Week 8 Fantasy Football Projections: Flex, PPR Stat Predictions for Top 100

We’ve already blown through seven weeks of the 2016 NFL season, and Week 8 is nearly upon us.

If you’re one of the millions of fantasy football enthusiasts out there, you’re probably preparing to enter the home stretch of your fantasy season. Of course, this can often be the toughest time of year for which to prepare.

Thanks primarily to injuries and surprise situations, the fantasy landscape probably looks a lot different than it did when you sat down on draft day. It’s becoming difficult to maximize fantasy rosters, especially now that we’re in bye-week season.

This week, the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers are all on bye.

So where should you turn in Week 8? That’s what we’re going to try to determine here. We’ll break down the top 100 fantasy players—on a position-by-position basis—and provide our point projections for each. We’ll also take an in-depth look at some of the top positional storylines heading into Week 8.

Our choices are based on factors such as past performances, player health, projected roles and matchups. All projections are based on a point-per-reception format.

                

Quarterbacks

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson didn’t have a strong fantasy outing in Week 7—225 yards with no touchdowns and two fumbles—but he was facing the Arizona Cardinals defense on the road.

This week, Wilson draws a much more favorable matchup. He’ll go up against the New Orleans Saints, who are rated just 30th in pass coverage.

Another quarterback with a good matchup is Atlanta Falcons signal-caller Matt Ryan, who has become a true fantasy star this season. He draws the Green Bay Packers, who are ranked 29th in pass coverage.

With Ryan and the Falcons likely to rack up the yardage and the points on Sunday, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers could find himself in a shootout. Considering the Packers are thin at the running back position, he’ll probably be doing a lot of passing anyway.

Knile Davis, Ty Montgomery and Don Jackson…your #Packers running backs pic.twitter.com/Ou10w3iQnh

— Scott Grodsky (@ScottGrodsky) October 20, 2016

Last week against the Chicago Bears, Rodgers attempted 56 passes. Expect him to again be the driving force behind Green Bay’s offense and to have a strong fantasy day because of it.

Also, expect Saints quarterback Drew Brees to be the piston behind the New Orleans offense because, well, that’s just how New Orleans operates. He does not have a great matchup—the Seahawks are rated third in pass coverage. However, Brees has attempted at least 40 passes in every game this season except for one.

He should be a viable fantasy start based on volume alone.

If you’re looking for a sneaky play at quarterback, consider the Kansas City Chiefs’ Alex Smith. The Chiefs don’t lean on the passing game, but Smith will face an Indianapolis Colts defense that is allowing an average of 281.1 passing yards per game (25th in the NFL).

                

Running Backs

We mentioned that the Packers are light on running backs right now, but that doesn’t mean one of them doesn’t deserve a spot on your roster. Converted wide receiver Ty Montgomery does.

Montgomery is still also a receiver, of course, and this is why he holds a lot of value, especially in PPR leagues. Last week against the Chicago Bears, he had 60 yards rushing, 66 yards receiving and 10 receptions.

As Matthew Berry of ESPN.com pointed out, though, Montgomery is now considered a running back—at least in ESPN.com leagues:

HEADS UP! @ESPNFantasy has granted Packers WR Ty Montgomery RB eligibility for the remainder of the 2016 season. He is now a RB/WR.

— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) October 24, 2016

He is a sneaky play …

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