Fantasy Football Predictions – Week 8
Assuming he plays, which history would tell us he probably will (last week both Amari Cooper and Davante Adams played significant snaps the week of being traded), start Hopkins. He is going to a Chiefs team desperate for someone to step up. With their mountain of injuries to pass catchers and Travis Kelce’s apparent fall off, any receiver coming in is bound to get some catches. Not only that, star quarterback Patrick Mahomes’s stats have been downright bad with a ratio of six touchdowns to eight interceptions. He will look to fix that statline in any way possible that doesn’t compromise winning. If forcing the ball to this big acquisition works early, expect Mahomes to throw to him often. – Will
In his last game, Allen showed us a glimpse of what we can expect from him and this new connection with rookie Quarterback, Caleb Williams. In their game against the Jaguars, Allen had a small receiving game, but he still had two touchdowns, contributing to the win against Jacksonville. If he can put up some more receiving yards, and average just as many touchdowns, the Bears can look forward to starting their hot streak against the Commanders. – Isaiah
Carolina is 1-6 due to inconsistent quarterback play under both Bryce Young and Andy Dalton, despite two games having solid numbers passing the ball versus Las Vegas and Atlanta. The most consistent thing on offense for Carolina has been their running game with Chuba Hubbard. This a big bright spot for first year Head Coach Dave Canales. The running game has really bolstered Canales as an offensive play caller. Chuba Hubbard is the very reason for a strong run game. Hubbard is averaging 5.2 yards per carry in 2024. – Wesley
Mason has had a very successful season thus far, but he is set to excel further this week because one: the rest of the offense is dead, and two: he’s playing against Dallas’s defense, which has been notoriously poor with their run defense this year. He has been on a down swing during his past three games, but with the comeback he’s set to make this week – he’s a lineup lock. – Noah
This pick is whether stellar rookie Jayden Daniels plays or not. Mclaurin is going up against one of if not the best corner in the league this week against the Bears’ Jaylon Johnson. Add that on top of the fact that the Bears are coming off a rest week to prepare for this Washington offense giving them the inside scoop on what they like to do. One of those things they like to do is force the ball to Mclaurin, which should be covered well this week. Expect a quiet week for Scary Terry, especially if backup Marcus Mariota is throwing the ball. – Will
Mclaurin has been a stud receiver for the Commanders, especially with Jayden Daniels under center, but with Danials’s ‘week to week’ designation as a result of his rib injury. Not to mention that back up quarterback Marcus Mariota lacked targets towards Mclaurin in his play time after Daniels’s injury, on top of the fact that he’s playing against Chicago’s stellar secondary, I advise sitting McLaurin this week. – Noah
So far this season, Mike Williams has been under-performing. He has below average receiving yards with 160. Not only that, but with the Jets picking up arguably their new WR1 in Davante Adams and still having a key wide receiver in Garret Wilson, Williams isn’t considered to be a “major option”, when it comes to Aaron Rodgers needing someone to get the ball to. Looking back at his career, Williams statistically hasn’t ever been considered “WR1” for any specific team. – Isaiah
This one has the possibility of blowing up in my face, but it’s just too good to pass up. To say things have been disappointing for these two squads would be an understatement, and it may only get uglier from here. If the ‘9ers were fully healthy, they’d win in a blowout as they did last year to a better Cowboys team. However they are missing key offensive players that change everything about this team. Reigning offensive player of the year Christian McCaffrey has been out all season, and just last week the team lost Pro-Bowl receiver Brandon Aiyuk for the rest of the year. Add that to the fact that players Kittle, Samuel, and Johnson are dealing with various ailments, this is a banged up San Francisco team. On the other side, the Cowboys are coming off a week of extra rest to prepare for this game. Not only that, but the Cowboys may be gaining defensive All-Pros Micah Parsons and Daron Bland back from injury for this game, who make this a much more dangerous squad. All this together creates a recipe for a statement cowboy win, injecting some much needed hope into this team. – Will 1-0
For this week, I’m choosing the Washington Commanders to beat the Chicago Bears in Northwest Stadium. Although they’ve lost their highly anticipated Rookie Quarterback, Jayden Daniels, they do have an experienced veteran for a backup in 30 year old Marcus Mariota. In the Commanders’ last game versus the Panthers, Mariota came in and provided what was expected from a backup Quarterback. Mariota had 205 yards in the air for a pair of touchdowns, with a passer rating of 132.8. Although they do have the record advantage over the Bears, Chicago is still favored to win, due to the fact of their recent #1 overall pick, Caleb Williams, had one of his best games of his rookie season so far, passing for over 200 yards for four touchdowns. If the Commanders utilize their defense against this Rookie Quarterback who likes to escape from the pocket as soon as he can, alongside with the home advantage, then they can progress against this potential threat of a team and move their record along to 6-2. – Isaiah, 1-0
This week I have the Arizona Cardinals beating the Miami Dolphins despite the anticipated return of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. His return comes after he suffered a concussion in week two versus the Buffalo Bills. On the other side, Arizona is coming off a win on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, but they have a short week heading on the road to Miami. I see this being a slow game from the start and comes down to the winner in the turnover battle. The game will most likely be low scoring and both defenses will have tall tasks in different ways on Sunday. Arizona will have to dial up pass coverage looks defensively against wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill while Miami will have to stop the run game whether its running back James Conner or quarterback Kyler Murray. I expect both quarterbacks to have clean games but the defense that makes crucial stops and plays will win this game, for me that team is Arizona. The Cardinals haven’t been perfect at really anything this year but the ability to rally on defense has made a big difference in games for Head Coach Jonathan Gannon. Arizona’s defense in my opinion will make a difference on Sunday in a 27-23 win over Miami. – Wesley, 1-0