Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 8

The 2021 NFL season is already almost halfway over as we head into Week 8.  Benjamin (@FFRabbitDad) and Brendan (@obryanbren) are back with more players to take a look at when setting your fantasy football lineups. Check it all out here in our unique Start or Sit Faceoff, for Week 8 with Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 8.

Benjamin: It was great to get back to the norm last week with Brendan back on board. Aside from our wide receiver picks, we both nailed a lot of player performances. Joe Burrow was outstanding as the #1 quarterback on the week and I hope everyone chose to sit Alex Collins and Miles Sanders as they both tanked. That nasty goose egg from Amon-Ra St. Brown was quite unexpected. I honestly don’t know what Detroit and Jared Goff were thinking by not targeting him once. Now that we’re almost halfway through the 2021 campaign, decisions are even more impactful and those finding themselves with two or fewer wins – near the bottom of the standings – may be in “go for broke” mode right now. Let’s see if we can’t alleviate some of the turmoil for you all.

Brendan: I agree, other than the wide receiver picks, we did very well. I’m ready to completely move on from those picks and forget they ever happened. I was completely buying into the Amon-Ra St. Brown hype and picked him up in a few of my leagues, only to be completely burned! It is a make-or-break season for many teams at the bottom. Time is running out to make a run and to get a few wins in a row. 

Quarterbacks

Start: Matt Ryan – Daniel Jones

Brendan: Dare I say it that Daniel Jones is starting to look the part a bit? Jones is doing just about everything you would want for in a fantasy starting quarterback. He’s running the ball well, throwing it well, and even catching the ball! The Giants offense also seems to be getting healthy at just the right time with Saquon Barkley and Kenny Golladay potentially coming back soon. This is also a good matchup as the Chiefs are allowing just over 24 points per game to opposing quarterbacks and just look bad right now. If you need a solid streaming option this week, Jones should be your guy. 

Benjamin: Things definitely started out shaky for the Falcons in 2021 but Matt Ryan has quietly come back to form in recent weeks. He’s thrown for 1,204 yards, 10 touchdowns, and only one interception over his last four contests. Rookie tight end Kyle Pitts looks like he’s coming into his zone and developing into a great second option in the passing game with 16 catches for 282 yards in the last two games. The Carolina defense started off hot this season but has cooled recently allowing 25 or more points in three of their last four games. Ryan truthers have been looking forward to the day they can confidently start him again and that day is in Week 8.

Sit: Taylor Heinicke – Tua Tagovailoa

Benjamin: Heinicke was a fantasy darling after taking over for the injured Ryan Fitzpatrick. Through his first three starts, he was on a 17 game pace of 4,748.7 passing yards and 39.7 passing touchdowns. Then the proverbial carriage changed back into a pumpkin over the last three games and he’s averaging just 232.7 passing yards with two total passing scores. Things don’t seem to look better this week as Heinicke will face a tough Denver defense that has allowed eight passing touchdowns in seven games this season. With Fitzpatrick on pace to return soon, even a magical glass slipper likely won’t be enough to keep this fairy tale going.

Brendan: The last time I picked Tagovailoa as a sit against the Bills, he ended up breaking a few ribs and sat out a few games. While I don’t hope for the guy to get hurt, I do expect a similar outing for him. This one is not going to be pretty and Tagovailoa is going to get battered. The Bills have a league-low 2.46 D-PAC score against opposing quarterbacks and are only allowing 11.01 points per game. They have also allowed a league-low five (Yes I said five) touchdown passes this season. I expect a ton of pressure on Tagovailoa and a lot of mistakes. If you made the good waiver wire call last week to stream Tagovailoa, make sure you make the next smart decision and bench him this week.

Running Backs

Start: Khalil Herbert – Darrell Henderson

Benjamin: The rookie running back for the Bears took 18 carries for 100 rushing yards against the Buccaneers in Week 7. No one has a good day on the ground against the Buccaneers. The most they allowed to a single back before last week was 67 yards to Sony Michel on 20 carries. Herbert has shown grit and determination with David Montgomery on the sidelines. In the last three games, he carried the rock 55 times at a clip of 4.95 YPC. When Montgomery returns, he will siphon away a lot of those carries. We’ve got one or two more games of great production coming from Herbert, so get him in your lineup!

Brendan: Henderson had a bit of a flop last week against the Lions, but taking out that anomaly, he’s been solid all year. Other than last week, Henderson has been scoring over 15 points per game in every game he’s played this year. That’s a little more consistent than the potential flash in the pan showing from Justin Herbert. Going against the Texans, he should have a much more productive day. The Texans are allowing just over 25 points per game this season to running backs and has anyone mentioned how horrible the Texans are? You can expect the Rams to go up big pretty quickly in this matchup and just grind the clock away with Henderson. Expect a lot of touches and a lot of production.

Sit: Myles Gaskin – Mike Davis

Brendan: Some revenge games you take a look at and just know that you have to bet on a big game for that player. This is not one of them! If you read the tea leaves, it looks like more and more the Falcons are giving Cordarrelle Patterson the starting role and Davis more as the secondary back, and for good reason! Against Miami Patterson had 34% of the target share, while Davis saw only 8.5%. Carolina also has the best D-PAC against running backs in the league at 4.77 and only allows 15.23 points per game to running backs. All this is point towards benching Davis and thinking about a potential drop here.

Benjamin: I want so badly for Myles Gaskin to succeed as the Dolphins’ main ball carrier. A seventh-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, Gaskin had a huge hill to climb to get the chance. He got there, but the road through the 2021 campaign has been rocky, at best. His touches this season have been horribly sporadic with seven in one game and then 15 in the next before coming back down to eight in another game. His only saving grace for fantasy is his usage in the passing game. However, the Dolphins head to Buffalo in Week 8. The Bills have the second toughest D-PAC rating based on our Consistency Score. It’s not going to be a good week for Gaskin and you need to find another option.

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Wide Receivers

Start: K.J. Osborn – Michael Pittman

Brendan: Going out on quit the limb this week Benjamin? I took a stab in the dark last week with my wide receiver picks, and I got stabbed in the back. This week I’m keeping it simple with Michael Pittman as my wide receiver must start. His target share is huge in this offense at 26% and he’s producing on that high target share scoring over 20 points in three of his last six games. The Titans are also allowing a very high 48 points per game to opposing wide receivers, so you look at that and consider the 26% target share, and Pittman is in for a big game. I can’t pound the pavement hard enough to make sure Pittman is in your starting lineup this week.

Benjamin: I’m going really deep with this pick. KJ Osborn has been one of the biggest surprises of the season. In three of four games where he has seen at least six targets, he has hauled in at least five balls and surpassed 75 receiving yards. In the Week 8 matchup with Dallas, passing will be highly utilized in a high-scoring affair and Osborn will need to be part of the game plan for Minnesota. I targeted him in a number of leagues and I intend to start him everywhere I can. If you’re in a league with 12 or more teams, Osborn should not be on the waiver wire this week.

Sit: Darnell Mooney – Julio Jones

Benjamin: The biggest problem for the Bears has been quarterbacking. Justin Fields hasn’t shown that he’s ready to lead an NFL offense yet. He’s not throwing enough passes to make any of his receivers fantasy relevant on a consistent basis and his passer rating is only 49.7 when he drops back to pass. Until Fields gets his footing or Andy Dalton takes the starting job, you cannot trust Mooney to produce for your fantasy team. The only times where Mooney has been startable are in games when he sees more than five targets. Even then, he doesn’t always hit. Find an alternative in Week 8.

Brendan: I was one of few in the off-season that wasn’t fully on board with the perceived production Julio Jones would add to this Titans offense. Now, nearly at the halfway point of the season and Jones has either been hurt or not producing. He’s averaging a meager 8.9 fantasy points per game, which isn’t cutting it for a starting wide receiver in your lineup. It just doesn’t seem like there are enough balls to go around in the offense. Henry demands a ton of touches, and when Tannehill actually has to throw the ball it tends to go towards AJ Brown. On paper, this would look like a good matchup for Jones to score high, as the Colts are allowing just over 38 points per game to opposing wide receivers. However, in their last meeting, the Colts held Jones to only 7.7 points. Not going to lie, I probably would start Jones over Mooney, but if you have other options you probably should go with them this week.

Tight Ends

Start: Dallas Goedert – Hunter Henry

Benjamin: With Zach Ertz relocated to Arizona, Dallas Goedert saw his highest number of routes run, as a tight end and as a wide receiver, and receiving yards last week. We all had a good idea that this scenario would play out in 2021 and now that it’s here, fantasy managers of both Ertz and Goedert are rejoicing. There’s nothing to hold back production for this young pass catcher, especially with the limited weapons for the Philadelphia passing game. Goedert should be considered an every-week play going forward, even as a Flex starter. With the Eagles headed to Detroit for Week 8, there is a great chance that we see even bigger numbers for Goedert as he steps out from the veteran shadow. Start him if you got him.

Brendan: REVENGE GAME ALERT! If you are interested, here at The FF Faceoff, we track the revenge games and you can find them here. Not all the time, but sometimes players do play just a bit harder against their old teams and I think this might be one of those situations. Henry is also on a bit of a hot streak, scoring touchdowns in the last 4 games and averaging 13.4 points per game. Solid numbers for your starting tight end. This is also a pretty solid matchup, with the Chargers allowing 17.82 points per game to tight ends. We have all the makings for a very solid start this week with Henry.

Sit: – Cole Kmet – Mike Gesicki

Brendan: I would be very hesitant to start any Dolphins player this week against the Bills. The Dolphins have been bad against the Bills that last few years. The Bills are now coming off a bye, and are probably very hungry to right the ship after the loss to the Titans. Gesicki has been a strong start the last few weeks, ranking second in points for Tight Ends since week 3. The Bills, however, have been the 8th strongest team against tight ends this year and only allowed Gesicki 7.1 points in week 3. There are better matchups this week and would stay far away from Dolphins players against the Bills.

Benjamin: With Mark Andrews and Darren Waller on bye this week, a number of fantasy managers will be looking for a fill-in at tight end. Kmet has caught 11 balls for 92 yards over the last two games. Those games were against the Packers and Buccaneers, two teams that allow plenty of production to tight ends. The 49ers aren’t that soft against the position as they have not allowed more than 25 receiving yards to any tight end since T.J. Hockenson in week one. Look elsewhere for a tight end option this week because Kmet will not be the answer.

Don’t forget to hit us up on Twitter with any of your lineup questions. You can find Benjamin @FFRabbitDad and Brendan @OBryanBren. You have a question, we will give you some guidance. After all, we want you to win!

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