A lingering calf injury coupled with some poor performances from Tee Higgins, and a passing game mostly devoid of big plays has limited Joe Burrow to 13.8 FPPG this season. There are very good reasons to expect he will be the quarterback he was drafted to be very soon. I just don't want to count on him in Week 8.
I mostly expect that Burrow will come out of his bye healthy, and I rank him as a top eight QB rest of the season, but I'm going to be skeptical for at least one more week. That's partially because I would like to see Burrow look like Burrow before I start him. But it's mostly because he's going to San Francisco to face an elite defense that has lost two games in a row.
Kirk Cousins was just the second QB all season to score more than 15 Fantasy points against the 49ers. I do not want to bet on Burrow being No. 3.
You really should not need a streaming QB this week. No one is on a bye and no streamer ranks inside my top 15. If you do, the Bills defense shouldn't scare you away from Baker Mayfield. They have suffered a ton of injuries and just allowed Mac Jones to score 23 against them.
Bagent looked better than expected in his first start and now faces a Chargers defense that has been one of the worst in the NFL. He's a very good two-QB streaming option.
Murray is the prize of the waiver wire at QB this week. We don't know if he'll return in Week 8, but he's close enough to a return that he should be rostered in more than 90% of leagues. He has never had a season below 20 FPPG and projects as a top-12 QB rest of season once he is activated.
If I was playing two cash game lineups this week, I would have one with Mahomes and one with Lamar Jackson. With no teams on a bye there are plenty of cheap options available at other positions, but no cheap QBs I am super excited about. Travis Kelce has gotten healthy, Rashee Rice has emerged as a No. 1 wide receiver, and Mecole Hardman has returned. The slow start should be in the rearview mirror for Mahomes and the Chiefs offense.
I would not expect Cousins to be a popular selection at Green Bay, and for good reason. The Packers are better against the pass than the run, and Cousins doesn't exactly have a great history at Lambeau. But he didn't have a great history in primetime before he lit up the 49ers on Monday Night Football. I'm more interested in what Cousins has done this season, which is perform like a top-six QB.
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Heath's projections
My full set of Week 8 Fantasy Footballprojections for every position are now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 8. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
