NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 8: Wide receivers

Big thanks to Joe Burrow who targeted Boyd 13 times last week (he was one of my starts, so I wasn’t a complete idiot for fading Tyler Lockett). Lockett also had an incredible seven red-zone targets against the Browns (the rest of the guys combined for five), so he’s been looked at when it counts the most. Boyd has been super-consistent over the past number of weeks (I know, we can throw out the Ravens game) and he’s got a great matchup this week. The Titans have allowed the most fantasy points to wide receivers over the past three weeks.

You ever notice how they never mention Fulgham spent some time with the Packers? You would think it would be of great interest given how the Packers are looking for a solid second receiver and this guy has been crushing it this year. (And you know if the Bears had let him go, that’s all we’d hear about. Just look at Mike Davis.) Fulgham has scored at least 12 fantasy points in every game this season and is averaging close to 20 fantasy points per game. He has at least 10 targets in three straight games and has a great matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, who now must be targeted in fantasy.

Still won’t stop being weird that we’re going after the Seahawks defense. But they have allowed the most fantasy points to wide receivers this week (60.15). And the most yards per game to wide receivers (280.2). Now we just have to convince our buddy Kyle Shanahan to dial it up in this game. An intense rivalry like this, I don’t think we have to convince him too much. Like when my wife wants to order pizza, it’s a pretty easy sell for me. Hopefully Kyle goes along with this one. Also worth noting Deebo Samuel is out with a hamstring injury so this could just lead to more opportunities for Aiyuk. Though I expect Kittle to crush it in this game, too.

Chris Godwin is going to be out this week because of an injury that requires surgery to his finger. And I understand that Evans has been a huge disappointment. One of my friends was talking about dumping him this week, too. I’m willing to give Evans one more chance to be great. I’ll monitor him at practice this week. Scott Miller is also in play here if you need to stream a WR from this game because of the matchup. Miller has scored 19 fantasy points in two of his last four. But less than two in the other two.

We’re still waiting for the box office smash from Hollywood Brown. Kind of like Ed Helms. I mean, Vacation was pretty good. But didn’t you think he would be a bigger star after his run in The Office? We're the Millers was fine, too. But we like Brown this week. The Steelers are giving up a lot of air yards this season. And they have allowed the seventh-most yards per game to wide receivers (182.7). We just need one pop play from Brown to make this an excellent play. And I know somebody asked me about Dez Bryant on Twitter. That answer is no.

Ruggs had a nice game before the Raiders' bye week, but didn’t do much against the Bucs on Sunday afternoon. I wasn’t thrilled with that matchup anyway. I love him this week against the Cleveland Browns, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. They have allowed the third-most fantasy yards per game to the position as well. I expect Derek Carr to take some shots again to Ruggs this week. Nelson Agholor has also been pretty consistent for the Raiders making some big plays. But I absolutely love the ceiling for Ruggs.

I know the moment I’m giving up on the Patriots that some magic is going to happen. Although this year might be different than most. The matchup with the Bills is going to be a pretty tough one. The Patriots offense hasn’t found any consistency. Edelman is coming off a game where he scored just over two fantasy points. And now he’s got the Bills, who have allowed the sixth-fewest receiving yards per game to opposing wide receivers.

The Rams have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points per game to wide receivers. And normally I would put DeVante Parker here and not go down the line. But I want to give Tua the benefit of the doubt in this situation, so I will leave Parker as a low-end WR2. I would suggest picking up Williams this week because there could be some exploitable matchups in the future. And he might help you out down the road. But I’m keeping him on the bench this week. He’s had less than 10 fantasy points in all but one game this season.

I was wrong about JuJu coming into this season. I thought with Big Ben getting back, everything was going to be magical once again. But we’ve seen Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson have monster games this year. JuJu has scored fewer than seven points in two out of his last three games. The matchup isn’t great, either. The Ravens have allowed three receiving touchdowns to wide receivers this season. That’s the second-fewest in the NFL.

Man, I had hoped Jones was going to have a huge game last week in a crush spot in Atlanta. It didn’t happen. Dude hasn’t even cracked the top 36 in any week this season. The Colts are one of the toughest defenses in the league, contrary to what you might have seen against the Bengals in Week 6. I know that a Jones three-touchdown game is lurking. Waiting to spring out at you in the worst matchup possible. But you’re better off benching him here.

Gallup was shut out last week against the Washington Football Team. He scored just 4.30 points in Week 6. We’ve come to the point where Gallup is nearly droppable. I mean, he probably is. The Cowboys offense has a lot of problems that extend past the quarterback position. The offensive line has been hit hard by early retirements and injuries. It's allowed 20 sacks already this season. And no matter who the quarterback is, this offense is not running at a high level. The Eagles have given up the 12th-most fantasy points to receivers. So it’s not a matchup that jumps out to you. I’m out.