The Outlook – Week 8 (LV-NYJ, CLE-PIT, ATL-TB, IND-JAC)

Hey, folks! We’re back with our second block of games for the Week 8 NFL slate, and we’re staying with the early games here as we’ve got the rest that we didn’t cover in the first block!

We’ve compiled the groupings of games here to make it easier to find the games you want:

• Block 1: CAR-GB, BAL-BUF, TEN-CIN, ARI-DAL, MIN-DET
• Block 2: LV-NYJ, CLE-PIT, ATL-TB, IND-JAC
• Block 3: LAC-LAR, KC-DEN, NE-MIA, PHI-WAS, CHI-SEA

“The Outlook” will give you details, stats, angles, recommendations and everything else you need to know to help you make your fantasy football decisions. Every fantasy-relevant player on each team playing will be profiled in this article. We want everybody reading this to bring home championships in their fantasy leagues!

I’m incredibly excited to bring this article to all of you this season, and I hope you all enjoy the ride. If you have any questions, feel free to find me on Bluesky (@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) or tag me in a post with any lineup questions you have. I’ll do my best to answer them for you.

Let’s get into it!

All game and implied point totals listed were compiled via DraftKings Sportsbook on Wednesday for LV-NYJ, CLE-PIT, ATL-TB and IND-JAC.

Teams on bye in Week 8: Houston Texans, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.

Las Vegas Raiders at New York Jets

• Favorite: Raiders -1.5
• Game Total: 45.5
• Implied Point Total: Raiders 23.5, Jets 22

Raiders Fantasy Notes

Must-Start Players: TE Brock Bowers

QB Kirk Cousins

Man, give it up for Cousins, who has five QB11 or better fantasy finishes in his last six games, including a QB9 game in Week 7 against the Rams. That’s also six games with multiple touchdown passes, and he also had some volume with 44 pass attempts and 295 yards while throwing a couple of touchdown passes. Genuinely, Cousins is playing VERY well, but the elephant in the room until we get the official announcement is Fernando Mendoza and when he’ll get his first start. Until then, Cousins is a top-five fantasy quarterback. The fantasy points don’t lie. I crunched the numbers. I couldn’t believe it, either.

Fantasy Advice: The Jets are up next, and they’re not somebody to be scared of for any quarterback you may have. Cousins is a solid low-end QB1 here for this matchup on the road at MetLife Stadium.

RB Ashton Jeanty

I’ll just come out and say it with my bravest face: Jeanty is 2026 Alvin Kamara with a better publicist. Jeanty leads all running backs in every meaningful receiving category and is second in first-read target share as well, behind Christian McCaffrey. He is also averaging 3.1 yards per carry, 31st out of 40 qualifying backs in RYOE (-41), 32nd in success rate (35%) and 27th in YaC/attempt per NextGenStats. We probably should rethink WHAT Jeanty is these days rather than expecting him to be a three-down workhorse. He may not be that anymore, and that’s OK. However, if he’s carrying most of his fantasy value in his receiving, who are we to judge?

Fantasy Advice: Jeanty has contributed big time to the Raiders having one of the worst rushing offenses in the NFL, but he is still pretty relevant in fantasy despite that. Jeanty has a pretty decent matchup on tap against the Jets, so keep firing him up as a mid-range RB2 and hope we can get just a LITTLE rushing efficiency.

WR Tre Tucker

Say what you want about Tucker, but Cousins has pretty much unlocked him and made him a viable wide receiver. Not bad for a guy who was pigeonholed as a pure deep-threat receiver. I mean, he still kind of is with a 13.2-yard aDOT, but I digress. Two straight weeks of WR11 or better finishes, with 18 targets, 10 receptions, three touchdowns and 200 receiving yards? That’ll certainly play in our funny little game we call fantasy football.

Fantasy Advice: I’m very happy to slot in Tucker as a mid-range WR3 against the Jets in Week 8.

Jets Fantasy Notes

Must-Start Players: None

Jets RBs

At least it’s an easy decision this week when it comes to this running game, as Breece Hall is practicing in a limited capacity. Also, Braelon Allen is limited with an ankle injury, so let’s hope one of these guys plays. If Hall plays, you start him. If Hall is out and Allen is out, you start Allen. If BOTH are out, well then SHEESH, it’s Isaiah Davis szn, I guess. In the end, one of the top two backs should be active for this game against the Raiders, who give up the second-most yards per game to backfields and the sixth-most fantasy points.

Fantasy Advice: Hall is about as locked-in a start as you’ll get as long as he’s active. If it’s Allen heading up the backfield again, he’ll still be able to take advantage. If both are active, Allen becomes unstartable, and then plug in Hall if you have him.

WR Garrett Wilson

Wilson took a little bit of a back seat in Week 7 to rookie Omar Cooper Jr. and Mason Taylor, who each had excellent games and caught all three of Geno Smith‘s touchdowns on the afternoon. Wilson ran a team-high 88% of routes per dropback but only earned three targets and caught just two balls for 26 yards. As long as the passing game is going strong, Wilson will be involved in almost every other instance, so this game was just a blip on the radar for me.

Fantasy Advice: No worries about Wilson; we still have him as a mid-range WR2 in this game against the Raiders, who are in the bottom quartile of teams in terms of fantasy points allowed to receivers.

WR Omar Cooper Jr.

We got the big reveal for Cooper, and it was everything we wanted him to be. Receivers like Cooper Kupp, CeeDee Lamb and Chris Godwin have historically played in the slot in three-wide receiver sets, and then, when the formation condenses to just two wide receivers, they also play on the outside. The worry with Cooper is that he was playing in the slot in Week 7, but with Adonai Mitchell back, we weren’t sure if Cooper would leave the field in two-wide sets, leaving Wilson and Mitchell always out there in two-receiver sets.

Well, Cooper stayed on the field with Wilson, so even though this offense isn’t one of the better ones in the NFL, the role is fantastic. There’s a team buy-in, and they’re going to give Cooper every opportunity to play and make the most of his time on the field. Cooper certainly did so in Week 7, with a 5-115-1 stat line, while Mitchell had one catchless target and 55% of routes.

Wheels up for Cooper – never a more apt phrase when talking about the Jets.

Fantasy Advice: Cooper has a chance to be one of the better second-half players this season with this role, so we’ll play him aggressively as a mid-range WR3 with big upside against a soft Raiders pass defense.

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers

• Favorite: Steelers -3.5
• Game Total: 39.5
• Implied Point Total: Steelers 21.5, Browns 18

Browns Fantasy Notes

Must-Start Players: None

QB Deshaun Watson

Watson had his second top-12 fantasy finish of the season, throwing for 308 yards and adding a rushing touchdown to finish as QB10 in Week 7 against the Titans. That’s two straight games where Watson hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass, but he put the ball in the air more than he has all season with a season-high 36 pass attempts. Helping to boost Watson’s fantasy value is his 213 rushing yards, which is third in the NFL behind Josh Allen and Malik Willis. Watson hasn’t been very good, but he hasn’t been as bad as people thought he would be.

Fantasy Advice: Watson is purely a streaming quarterback in good matchups. Against the Steelers in Week 8, who allow the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, Watson should be left on the waiver wire or your bench.

RB Quinshon Judkins

The Browns sat Judkins in Week 6 against the Ravens, and he looked much fresher in his return to the lineup with one of his best games as a Brown. Judkins was RB3 last week in PPR formats, rushing for 96 yards and scoring twice while adding a catch for eight yards. We also witnessed the return of Dylan Sampson, who missed five games with a knee injury, and he took the majority of routes and a half-dozen carries from Judkins. It’s not ideal, but it’s certainly no dealbreaker if it’s going to keep Judkins fresh and spry. This is a solid combo, and it puts Judkins firmly back on the RB2 radar for the time being. Notably, this is the first game since Week 5 of 2025 where Judkins had 4.0 yards per carry or better, per Late Round’s JJ Zachariason. Let’s hope it doesn’t take as long for the next one.

Fantasy Advice: The Steelers represent a tough test for the Browns and the run game, so Judkins is a low-end, volume-based RB2 for this game in Week 8.

Browns WRs

The duo of KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston consolidated targets big time in Week 7, combining for 56% of the team’s targets against Tennessee. Concepcion had his best game as a pro, with a team-leading 8-129-0 line on 10 targets. Boston failed to do much with his nine targets, pulling in just three of them for 27 yards on 143 air yards.

Concepcion was basically Zay Flowers versus the Titans, with the third-most YAC (81) of any pass-catcher in Week 7. If this is what his role will be and he can build on this performance, we have to be in on him. Boston’s lack of efficiency was related to not bringing in deep balls, so with the level of intent for the Browns to get him downfield, he should course-correct in the weeks ahead.

Fantasy Advice: Imagine if this duo could get some better and/or more consistent quarterback play? Both Concepcion and Boston are high-end flex plays up to low-end WR3 plays against the Steelers in Week 8.

TE Harold Fannin Jr.

While Concepcion and Boston were out galivanting with their combined 19 targets, Fannin was also part of that target-rich Browns triumvirate with one of his best games of the season, a 6-91-0 line on seven targets. He didn’t score a touchdown, but it’s nice to see Fannin able to do what he does best: earn targets. Now, if only we could get some consistency here. After his Week 3 performance, when he put up a 7-52-2 line against the Panthers, Fannin earned 10 targets, five receptions, 40 yards and a touchdown in his next three games combined. Let’s just hope the Browns remember that he exists in future games.

Fantasy Advice: We know target earning is Fannin’s forte, so let’s see if Watson and the Browns remember that against the Steelers in Week 8. We’ll pencil in Fannin as a low-end TE1 off the strength of his Week 7 performance, with the hopes that he builds on it.

Steelers Fantasy Notes

Must-Start Players: None

QB Aaron Rodgers

After four straight weeks of basically QB12 or better production (OK, there was a QB13 game in there, but I went to the judges, and they’ll count it) from Rodgers, Week 7’s game in Paris was certainly more muted. Just 212 yards and a touchdown pass on the day, with perfect balance: 30 pass attempts and 30 rush attempts. Rodgers has had some volume recently, but these “game-manager” days pop up here at his ripe age of 42. If you’re going to take the weeks of the good, the bad weeks come with the price of admission.

Fantasy Advice: Rodgers and the Steelers head back to the States and will host Cleveland before their Week 9 bye. Against the Browns, Rodgers is a low-end streamer here, with the Browns giving up the eighth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing signal-callers.

Steelers RBs

Jaylen Warren? Pretty good! A returning Rico Dowdle? ALSO pretty good!

Warren is very close to being a must-start running back in his own right, with 101 yards rushing and the meatier slice of the rushing pie with 60% of the team’s rushing attempts against the Saints in Paris. Dowdle, in addition to his 41 yards rushing on nine carries, also co-led the Steelers in targets with six, turning those looks into 6-45-0. Both finished right around RB20 for the week. With a quarterback like Rodgers who doesn’t mind dumping the ball off to running backs, we’re going to get a lot of high-value touches in this backfield. Not too shabby a situation for both of these guys.

Fantasy Advice: While Warren is a high-end RB2 no matter the matchup, fantasy managers should feel fine slotting in Dowdle as a mid-range flex play against the Browns, which is a somewhat difficult matchup as they’ve clamped down on running back receptions and yards out of the backfield, allowing the fourth-fewest yards per game and just under four receptions per game.

Steelers WRs

DK Metcalf fell victim to the great air yards hoax yet again, as Rodgers has really dialed back the downfield passing in recent weeks. Metcalf could only muster two receptions and 56 yards on six targets in France against the Saints. After Week 3 (355 team air yards) and Week 4 (382), the Steelers have been under 200 air yards as a team for three straight weeks. Metcalf hit 116 (65% of the team total) and 111 (58%) air yards himself, which is totally fine, but if this trend continues, one of the main drivers of Metcalf’s value moving forward dries up, and we’re left with pure volume.

This affects Germie Bernard as well, as his production hit a bit of a snag with so many running back receptions. He could only earn five targets and a 3-27-0 line. Bernard is startable, but he may not be the difference-maker we all hoped for after Weeks 5-6, when he compiled 20 targets, 17 receptions, 167 yards and a score.

Fantasy Advice: Consider Metcalf a solid WR3, with Bernard as a high-end flex for now, although that comes with the hope that Rodgers will get back to throwing to the intermediate part of the field and not just dumping off to running backs.

Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Favorite: Buccaneers -2.5
• Game Total: 44.5
• Implied Point Total: Buccaneers 23.5, Falcons 21

Falcons Fantasy Notes

Must-Start Players: RB Bijan Robinson, WR Drake London

QB Michael Penix Jr.

That’s two straight QB8 or better games from Michael Penix Jr., with three touchdown passes in each game, including 213 yards against the previously unbeaten 49ers. There’s not too much passing volume in Atlanta, but Penix is making the throws he DOES get count. Unfortunately, not getting a lot of passing volume amplifies the margin for error here, as Penix has to be SO efficient with his 29 pass attempts per game that he needs to throw a bunch of touchdowns or significantly extend his yards per attempt.

Fantasy Advice: His Week 8 opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are a bit of a pass funnel, so that will at least get more eyes on Penix as a streamer this week. He’s moderately viable.

TE Kyle Pitts

Averaging six targets per game over his last three outings, Kyle Pitts is rehabbing his fantasy value in real time with Penix at quarterback, securing five receptions each time out while also scoring four touchdowns. With Cooper Rush, Pitts had just one reception in two games, but it’s been a lot better for our boy lately. Pitts’ counting stats besides touchdowns weren’t that great in Week 7, with just 22 yards on five receptions, but the touchdown makes everything solid for fantasy managers who started him. Tampa Bay will be a test for Pitts, as the Bucs allow the sixth-fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends. The Buccaneers field a quality real-life defense that’s second in passing EPA/play allowed and third in EPA/play overall, so more than likely, you’re expecting about the same production you have been getting from Pitts, but he is running VERY hot on touchdowns.

Fantasy Advice: Pitts is a solid streaming tight end in Week 8, at the top of the “hope he gets into the end zone” tier.

Buccaneers Fantasy Notes

Must-Start Players: RB Bucky Irving

QB Baker Mayfield

Mayfield’s return was pretty much a walk in the park. The Buccaneers scored 43 points and ran the ball 49(!) times while attempting only 11 passes. That’s right, Mayfield went 6-of-11 for 64 yards and a touchdown pass. It almost feels unfair to judge him for fantasy based on this game, so I won’t. His first actual test will be THIS week against the Falcons.

Fantasy Advice: Mayfield is in the streaming quarterback conversation, as he has two weeks before the Bucs’ Week 10 bye, during which they play the Falcons and then travel to Chicago. Both are solid matchups, so while I’m not picking him up in every league where I need a quarterback start, he’s a solid fallback option.

Buccaneers WRs

Just like you can throw out the Mayfield stuff, you can toss most of what we got from the Buccaneers’ wide receivers. There were just nine targets in the ENTIRE GAME for Tampa Bay, but Chris Godwin got five of them, if you’re into that. Emeka Egbuka, who was out with a foot issue and a concussion, was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, so things are trending in the right direction for him to play against the Falcons. No shade to Godwin, but he’s been a shell of himself this season. In other words, if Egbuka plays, we’re looking at him as the sole fantasy-relevant piece of this offense against the Falcons.

Fantasy Advice: If Egbuka plays, he’s a volatile low-end WR3. If he doesn’t, that pushes Godwin into the low-end flex conversation against the Falcons, who are average against fantasy wideouts.

Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars

• Favorite: Jaguars -10
• Game Total: 46.5
• Implied Point Total: Jaguars 28.25, Colts 18.25

Colts Fantasy Notes

Must-Start Players: RB Jonathan Taylor

Colts WRs

After a promising first few weeks of target earning from Josh Downs, he’s been lying in the weeds, averaging less than five targets per game and three receptions per game while still being without a touchdown on the campaign. He’s been the subject of some trade rumors, as has the entire Colts team, it seems, so perhaps he’ll be dealt to get a fresh start with a new team? He’s been usurped to some degree by veteran Keenan Allen, who earned a combined 20 targets in Weeks 5-6. Against Minnesota in Week 7, however, he pulled in all three of his targets for 31 yards. Making this even more disappointing is that Tyler Warren has missed the last two weeks with a groin injury, and nobody has really taken the baton for the production in this passing game.

Fantasy Advice: It’s difficult to recommend Downs or Allen here as fantasy options, but they would be low-end flex plays if you had to start them in a pinch.

TE Tyler Warren

With Warren out with a groin injury over the last two weeks, the Colts’ offense hasn’t really been productive. It really wasn’t that productive WITH Warren, to be clear, but at least Warren was solidly productive. In his previous three games before his injury, Warren was averaging eight targets, seven receptions and just under 60 receiving yards per game. That was perfectly fine and got it done for fantasy managers even without touchdowns.

Fantasy Advice: The Jaguars are just a middle-of-the-road team in allowing fantasy points to tight ends, so he’s good to go in your fantasy lineup for Week 8.

Jaguars Fantasy Notes

Must-Start Players: WR Parker Washington

QB Trevor Lawrence

Fresh off their Week 7 bye and a QB1 performance against the Texans before that, Trevor Lawrence is back in the saddle for the Jaguars as they get a home date with a team that’s selling off its players: the Colts. Shaking off an early malaise, Lawrence has been a top-11 fantasy quarterback in back-to-back weeks with over 300 yards passing and six passing touchdowns. Lawrence is an easy top-six play this week against a defense that could be further depleted by the time Sunday rolls around.

Fantasy Advice: Lawrence is an easy start this week against the Colts in Week 8.

RB Bhayshul Tuten

Through the first six weeks of the season, up until their bye week in Week 7, Bhayshul Tuten has passed the test so far on whether he can be a viable lead back and fantasy running back. He’s still splitting some carries with Chris Rodriguez Jr., but those are a lot of empty-calorie carries, while Tuten has the receiving work locked down. Against the Colts in Week 8, who allow the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing backfields, he’s a very worthwhile start.

Fantasy Advice: Give Tuten high-end RB2 treatment this week against Indianapolis and its increasingly soft run defense – one that got softer following its trade of DeForest Buckner to the 49ers this week.

TE Brenton Strange

The last three games have really leveled up Brenton Strange from being somebody stuck behind target competition to being the second target behind Washington. Strange is averaging just shy of eight targets, a little over six receptions and 69 receiving yards per game in his last three games before the bye against the Bengals, Eagles and Texans. It’s time to get Strange into fantasy lineups across the board. He should come back from the bye fresh and rested, with a below-average Colts defense awaiting him in Week 8.

Fantasy Advice: I like Strange this week as a low-end TE1, as Jakobi Meyers and Brian Thomas Jr. have become non-factors in this offense, paving the way for Strange’s ascension.

This article originally appeared on The Huddle: The Outlook – Week 8 (LV-NYJ, CLE-PIT, ATL-TB, IND-JAC)