Each week there are some obvious starts and sits in fantasy football. Other decisions are not quite so simple. With that in mind, I offer up some not-so-obvious picks with my weekly Studs, Duds & Sleepers. Here are this week’s picks.
STUDS
QB: Tua Tagovailoa (MIA) at DET: It’s the weekly smash spot play of picking on the Lions. Detroit has held two straight QB’s to a single TD pass while averaging giving up just 197.5 yards passing during that span. Expect Miami and its speedy wideouts to present challenges for the Lions’ secondary though. Tua is mid-range QB1 in Week 8.
RB: Travis Etienne Jr (JCK) vs. DEN: With James Robinson out of the mix, Etienne is primed for an increased role. He’s already been RB11 over the last three weeks and he’ll be locked in as a backend RB1 until further notice. The matchup isn’t great, but with his nearly three-down role it won’t matter.
WR: DeAndre Hopkins (ARI) at MIN: After watching D-Hop pull in 10 of his 14 targets a week ago, it was immediately clear the veteran was back as a must-start fantasy option and with Marquise Brown out for multiple weeks the volume of targets should continue. This week he gets a Saints’ secondary without star DB Marshon Lattimore.
TE: Pat Freiermuth (PIT) at PHI: Garbage-time production is something savvy fantasy managers look to exploit. With Philly double-digit favorites this week the Steelers will have no choice than to be passing late. Kenny Pickett has developed good chemistry with his tight end, who had nine targets a week ago vs. Miami.
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DUDS
QB: Matthew Stafford (LAR) vs. SF: Hopefully the bye week helped the Rams sort through some of their issues, but a matchup vs. the 49ers coming out of it is not a good sign for the offense. The LA signal caller has only broken 20 FP once all year and over his past four games he’s thrown more interceptions (three) than touchdowns (two).
RB: A.J. Dillon (GB) at BUF: The Packers’ offense is struggling and Dillon is following suit. He hasn’t hit double-digit fantasy points since Week , the last time he found the end zone. Dillon has also caught one or fewer balls in four of his last six games, making him unusable in PPR formats.
WR: Drake London (ATL) vs. CAR: After a fast start to his rookie season, London’s stock in redraft leagues has plummeted over the past month. He hasn’t reached 55 yards since Week 2 and hasn’t reached the end zone since Week 3. The Falcons’ passing volume is too low even to consider him as WR3/Flex play at this point.
TE: Dawson Know (BUF) vs. GB: Knox still is one of fantasy’s most overrated tight ends. He did finally score last time out vs. the Chiefs, but this week’s matchup should have the Bills with a bit more padding on the scoreboard. For what it is worth the Packers have yet to allow a tight end to score this season. Without a TD, the floor is pretty low for Knox.
SLEEPERS
QB: Andy Dalton (NO) vs. LV: The Raiders have been very generous to quarterbacks in terms of fantasy points and with Dalton in line to remain the starter in New Orleans he’s in the mix to be a solid Week 8 streamer, especially with the Saints’ D banged up and the offense likely going to have to keep pace with Las Vegas.
RB: D’Onta Foreman (CAR) at ATL: Foreman showed enough to me last week to buy-in on rolling him out as RB3/Flex option. If teammate Chuba Hubbard (ankle) ends up sitting he moves to a high-floor RB2.
WR: DeVonta Smith (PHI) vs. PIT: The Steelers’ D is still dealing with several injuries and the Eagles are coming out of a bye. Smith has been a bit up and down, but I like his big-play ability and am willing to roll the dice on him here and chase the potential fantasy ceiling.
TE: Irv Smith Jr. (MIN) vs. ARI: With the Vikings on a bye a week ago, Smith is out on way more waiver wires than he should be. I view him as a top 15 TE in most weeks and as a back-end TE1 in Week 8 with a Cardinals’ D on tap that has ceded the second-most fantasy points to the position on the season.
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