Fantasy football rankings Week 8: Sleepers, starts, Chuba Hubbard, Stefon Diggs, projections

Thanks to the NFL having six teams on a bye, we’re digging a bit deeper for fantasy football sleepers and starts. It doesn’t help that Week 8 has a bunch of injury situations to monitor — looking at you, wide receivers. Rest easy, readers, I’ll provide you with some interesting stats, matchups, and more, to help you make the best start or sit decisions for your Week 8 lineups. Plus, I have another big fun ranks list: the best wrestling entrances of all time.

#CheckTheLink-age

Week 8 Waiver Wire
Week 8 SOS Ranks
Fantasy 101 (weather, start/sit, trading, more)
🎙️All In Speed Run Podcast🎙️

WEEK 8 FANTASY FOOTBALL NOTES

NOTE: Will be using stats since Week 3 unless noted — more recent trend sampling for a better “snapshot”

Running Backs

• The Browns allow the lowest Yards Before Contact (YBC) at 0.16 and the percentage of rushes resulting in a first down or touchdown (16.4% — Seahawks second lowest at 18.0%). You can’t bench Rhamondre Stevenson with six teams on bye, but risking TreVeyon Henderson appears ill-advised.
• Opponent backfield scores against the Bills: 29.6, 5.5, 18.9, 19.7, 20.0 and 38.6. That 5.5 was the Jets. They’re also allowing 3.94 Yards After Contact. Unless the Bills’ defense found a major elixir during the bye, you can risk both Panthers running backs against them.
• Yes, the last game was against Jonathan Taylor, but the Chargers have still allowed eight rushing touchdowns, with only the Giants unable to run one in. Jordan Mason, you’re next.
• Given it’s a six-team bye week, Kyle Monangai’s Week 7 usage, plus a matchup with the Ravens, makes him an interesting RB3. The David Montgomery comparison is a valid one to understand the risk, as Monty has three games of 12.6+ fantasy points and four games of 7.1 or lower.
• If Bucky Irving returns, he’ll be a Top 15 option, as the Buccaneers wouldn’t overdo the risk to Irving with their bye next week. That would push Rachaad White into the RB3 range.
• If Kareem Hunt is out, Brashard Smith is an upside RB3 with a low-floor risk. The Commanders’ matchup isn’t worrisome, but the Chiefs used Smith heavily after the Hunt injury and while in blowout mode.

Wide Receivers

• The Dolphins rank first in percent of pass attempts to go for a first down or touchdown (39.9%), and fourth in drives resulting in a touchdown (30.3%). The Falcons should run through the Dolphins harder than the Juggernaut, but there is still upside in starting Darnell Mooney as a Hail Mary play … if … Michael Penix is 100% in practices or Kirk Cousins ends up starting for him. Cousins would rank slide right into Penix’s spot.
• It doesn’t matter if you use your eyes or metrics; we know the Broncos are a tough matchup. With CeeDee Lamb back, George Pickens had his second-lowest target and reception totals (6 and 4, respectively) of his past six games  (he had 4 and 2 against the Jets in Week 5). Pickens is a risk and would be more benchable if not for six teams on a bye.
• Stefon Diggs has the fourth-highest Yards Per Route Run (YPRR) against man coverage (4.65), minimum 20 routes. Kayshon Boutte has 1.43 compared to 2.16 against zone, which is tied with Diggs. The Browns use man coverage more than any team. It’s a bounce-back week for Diggs.
• Khalil Shakir leads the Bills in YPRR against zone at 2.10 with Keon Coleman at 1.40 and Joshua Palmer at 1.37. Meanwhile, Palmer jumps to the lead against man with 3.15 — Coleman is at 1.42 and Shakir is at 0.93. Why is this important? The Panthers are the zone-heaviest team at 81.6%.
• Are you ready for some flowchart-level if/then’s?
  • If Garrett Wilson plays, you play him. That was easy. If he’s out, I’m not risking anyone else outside Mason Taylor.
  • If Darius Slayton returns, he’s a boom/bust WR4. If out, same as the Jets.
  • 49ers: If Ricky Pearsall can go, he has the best floor, as Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne affect each other more. Pearsall would be a WR3 with an okay ceiling, while Jennings would rank close behind him with the higher risk/reward. The rankings are as if Pearsall doesn’t return. Now, if Brock Purdy plays, Bourne takes a bit more of a hit, regardless of Pearsall’s status.
  • The rankings assume Nico Collins is out (concussion). If he is somehow cleared, Collins would be a WR1 with Jaylin Noel falling to WR4/5 territory. That assumes no Christian Kirk. If he plays with Collins, he’d be the WR4. If Kirk plays without Collins, he’d be a WR3 with Xavier Hutchinson, Jayden Higgins and Noel all as boom/bust WR5s.
  • It’s assumed Chris Godwin won’t return until after the bye, which is why he’s not in the rankings. Similar to Irving, if Godwin does play, we would expect many limitations, putting Godwin into the low-WR3 range with Tez Johnson falling to the WR4 tier for boom/bust potential.
  • The Colts are a middle-of-the-road matchup, but more vulnerable in the slot. If Calvin Ridley plays, he’s no more than a risk-laden WR3. Elic Ayomanor would slide down a bit, but the real gamble, given the slot use, is Chimere Dike. That’s as Hail Mary as it gets, and specifically attacking a vulnerable matchup situation.
  • Christian Watson is in the ranks, but if he doesn’t return against the Steelers, both Romeo Doubs and Matthew Golden would be fringe WR2s.
  • Lastly … whew … Terry McLaurin without Deebo Samuel would boost Jaylin Lane. Samuel without McLaurin would boost Chris Moore. Both being out again would have Moore and Lane as risky WR3 plays.

Tight Ends

• The Falcons have allowed a receiving line of just 10-99-1 to all tight ends this year, which includes Cade Otton, T.J. Hockenson, Zach Ertz and George Kittle (with a zero in Week 7).
• Meanwhile, the Bengals are the best Week 8 matchup for tight ends, making Mason Taylor a strong fill-in with or without Garrett Wilson.
• If David Njoku returns, both he and Harold Fannin are high-end TE2 plays. If Njoku remains sidelined, Fannin would be in the Top 10. The entire offense was hurt by the heavy winds in Cleveland last week.

Quarterbacks

• Jayden Daniels was the first quarterback since Week 1 (Jalen Hurts) who didn’t throw for at least two touchdowns against the Cowboys, and only Justin Fields of those other five failed to throw for three or more. We’re ready for Bo Nix to carry over his fourth-quarter magic from last week.
• Whether it’s Mac Jones or Brock Purdy, it’s tough to like either in the Texans matchup. It’s a mixed bag of quality facing the Texans, but the list of quarterbacks does include Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield and Trevor Lawrence. Mayfield is the only quarterback to throw for two touchdowns, while Lawrence, Cam Ward and Cooper Rush combined for just 509 yards and zero TDs.
• Yes, the Bengals are a great matchup. Even if the Jets go ahead with Tyrod Taylor, I’m not risking him outside of SuperFlex — as evidenced in the rankings — given the potential for Taylor to get yanked as much as Justin Fields would be if he were the starter.

FUN WITH RANKS

Another music one of sorts, and if you don’t like wrestling, you can still enjoy the videos/entrances. That’s what I’m ranking. The best wrestling entrances of all time (well, from my lifetime). There are sooooo many factors going into the list: song itself, the entrance’s effects, crowd (likely) involvement, etc. And yes, we probably could put together a list of individual best entrances ever — from Wrestlemania, etc. — but that’s another discussion because some have been epic. In any case, just like the one-hit wonders, I’m sure I’m forgetting one or two, so I’ll update as you remind me … or tell me my ranks suck more than Kurt Angle.

Best Wrestling Entrances of All Time

1. Triple H — “The Game” way over “King of Kings” — When you take the showmanship, song, consistency, everything, Triple H is tops
2. Undertaker
3. Chris Jericho — Bonus, his Judas AEW intro (from his band) rocks too
4. Goldberg
5. Stone Cold — You knew it was going down when the glass broke
6. D-Generation X
7. Shinsuke Nakamura
8. Bray Wyatt
9. Shawn Michaels
10. Finn Balor (demon) — Bring it back!
11. Kane
12. The Rock
13. Brock Lesnar — Another where it’s about to hit the fan
14. DDP
15. Hulk Hogan
16. Seth Rollins — Fans love it, even when he’s a heel
17. Ric Flair
18. Sting — Of course, dropping from the roof in WCW rules
19. nWo
20. Lita — Best of the women intros, easily
21. Edge
22. CM Punk
23. Cody Rhodes — “Something, something, Cody Rhodes!”
24. John Cena — The one you can sing “John Cena sucks” to
25. Bobby Roode
26. Roman Reigns
27. Becky Lynch — Old version
28. Rey Mysterio
29. Rhea Ripley
30. Macho Man — Would rank higher if not also the graduation song

Honorable Mention:

WEEK 8 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS

🚨 HEADS UP 🚨

• There is no perfect widget out there, sadly, still. I know many view this on your phone, but 1) use the rankings widget on a PC/laptop/etc. if possible or 2) open in your phone’s browser, especially for Android users, to get the scrolling to work (or Android people can try a two-finger scroll).
• ECR = “Expert” Consensus Ranking (which isn’t updated by everyone consistently, so take with a grain of salt).
• Updated regularly, so check up to lineups locking.

WEEK 8 FANTASY FOOTBALL PROJECTIONS

🚨 HEADS UP 🚨 These can differ from my rankings, and MY RANKS are the order I’d start players outside of added context, such as, “Need highest upside, even if risky.” Also, based on 4-point TDs for QB, 6-point rest, and Half-PPR

Download Link Added Thursday

All In Speed Run Pod: Ranks with Rich Hribar