Fantasy Football: Start / Sit Week 8

As we all predicted last week, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Zach Pascal put up a huge stat line (6/107/2), leading your fantasy football team to victory.

Joking aside, that’s fantasy football for you; it’s unpredictable a lot of the time. But that doesn’t stop me from making predictions about week 8 of the NFL season. Here are my starts and sits of the week:

Quarterback:

Start- Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions

With starting running back Kerryon Johnson going down, you have to figure the Lions lean a little bit more on the passing game. Add in the juicy matchup against the New York Giants (allowing a 100.6 quarterback rating) at home? Stafford looks ready to have a solid week.

Sit- Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles offense just can’t seem to get into any groove. DeSean Jackson has been out since week 2, receivers are dropping passes and apparently Wentz doesn’t have many fans in the locker room. A trip to Buffalo to take on a very tough Bills defense won’t help fix those issues.

Running Back:

Start- Marlon Mack, Indianapolis Colts

Jacoby Brisett exploded last week by throwing 4 touchdown passes against the Houston Texans. The 2-5 Broncos seem like a good matchup on paper, but Denver has been shutting down the fantasy production of opposing QBs. That’s why I have Marlon Mack here.

I think the Colts go into the game with a similar game plan to that of their matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in the season: run the ball and control the clock. I think Indy does just that and Mack has a big game.

Sit- Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans 

The Titans are set to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unlike the Denver Broncos, the Bucs have terrible pass coverage giving up over 300 passing yards a game while ranking first against the run. For a guy like Derrick Henry who just runs it up the gut play after play, he may not have all the ingredients for the recipe to success.

Wide Receiver:

Start- Kenny Stills, Houston Texans

Despite having their bye week already, the Oakland Raiders lead the league in 20+ yard pass plays. Their opponent this week, Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans, love chucking it past 20 yards.

With wide receiver Will Fuller nursing a hamstring injury, Kenny Stills has taken over his role (94% of snaps last week). You have seen the opportunity that Fuller has got to put up points, and I think Stills takes advantage of that same opportunity in a good matchup.

Sit- Emmanuel Sanders, San Fransisco 49ers

Do NOT get caught up in the hype of the Emmanuel Sanders trade. Yes he goes to a better team with a better quarterback, but he still needs to learn the playbook. I’d really only expect him to play half the snaps this week.

-Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)