Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings: Projecting Top Players at Every Position

Every week in the NFL presents new challenges and new opportunities for fantasy football owners across the nation. 

Trying to predict which players will score the most points can be frustrating, however—especially if you have to choose between a couple of top players (you lucky son of a gun). 

Thankfully, the answers to your questions in Week 8 are forthcoming. These rankings will assuage your decision-making process and help you take a set-it-and-forget-it approach to your fantasy lineup.

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos	Washington Redskins	30
2	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	26
3	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	Buffalo Bills	25
4	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	23
5	Matt Stafford	Detroit Lions	Dallas Cowboys	22
6	Colin Kaepernick	San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	20
7	Robert Griffin III	Washington Redskins	Denver Broncos	19
8	Michael Vick	Philadelphia Eagles	New York Giants	18
9	Tony Romo	Dallas Cowboys	Detroit Lions	17
10	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	15

At this point, we might as well offer Peyton Manning permanent residence at the top spot of these rankings. He's been the top scorer of the season at any position, and he has another juicy matchup this weekend that will make fantasy owners happy. 

Washington is one of the league's worst fantasy defenses against opposing quarterbacks, allowing 18.3 points per game. Aaron Rodgers went off for 480 yards and four touchdowns earlier this season against this team, and Manning should similarly have a huge game at home this Sunday.

Speaking of Rodgers, he's got a tasty matchup this weekend, too, against the pathetic Minnesota Vikings. The emergence of Jarrett Boykin and Eddie Lacy have greatly improved Green Bay's offense and have helped Rodgers continue to shine even without a few of his top weapons.

Colin Kaepernick is a sleeper breakout stud this Sunday in London against Jacksonville. He has been more inclined to take off and run of late, and he finally scored his first rushing touchdown of the season last weekend against Tennessee. 

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	Cleveland Browns	24
2	LeSean McCoy	Philadelphia Eagles	New York Giants	23
3	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	22
4	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings	Green Bay Packers	21
5	Reggie Bush	Detroit Lions	Dallas Cowboys	20
6	Alfred Morris	Washington Redskins	Denver Broncos	19
7	Knowshon Moreno	Denver Broncos	Washington Redskins	18
8	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	17
9	Frank Gore	San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	15
10	Stevan Ridley	New England Patriots	Miami Dolphins	14

Fun fact of the day: Jamaal Charles is the only player in the entire league with 100-plus yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in each of his first seven games, as NFLN_Playbook noted:

The Cleveland Browns aren't horrible against the run, but Charles is just as dangerous as a passer, and he's highly featured in Kansas City's dink-and-dunk offense. 

Look for LeSean McCoy to bounce back from a poor performance last weekend against the New York Giants. He struggled to find running lanes the first time these teams met up, but he'll touch the ball plenty, and volume equals production when it comes to McCoy and fantasy football. 

A big sleeper for this weekend is one of the other running backs in the Philly/New York game. Peyton Hillis has good hands for a big running back, and Eli Manning has already shown a willingness to get him the ball with regularity. He touched the ball 23 times last weekend.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions	Dallas Cowboys	24
2	Victor Cruz	New York Giants	Philadelphia Eagles	22
3	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	20
4	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys	Detroit Lions	19
5	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos	Washington Redskins	17
6	Harry Douglas	Atlanta Falcons	Arizona Cardinals	16
7	DeSean Jackson	Philadelphia Eagles	New York Giants	16
8	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals	New York Jets	15
9	Wes Welker	Denver Broncos	Washington	14
10	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers	Oakland Raiders	13

First of all, any receiver wearing a Denver Broncos uniform this weekend has a good chance of scoring in the double digits against Washington. With that out of the way, there are a couple of other intriguing matchups that heavily favor a top receiver this weekend. 

Victor Cruz has been quiet for the past three weeks, but he has an ideal matchup this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, which features the worst fantasy defense in the league this year against opposing receivers. 

If Hillis can pound out some decent yardage on the ground for the Giants, then Cruz should break out with a huge game, thanks to the bit of extra time a competent running game gives to quarterbacks. 

Jordy Nelson also has a highly favorable matchup this weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota's offense is a sinking ship right now, and its defense hasn't been good against the pass all year. Aaron Rodgers will find Nelson for a few big plays deep downfield as the Vikings' secondary breaks down.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots	Miami Dolphins	19
2	Tony Gonzalez	Atlanta Falcons	Arizona Cardinals	18
3	Julius Thomas	Denver Broncos	Washington Redskins	16
4	Vernon Davis	San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	16
5	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys	Detroit Lions	14
6	Jordan Cameron	Cleveland Browns	Kansas City Chiefs	13
7	Jordan Reed	Washington Redskins	Denver Broncos	11
8	*Jimmy Graham*	New Orleans Saints	Buffalo Bills	11
9	Heath Miller	Pittsburgh Steelers	Oakland Raiders	10
10	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9

Holy Gronkowski, what an entrance the previously injured tight end made last weekend against the New York Jets. He caught eight passes for 114 yards in his first action of the season, looking very much like the guy who torched the league for two-plus years before his broken forearm took him out.

He's got a killer matchup this weekend, too, as the Miami Dolphins have allowed opposing tight ends to feast this year to the tune of 12 points per game. 

Future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez should also have a monster game, going up against the league's worst fantasy defense against tight ends. The Arizona Cardinals allow 16.3 points per game to tight ends, and Gonzalez has become a focal point for Atlanta since Julio Jones was injured.

Be cautious about starting Jimmy Graham. He's questionable to play with his foot injury, as noted by CBS Fantasy Football, and was limited in practice on Friday:

Defenses

Rank	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Kansas City Chiefs	Cleveland Browns	19
2	San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	17
3	Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	16
4	New England Patriots	Miami Dolphins	15
5	Cincinnati Bengals	New York Jets	13
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	Oakland Raiders	12
7	Carolina Panthers	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	11
8	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	10
9	New York Jets	Cincinnati Bengals	10
10	Dallas Cowboys	Detroit Lions	9

As usual, Kansas City is a no-brainer against Cleveland. The Browns are rolling with veteran quarterback Jason Campbell this Sunday, but Cleveland's offense will still struggle to move the ball against the Chiefs, no matter who lines up behind center.

Another easy play is San Francisco in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

No team in the league scores less than the Jags, and the 49ers have been ramping up efforts on defense the past few games, forcing turnovers and tallying sacks at a high level. 

Kickers

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Matt Prater	Denver Broncos	Washington Redskins	16
2	Steven Hauschka	Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	15
3	Mason Crosby	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	14
4	Garrett Hartley	New Orleans Saints	Buffalo Bills	15
5	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots	Miami Dolphins	14
6	Shaun Suisham	Pittsburgh Steelers	Oakland Raiders	13
7	Alex Henery	Philadelphia Eagles	New York Giants	12
8	Dan Carpenter	Buffalo Bills	New Orleans Saints	11
9	Phil Dawson	San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	10
10	Nick Folk	New York Jets	Cincinnati Bengals	10

You can never go wrong with Matt Prater as your kicker. No team scores more often than Denver, and the trend isn't likely to change this weekend against Washington.

Mason Crosby should also get in a nice bit of work on Sunday for the Packers against Minnesota, which made New York's offense look sort of decent on Monday Night Football in Week 7. 

Super-deep sleeper alert: New York Jets kicker Nick Folk could have a big game against Cincinnati. The Jets are doing a better job on offense of late, which means more scoring opportunities for the kicker. 

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