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Quarterbacks

Start ‘Em

Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins

It pains me to tell people to start Tua Tagovailoa this week, but the matchup is too juicy to overlook. Tua is in his second game back from being in concussion protocol and while he didn’t look great in his debut last week, he had solid fantasy numbers completing 21 passes for 261 yards and one touchdown.

The Lions have been leaky against the pass this season, giving up over 20 points per game to opposing quarterbacks. If you held Tua out of your lineup last week to see how he looked, this week you start him.

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

After two lousy weeks sandwiched around the bye week, Jared Goff might have been dropped in your league – he was in mine. The Dolphins are a middle-of-the-road passing defense with an offense that’s sure to score a lot of points, meaning Goff will have to air it out.

Goff’s home games have been awesome this season with 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions in three games. Play Goff at home, every time.

Sit ‘Em

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Just like the Jaguars as a team, Trevor Lawrence has been highly inconsistent this season. He’s had a few solid games, scoring over 25 fantasy points twice this season, but he has just as many highs as he has lows.

He’s ranked 17th in the league with a consistency score of 5.53 and in company with Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, and Jared Goff. That is not exactly great company this season. The Jaguars are in London this week facing the Broncos who have been giving up under 10 points per game to opposing quarterbacks. Not a good start for Lawrence this week. 

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

In a prime matchup with Detroit last week, Dak Prescott only threw for 207 yards and one score. Sure, some of that had to do with the game script, but he just didn’t look good in the first half. Chicago comes to town in Week 8 sporting the fourth toughest D-PAC rating (4.01) against quarterbacks in 2022.

We went so long with Prescott available that many of us have kept the other quarterbacks we added in his absence. Let’s wait until after his Week 9 bye to saddle up with Prescott again.

Running Backs

Start ‘Em

Brian Robinson, Washington Commanders

It seems like the Commanders have been slowly ramping up Robinson into this offense since he came back to the field a few weeks ago. Last week he saw his highest usage with 20 rushing attempts and two receiving targets. His yards per carry were not great at 3.65, but enter the Colts who are giving up 23 points per game to running backs and a fourth-highest D-PAC score of 13.54. Robinson’s fantasy point scoring hasn’t been great, but I’m expecting a breakout game this week.

D’Onta Foreman, Carolina Panthers

After Christian McCaffrey shipped out to the West Coast, we weren’t really sure who’d take over the running back duties for Carolina: D’Onta Foreman or Chuba Hubbard. Well, we didn’t really get an answer to that scenario with Hubbard starting the game well before an ankle injury led to more Foreman touches.

If that injury lingers, there’s gonna be a whole lot of touches for Foreman against the Falcons. A positive game script is in the cards and would do wonders for the Carolina running game.

Sit ‘Em

Darrell Henderson, Los Angeles Rams

In the crazy and strange running back situation in LA, the clear-cut winner was Darrell Henderson’s fantasy managers. Henderson is the current RB1 but has to show that he deserves it because the Rams aren’t going to wait around.

Before the bye week, Henderson was averaging less than 4 yards per carry, and the 49ers aren’t giving up much on the ground this week. The 49ers are allowing less than 18 points per game to running backs and the fourth-lowest D-PAC score in the league at 7.

Melvin Gordon, Denver Broncos

Many of us thought Melvin Gordon would run away with the bulk of the backfield work after Javonte Williams went down. With just 3.5 yards per carry on the season and the amount of work going to Latavius Murray, it doesn’t seem meant to be. In the two games with both men active, Murray has out-carried Gordon 23 to 14 and out-rushed him 70 to 41. Murray is the back to have in this backfield for the rest of the season. I’d just drop Gordon and let someone else deal with that landmine on their roster.

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Wide Receivers

Start ‘Em

Brandin Cooks, Houston Texans

The much-forgotten-about wide receiver in Houston, Brandin Cooks always quietly puts together solid seasons. He has been averaging about eight targets per game and is always on the field for around 90% of snaps. So the opportunities are there, he’s had mild production and has just been missing out on the touchdowns.

This week he faces the Titans who have been giving up a league-leading 43 fantasy points per game to wide receivers. All those points have to go somewhere, and Cooks will be the beneficiary.

Parris Campbell, Indianapolis Colts

The change at quarterback from Matt Ryan to Sam Ehlinger is going to be a significant transition in regard to how the offense will move the ball. Ehlinger is a fleet-footed passer that will scramble when it’s called for. These situations tend to also focus more on short-range passing – the kind of work that Parris Campbell eats for breakfast.

I expect the targets to continue going to Campbell as Ehlinger gets accustomed to his new starting role. Washington has also allowed at least one player to eclipse 70 receiving yards in six of seven games with four players surpassing 95 yards.

Sit ‘Em

Marquise Goodwin, Seattle Seahawks

Marquise Goodwin flashed last week with D.K. Metcalf going down with a knee injury. He scored two touchdowns on four receptions for 67 yards. He was a popular waiver wire target this week once managers saw that production, but buyer beware!

Goodwin has been in the league for a long time, and we know he’s a speedster that can surprise a defense on occasion, but he does not have sustained production. We don’t fully know Metcalf’s game status, and the Giants have a league-low 8.15 D-PAC score against wide receivers. Now is not the time to start Goodwin.

Robert Woods, Tennessee Titans

The only good thing I can say about Robert Woods on the road this season is that he is consistent. He’s caught four balls in each road game but he’s only averaged 35.3 yards in those three games having never surpassed 39 receiving yards in any of them.

Up next is a meeting with Houston, who has the ninth toughest D-PAC rating (12.49) against opposing wide receivers. The only thing that could save Woods’ fantasy day would be one of those big trick running plays he gets every year, and you can’t bet on that.

Tight Ends

Start ‘Em

Tanner Hudson, New York Giants

Your first reaction should be, who? But that’s right I’m picking Tanner Hudson in this crap shoot of a tight-end season. If you don’t have a top three or four tight ends on your roster you are probably really struggling to find production from a tight end this season.

Daniel Bellinger was quietly putting himself together a good season in this New York offense but is now out indefinitely with a fractured eye socket. Next man up is Hudson, and facing a Seahawk defense giving up over 22 points per game to tight ends. Daniel Jones seems to like to use his tight ends and Hudson is his dude this week.

Irv Smith Jr., Minnesota Vikings

The Cardinals head up to Minnesota in Week 8 with the second softest D-PAC rating (7.55) against tight ends. They also surrendered three receiving touchdowns to the New Orleans tight ends in Week 7.

Minnesota’s offense is dependent on the passing game this season and they’ll use it to their full advantage this week. Irv Smith Jr. has caught 11 of 13 balls in his last three games. If there’s going to be one great week to start Smith, it’s this week.

Sit ‘Em

Mo Alie-Cox, Indianapolis Colts

Where has the tight end usage gone in this Colts’ offense? After a big week six where he had 6 receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns, Mo Alie-Cox has mostly been nonexistent in this Indianapolis offense. He’s facing a Commanders defense only giving up 6.79 fantasy points per game to tight ends and a D-PAC score of 2.18. Avoid Cox and just about this whole Colts offense this week.

T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions

The fact is, T.J. Hockenson’s fantasy season is horribly skewed by his Week 4 performance of 179 yards and two touchdowns. He hasn’t eclipsed 51 receiving yards in a game since Halloween of 2021. The only way we, as fantasy players, can have any faith in him is if he’s the only guy in town to catch the ball.

That’s not the case this week with Amon-Ra St. Brown and D’Andre Swift trending towards suiting up in Week 8. If you have any other viable options this week, use them instead.

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

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