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
In every game this season where the Vikings have played Super Bowl-caliber opponents — the Eagles, Chiefs and 49ers — Alexander Mattison has finished with fewer than 10 carries. It’s not because the Vikings faced negative game scripts against those high-caliber opponents. All three were one-score games, and the Vikings had a positive game script throughout their Week 7 win over the 49ers. In all other games, Mattison has had double-digit rushing attempts: 11 against the Buccaneers, 20 against the Chargers, 17 against the Panthers, 18 against the Bears. Minnesota’s Week 8 opponent, Green Bay, is assuredly not a Super Bowl contender. The Packers rank 26th in DVOA against the run and have given up the third-most fantasy points per game to RBs. Mattison is averaging 15.7 touches a game. I think he’s an appealing play this week.
Even with Roschon Johnson on track to return from a concussion, it seems unlikely he’ll completely marginalize D’Onta Foreman, who scored three touchdowns for the Bears in their demolition of the Raiders a week ago. Roschon hasn’t played more than 29 snaps in a game this season, and I suspect he’ll rotate with (or perhaps back up) Foreman this week against the Chargers. I’m ranking Foreman RB25, Roschon RB40.
Darrell Henderson stepped right into the Rams’ starting lineup and played 57% of the offensive snaps in his first game of the season. The reason he’ll continue to take a majority of snaps at running back while Kyren Williams is out is that Rams head coach Sean McVay trusts Henderson as a pass blocker. It’s that simple. That’s why Cam Akers blew up in our faces last year — well, he blew up in my face, anyway. Akers is a poor pass blocker. Henderson is a good pass blocker. As a runner, Henderson is nothing special, but he’s not terrible either. Secure touch volume gives Henderson enough fantasy value for him to be flex-worthy this week vs. a Dallas defense that has allowed the seventh-fewest fantasy points to RBs.
Your one-week reprieve from having to deal with the Pittsburgh backfield is over. (Sorry.) Based on what we saw in Week 6 before the Steelers went on bye, Jaylen Warren isn’t on the verge of passing up Najee Harris on the depth chart. Against the Rams in Week 6, Harris out-snapped Warren 34-27 and out-touched him 17-7. Harris also scored his first TD of the season, although Warren found the end zone, too. I have both Pittsburgh backs ranked as RB3s this week in a tough matchup vs. a Jacksonville defense that has allowed the fourth-fewest rushing yards to RBs and is giving up 3.4 yards per carry to RBs.
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