Here are my Week 8 fantasy football notes. It’s a week with no byes, so most managers should err on the side of upside plays when compiling starting lineups.

 

Minnesota at Los Angeles Rams

The Rams do get Cooper Kupp back this week and they have Kyren Williams to hand the ball off to. That would seem like a matchup one doesn’t want to start a D/ST against, but the Vikings D/ST has faced tough matchups and has scored fewer than 10 points only once. Don’t overthink this one – start this D/ST even in a short week road game.

 

Philadelphia at Cincinnati

Don’t overthink starting DeVonta Smith this week following last week’s atrocious 0.8 PPR points. The Bengals rush defense is strong and that will cause the Eagles to go more pass-centric than they did last week. Smith had scored 15+ PPR points in every game prior and should return to that level this week.

 

Baltimore at Cleveland

Roster Rashod Bateman. He’s scored 11+ PPR points in four of the past five games and thus is becoming a bigger part of the most powerful offense in the NFL. He’s also rostered in only 18.4 percent of ESPN leagues, and thus should be available just about everywhere.

 

Tennessee at Detroit

Don’t underestimate the Titans defense based on last week, as this platoon has been playing at a high level of late. It’s a factor that doesn’t impact the automatic start status of Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown and David Montgomery. It does impact the start status of Jared Goff and Sam LaPorta. Goff is someone that can be readily replaced in most leagues, but you may be stuck starting LaPorta given the dearth of solid TE candidates this year.

 

The rest of KC Joyner’s Week 8 fantasy football notes are available exclusively for Pickwatch Pro subscribers.