Who to Start, Who to Sit–Week 8

Is it really Week 8 already?  By now you should have a decent idea of who your team is.  We are way past “off to a good start” or “struggling out of the gate.”

Quarterbacks

Start:  Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers vs. Arizona Cardinals. Delhomme has been on a nice little roll lately, as he has two touchdown passes in three of his last four games.  Put that together with the fact that he is playing an Arizona pass defense which isn’t horrible against the pass in terms of yards, but has allowed the most touchdown passes in the NFL.  Look for Delhomme to continue his hot streak with 250 yards and another two touchdown game.

Start:  Trent Edwards, Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins. Edwards will most likely never throw 30 touchdowns in a season, but he is very efficient as he has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes this season.   The good thing about him is that he rarely throws up the 10/39 for 75 yards and 3 INT kind of game.  You can always count on Edwards for between 175-225 yards and one or two touchdowns.  The Dolphins are among the league’s worst against the pass, and you can expect more of the same from Edwards this week.

Sit:  Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles. The rookie has been impressive this week, but the Eagles will throw things at him that he has never seen.  Expect pressure like he has never seen, and I am looking for a couple interceptions and probably a fumble.  175 yards and probably no touchdowns for Ryan this week, the Eagles and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson are notorious for confusing offenses.

Sit:  Eli Manning, New York Giants vs. Pittsburgh Steelers. This has the feeling of a knock down, drag out, old time classic football game.  Look for the majority of the offense to be take place on the ground, as these are two run-first offenses and on top of that the Steelers are a great pass defense ranked number one in the NFL at under 160 yards per game.  Eli is a good QB, but this is not the week to start him.

Running Backs

Start:  Chris Johnson/LenDale White, Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts. After last week’s game against the Chiefs, do I really need to say too much more?  The Titans ran for over 300 yards on the ground, and White scored three times and Johnson scored once.  This week they go against another weak run offense as the Colts allow over 150 yards per game on the ground.  Both Titans backs are good plays here in Week 8.

Start:  Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cleveland Browns. The Browns have allowed eight rushing touchdowns in six weeks, and Jones-Drew finally broke out of his season long slump right before the bye week.  Look for him to top 100 yards and score once, or possibly twice against a weak Cleveland defense.

Sit:  Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Turner has been great against bad defenses, and bad against good defenses.  Problem for Turner and his owners, is that the Falcons face the Eagles this week, and they have only allowed three rushing touchdowns all season long.  I don’t expect him to reach the 90 yards in the game that the Eagles average allowing per game.  Try to find a better option this week than Turner.

Sit:  Marion Barber, Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This one was painful to write, but there are a couple reasons that I don’t think that Barber will have one of his signature games.  Brad Johnson looks to be the QB of the Cowboys again this week, and teams will know that the Cowboys will need to focus on the run to keep their offense moving.  Second, the Bucs have still not allowed a rushing touchdown this season.

Wide Receivers

Start:  Marques Colston, New Orleans Saints vs. San Diego Chargers. Colston returned from injury last week, and……..did not record a catch.  Don’t expect that to continue.  San Diego is the worst defense against the pass, and the Saints have the best passing offense.  Drew Brees, despite his poor showing last week, is on pace to challenge Dan Marino’s passing yards record, and if he is going to get there, Colston has to be a big part of it.  Look for Colston to get back on track this week.

Start:  DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons. Some fantasy players might be a little skeptical of Jackson considering the Eagles are due to get Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown back from injury, but Jackson has done enough during the start of the season that he will still be an integral part of the Eagles offense even with those guys coming back.  Plus, neither Curtis or Brown haven’t played in a while, so don’t expect them to go crazy their first game back.

Sit:  Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions vs. Washington Redskins. The Redskins are one of the better defenses against the pass and have only allowed seven touchdown passes through seven games.  Dan Orlovsky is the quarterback of the Lions for the foreseeable future, which hurts the fantasy value of one of the best young receivers in football.  Don’t expect more than 60 yards and no scores from Calvin this week.

Sit:  Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans. After looking like the Harrison of old in Week 6, Harrison looked like a shell of his former self again last Sunday against the Packers with just two catches for 11 yards.  The Titans have the fifth best pass defense, and have only allowed one touchdown through the air all season long.  If the Colts do get in the end zone through the air, look for it to be Reggie Wayne who reaches paydirt.

Tight Ends

Start:  Chris Cooley, Washington Redskins vs. Detroit Lions. Although he is on pace to have his best season by receptions and receiving yards, Cooley only has one touchdown this season up to this point.  What does every fantasy player hope for their players?  To be playing the Lions, of course.  The Lions are second worst against the pass and have allowed 11 TD passes against them this year.  Look for both trends to continue as Cooley gets close to 100 yards and scores his second touchdown of the season.

Sit:  Anthony Fasano, Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills. After 11 catches and two touchdowns his first two games, Fasano has just six catches and no touchdowns in his last three games.  The Bills are among the ten best pass defenses in the NFL, and I don’t expect the success that Chad Pennington has had recently to continue, and I see Fasano fading out to fantasy irrelevance.

As always, your comments and questions (adds/drops, trade advice, lineup questions, etc) are welcome at [e-mail]. I guarantee a response within 18 hours.