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Fantasy Football 2017: Start or sit for Week 8

By Dan Thomas

SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 18: Quarterback Philip Rivers
SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 18: Quarterback Philip Rivers /
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With Week 8 of the regular season set to kick off tonight, who are the players fantasy football owners should want to start and sit?

This week is a bit of an odd week because not only are owners still feeling the affects from injuries from previous weeks, but now they have to deal with six teams being on their bye week. So in a lot of cases this week, owners are going to have to plug a player in their starting lineups they would have almost never considered any other week.

Even in this unusual situation, I am not going to recommend players to owners who currently rank top-five at their respective position. What’s the point of that? Instead, we are going to look at some players who owners could be indecisive about.

Here are some players you should consider starting or sitting for Week 8.

Note: Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants and Tennessee Titans all have a bye this week.

ORCHARD PARK, NY – OCTOBER 22: Tyrod Taylor #5 of the Buffalo Bills runs with the ball during the second quarter of an NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NY – OCTOBER 22: Tyrod Taylor #5 of the Buffalo Bills runs with the ball during the second quarter of an NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

Quarterbacks

Start

Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills vs. Oakland Raiders – Taylor is coming off his best fantasy performance of the season after he finished with a season-high in passing yards (268) and 53 rushing yards in Week 7. This week he faces a Raiders defense who have allowed an opposing quarterback to finish with 14+ fantasy points in five out of seven games this season.

Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers vs. New England Patriots – Last week Matt Ryan was the first quarterback this season who didn’t throw 300+ yards against the New England Patriots. Does that mean the Patriots are getting better on defense? Maybe but keep in mind Ryan still managed to finish with 17 fantasy football points. Rivers, who is averaging 259 passing yards this season, should eclipse the 300-yard mark on Sunday.

Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals vs. Indianapolis Colts – After averaging 19.3 fantasy points between Weeks 3-5, Dalton took a step back last week after he finished with 10.4 points. However, that was against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Colts defense is nowhere close to that good. I would expect 275+ passing yards and at least two touchdowns from Dalton on Sunday.

Sit

Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions vs. Pittsburgh Steelers – Speaking of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, here they are facing Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions this week. More times this season, opposing quarterbacks have finished with single-digit fantasy performances (4) than double-digit when facing the Steelers. That’s all you need to know about Stafford’s matchup this week.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Detroit Lions – Big Ben is coming off his second-best fantasy game of the season but then again, he only scored 16.7 points. He is having an awful fantasy season in 2017 and he has a history of playing poor on the road. I would avoid Roethlisberger in this situation.

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