Fantasy Football Week 8 Projections: Tom Brady and 5 Stars with Bad Matchups

This is a look at five fantasy studs that will have less-than-ideal matchups in Week 8.

While I'm not necessarily telling you to bench these guys (Tom Brady and LeSean McCoy should never be on your bench), it might be smart to give them a second look if you are stacked at a position.

Possibly to a more useful extent, this is a good thing to look at for salary cap leagues. Most of these players are probably pretty expensive, and therefore aren't worth the price for Week 8.

Tim Tebow

I know, I know, Tim Tebow is a fantasy superstar and always scores tons of points and whatever he touches turns into gold. 

I get that Tebow can still produce good fantasy days even when he's not so good in real life, but this isn't the matchup you want to use him in.

The Lions are giving up just 205 passing yards per game and 5.2 net yards per attempt. Those are ninth and third best in the NFL. 

Detroit also puts out one of the most menacing defensive lines, and should get tons of pressure on Tebow. He'll be uncomfortable all day, and he struggles to throw the ball to begin with. I'd put his over/under for total passing yards somewhere around 150. 

He'll probably get a bunch of rushing yards, but you can't rely on a rushing touchdown to save his day. 

Jimmy Graham

The St. Louis Rams may not have a win, but they sure know how to stop tight ends.

In their past three games, it's been murderer's row, as they've faced Fred Davis, Jermichael Finley and Jason Witten.

Fred Davis had four catches for 34 yards, Finley had one catch for 20 yards and Witten had just 35 yards, but managed to find the end zone. 

Davis and Finley are probably the two most similar to Graham in the fact that they are big, athletic receivers. And they were shut down the most. 

With the exception of Witten, the Rams have shut down every tight end they've faced. They have now allowed the second fewest fantasy points against the position.

Graham is clearly a must-start, but if the Rams continue to concentrate on stopping the tight end, it could be Marques Colston or Darren Sproles who instead has the big game. 

LeSean McCoy

LeSean McCoy is coming off a bye week and should be fully rested, but a matchup with the Dallas Cowboys run defense probably isn't what he wants to come back to.

The Cowboys are giving up 69.7 rushing yards per game and 3.3 yards per attempt, first and second best in the NFL, respectively. 

This past Sunday, Steven Jackson became the first running back to reach 70 yards against the Cowboys. Even that wasn't easy, as it took a 40-yard scamper to get him there. Besides that run, he ran 17 times for 30 yards. 

That's 1.8 yards per carry. And that's the best performance against the Cowboys this year. Yikes.

LeSean McCoy is fortunately a good pass-catcher out of the backfield, so that could help him save his fantasy day, but don't expect much on the ground.

Miles Austin/Dez Bryant

Love 'em or hate 'em, the Philadelphia Eagles have an extremely talented secondary. 

Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Asante Samuel are quite possibly the best trio of corners in the league.

They haven't quite played up to their potential for the start of this season, but they have still led the Eagles to a pass defense that is ranked 10th in the NFL.

The Cowboys have probably the best duo at wide receiver in the NFL, and I imagine Philly's corners stepping up for this one.

Dez Bryant usually gets the opponent's best corner, so Asomugha will probably line up with him, while Samuel covers Miles Austin. 

Whatever the matchups end up being, it's not going to be an easy task for these two top receivers. 

Tom Brady

The Pittsburgh Steelers are giving up just 172 yards per game through the air, and that's the best in the NFL. They're also best in net yards per attempt, giving up a minuscule 4.9.  

Still, though, Pittsburgh has benefited from facing quarterbacks like Tarvaris Jackson, Kerry Collins and Blaine Gabbert.

Even the "good" quarterbacks they've faced aren't superstars. Joe Flacco, Matt Schaub, Matt Hasselbeck and Kevin Kolb are nothing to get excited about.

Tom Brady is about one or a hundred levels ahead of those guys. 

Still, while the Steelers have struggled against the run, their pass defense has stayed just as dominant. The loss of James Harrison hasn't really hurt the pass rush, either, as they are currently eighth in the NFL with 17 sacks.

But Brady is Brady. He's a surgeon and he'll find a way to burn Troy Polamalu, who at times gets overly aggressive.

I'm downgrading Brady little-to-none for this matchup.