aaron Jones and Justin Jefferson to have even bigger performances for their fantasy football managers, but Darnold is locked in as a top-10 QB with all 32 teams playing in Week 8.

Lamar Jackson is easily one of the best fantasy football quarterbacks this season. Normally in the top 3 of our fantasy QB rankings, the Baltimore Ravens’ two-time MVP gets dinged this week because of the matchup. While the Cleveland Browns are an awful football team, Cleveland’s defense has held its last four opponents to 188.8 passing yards per game with 9 sacks taken, 5 touchdowns allowed and a 58.8% completion rate. Jackson’s rushing ability and this elite Ravens offense offer a better path to a big day, but we have to acknowledge the downside against this Browns defense.

We’re all the way back on the Miami Dolphins offense with the likely return of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Without Tagovailoa, the Dolphins had a bottom-five offense this season. With the same supporting cast, the Dolphins have had a top-10 offense with him under center in the last two years. Plus, this is a very good Week 8 matchup, with the Arizona Cardinals allowing a 100-plus QB rating with the fifth-highest passing touchdown rate (5.9 percent) and the second-highest completion rate (71.8 percent)n to opponents through six games.

Joe Burrow bailed out his fantasy football managers in Week 7 with a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes. However, after posting a 119.2 QB rating with a 12-2 TD-INT line and averaging 301.5 pass ypg from Weeks 2-5, the Bengals quarterback has just 2 touchdowns and 389 passing yards combined in the last two games. Fortunately, Sunday’s matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles projects to be high scoring and that should require 30-plus pass attempts from Burrow. The Eagles defense has surrendered just 86 passing yards total in the last two games, but we’ll chalk that up to the quarterbacks (Deshaun Watson and Daniel Jones) faced.

Related: NFL Week 8 power rankings

Jalen Hurts only attempted 14 passes this past Sunday – because the Philadelphia Eagles wanted to help Saquon Barkley get revenge against his former team – and the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback still scored 3 total touchdowns. He should shift back to 25-30 attempts in this one, which is well-deserved with a 123.7 QB rating and 3-0 TD-INT line in two games since A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith returned. As for the matchup, the Cincinnati Bengals allowed a 106.2 QB rating, 237.5 pass ypg and 10-3 TD-INT line from Weeks 2-5. While this unit has allowed just 1 touchdown in the last two games, we’d like to remind you that Deshaun Watson and Daniel Jones were the quarterbacks faced.

We wrote in our fantasy QB rankings last week that the Buffalo Bills needed to acquire a No. 1 receiver before we felt comfortable calling Josh Allen an elite fantasy starter again. Then, the Amari Cooper trade happened. In his first game with Cooper, Allen threw for more yards (323) and touchdowns (two) than he had combined in Weeks 4-5 (311 passing yards with 1 touchdown) and that was against a top-five Titans pass defense. In Week 8, Allen faces a Seattle Seahawks secondary that has allowed a 118.8 QB rating, 9-2 TD-INT line, 72.6% completion rate and 250.8 pass ypg in the last four weeks.

Related: Winners, Losers from NFL Week 8

C.J. Stroud was a letdown for his fantasy football managers in Week 7. It was a career-worst performance and the fourth time this year he’s thrown 1 or fewer touchdown passes. He will rebound in week 8 against the Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis has allowed the eighth-most touchdown passes (10) and the eighth-highest completion rate (68.5 percent) rate. This same Colts defense also surrenders the eighth-highest yards per attempt (7.6) with the ninth-most pass ypg (222.1). Stroud should quite comfortably rebound in this one, throwing for 240-plus yards with multiple TDs.

Jordan Love tops our Week 8 fantasy rankings thanks to a phenomenal matchup and some of the best NFL stats over the last month. Interceptions will always be a thing with him, that’s his aggressive playing style, but Love is still averaging 272.8 passing yards and 3.3 passing touchdowns per game in the last four weeks (Pro Football Reference). He’s also facing a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that has allowed the most passing touchdowns (16), the highest QB rating (113.7) and the second-most passing yards per game (273.9) in the NFL this season.

Related: NFL Week 8 predictions