Dak Prescott has not been a good Fantasy quarterback this season. Far from it. But you should be able to trust him against the Rams, and he's one of my favorite sleepers for Week 8.
Prescott is averaging just 16 Fantasy points per game this season. He only has two games with more than 16.4 Fantasy points, and he's scored fewer than 10 Fantasy points twice.
But Prescott is coming off his best game of the season in Week 6 at the Chargers with 26.9 Fantasy points, and hopefully he's about to get hot. He's been amazing in his career after a bye, averaging 26.9 Fantasy points in six games after a break, and only once has he failed to score at least 22.9 points after a bye over that span.
We'll see if he can stay successful in this scenario this week against the Rams, who have allowed just two quarterbacks (Anthony Richardson and Jalen Hurts) to score more than 15.2 Fantasy points this season. But I'm hopeful Prescott's history after a bye and his recent outing against the Chargers will help him finish as a borderline No. 1 Fantasy quarterback in all leagues for Week 8.
Now, let's look at some other sleepers I like for Week 8. Hopefully these players will deliver in a big way to help your lineups. And if you're looking for my Week 8 DFS plays, you can find my million-dollar contest tournament lineups for both DraftKings and FanDuel over at SportsLine.
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Week 8 Sleepers
Week 8 Preview
Sleepers
Sleeper QBs
The Vikings have only allowed one quarterback to score more than 14.8 Fantasy points in the past four games, which was Patrick Mahomes in Week 5, but that's also because Minnesota got somewhat lucky in the other three outings. The Vikings handled Bryce Young in Week 4, but Justin Fields was hurt in Week 6 and Brock Purdy was missing Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams in Week 7. I'm not expecting Love to have a huge game, but he just scored 19.6 Fantasy points in Week 4 against Detroit and 19.3 points at Denver in Week 7. He should stay in that range against the Vikings, making him a borderline No. 1 Fantasy quarterback in all leagues for Week 8.
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Is this the week where Carr gets his first 20-point Fantasy game of the season? He's played well of late with at least 18.3 Fantasy points in three games in a row against New England, Houston and Jacksonville, including two in a row with at least 301 passing yards. He only has one game this season with multiple touchdowns (Week 5 at New England), which has been an issue, but those should come. And it could happen this week against the Colts, who have allowed four of seven quarterbacks to score at least two touchdowns, and five opposing quarterbacks have scored at least 18.2 Fantasy points. That should be the floor for Carr once again, but I'm hopeful this is his best game of the season. He should be considered a high-end No. 2 Fantasy quarterback in all leagues for Week 8.
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This takes some faith to trust Bagent, who will start in place of Justin Fields (thumb) again in Week 8 at the Chargers. In Week 7 against Las Vegas, Bagent was 21-of-29 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown, along with 24 rushing yards. That was a good matchup against the Raiders, but the Chargers matchup is the best in the NFL since they are No. 1 in most Fantasy points allowed to opposing quarterbacks. The only quarterback who failed to score at least 23 Fantasy points against the Chargers was Aiden O'Connell in Week 4. I don't know if Bagent will have an outstanding performance, but he could approach 18-plus Fantasy points, making him a streamer in deeper formats and a starter in Superflex and two-quarterback leagues.
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Sleeper RBs
This is one you'll have to monitor after Jerome Ford (ankle) was able to practice Friday, and he's being listed as questionable for Week 8 at Seattle. If Ford plays then Hunt won't have as much appeal, but if Ford is out then I would use Hunt as a low-end No. 2 running back in all leagues. He's actually scored at least 15.1 PPR points in each of his past two games against the 49ers and Colts, and the Browns have had a running back score at least 16.1 PPR points in five of six games this season. Seattle has also allowed a running back to score at least 11.5 PPR points in five of six games this year.
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The Jaguars run defense has been solid this season, but they have struggled with pass-catching running backs and lead the NFL with 51 receptions allowed to the position. Alvin Kamara crushed Jacksonville for 12 catches on 14 targets in Week 7, but five running backs this season (Kamara, Zack Moss, Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson and Deon Jackson) have already caught at least five passes against the Jaguars. Enter Warren, who has at least three catches in five of six games this season. Given the matchup and his role in the passing game, I'd lean on Warren as a high-end flex in PPR in Week 8.
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I'm hopeful that Dameon Pierce will come off the bye and be the lead running back for the Texans in Week 8. But it's hard to ignore what happened in Houston's last game against New Orleans in Week 6 when Singletary played more snaps than Pierce (54 percent to 33 percent). In that game against the Saints, Pierce had 13 carries for 34 yards and no catches, and Singletary had 12 carries for 58 yards and one catch for 4 yards on two targets. Both running backs could be good against Carolina this week since there have been seven running backs with at least 12.4 PPR points against the Panthers this season, and Carolina leads all teams with 13 total touchdowns allowed to running backs. Singletary is worth using as a flex in Week 8.
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Sleeper WRs
Dell is ready to go after missing Week 6 against New Orleans with a concussion, and he should benefit with Robert Woods (foot) out for Week 8 at Carolina. Dell is worth using as a low-end No. 3 Fantasy receiver this week against the Panthers, who have allowed seven receivers to score at least 12.5 PPR points this season. Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz will also be factors in the passing game for Houston, but I love this matchup for C.J. Stroud. Carolina is banged up defensively, and Dell has scored at least 20.2 PPR points the two times he's had at least seven targets this season. I hope Dell is back to getting plenty of volume in Week 8.
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We said last week that Rice was on the verge of a breakout, and he had a standout outing in Week 7 against the Chargers with five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown on six targets. He's now scored at least 13.3 PPR points in two of his past three games, and he played a season-high 59 percent of the snaps against the Chargers, which shows that Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid are starting to trust him more. He had four catches for 72 yards on four targets against Denver in Week 6, and Rice should be considered a quality No. 3 Fantasy receiver in the rematch this week.
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Downs is working his way into must-start status, especially in three-receiver leagues, and Gardner Minshew appears to love the rookie receiver. In his past three games, Downs has scored at least 13.1 PPR points, and he has at least five catches and six targets in each outing against Tennessee, Jacksonville and Cleveland. He also has two games with at least 97 yards over that span, as well as two touchdowns, and Minshew should continue to lean on Downs in Week 8 against the Saints. While New Orleans is a tough matchup, Chris Godwin in Week 4 (19.4 PPR points), Nico Collins in Week 6 (12 PPR points) and Christian Kirk in Week 7 (21 PPR points) have all done well against this secondary in the past four weeks, so don't shy away from Downs as a high-end No. 3 Fantasy receiver in all leagues.
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JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) returned to practice this week, so we'll see if he impacts what happens with Bourne heading into Week 8 at Miami. For the past two weeks, Bourne has been the best receiver for the Patriots against the Raiders and Bills with at least 16.3 PPR points in each outing, and he has 18 targets for 16 catches, 152 yards and a touchdown over that span. This is now four games on the season where Bourne has at least seven targets, and he's scored at least 16.3 PPR points in three of them. Now, he had nine targets against Miami in Week 2 and finished with just four catches for 29 yards, but I expect him to perform better if he continues to be heavily involved from Mac Jones this week. The Dolphins have also allowed Courtland Sutton (23.1 PPR points), Stefon Diggs (36 PPR points), Adam Thielen (28.5 PPR points) and A.J. Brown (29.7 PPR points) to have big games against them in four of the past five games, so hopefully Bourne can do something similar.
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Chris Olave remains the No. 1 receiver for the Saints, and he's worth starting in all leagues as a top-15 Fantasy option. But Thomas will hopefully take advantage of this matchup against the Colts, who have allowed nine receivers to score at least 13 PPR points this season. Thomas just had his best Fantasy game of the season in Week 7 against Jacksonville with 13.2 PPR points because he scored his first touchdown of the year. But he also has four games with at least 11.1 PPR points, and he should stay in that range in this matchup, making him a quality No. 3 PPR receiver for Week 8.
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I'm hopeful that Cooks finally developed a rapport with Dak Prescott in Week 6 at the Chargers prior to the bye week. Against the Chargers, Cooks caught his first touchdown of the season and finished with four receptions for 36 yards on four targets, along with one carry for 14 yards. He was making off-script plays with Prescott, and maybe there's finally a comfort factor for Cooks after a slow start. CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and Jake Ferguson will obviously continue to command targets for the Cowboys, but hopefully Cooks can start making more plays, including in Week 8 against the Rams. I like him as a low-end No. 3 Fantasy receiver against his former team.
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Sleeper TEs
I would have Hill as a must-start Fantasy tight end if we knew Juwan Johnson (calf) would remain out in Week 8 at the Colts or play in a limited role. That's something to monitor because Hill has been great in his past two games. In his past two outings against Houston and Jacksonville, Hill has 11 catches for 99 yards on 13 targets, and he also has six carries for 20 yards and a touchdown. He's scored at least 12.3 PPR points in each game, and I hope the Saints continue to lean on him as a pass catcher. We'll see what happens if Johnson is healthy this week, and the Colts have allowed four tight ends (Tyler Higbee, Evan Engram, Brenton Strange and David Njoku) to score at least 10.4 PPR points in their past four games.
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Smith gets a chance to face his former team in Week 8 when the Falcons play the Titans, and it's worth using Smith as a low-end starting tight end in all leagues. It helps that he's played well this season with at least 8.7 PPR points in five of seven games, including three outings with at least 10.7 PPR points. While I still like Kyle Pitts more than Smith, he should also continue to average 5.8 targets per game, which has been the case since Week 1. And I like the matchup against Tennessee with Kevin Byard now traded to the Eagles.
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If Gerald Everett (quad) is out in Week 8 against the Bears then Parham could be considered a low-end starter in all leagues, with his value slightly higher in non-PPR. Parham has been touchdown dependent this season when he scored three touchdowns in his first three games, but he doesn't have more than three catches or 22 yards in any game this year. Everett has scored a touchdown in each of his past two outings against the Cowboys and Chiefs, and the Bears have allowed four tight ends to score at least 10.1 PPR points this season.
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Defense/Special Teams
Kickers
- Ka'imi Fairbairn (at CAR) - 24 percent rostered
- Brandon Aubrey (vs. LAR) - 46 percent rostered
- Younghoe Koo (at TEN) - 63 percent rostered
