Uncertainty is one of the more difficult things to deal with in Fantasy Football, and we had plenty of it at quarterback heading into Week 8. Thankfully it's clearing up.
Drew Brees is in and Patrick Mahomes and Matt Ryan are out. As a result, Matt Moore and Matt Schaub are in.
I'm plugging Brees right back into my lineup as a top-10 option against a good matchup against the Cardinals. There just aren't enough good quarterbacks in Week 8 to consider sitting him.
The loss of Bridgewater as a streaming option does make that group seem a little less appealing, but there are still a pair of top-12 options available on the waiver wire and I've ranked them below.
Week 8 QB Preview
Numbers to know
- 2,419 - Total attempted air yards this season for Matt Ryan, the most in the league. The Falcons can't run the ball or stop Seattle, so I'd expect Matt Schaub is going to have to wing it as well if Ryan is out.
- 10.5 - Averaged intended air yards for Stafford this season. That type of downfield attack should work very well against the Giants secondary.
- 2.48 - Average time to throw for Sam Darnold. Only Andy Dalton has had it worse.
- 82.2% - Share of Ryan Tannehill's throws that have been "on-target" this season, according to SIS. That's the third best mark in the league, but it's still a very small sample size.
- 7.04 - Gardner Minshew's ANY/A. That's the fourth-highest mark in the past decade for a rookie quarterback with at least 100 attempts.
- 6.8% - Jacoby Brissett's touchdown rate this season. He's been great, but there's probably some touchdown regression in his future.
Matchups that matter
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Waiver Wire Targets
Minshew put up another starter-worthy performance in Week 7, and he was unlucky it wasn't better. He had 255 passing yards and 48 rushing yards. He marched the Jaguars up and down the field but only got in the end zone once. I'm not so sure Jacksonville will be able to run easily on the Jets, so I think Minshew's volume could be up. More importantly, I think he's a weekly starter in Fantasy unless he's in a terrible matchup.
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No team has given up more Fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks than the Dolphins. While I would expect the Steelers to run the ball as much as possible, there's still a good chance Rudolph finds a couple of scores. And if the Steelers decide this is a good chance to work on their passing game, he could have a massive game. The Dolphins aren't stopping anyone.
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Newton is expected to start practicing after the bye week, and I fully expect him to take his job back once he's healthy. It's easy to forget that before all these young dual-threat quarterbacks, there was Newton doing it better than anyone. When he's right, he has as much upside as any player in the league.
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Yes, that was embarrassing on Monday night. But after Week 8, the Jets get the Dolphins, Giants, Washington, Raiders, Bengals and Dolphins again. If Sam Darnold is ever going to be good in Fantasy, it will be against this stretch of opponents.
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DFS Plays
Stafford's price actually jumped quite a bit, but not quite enough. He's thrown more than 34 passes twice this season. He's topped 360 yards and thrown at least three touchdowns in both games. I can't imagine the Lions will go run-heavy without Kerryon Johnson, which should keep Stafford's volume up against a Giants defense allowing 8.9 yards per pass attempt.
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Minshew keeps producing while his price and ownership stays low. I'll keep playing him.
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Heath's projections
Rank | QB | FPTs |
1 | Russell Wilson | 30.60 |
2 | DeShaun Watson | 30.35 |
3 | Matthew Stafford | 29.90 |
4 | Gardner Minshew | 26.32 |
5 | Aaron Rodgers | 25.83 |
6 | Tom Brady | 25.48 |
7 | Drew Brees | 25.45 |
8 | Jared Goff | 25.45 |
9 | Mason Rudolph | 24.94 |
10 | Matt Ryan | 24.92 |
11 | Jacoby Brissett | 23.90 |
12 | Kirk Cousins | 23.62 |
13 | Kyler Murray | 23.08 |
14 | Philip Rivers | 23.08 |
15 | Carson Wentz | 21.96 |
So who should you sit and start in Week 8? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy football rankings for every single position, and see which shocking QB comes out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.
