Fantasy football will turn you into an angry, bitter soul if you let it. Most of us derive more pain from the losses than pleasure from the wins. Some of us feel hatred toward the players, coaches or officials we hold responsible for our fantasy failings.
It’s no way to live.
Fantasy football is, after all, a game. Yes, there’s money and pride at stake. But this is supposed to be fun, dammit. The sport of football is enjoyable, so let’s have fun with it.
I’m trying not to dwell on the negative and to find joy in the NFL and fantasy seasons. For instance, I’m doing my best to appreciate that …
- The Dolphins are averaging nearly 35 points per game and are nearly as fun to watch as the “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams.
- Fifth-round rookie Puka Nacua, who has 4.6 speed and never had a 1,000-yard season in college, is blossoming into an NFL superstar.
- Adam Thielen drank deeply from the Fountain of Youth and is pacing for a career-best season at age 33.
- Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are giving us the pleasure of watching one of the two greatest QB-TE combos of all time. (Hat tip, Tom Brady/Rob Gronkowski.)
- With more than 125 receiving yards in five consecutive games, A.J. Brown has turned into an uncoverable force of nature.
- Christian McCaffrey is on pace to score 27 touchdowns.
- Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt, two future Hall of Famers, are at the height of their powers and wrecking offenses on a weekly basis.
These things are cool regardless of whether you have any of these guys on your fantasy team(s). Savor it. This is the stuff you’ll be telling your football-loving grandkids about someday.
Don’t let Arthur Smith or anyone else steal your football joy.
As always, feel free to use these tiered rankings as a tiebreaker for your difficult lineup decisions. Beneath the tiers, I’ll offer a few brief thoughts on some of the borderline start/sit guys and some other interesting cases. Here are a few notable players this week.
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
- Waiver Wire Picks
Check out the rest of our fantasy football content
Fitz’s Fantasy Football Week 8 Tiers & Rankings
You’d think the absence of the injured Zay Jones (knee) would lead to improved numbers for Calvin Ridley, since Zones vacates a small but not insignificant number of targets that have to go elsewhere. But as Ron Stewart and others have noted on Twitter, that hasn’t been the case. Ridley’s two biggest games this season — an 8-101-1 performance in Week 1 and a 7-122-0 outing in Week 5 — came when Jones was healthy and active. In the four games Jones has missed, Ridley is averaging 2.5 catches, 26.3 receiving yards and 5.4 yards per target, with one touchdown. Although Jones will be out again this week, I’m willing to defy those splits and use Ridley in a favorable matchup against a Pittsburgh defense that has given up the second-most fantasy points to WRs.
Rashee Rice has been impressive thus far in his rookie season, and he gets to play with the best pure passer in the game in Patrick Mahomes. What’s not to like? Well, his playing time leaves something to be desired. Although Rice had a season-high 59% snap share last week, there are way too many plays where Rice isn’t on the field. Only once this season has Rice drawn more than five targets in a game. He’s also scored three touchdowns on 34 targets. Touchdown rates that high tend not to be sustainable. Rice checks in at WR39 in my Week 8 rankings.
The deck is stacked against Titans QB DeAndre Hopkins in Week 8. The Titans are going to use a QB combo of Will Levis and Malik Willis — two inexperienced and unrefined passers. Hopkins will face the Falcons, who have a talented pair of outside cornerbacks in A.J. Terrell and Jeff Okudah. As good as Hopkins is, I have him ranked WR42.
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