Fantasy football is a mess. Multiple running backs went off last week, most notably Tony Pollard and Quidshon Judkins, who were probably on a lot of people’s benches last week. Kickers were deciding games with missed field goals. The Dallas Cowboys’ offense finally came back, returning some of their players to fantasy relevance.
Bye weeks will certainly play a factor once again with the Houston Texans, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers on bye. Luckily, there are some under-the-radar prospects who can be in your lineup this week to fill in for your players on bye.
So, who should and should not be in your fantasy lineup? Here are our starts and sits for Week 8:
Start: QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys finally got things back
on track offensively in their win over the Philadelphia Eagles. He threw three touchdowns, his most since Week 2 against the Washington Commanders. Now, Prescott gets one of the best matchups he could ask for against the Arizona Cardinals, who are giving up a lot of points to quarterbacks in fantasy. Bet on another multi-touchdown game for Prescott.
Sit: QB Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
While Dallas is getting back on track, the Los Angeles Rams are not. Davante Adams will be out for a while, leaving a large gap in Los Angeles’ offense. Matthew Stafford actually has multiple touchdowns in the past three games, but his fantasy production over the past two weeks has been poor because of his lack of passing yards. He even had a bad game against the Cardinals. This week, he faces one of the better defenses in the NFL. Despite their winless record, the Los Angeles Chargers have been a problem for quarterbacks in fantasy. It may be a good week to put Stafford on your bench and stream an option from the waiver wire.
Start: RB Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
Usually, split backfields hurt both running backs in fantasy. However, the Los Angeles Rams are currently an exception, with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum getting decent points. Furthermore, the Chargers may hold quarterbacks to few points, but the same does not apply to running backs. In fact, they are actually a good matchup for running backs in fantasy, so Corum should hit his production at the very least in this game.
Sit: RB Tony Pollard, Tennessee Titans
Even though he just put up three touchdowns last week, Tony Pollard should be on the bench. That is not close to how Pollard usually performs. In fact, he only had one rushing touchdown and had not put up 100 rushing yards in a game until last week. Now Pollard is facing one of the best run defenses in the NFL. He can only go down from his performance last week and it is probably going to be a large decline.
Start: WR Omar Cooper Jr., New York Jets
Omar Cooper Jr is someone who has flown under the radar this season, in part because he missed time due to an injury. However, in both of his full games this season, he has over 100 receiving yards and a touchdown. His target share is also decent despite the Jets also having Garrett Wilson and having Geno Smith at quarterback. Especially if you have a receiver or two on bye, Cooper is a great option with high upside in a decent matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Sit: WR A.J. Brown, New England Patriots
First, A.J. Brown popped up on the injury report again with knee and ankle injuries. But more importantly, he has not developed chemistry with quarterback Drake Maye and it is impacting his fantasy performance. In the last two games, he has been targeted 16 times. However, he only has six receptions for 75 yards. Furthermore, despite the Miami Dolphins’ record, they are also generally a bad matchup for receivers. A.J. Brown needs to stay on the bench.
Start: TE T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
T.J. Hockenson is a streaky tight end. But, there is good reason to believe he will have a good game against the Detroit Lions. Simply put, Detroit is terrible against tight ends this season. In just six games, they have given up 602 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns to tight ends. Minnesota will have a plan to exploit the Lions’ defense with Hockenson given their performance this season and it will result in a lot of fantasy points.
Sit: TE Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
On the other side of this game, the Vikings have been shutting down tight ends all season. In six games, they have only given up 233 receiving yards against tight ends and are one of two teams in the NFL that have not allowed a tight end to catch a touchdown pass. Especially after having only one reception last week, Sam LaPorta needs to stay on the bench this week.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Starts and sits for fantasy football ahead of Week 8
