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Fantasy Football Start/Sit: Week 8

Fantasy Football Start/Sit: Week 8

Leading last week’s article with a victory lap naturally paved the way for a sadness parade.

Given Week 7’s chaos, the recommendations could have gone far worse. After all, this is a slate that saw Taysom Hill out-score Patrick Mahomes, Carson Wentz, and Kyler Murray while Marvin Jones and Zach Pascal led the wide receiver leaderboard. Third at wideout? Marquez-Valdes Scantling, whom I insisted needed to “earn a spot in your lineup” before trusting him again. Whoops. Eric Ebron also finished as the TE2. At least Week 7’s sit played runner-up to my start, Darren Waller.

Based on the early Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR), taken from half-PPR leagues as of Tuesday evening, the following players are all on the cusp of starting status. Let’s dive deeper into their cases to reach a verdict.

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Quarterback

Start: Kirk Cousins (MIN) vs. WAS: QB9 ECR
Revenge Game! In all seriousness, don’t waste much brain power processing Cousins’ extra motivation to prove his old team wrong. Let’s instead focus on him clearing 300 passing yards in each of the last three games and tossing four scores apiece in consecutive contests. Rough start aside, he now leads all qualified passers in yards per attempt (9.1) and quarterback rating (114.3). So yeah, he’s come a wrong way from me wrongly inserting there wasn’t enough volume to even trust him in an opportune matchup against the Giants. Washington’s climb to 12th in passing defense is highly misleading after facing the Dolphins and losing a 9-0 muddy slog against San Francisco. This is still a defense that can get shredded by a quality opponent. Cousins has once again proven to merit that moniker.

Sit: Carson Wentz (PHI) at BUF: QB13 ECR
Wentz has fared just fine as the QB10 who’s reached 19 points in five of seven games. He’s also, however, failed to accrue 200 passing yards in three of his last four contests. He didn’t attempt 30 passes in any of those bouts, including Sunday night’s 37-10 loss to Dallas. He’ll face a daunting challenge on the road against the Bills, who have allowed 5.9 yards per pass attempt with just four touchdowns through the air all season. While their schedule has been highly advantageous, they also stifled Tom Brady to 18-of-39 for 150 yards and a pick. It’s too rough a matchup to trust a low-end QB1 like Wentz over Cousins or Matthew Stafford (vs. NYG).

Running Back

Start: James White (NE) vs. CLE: RB26 ECR
White hasn’t found the end zone since Week 2. He compiled minus-one rushing yard over the last two games. He’s a strong fantasy running back. Well, in PPR (or at least half-PPR) formats, that is. White’s 38 catches and 47 targets each trail Julian Edelman for second on the Patriots. Per NFL Savant, his 11 red-zone receptions lead the NFL. Sony Michel will once again get plenty of goal-line handoffs against a Browns defense ceding 5.0 yards per carry. That hasn’t deterred White from playing a steady role in Tom Brady‘s offense, and Mohamed Sanu will need more time to get acclimated with his new team.

Sit: Joe Mixon (CIN) vs. LAR: RB24 ECR
Yep, it’s gotten this bad. A week after turning eight rushes into 10 yards, Mixon got stuffed to two yards on 10 handoffs in Week 7’s loss to Jacksonville. He also converted his only catch into a two-yard touchdown, his 15th red-zone touch of 2019. It’s nevertheless time to fret. Frank Gore, Ronald Jones, and Jamaal Williams have each recorded more fantasy points than Mixon in one fewer game. The 23-year-old has played just 53% of Cincinnati’s snaps this season, down 16% from 2018. He’s averaging 3.0 yards per carry and 3.0 targets for game. That’s a problem when playing on an 0-7 team ranked second in pass attempts. The Bengals are tabbed as a 13-point road underdog for Sunday’s showdown against the Rams, who have relinquished 3.4 yards per rush. You’d have to wield a strong backfield to sit Mixon, but doing so for White, Carlos Hyde, or even Ty Johnson is a perfectly reasonable choice.

Wide Receiver

Start: D.K. Metcalf (SEA) at ATL: WR28 ECR
According to Pro Football Focus, Metcalf leads the NFL with nine end-zone targets. He hasn’t cashed in on those opportunities, scoring his only touchdowns on 28- and 40-yard plays. Per NFL Savant, he’s yet to catch one of his 10 red-zone looks. The other 10 players with double-digit targets — including teammate Tyler Lockett — have all managed at least four receptions. Good things will eventually happen if Russell Wilson keeps trying to feed the hulking neophyte, who saw a season-high nine targets in Week 7. He’s proven a bit more stable than expected, topping 50 yards five times with only one true dud (Week 4’s six yards) on his ledger. The Falcons have permitted 8.5 yards per pass attempt and the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing receivers, so this could be the perfect spot for Metcalf to explode.

Sit: D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel (CAR) at SF: WR33 and 38
Week 7’s mud wrestling match against Washington doesn’t lend much credence, but San Francisco’s defense is still legit. The 49ers have relinquished an NFL-low 51 receptions and 681 receiving yards to wide receivers this season. The runner-ups are at 63 and 808, respectively. The last time they allowed a passing touchdown? Week 3. Respectively ranked 28th and 37th at the position, Samuel and Moore both make solid WR3 in most settings. This isn’t one of them. Don’t be surprised if everyone singing Kyle Allen’s praises is suddenly calling for Cam Newton after Carolina’s passing offense gets stymied by Richard Sherman and Emmanuel Moseley.

Tight End

Start: Jimmy Graham (GB) at KC: TE11 ECR
I still don’t trust Graham. He’s gone catchless twice this season after falling short of 25 yards seven times in 2018. This deep down the rankings, what other choice do you have? Over the last four games, the 32-year-old has caught 15 of 21 targets for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He’s already bested last year’s tally with three end-zone visits, all captured among his five red-zone targets. Aaron Rodgers could keep looking his way if Davante Adams misses his fourth straight game. Even if the star wideout returns, Graham has shown enough to play over any other unappetizing waiver-wire fodder at tight end.

Sit: T.J. Hockenson (DET) vs. NYG: TE9 ECR
The experts appear to be falling victim to the anchoring effect. Since debuting with 131 yards and a score, Hockenson has 88 yards and a touchdown in five games. While the Giants hemorrhage points, that fun has yet to funnel to tight ends. This could just amount to their schedule. The best one they’ve faced is O.J. Howard, who submitted 66 yards in his best game of a highly disappointing campaign. This has more to do with Hockenson looking more like the typical rookie tight end after a misleading start. Those in dire straits can roll the dice in hopes of a touchdown with Kerryon Johnson out of commission. Without reaching pay dirt, there’s a good chance you’re just left with three catches for 30 yards.

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Andrew Gould is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrewgould4.

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