Fantasy Football Week 8 Quarterback Preview: Hard to trust Aaron Rodgers without his top three receivers
Aaron Rodgers is not a top-12 quarterback without Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling
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Over the past two seasons, Davante Adams has missed six games. Aaron Rodgers has been fantastic for Fantasy purposes in four of them. I am not expecting a repeat in Week 8.
For one thing, Rodgers also won't have Allen Lazard or Marquez Valdes-Scantling. His top three receivers project to be Randall Cobb, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Amari Rodgers. No offense to those guys, but the Lions might not have the worst receiving corps in the NFC North this week.
But it's not just about his weapons. Rodgers has thrown a third of his passes to his running backs when Adams has been out, and he'll still have Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon. He'll also have a surprisingly difficult matchup.
The Cardinals have only allowed two quarterbacks (Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins) to score more than 15 Fantasy points against them. Some of that is the fact that the Cardinals have played a lot of bad quarterbacks, but even Stafford posted his lowest passer rating of the season against Arizona.
I understand it's going to be hard to look at some of the streaming options below and say you're starting them over Aaron Rodgers. But on a short week, against a good defense, without his top two receivers, that's exactly what I'm going to do.
Let's get to the rest of the Week 8 preview:
Week 8 QB Preview
QB Preview
Numbers to know
- 2 -- Aaron Rodgers has been a top six Fantasy quarterback twice this season.
- 9 -- Patrick Mahomes leads the NFL with nine interceptions.
- 77.5 -- Sam Darnold's passer rating this season, which is lower than it was under Adam Gase.
- 229 -- Daniel Jones has run for 229 yards this season, behind only Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts.
- 9.2 -- Joe Burrow's 9.2 yards per pass attempt ranks second behind Russell Wilson.
- 84.9% -- Nearly 85% of Kyler Murray's throws have been graded "on target" by Pro Football Reference, the best mark in the league.
- 39 -- Jalen Hurts has been hurried 39 times, the most in the NFL.
- 34 -- Teddy Bridgewater has scored at least 20 Fantasy points in all four games he's thrown at least 34 passes. Quarterbacks are averaging 39.6 attempts per game against Washington.
- 11.3 -- The Bills have allowed the fewest Fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.
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Matchups that matter
Matchups that Matter
Projections powered by
Sportsline
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QB Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Waiver Wire/Streamers
Each of the past six quarterbacks to face Washington has scored at least 26 Fantasy points. Bridgewater has averaged 21 Fantasy points per game in his six complete games and now he's getting back Jerry Jeudy. This should be the best opportunity yet for the Broncos passing game.
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As of Tuesday, I'm anticipating at least one of Sterling Shepard, Kadarius Toney, or Kenny Golladay will return on Monday night to face the Chiefs. If they're all out again, Jones will be on this list, but lower.
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This is a good matchup for Wentz, and he's been very efficient as a passer this season. Wentz has thrown at least two touchdown passes in four straight games and he's only thrown one interception all season. The downside is that he's only topped 251 passing yards once this season.
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One To Stash
In very deep leagues, or two-quarterback leagues, Newton needs to be added. Pete Carroll has confirmed that the team has spoken with Newton and the veteran quarterback would be very interesting with both DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to throw to.
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DFS Plays
Top Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Allen coming off the bye after a loss is enticing enough. Throw in one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, and I'm more than happy to pay up at quarterback this week.
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Top Contrarian Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Especially after he let us down this week, I don't expect Winston to be popular, even with the revenge game narrative. But his up-and-down Fantasy production is exactly what we're looking for in tournaments.
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Heath's projections
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