Week 8 of the fantasy football season is upon us. This week on Amazon Prime, we get a game with serious playoff implications, as the Baltimore Ravens head South to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With no time to waste, here are the top start/sit plays for Week 8 of Thursday Night Football.
Start: Lamar, Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
This one is a given. I don’t care if Lamar Jackson only had 179 total yards last week. If he’s playing, he’s in your starting fantasy football lineup.
Jackson leads all QBs with 510 rushing yards, and if you take out his kneel-downs, he would be sitting at nearly nine yards per carry. He’s also joined Cam Newton, one of the most prolific rushers in NFL history, as one of just two QBs with 500+ rushing yards in each of his first five seasons.
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Jackson has also been good on the road, with 3+ passing touchdowns in two of his three away games so far this year. The QB5 in points per game (23.3 PPR), Jackson can be fired into your starting lineups.
Start: Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Just like Gisele, I’m sick of Tom Brady, too. Although he is sixth in passing yards with 1,942, Brady sits 22nd in points per game at 15.1. Last week could’ve looked much differently, too. Brady completed 32 of 49 passing for 290 yards for 12 PPR points but could’ve had a massive day if Mike Evans caught what would usually be a routine touchdown reception.
MORE: RB Red-Zone Report Entering Week 8
At some point, this offense has to figure things out. Brady needs to get the Buccaneers into the end zone. He has thrown one or fewer touchdowns in six of seven games this year, which has destroyed his ceiling. Brady is a low-end QB1 in our Week 8 QB Football Rankings, but he shouldn’t fill you with a ton of hope.
Start: Leonard Fournette, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Like the rest of the offense, Leonard Fornette bombed last week against Carolina, rushing eight times for 19 yards while catching two passes for seven yards. Fournette was a non-factor and received by far the smallest workload we’ve seen from him this year.
With that said, don’t panic. Fournette had been averaging 21.6 PPR points over his previous three games, and the only way Tampa Bay will come out of this funk is if they trust their studs. Look for Fournette to rebound against a Ravens defense that sits 18th against running backs in points allowed and 23rd in rush DVOA.
Start: Gus Edwards, RB, Baltimore Ravens
My general rule of thumb is not to trust players in their first week back after a massive injury. Apparently, that should not have applied to Gus Edwards, who returned to see substantial action, rushing 16 times for 66 yards with two touchdowns in Week 7.
Edwards cashed in on both seven- and 1-yard runs and should be viewed as the Ravens’ No. 1 running back. Prior to his 2021 ACL injury, he had three straight years of 130+ carries and 700+ yards and likely won’t be threatened by Kenyan Drake, who remains hugely inefficient.
Tampa Bay allowed Chuba Hubbard and D’Onta Foreman to rush for 7.6 yards per carry against them last week and could struggle again against the Ravens. Edwards is a high-end RB3 for Week 8.
Start: Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Oh, what could’ve been. I’ll guarantee you Mike Evans still has nightmares of that dropped touchdown last week. It was exceptionally uncharacteristic of one of the best wide receivers this league has to offer. Despite that, Evans caught nine passes for a team-high 96 yards on a season’s best 15 targets.
Baltimore is 27th against wide receivers, but they’ve been tough to score against in 2022. Although they have given up 11 touchdowns (10th most), six of those came in one game against the Dolphins.
Outside of that, they’ve given up one or fewer passing touchdowns in five of six contests. Volume alone should be enough to make Evans a reliable starter, but I do like him to get back into the scoring column in Week 8.
Start: Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Chris Godwin has been average, which is about the opposite of what you would generally expect from him. Since sitting out Weeks 2 and 3 with a hamstring injury, Godwin has scored between eight and 13 fantasy points in every game. That’s not to say he hasn’t been busy.
Since Week 4, Godwin is second in the NFL in targets (41) and seventh in receptions (26). He’s also just 21st in fantasy points amongst wide receivers because he’s averaging only 9.9 yards per reception and has zero touchdowns on the year.
I would start Godwin on Thursday night as a WR2 based on volume (he currently sits as the WR16 on our Week 8 WR Fantasy Rankings), but the inefficiency of Tampa Bay’s offense has capped his upside.
Start: Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens
I’m not gonna lie — I’m still salty about last week. It was National Tight Ends Day, and I celebrated by having a lot of exposure to Mark Andrews. What did I get? Nothing. Andrews was held without a catch on two targets.
Andrews is questionable for Week 8, but if he is active, I’m starting him in fantasy. He ranks second among TEs in catches (39), receiving yards (455), and receiving touchdowns (five).
He’s looking for 85+ yards and a touchdown in three-straight road games and has an affinity for Thursday night. The star tight end has scored in each of his three career Thursday games and is looking to make it five straight primetime games with a touchdown. With Travis Kelce on a bye, Andrews is the TE1 on our Week 8 TE Fantasy Rankings (assuming he suits up.)
Sit: Rachaad White, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Rachaad White made the list of waiver wire claims this week and is trending in the right direction. He tied his season-high with six carries in Week 7 but only compiled 24 yards, though that was still enough to lead the Buccaneers in rushing last week.
He played on just under 50% of the team’s snaps against the Carolina Panthers, which set a season’s best. Much of his action came when the Buccaneers were trailing, and the team could face a similar situation on Thursday night.
With that said, there’s not enough upside to justify throwing White into your starting lineup, as he only has one game with double-digit fantasy points on the year. He’s a stash, but not a start in Week 8 outside of DFS.
Sit: Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens
After missing two games, Rashod Bateman was back in Week 7, picking up right where he left off with four receptions on five targets for 42 yards. However, Bateman missed practice this week and is still dealing with the same foot injury that kept him out of Weeks 5 and 6.
The Ravens need Bateman, but I feel like fantasy managers might be better off without him this week. Baltimore is likely going to lean on the ground again, and unless Bateman can score a touchdown, it’s going to be difficult for him to put up more than low double-digit fantasy points.
He sits right on the borderline of WR3 status and is someone I would try to find a backup plan for in Week 8.
Sit: Devin Duvernay, WR, Baltimore Ravens
Even with Bateman at less than 100%, Devin Duvernay likely isn’t the salvation for your fantasy roster unless you’re playing DFS. Duvernay has not scored a touchdown since Week 3, and despite sitting second on the Ravens in targets and receptions, he’s only averaging 2.9 receptions and 40.3 yards on the year.
Duvernay is a boom-or-bust touchdown-dependent wide receiver that sits outside WR4 territory in Week 8. Although, he will get a boost if we see either Bateman or Andrews ruled out by game time.
