The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Baker Mayfield.
Is Baker Mayfield Playing in Week 8?
Mayfield is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Buccaneers’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Baker Mayfield in Week 8?
Here’s a fun note to stick in your pocket for the week — Mayfield has more top-two finishes at the position this season (four) than Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen combined (three).
As much as I like what Mayfield has done with Tampa Bay’s offense this season, dialing back his average depth per throw by 27.9% in the name of efficiency and trusting his supporting cast to make plays simply isn’t the offense that will take the field this week against the eighth-best per-pass defense in the NFL.
These two teams played in an instant classic in Week 5, a 36-30 comeback win for the Falcons in overtime. In that game, Kirk Cousins’ 509 passing yards was the standout stat line, but Mayfield completed 19 of 24 passes with three scores and no interceptions.
I expect this game to look nothing like that, given that the Bucs will be without both of their star receivers. If Tampa Bay is going to remain competitive in this one, they’ll have to play a very Chargers brand of football. And if you keep reading or have common sense, you’ll realize that can work for NFL teams but not fantasy investors in the passing game.
Chris Godwin and Mike Evans have accounted for 45.9% of the Buccaneers’ targets, 49% of their receiving yards, and 61.1% of their receiving scores. Mayfield and this coaching staff will have a game plan to play to the strengths of their healthy options, but the fantasy risk far outweighs the reward in a short week as this team tries to build this plane while they fly it.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Baker Mayfield’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 8
Mayfield is projected to score 15.9 fantasy points in Week 8. This includes 214.9 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns, and 0.7 interceptions. It also includes 3 rushing attempts for 12 yards and 0.1 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
Baker Mayfield’s Week 8 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 3:45 AM ET on Wednesday, December 25. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 17 QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (vs. NYJ)
2) Lamar Jackson | BAL (at HOU)
3) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. DAL)
4) Joe Burrow | CIN (vs. DEN)
5) Jayden Daniels | WAS (vs. ATL)
6) Baker Mayfield | TB (vs. CAR)
7) Sam Darnold | MIN (vs. GB)
8) Kyler Murray | ARI (at LAR)
9) Bo Nix | DEN (at CIN)
10) Jordan Love | GB (at MIN)
11) Jared Goff | DET (at SF)
12) Anthony Richardson | IND (at NYG)
13) Brock Purdy | SF (vs. DET)
14) Tua Tagovailoa | MIA (at CLE)
15) Matthew Stafford | LAR (vs. ARI)
16) C.J. Stroud | HOU (vs. BAL)
17) Patrick Mahomes | KC (at PIT)
18) Justin Herbert | LAC (at NE)
19) Caleb Williams | CHI (vs. SEA)
20) Aaron Rodgers | NYJ (at BUF)
21) Geno Smith | SEA (at CHI)
22) Russell Wilson | PIT (vs. KC)
23) Cooper Rush | DAL (at PHI)
24) Bryce Young | CAR (at TB)
25) Drake Maye | NE (vs. LAC)
26) Michael Penix Jr. | ATL (at WAS)
27) Aidan O'Connell | LV (at NO)
28) Mac Jones | JAX (vs. TEN)
29) Mason Rudolph | TEN (at JAX)
30) Tommy DeVito | NYG (vs. IND)
31) Dorian Thompson-Robinson | CLE (vs. MIA)
32) Spencer Rattler | NO (vs. LV)
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Insights
Atlanta Falcons
Team: The Falcons have the league’s worst average starting field position (their own 26.8-yard line).
QB: Is Kirk Cousins getting a hang of this system? Over the past three weeks, he’s completed 70.4% of passes when blitzed (Weeks 1-4: 46.7%).
Offense: Despite the one-sided loss to the Seahawks last week, the Falcons have improved their third down conversion rate in four straight games. In Weeks 1-3, they converted 22.2% of third downs, a rate that has improved to 46.2% since.
Defense: The Falcons (50.7%) and Panthers (55.8%) are the only teams in the league allowing points on most drives this season.
Fantasy: Drake London is starting to live up to the promise when he entered the NFL – he’s been a top 20 fantasy receiver in five of the past six weeks.
Betting: Kirk Cousins has covered five straight road games (his last three with Minnesota and his first two with Atlanta).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Team: This is Tampa Bay’s fourth home game in a six-week stretch – they go on the road for five of seven contests from Week 9-Week 16.
QB: Baker Mayfield’s fourth red zone pass of Week 7 was intercepted by Marlon Humphrey. In Weeks 1-6, he was nearly perfect inside the 20-yard line: 20-of-25 with 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Offense: The Buccaneers have scored on their opening drive in four straight games, allowing this team to play with a lead more often than not.
Defense: Tampa Bay has been outscored 44-7 in second quarters over the past two games (in the other three quarters of those games, they’ve outscored the opposition 75-24).
Fantasy: Mike Evans left Week 7 with a hamstring injury that had his status in question mid-week – he turned seven targets into 23.2 PPR fantasy points against the Falcons in their Week 5 meeting.
Betting: On short rest, Baker Mayfield is 2-3 ATS when playing on the road (5-1 ATS in such spots at home).