Fitz’s Fantasy Football Rankings: Week 8 (2023)

Our own Pat Fitzmaurice has been among the most accurate fantasy football experts in the industry over the last several years. Fitz was THE most accurate in-season ranker in 2020. What better way to prepare for your fantasy football start/sit lineup decisions than by reviewing his rankings? You can do just that below.

You can also find our expert consensus fantasy football rankings for the week here. And you can sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings, and analysis.

Fitz’s Rankings, Tiers & Start/Sit Advice

Fantasy Football Rankings

Fitz’s Fantasy Football Takes

Kirk Cousins has now played two games without injured WR Justin Jefferson. In Week 6, Cousins posted a QB24 finish, failing to capitalize on a seemingly good matchup vs. the Bears. In Week 7, Cousins posted a QB6 finish in a seemingly bad matchup against the 49ers. What should we make of that? I’m inclined to trust Cousins this week against a Green Bay pass defense that ranks 25th in DVOA and is dealing with some injuries in its secondary.

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.

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.

Derek Carr‘s struggles are working to the advantage of Taysom Hill stakeholders. Hill has enjoyed snap shares of 60% and 58% the last two weeks, and the Saints are eager to put the ball in his hands rather than rely on Carr to move the chains. On the FantasyPros Football Podcast, I have referred to Hill as fantasy football’s equivalent of an open-ended straight-flush draw in poker, because there are a lot of ways for Hill to make a big hand. In Week 6, the Mormon Missile (an actual nickname; I can’t take credit) had one rushing attempt, one pass attempt and seven receptions. Last week, Hill had five rushing attempts and four receptions. He finished TE9 in Week 6 and TE5 in Week 7. Don’t be afraid to fire him up against the Colts this week.