Week 8 Start/Sit Questions

By: Mike Johnson (@mjohnson86)

Some things in fantasy football are easy. We know we should start Ja’Marr Chase and Saquon Barkley. We know we should bench the backup running back who is only on our roster in case of injury. A lot of the decisions are made for us. However, there are a lot of things that are not so simple. All of the “in between” situations are what can make the difference between a few wins and losses, and therefore it can be the difference between a successful season or a failed season. Every Friday, we are here to help!!

I’ll take questions each week in our #fantasy-football channel in our Discord from people looking for Start/Sit advice and give my thoughts. This article on Fridays will feature a few of those questions and responses, so join our Discord to be a part of the conversation or ask questions of your own!!

Question 1:: Full PPR. Need 3 out of these 5: Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr., Jayden Reed, Cedric Tillman, or DeAndre Hopkins? (mpr3eagle2)

Answer:: This feels like a situation where you are overthinking things and we need to be able to separate the different types of fantasy football, while also being able to use thoughts from one format to help make decisions in another. For me, the answer to this is clearly Nabers, Thomas, and Reed as your three starters. Tillman is coming off a nice game and is cheap in DFS this week while facing a team that may force the Browns to throw a lot (while also getting a QB upgrade). Hopkins is getting a massive QB upgrade from the Titans to Mahomes. It’s easy to want to play those guys. But in regular fantasy football, there is no salary cap savings to benefit you or ownership angles to consider. In a vacuum, the expectations and projections for the first three in this question are significantly better than Tillman and Hopkins for this week. Trust the talent.

Question 2:: Pick one if Zay Flowers is in, two if he’s out: DeAndre Hopkins, Chase Brown, Trey Palmer, Xavier Worthy, or DeMario Douglas? (0.5 PPR) (skilledwg)

Answer:: Chase Brown is my top pick from this group, as he has led the Bengals backfield for multiple weeks now and is averaging 16 opportunities per game over the past four weeks. He is also likely to be playing in the best game environment of the group you listed and has shown ability in the receiving game and near the goal line. I’ll take that workload over the receivers here every time, especially in 0.5 PPR. If Flowers misses, I would go with Worthy for the second spot. Hopkins is probably the better bet long term, but his role could be minimal since he will have two days of practice at most prior to Sunday. Worthy just had his season high in targets coming out of the Chiefs’ bye week and now gets to face the Raiders 32nd-ranked coverage unit.

Question 3:: Need 2 Flex players: Jalen Tolbert, Tank Bigsby, Ricky Pearsall, or Cedric Tillman? (PPR) (gutsman004)

Answer:: I would go with Bigsby and Tillman. I like Bigsby regardless of the status of Travis Etienne, as I think he has earned the top spot in Jacksonville’s backfield and faces a Packers defense that has given up several big games to RBs. Then I prefer Tillman for the final spot as I expect the Browns to throw the ball a lot in this matchup and Tillman is in position to benefit. Pearsall and Tolbert are playing in the same game, where I think the 49ers could lean extremely run-heavy against the poor Dallas run defense while missing several key receivers, and Tolbert has a tough matchup against the talented secondary of the 49ers.

Question 4:: Rico Dowdle, Tony Pollard, or Khalil Shakir in the Flex? (everytimeijosh)

Answer:: I lean Dowdle in this situation. His role has been growing for Dallas, and even if they fall behind in this matchup, he should be heavily involved as a receiver. Pollard is in a tough spot against a stout Lions defensive front playing on an offense that is circling the drain. Tyjae Spears is likely to return this week to cut into Pollard’s workload, while the Titans just traded DeAndre Hopkins and may be without Calvin Ridley due to a foot injury. Just not a spot with much of a ceiling and the floor is very ugly as well. Then, Shakir is in a spot where his target competition is growing and his role has some uncertainty. I’m definitely rolling with Dowdle here.

Question 5:: Romeo Doubs or Chuba Hubbard? (PPR)  (Berg25)

Answer:: There are many people who would say Chuba’s workload and volume is the play here. I am not one of those people. I am not trying to play Panthers skill players on the road against an elite Broncos defense with Bryce Young under center. On the other hand, Romeo Doubs has the biggest role among the Packers WRs and faces the Jaguars 32nd-ranked DVOA pass defense. I like Doubs by a sizable margin, especially in full-PPR formats.

Join us Saturday for Week 8 Rankings!