After dealing with multiple teams on byes over the last few weeks, Week 8 is an oasis of availability for fantasy managers. That doesn’t mean starting just anyone based on where they were drafted way back in August. Here are the riskiest and safest plays of Week 8. And below we dive into a few notable players.
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Fantasy Football Outlook
Jared Goff (QB – DET) vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Goff and the Lions might have been thoroughly embarrassed by a superior Ravens’ offense and defense this past week. This week, they get a perfect opportunity to bounce back against a hopeless Raiders’ team that may or may not be without Jimmy Garoppolo.
The Raiders’ defense has allowed the 10th-most total points to opponents, and that is slightly more impressive than it should be due to playing the Bears, Patriots, and Packers in recent weeks. Prior to Week 7, Goff had back-to-back 20-plus point games on his CV. With David Montgomery still out, this feels like a get right spot for the Lions’ passing offense.
Josh Palmer (WR – LAC) vs. Chicago Bears
It seems impossible to have any hope for Quentin Johnston in the immediate future. Despite the lack of Mike Williams in the Chargers’ offense as well as playing 45-plus percent of the snaps in the last three games, Johnston has totalled only two catches on seven targets for 38 yards. Meanwhile, Palmer has seen 22 targets in that time, turning them into 270 yards while playing at least 85 percent of snaps each week.
The Bears allow the third-most passing yards per game (258) as well as the second-most passing touchdowns per game (2.0). Palmer is an easy start this week, and will be until Quentin Johnston does anything.
Dameon Pierce (RB – HOU) vs. Carolina Panthers
When Pierce burst onto the scene in 2022, many people thought it was an awful miss by 31 other teams to let him fall to the fourth round of the draft. In his rookie campaign, he averaged 4.3 yards per carry on 220 attempts, coming close to a thousand yards.
So far in 2023, Pierce is yet to average over 3.5 yards per carry in a single game. He has scored single-digit PPR points in four of six games and hasn’t topped 15 at all – something he managed in four of 13 games last year.
The Texans’ strength has been the passing game. With only three total targets in his last three games, it’s not like we can count on Pierce to prop up his fantasy scores with receiving numbers.
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