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
After Browns RB Jerome Ford got hurt last week, Pierre Strong played more snaps and had more touches than Kareem Hunt in the remainder of Cleveland’s 39-38 win over Indianapolis. But that doesn’t mean Strong outranks Hunt in this backfield. Hunt has been dealing with a thigh issue, so the Browns probably wanted to be careful with him. Hunt didn’t participate in training camp because he was unsigned, so it’s smart for the Browns to judiciously manage his workload. They might do it again this week, which is why I’m conservatively ranking Hunt RB33. Strong checks in at RB41. The Cleveland RBs will face a Seattle run defense that’s been much tougher than it was last year, when the Seahawks gave up the third-most fantasy points to RBs. So far this year, the Seahawks have allowed the 14th fewest fantasy points to running backs, and their defense ranks No. 3 in DVOA against the run.
The Cardinals are messing with us, aren’t they? A lot of fantasy managers scooped up Emari Demercado on Waivers for Week 6. Demercado led the Arizona backfield in snaps that week, but he had only three touches while Keaontay Ingram had 12 and Damien Williams had nine. So much for Demercado’s fantasy value, right? Wrong. Demercado played 80% of the Cardinals’ offensive snaps last week and had 13 carries and four receptions. But before you invite Demercado back into your circle of trust, consider that his 17 touches last week netted 75 yards and zero touchdowns, and that the Cardinals will face a Ravens defense that ranks No. 1 in overall DVOA and No. 7 in DVOA against the run. Your odds of getting either a touchdown or 80+ yards from scrimmage out of Demercado are probably worse than 50/50.
Singletary had a season-high 54% snap share and a season-high 12 carries for 58 yards when we last saw the Texans in Week 6. I don’t think Singletary has leapfrogged Dameon Pierce in the Texans’ backfield, but Singletary will probably get a decent number of snaps and touches this week against a league-worst Carolina run defense. The Panthers rank 32nd in DVOA against the run, have given up the second-most fantasy points per game to RBs, and are yielding 5.3 yards per carry to running backs. Pierce and Singletary are both viable lineup options this week.
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