Our Week 8 fantasy football start and sit recommendations are now live with a whole lot to look at after the first seven weeks of the NFL season.
Two big-name quarterbacks in that of Joe Burrow and Dak Prescott don’t necessarily have great fantasy matchups. We’re also keeping an eye on the NFL trade block with less than a week to go. Could that impact the touches Derrick Henry receives for the Tennessee Titans?
At wide receiver, a familiar face in that of Odell Beckham Jr. could become relevant this week while another in Marquise Brown fades. Without further ado, here’s our fantasy football start and sit analysis for Week 8 of the NFL season.
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Week 8 fantasy football start and sit: Quarterbacks
Start
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Hurts is coming off a darn good performance against the Miami Dolphins, going for nearly 300 total yards with three touchdowns. It represented his first real solid outing since back on Oct. 1 against these very same Washington Commanders. After all, Hurts has struggled to an extent through the air on the season.
- Jalen Hurts stats (2023): 67% completion, 1,821 yards, 9 TD, 8 INT, 87.8 QB rating
The good news for Hurts — despite being hobbled somewhat by a knee injury — is the fact that Washington has struggled stopping fantasy quarterbacks, giving up 14 touchdown passes compared to five interceptions on the season. Hurts should eat in this one.
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
OK. Mahomes is pretty much a start ever week. We get it. But this is more about relying on him as an elite fantasy option in both PPR contests and standard leagues. Coming off a 424-yard, four-touchdown performance; there is no reason to avoid the reigning NFL MVP.
This is magnified with Kansas City visiting a laughable Broncos fantasy defense that has given up 16 touchdown passes compared to five interceptions. Denver is also going to be without key safety Kareem Jackson (suspension) in this one.
Sit
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Did Kirk Cousins eat the San Francisco 49ers’ defense apart this past week? Yes. Is that par for the course against the 49ers? No. Opposing quarterbacks headed into Week 7 having thrown five touchdowns against 10 interceptions when taking on the 49ers. Look for a rebound performance in that regard.
It’s now like Burrow has been fantasy relevant this season. He heads into Week 8 as a bottom-end QB 2 option with just seven touchdowns in six starts despite some recent success.
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Surprisingly, the Los Angeles Rams have given up a league-low four touchdown passes to go with three interceptions in seven games this season. That includes games against Geno Smith, Brock Purdy, Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts.
While we’re not expecting Los Angeles to pull off an upset over Dallas in Week 8, look for Tony Pollard and the running game to play a larger role for the Cowboys. Avoid Prescott here.
Related: NFL defense rankings heading into Week 8
Week 8 fantasy football start and sit: Running backs
Start
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
In terms of PPR-heavy formats, Kamara has been an absolute stud. He’s caught 35 passes in four games since returning from suspension. That included hauling in 12-of-14 targets for 91 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr has been dinking and dunking his ball to the running back at a great clip. With Kamara taking on an Indianapolis Colts defense that has given up 10 touchdowns and an 81% completion rate to running backs, the math is not too hard here.
Breece Hall, New York Jets
While Hall tallied just 39 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles in New York’s last outing, he did put up 98 total yards and a touchdown on 17 touches. In his previous two games prior to New York’s Week 7 bye, Hall gained 287 total yards and two touchdowns.
Those who roster Hall should be super excited about his Week 8 matchup against a New York Giants team that has yielded nearly 1,000 total yards to running backs on the season.
Sit
Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Much like the rest of the Raiders’ disastrous offense (16.0 PPG), Jacobs just has not done anything this season. He’s averaging less than three yards per rush and is coming off a 35-yard performance against a previously bad Chicago Bears defense.
How can we even think about relying on Jacobs as his Raiders visit a Detroit Lions defense that has given up less than 400 rushing yards to running backs and the third-fewest fantasy points to this team in seven games? Yeah, didn’t think so.
Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans
Without a doubt, Henry finds himself on the block heading into the Oct. 31 NFL trade deadline. Tennessee just dealt away star safety Kevin Byard and appears to be headed for a fire sale. There is no real reason for the team to risk injury by having Henry play a significant role against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8.
While that’s our primary recommendation for avoiding Derrick Henry in our Week 8 fantasy football start and sit, Atlanta has yielded the fourth-fewest fantasy points and zero rushing touchdowns to running backs on the season.
Week 8 fantasy football start and sit: Wide receivers
Start
Odell Beckham Jr., Baltimore Ravens
OBJ is a buy-low option in DFS contests and someone to seriously consider on the waiver wire heading into Week 8. While he has not been fantasy relevant this season (14 receptions, 162 yards), there are signs of that changing.
Beckham Jr. was Lamar Jackson’s most-targeted wide receiver last week, coming away with five receptions on seven passes thrown in his direction. He should continue his ascension to relevance in this offense against an Arizona Cardinals defense in Week 8 that has yielded a 74% catch rate and the most yards to receivers on the campaign.
Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots
Yet another player that’s on the trade block, we’re fully expecting New England to feature Bourne in what could be his final game as a member of the team. He’s also been darn good the past two games (16 receptions, 152 yards, 1 TD).
Add in Mac Jones’ rebound performance last week, and things are trending in the direction of Bourne having a great Week 8 outing against a Miami Dolphins defense that has yielded a whopping 1,212 yards and seven touchdowns to wide receivers in 2023.
Sit
Marquise Brown, Arizona Cardinals
The subject of trade rumors leading up to the Oct. 31 NFL trade deadline, Brown has not been fantasy relevant over the past two weeks (seven receptions, 83 yards). We’re not expecting that to change with a struggling Joshua Dobbs continuing to toss him the rock in Week 8.
He also doesn’t have a good matchup against a Baltimore Ravens defense that has given up the third-fewest fantasy points to tight ends on the season. The math doesn’t align here.
Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams
This stud rookie fifth-round pick was impacted by Cooper Kupp’s return back in Week 6, catching a mere 4-of-7 targets for 26 yards. He then responded with a brilliant 154-yard performance in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday.
We’re just not sold on Nacua heading into Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys. Matthew Stafford has targeted Kupp 28 times in three games since he returned from injury. Meanwhile, Dallas has yielded just 48 receptions to wide receivers in six games this season.
Week 8 fantasy football start and sit: Tight ends
Start
Dallas Goedert, Philaelphia Eagles
Goedert is coming off the best performance of the season last week against the Miami Dolphins, catching all five of his targets for 77 yards with a touchdown. Over the past three games, this stud tight end has hauled in 18-of-22 targets for 236 yards and two touchdowns. He also has a plus level matchup in Week 8 versus a Washington Commanders defense that has yielded a 72% catch rate and four touchdowns to tight ends this season.
Sit
Noah Fant, Seattle Seahawks
It’s interesting to look at. Fant has caught 92.3% of his targets from Geno Smith through six games. Unfortunately, he’s also been targeted a mere 13 times during that span. For some reason, Smith is not looking in the tight end’s direction too much this season. It’s not going to help in Week 8 with Seattle taking on a Cleveland Browns defense that has yielded a mere 14 receptions to tight ends in six games. Sit Fant, and thank us later.