NFL Week 8 Preview – Late Window and Primetime

  • I’m baaaack. After a short hiatus due to the birth of my daughter, I’m back and ready to roll. I’ll be covering the 4:00 window, as well as the two primetime games left. It’s been a wild ride the past two weeks. Despite being away, I’ve certainly been paying attention. I was, however, a bit surprised to learn there were no teams on bye, which means extra football for everyone! Check out Nathan’s work on the 1:00 games to get the full picture for all the games on the docket. Don’t forget to read Larry Vannozzi’s weekly weather report to make sure you’re prepared for last minute alerts about mother nature’s plans in NFL cities across the country. Also, check out Brian Shade’s projection model to help you predict and prepare for this week’s slate of fantasy football!

    First, a few housekeeping notes..

    Q’s Quick Pick Total Record: 29-35, -10.83u

    Week 1: 3-12, -8.96u; Week 2: 6-5, +0.3u; Week 3: 7-7, +0.88u; Week 4: 8-5, +1.6u; Week 5: 5-6, -4.65u

    Picks: Odds are from DraftKings. Picks are for entertainment purposes only. Check out the Wager Pass for legit gambling talk.

    Start Sit Decisions: Start your studs. Otherwise, these are yours and yours alone to make. Hopefully my previews help provide context to assist you in making an informed, matchup winning decision.

    Week 8 Positional Rankings: QB’s courtesy of Jacob Dunne, RB’s courtesy of Jon Mosales, WR’s courtesy of Robert Szolosi, TE’s courtesy of Max Silveira, and DST’s courtesy of Brandon Furtado

     

    BYE WEEKS: NONE

     

    Matchup: New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Chargers

    Location: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California

    Date: Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 4:05pm EST

    Q’s Quick Pick: TBD

    The Quarterbacks: (NO) With Derek Carr (oblique) listed as doubtful, it’ll be rookie Spencer Rattler once again. He has multiple turnovers in both games tarted this season, and has only thrown for one touchdown. Let’s pump the breaks on starting him, even in super flex leagues, especially against a Chargers defense that’s been a tough opponent for QB’s to crack.. (LAC) Justin Herbert has been disappointing, but it was predictable. Once HC Jim Harbaugh took over and jettisoned the top two receiving options and bringing on run heavy OC Greg Roman, it was apparent this would be a low passing volume offense. Herbert is 25th in total points and 29th in average points per game for quarterbacks. The Saints present a challenging pass defense to crack, meaning Herbert is looking like a borderline QB2/3.

    The Running Backs: (NO) Alvin Kamara is coming off a nice little extension for himself that could set him up to be a career Saint. He’s the engine of the offense. He’s the RB3 on the year, but has a difficult  team to run the ball against, surrendering the seventh fewest rush yards in the league. Thankfully, Kamara does a lot of his damage in the passing game. He’s still someone you can trust starting as an RB1 as long as you don’t expect a top five performance.. (LAC) It’s been beautiful to see JK Dobbins running well. He’s surpassed all expectations and should be a strong candidate for Comeback Player of the Year when all is said and done. He has an excellent opportunity to continue to make that case against the Saints who are giving up the third most rushing yards, and are tied for the third most rushing touchdowns allowed (9). Dobbins is handling the vast majority of running back opportunities, so fire him up as a strong RB1 option.

    The Wide Receivers: (NO) Chris Olave (concussion) will play this weekend. He’s been quite disappointing, only scoring one touchdown so far. He’s been a target hog in the past few seasons, which has been the hall-mark of his value. This season, however, he only has one game with double digit targets, and has maxed out at six otherwise. He’s an uninspiring WR3 against an elite Chargers pass defense.. (LAC) Quentin Johnston’s (ankle) hot start has been the most we’ve seen from the Chargers group of pass catchers, and even that hasn’t been able to help him be too relevant, sitting at WR60 currently. He likely won’t play this week. Ladd McConkey will operate as the WR1 for this team, which is what a lot of folks expected when he was drafted here this past off-season. Unfortunately, it’s been low end flex numbers at best every week. That’s where he remains again, likely needing a touchdown or some unforeseen volume to pay off.

    The Tight Ends: (NO) Juwan Johnson has had at least three targets in every game he’s played this year, topping out at six last week. However, his only touchdown of the 2024 campaign came in a week one route of the Panthers. Weeks 5-6 were his most useful stretch so far, having 5.6 and 6.3 half PPR points. The ChArgers defense gives up slightly more than that, so there’s a chance he can have his best game of the season. Olave being active, Johnson won’t act as the number one target for this offense He’s a mediocre streaming option at best. You’re hoping he either lands in the end zone or has 4+ catches. Tough game to play.. (LAC) Hayden Hurst (groin) play last week and is questionable to go this time around. Will Dissley (injury) had a nice game, finishing as the TE8 in half point PPR leagues. With a full slate of games and not many (if any) key injuries to the position, it’s unlikely starting either will be worthwhile.

     

    Matchup: Buffalo Bills at Seattle Seahawks

    Location: Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington

    Date: Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 4:05pm EST

    Q’s Quick Pick: TBD

    The Quarterbacks: (BUF) If you aren’t starting Josh Allen weekly, you aren’t serious about fantasy football. Seattle has been ho-hum in terms of passing production, which isn’t something to be concerned about for QB’s, especially when they do a ton of damage on the ground. Allen’s floor is top notch considering he is often used as the goal line back as well. Never doubt starting Josh Allen.. (SEA) Geno Smith is having another stellar season after a down year in 2023 in retrospect to his 2022 late career breakout. He’s a top 12 QB in both total points and APPG, and has been a  tick better in each department over the past four weeks. The Bills are another ho-hum passing defense. I like Smith better with this game being in Seattle, and consider him a strong QB2 in super flex while dialing in slightly lesser appeal in 1QB formats. The loss of DK Metcalf could really impact this offense, but that’s yet to be determined.

    The Running Backs: (BUF) James Cook continues to do his thing as a fringe RB1, which includes a missed game due to a toe injury. Seattle has held opposing teams to under 100 rushing yards just twice this season, and within those two was a 99-yard performance by Denver in week 1. Cook, as has been the case, is a must start. Ray Davis was relegated back to his role of spelling Cook. His performance in Cooks absence two weeks ago, however, warrants a bench spot in your 12+ team leagues.. (SEA) Kenneth Walker might put up 40 fantasy points this week. The Bills are horrendous at defending the run as well as fantasy running backs. Walker, over the past four weeks, has been the second best running back in fantasy and top five in APPG. You do the math. Zach Charbonnet has max out at eight opportunities in the four weeks since Walker returned.  He’s strictly a handcuff at this point. It wouldn’t be entirely shocking to see him fall into the end end zone given thee Bills run defense, so a desperation 16+ team league flex play is probably where his value is this week.

    The Wide Receivers: (BUF) Amari Cooper made the most of his limited work during his first game with he Bills, including finding the end zone. Cooper is instantly the most talented receiver in the room, and is the guy Allen should begin to rely on the remainder of the year. I love him rest of season, but understand he’s still fresh in Buffalo and learning the offense. He’s a WR2 with upside in an explosive offense that was desperate for someone to fill the WR1 role. Keon Coleman takes a big hit and is borderline unplayable. Khalil Shakir plays a different role for this offense, so I don’t anticipate his target share to be hindered that much by Cooper’s arrival. It’s still a downgrade, and Shakir is a mere flex play without the upside he had previously.. (SEA) DK Metcalf (knee) will not play this week. Big bump for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He’s been up and down himself, but is the likely option to slot into the number one option in the passing game. I like JSN as a WR2 this week. Tyler Lockett should also benefit from DK’s absence. He’s in a tier below JSN this week. A deep league name to monitor is Jake Bobo. We all remember hearing his name randomly score a couple of touchdowns in 2023 as a rookie, and even this year corralling a few passes. Not much, but honest work. Who’s to say he doesn’t get a few more looks this week? Remember, I’m talking about your 16+ team leagues here, not your standard 10-12 team ones.

    The Tight Ends: (BUF) Dalton Kincaid, despite only scoring double digit fantasy points once this year, is still a TE1, sitting at number 12. The Seahawks give up the 8th most fantasy points to tight ends, so fire him up this week. It’ll be tough to see him reach the upside we thought we he had during draft season with Cooper now in town, but there aren’t a whole lot of better options for tight ends right now.. (SEA) Noah Fant has had his best two fantasy football performances of the year the past two weeks, which is great. The Bills are hovering around league average in terms of difficulty for this position to succeed against them, and with DK out, he may see another target or two. Talking about tight ends, that could be the difference between say, TE8 and TE17 any given week. He’s a relatively low end streaming option, but someone you can probably rely on to not give you a big ole goose egg on Sunday.

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