That was only the second time the Colts’ top wideout has hit double-digits. Some of the other names in the top-tier included Nate Washington, who handled the majority of targets in Houston’s pass-happy offense, and Stefon Diggs, who just recently became active for the Minnesota Vikings.
But the stalwarts should still get the nod on your roster, like DeAndre Hopkins, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown and Keenan Allen. Brown should see his production skyrocket with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger set to return this week.
For the players not in the must-start list, here’s our start ’em, sit ’em list for week 8.
Daily fantasy start of the week
Brandon Marshall vs. Oakland Raiders
This is a sneaky pick for a DFS roster. Marshall won’t be as expensive as some of the players mentioned earlier, but he garners similar attention.
Marshall reached double-digits in fantasy points in five straight weeks before being held to single digits last week against New England. Regardless of the numbers, though, his targets have been double-digits in four of six games this season.
Ryan Fitzpatrick pretty much either focuses on Marshall or Eric Decker, so we like what Marshall can bring us this week against the Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders own the worst pass defense in the NFL and we anticipate the Jets will throw the ball often. Sure, the Jets like to focus on the run, but Oakland has been good against the run all season.
Marshall should garner more than 10 targets this week and the Raiders can give up points as well as any defense in the league. Expect a monster outing from Marshall this week.
Start
Stefon Diggs vs. Chicago Bears
Diggs was a waiver wire add in the last two weeks. He wasn’t even active until week 4.
But since that time, he’s been the number 1 option for Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
We understand the Chicago Bears have been decent against the pass this season, but let’s not forget what it did in its last game.
Detroit passed all over the defense, with Matthew Stafford totaling more than 400 yards passing.
The Vikings may gameplan more to run the football, but Bridgewater will be asked to pass at some point. And when he does, he favors Diggs.
In three games since being activated, he has 28 targets and has hauled in 19 of them. He has gone over 100 yards receiving in two of the three games and tallied his first touchdown on a nice diving catch last week against Detroit.
Diggs is the top target on the Vikings and should get a start on your fantasy team this week.
Marvin Jones vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
We’re not scared of the Steelers defense. At least not the secondary.
Pittsburgh has shown some ability to stop the run at times this season, but against the pass, the Steelers are vulnerable. And with Andy Dalton firing the ball all over the field now for Cincinnati, that helps increase Jones’ value.
The last time was saw Jones, he was hauling in nine catches on 12 targets. That was the third game where he reached double-digits in scoring, and he appears to be moving away from the boom-or-bust receiver that labeled him to being the season.
The Steelers are allowing the sixth-most passing yards per game and quarterbacks are completing 68.8 percent of passes, the fourth-best average in the NFL.
Because Pittsburgh can stop the run at times, teams also attempt more passes, at 38 passes per game, the 11th-most attempts in the NFL.
The Bengals have a lot of weapons and Jones is another option for Dalton. He should have a quality outing against the Steelers this week.
Fantasy sit of the week
Amari Cooper vs. New York Jets
Cooper will be a hot item this week in DFS. He tallied 19.30 points last week, giving him his fourth double-digit effort this season in fantasy.
But this week’s matchup isn’t good for anybody on the Raiders.
As we’ve shown already this week, the last time the Raiders played a defense like the New York Jets, they failed.
Against the Bengals and Broncos, Cooper tallied nine fantasy points combined. Those are the only games in which he hasn’t gone for double-digits in fantasy.
The Jets are one of the best defenses against the pass in the NFL. Cooper won’t have room to catch anything this week, so stay away from him in DFS leagues.
Sit
Donte Moncrief vs. Carolina Panthers
We know that Indianapolis pretty much passes on every down, but Moncrief is becoming more and more touchdown dependent.
Sure, he has a decent amount of fantasy points this season, but he’s only gone for more than 75 yards receiving once this season. He has five touchdowns this season, helping aid his point total.
Last week, he garnered six targets in a blow-out loss to the Saints. That may sound OK, but this is on a team that throws it more than 40 times per game.
And this week’s matchup doesn’t look good for the Colts or Moncrief. The Panthers are a top-10 passing defense and limit quarterbacks to the worst QBR in the league at 67.
Andrew Luck hasn’t been very good against bad defenses. He will struggle this week and that’s a bad sign for Moncrief owners.
Larry Fitzgerald vs. Cleveland Browns
We didn’t anticipate Fitzgerald to be a WR1 entering the season, so why are we still holding onto him as a WR1 now?
He hasn’t gone over 100 yards receiving since week 3 against San Francisco. In his last game, he totaled just 39 yards receiving against Baltimore’s leaky secondary.
We’re seeing Fitzgerald coming back to Earth, so don’t delay in treating him as a matchup liability in some cases.
The Browns have a terrible defense, but their rush defense is so bad that teams don’t throw against them. Teams are attempting only 34 passes per game and completing only 58.6 percent of them, which is actually the fourth-worst against NFL defenses.
Fitzgerald may still have some big games under his belt, but we’re seeing more of a focus on John Brown than Fitzgerald. This is a risky play, but worth a sit if you have other borderline options.
