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.

  • Week 8 previews: TE | RB | WR

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.

After working through my projections for Week 8 over at Sportsline, I was pleasantly surprised to see a trio of young quarterbacks crack the top-12 as QB1 plays on this slate.

Let's get to the rest of the preview:

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Week 8 QB Preview

Numbers to Know
Matchups That Matter
Waiver Wire Targets
DFS Plays
Projections
QB Preview
Numbers to know
  • 17 -- Kirk Cousins has had 17 passes dropped this season, more than anyone in the league.
  • 8.1 -- Lamar Jackson's 8.1 yards per pass attempt trails only Tua Tagovailoa and Brock Purdy. Jackson also leads all QBs with 363 rush yards.
  • 25.7% -- A league-high 25.7% of Russell Wilson's throws have gone to running backs this season.
  • 4.1 -- Josh Allen is averaging 4.1 rush attempts per game. He's never been below 6.4 in his career.
QB Preview
Matchups that matter
Matchups that Matter
Projections powered by Sportsline
Joe Burrow QB
CIN Cincinnati • #9
Age: 27 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ SF SF -5.5 O/U 45.5

OPP VS QB

5th

PROJ PTS

16

QB RNK

21st

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1230

RUYDS

14

TD

7

INT

4

FPTS/G

13.8
Geno Smith QB
SEA Seattle • #7
Age: 33 • Experience: 12 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs CLE SEA -3 O/U 40

OPP VS QB

3rd

PROJ PTS

17.4

QB RNK

17th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1391

RUYDS

52

TD

7

INT

4

FPTS/G

16
Gardner Minshew QB
LV Las Vegas • #15
Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs NO IND -1 O/U 43.5

OPP VS QB

15th

PROJ PTS

14.6

QB RNK

15th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1187

RUYDS

37

TD

7

INT

4

FPTS/G

11
Matthew Stafford QB
LAR L.A. Rams • #9
Age: 36 • Experience: 16 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ DAL DAL -6.5 O/U 45.5

OPP VS QB

4th

PROJ PTS

15.3

QB RNK

13th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1908

RUYDS

59

TD

7

INT

6

FPTS/G

16.3
Jared Goff QB
DET Detroit • #16
Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs LV DET -8 O/U 45

OPP VS QB

19th

PROJ PTS

21.7

QB RNK

7th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1902

RUYDS

15

TD

13

INT

4

FPTS/G

21.1
QB Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Adds/Streamers (QB Preview)
Baker Mayfield QB
TB Tampa Bay • #6
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ BUF BUF -9.5 O/U 43.5

OPP VS QB

2nd

QB RNK

21st

ROSTERED

58%

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1363

RUYDS

99

TD

8

INT

4

FPTS/G

17.7
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.
Tyson Bagent QB
CHI Chicago • #17
Age: 23 • Experience: 2 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ LAC LAC -8.5 O/U 46.5

OPP VS QB

30th

QB RNK

23rd

ROSTERED

13%

YTD Stats

PAYDS

245

RUYDS

28

TD

2

INT

1

FPTS/G

10.3
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.
One To Stash (QB Preview)
Kyler Murray QB
ARI Arizona • #1
Age: 26 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs BAL BAL -9.5 O/U 44.5

OPP VS QB

1st

QB RNK

NR

ROSTERED

71%
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.
QB Preview
DFS Plays
Top DFS Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
Patrick Mahomes QB
KC Kansas City • #15
Age: 28 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ DEN KC -8 O/U 46

OPP VS QB

32nd

PROJ PTS

27.8

QB RNK

2nd

YTD Stats

PAYDS

2017

RUYDS

214

TD

15

INT

6

FPTS/G

25.7
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.
Contrarian DFS Play
Projections powered by Sportsline
Kirk Cousins QB
ATL Atlanta • #18
Age: 35 • Experience: 13 yrs.
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.
QB Preview
Heath's projections

My full set of Week 8 Fantasy Football projections 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.