Fantasy Football Rankings Week 8: A.J. Green and More Sleeper WRs to Start

Not every fantasy owner has the good luck to have drafted Wes Welker or Larry Fitzgerald. For the rest of the world, these less-heralded wideouts should be in for big games (at least by their standards) in Week 8:

A.J. Green, Cincinnati

Andy Dalton and the conservative Bengals offense haven’t been a great source of fantasy scoring, but this might be a comparatively big week for Cincy. With starting halfback Cedric Benson out, the Bengals may be forced to put the ball in the air more than usual, and many of those throws will go Green’s direction.

With the Seahawks secondary banged up, Green will have bigger openings than usual in which to make plays. Expect him to come through in what could be a closely-contested game.

Brandon Lloyd, St. Louis

With Sam Bradford officially out for the second week in a row, avoiding Rams receivers like the plague would be an understandable impulse. However, the Saints don’t have an unbeatable secondary, and whatever plays St. Louis does make, Lloyd will likely get a large fraction of them.

Then, too, it’s a sure bet that the Saints will win this game in a blowout, forcing A.J. Feeley to air the ball out repeatedly. That’s not a good sign for Feeley’s fantasy performance, but the volume of throws could allow Lloyd to luck into a long gainer or two.

Lance Moore, New Orleans

Marques Colston will still get the lion’s share of the fantasy points for New Orleans, but like last week, there should be plenty to go around in Drew Brees’ offense. The Rams’ depleted secondary has few resources to match up with the deep Saints’ receiving corps.

Moore also has the advantage that his sure hands make him a potential red-zone target, even if he doesn’t have the deep speed of a Devery Henderson. He’s not necessarily going to have a monster day compared to the Calvin Johnsons of the world, but he’s certainly worth a look if you have him stashed on your bench.