Fantasy Football Week 8 Starts, Sits: Advice For Toughest Lineup Decisions

Fantasy football managers will have more decisions to make leading up to Week 8, with a handful of injuries to lineup mainstays and two fantasy-relevant NFL teams on their bye week.

Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs will accompany Justin Herbert, Austin Ekeler and the Los Angeles Chargers on the Week 8 bye. Meanwhile, fantasy football owners will be filling the void without New York Jets running back Breece Hall, Cincinnati Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase, among others, as Week 7 injuries cause them to be taken out of starting lineups.

With that, here are our starts and sits ahead of Week 8 in fantasy football:

Starts
Tony Pollard, RB, Dallas Cowboys
The debate with Pollard this season has had a lot more to do with the number of snaps he sees than his skillset. Well, Pollard saw a season-high 65% of snaps in Week 7 against the Detroit Lions and turned it into 14 touches for 109 yards. He’ll now command the backfield in Week 8 with Ezekiel Elliott inactive. Chicago, despite most recently limiting the New England Patriots on the ground Monday night, has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to running backs this season — behind ranking 29th in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns allowed. Pollard was viewed as RB19 on Yahoo before Elliott officially was ruled out, and could be a top 10 option given the update.

D’Onta Foreman, RB, Carolina Panthers
We advised adding Foreman off the waiver wire, and we’re thinking about taking it a step further with Carolina gearing up for a Week 8 game with the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons have performed just fine against opposing running backs this season, ranking in the top 10 in points allowed to players at the position. But Foreman performed very well in Week 7 while splitting snaps with Chuba Hubbard following the trade of Christian McCaffrey — he finished RB17 in scoring. Hubbard now is inactive with an ankle injury. Foreman saw 54% of snaps and finished with 17 touches for 145 total yards, indicating a larger role with Hubbard’s injury could make for a top-15 output. Yahoo had Foreman ranked RB30 entering Week 8.

Daniel Jones, QB, New York Giants
Jones, fresh of a Week 7 win in which he ran for 100-plus yards and one touchdown, now will go up against a Seahawks defense that has allowed the seventh-most rushing yards to quarterbacks. Seattle has allowed the 11th-most points to signal-callers this season, with Kyler Murray compiling 100 rushing yards in Week 6. No team in the league allows more yards per attempt than the Seahawks. Oh yeah, and Jones quietly is a top-10 quarterback in average scoring this fantasy football season, per Sportradar. He ranks as Yahoo’s QB9 this week, ahead of opposing quarterback Geno Smith, Tom Brady, Derek Carr and others.

Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks
We’ve been growing high on Lockett in recent weeks given the resurgence of Geno Smith, but the fact Seahawks wideout DK Metcalf, who reportedly will play, will be working back from injury should help Lockett, too. Of note, Lockett received 53 targets through seven weeks with Metcalf receiving 52 — both players ranking inside the top 25, per Sportradar. Lockett, who has averaged 14 points per week in full-point leagues, is viewed as WR15 entering Week 8, ahead of a number of wideouts he might have been benched for earlier this season. This has far more to do with Lockett’s ceiling than his opponent, though, as the Giants have allowed the third-fewest points to wideouts this season.

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Sits
AJ Dillon, RB, Green Bay Packers
You’d have to be in a pretty bad spot to start Dillion against the Bills on “Sunday Night Football.” Most notably, nobody has allowed fewer points to running backs than Buffalo has this season. Additionally, Dillon has fallen off in a big way, ranking RB54 in scoring since Week 4 behind an average of 5.88 points, per Sportradar. The Packers running back also saw a season-low 30% of snaps in Week 7 against the Washington Commanders. Dillon is ranked Yahoo’s RB37 entering the Week 8 contest.

James Robinson, RB, New York Jets
Robinson landing with the Jets actually is a very intriguing move, with New York currently in second place in the AFC East and inching closer to its first playoff berth in more than a decade. Going forward, Robinson should improve the Jets’ backfield depth following the season-ending injury to Breece Hall, as he’ll play alongside Michael Carter. However, he shouldn’t be trusted to have a meaningful role in his first week. The Patriots have been one of the better teams against running backs this season, allowing the eighth-fewest points to ball carriers. Robinson is viewed as Yahoo’s RB41 entering the slate.

Michael Gallup, WR, Dallas Cowboys
Injuries to wideouts and the return of Dak Prescott might have Gallup fantasy managers debating his standing, but given the receiver’s zero in Week 7, it’s worth keeping him on the bench. Gallup saw just two targets in 67% of snaps against the Lions on Sunday and didn’t record a catch. Now, the Cowboys will go up against a Bears defense that has allowed the fourth-fewest points to receivers this season. He’s viewed as Yahoo’s WR39.