Week 8 Start vs. Sit: Come Here, Georgie!

Come here, Georgie! That should be you, doing your best Pennywise impression to lure George Pickens onto your roster and into your lineups as we Trick-or-Treat our way into Halloweekend and Week 8 of the NFL fantasy football season. You can watch as Georgie trudges down the flooded street to your sewage drain in his drenched Steelers raincoat.

One piece of advice: if you want Georgie to perform this week, don’t bite off either of his arms before hauling him into your fantasy lair. Now that he’s in your grasp, we already know Pickens is on the plus-end of start vs. sit this week – but what about Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, Chuba Hubbard, Calvin Ridley, Dalton Kincaid and more? Week 8 start vs. sit begins right now.

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Quarterback

START: Dak Prescott (ECR: QB12) and Joe Burrow (ECR: QB10). Both Prescott and Burrow should be in starting lineups this week, but if the former gets the edge, if forced to decide between the two. Prescott is coming off a QB1 overall performance two weeks ago at the Chargers and has now had two full weeks to prepare for a home matchup with the Rams. They’re only allowed four passing touchdowns this season, but they’ve had a soft schedule and allowed Kenny Pickett (ECR: QB22) to post 15 points and a QB14 finish on the road last week. As for Burrow, let’s just say the boy is back. Tough matchup aside, Burrow has posted 39 fantasy points in his last two games and should be the healthiest 2023 version of himself yet after the Week 7 bye.

SIT: Trevor Lawrence (ECR: QB8). In seven games this season, Lawrence has finished inside QB1 range three times, including each of the last two weeks (albeit as QB11 and QB10). He has yet to eclipse 20 fantasy points, and while that trend is going to change, it won’t be happening until at least Week 11. His next two opponents? At the Steelers and at home against the 49ers, the former of which is likely to make him uncomfortable for much of the contest with its heavy usage of man coverage.

Running Back 

START: Kareem Hunt (ECR: RB26). For my first double-down of the season (recommended back-to-back weeks), I’ll be using the services of one of the crappier human beings in the league in Hunt. How was he ranked behind the likes of Gus Edwards, Rhamondre Stevenson, Alexander Mattison and Rachaad White? Hunt has posted two straight weeks of RB1 output with 30 combined half-PPR points against the 49ers and Colts. That’s no small feat. He practices Thursday and faces an average Seahawks run D in Week 8. Fire him up.

HAT TIP: Chuba Hubbard (ECR: RB28). Hubbard popped off last week in Miles Sanders’ absence with 88 rushing yards and one score on 19 carries to finish as the RB7 at the Dolphins. Sanders is now back in the fold and could find pay dirt against a Texans defense that has allowed eight rushing touchdowns already this year. It’s a riskier play, but Hubbard should be valued as an RB2 this week.

SIT: Rhamondre Stevenson (ECR: RB24) and Gus Edwards (ECR: RB25). Don’t be fooled by sexy-looking matchups for these two this week. Stevenson has one RB1 finish this season and rushed for just 50 yards on 15 carries against the Dolphins back in Week 2. As for Edwards, it’s hard to bench a starting back after he posted 21 half-PPR points last week, but here were his totals in the six weeks prior: 6, 5, 6, 5, 12, 5. Last week was the outlier. Despite the juicy matchup at the Cardinals, Edwards should be on your bench.

Wide Receiver

START: George Pickens (ECR: WR25). Pickens delivered his third 100-yard receiving performance of the season last week on the road at the Rams. He has now seen 18 targets and totaled 237 receiving yards in the last two games alone. Meanwhile, the Jaguars have allowed 10 passing touchdowns and 6.6 yards per attempt this season. There’s plenty of room for Pickens to boom again. Come here, Georgie!

SIT: Garrett Wilson (ECR: WR23). Prior to posting 13.0 half-PPR points and a WR18 finish in Week 6, Wilson finished as WR43, WR30 and WR49 the prior three games despite having relatively low-risk matchups. Coming off a bye and heading to the Giants, we will see another one of those types of finishes. The over/under for the matchup is 36.5, and I would be hammering the under.

CONCERNED: Calvin Ridley (ECR: WR29). Although it would be fun to bet on the talent and bounce-back after mustering just 1.0 half-PPR point last week, we’re fading Lawrence this week already, and Ridley matches up against Joey Porter Jr. in a road matchup against the Steelers. For what it’s worth (a lot), Porter Jr. is allowing a 10% catch rate and 0.0 passer rating this season, which is the equivalent of Nathan Peterman playing for the Bills. 

Tight End

START: Dalton Kincaid (ECR: TE9). With Dawson Knox out, it’s finally time for the first-round pick out of Utah to shine. Kincaid saw a heavy workload last week with eight targets, catching them all for 75 yards. This week Kincaid will see a Buccaneers defense that has been one of the best in the NFL against TEs, allowing 269 yards and zero TDs in six contests. However, this shouldn’t be an issue for Kincaid in the Bills pass-heavy offense.

SIT: David Njoku (ECR: TE17). The Cleveland offense has been all over the place and is expected to have PJ Walker under center for the third straight week. Walker only completed 15 and 18 passes in his two starts so far, and it isn’t getting any easier facing a Seahawks defense that is seventh in the NFL in tight end yards against. A defensive battle in Seattle will not favor Njoku this week.