The Buffalo Bills will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Bills skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Josh Allen, QB
Allen has posted two straight top-five finishes this season and has four such performances this season. His quick-pass rate is pacing for a career-high, and with his passing numbers trending up of late, it would appear that he is gaining comfort with his current set of teammates.
The addition of Amari Cooper can’t be overstated, and his impact figures to be felt with more time. Allen is locked in weekly, as he has access to a rare floor and ceiling.
James Cook, RB
After Ray Davis impressed in Week 6 with Cook (toe) sidelined, there were some whispers about a committee situation. That, however, didn’t look like the plan as Cook closed out Buffalo’s fourth possession last week with an 11-yard score and he was the only player on the team with a rushing attempt up to that point.
The knock on Cook entering this season was his limitations as a scoring option, but with six TDs over his past five games, those concerns no longer exist. Buffalo has an implied total of 25 points in this game, and I’m going to bet them to go over that number – if my bet cashes, Cook could finish the week as a top-10 performer at the position.
Ray Davis, RB
Davis slid back into his RB2 role with James Cook active, and that meant zero value. The box score will reflect a touchdown, and it was an impressive one from 16 yards out, but it came with less than two minutes remaining in a blowout victory.
Cook is the lead back in this offense without much question and the only one that can be played with any level of confidence. Davis’ Week 6 explosion earned him the handcuff honors; while that holds value, you’re overthinking things if you’re trying to wedge him into your lineup this week.
Amari Cooper, WR
Cooper put his first target as a Bill on the turf, but after that, he looked great in his Buffalo debut despite playing only one-third of the snaps.
Weeks 1-6:
- 30.1% under fantasy expectation
- 12.0 aDOT
- 22.8% on-field target share
Week 7:
- 97.6% over fantasy expectation
- 12.4 aDOT
- 41.7% on-field target share
Cooper appears to be the perfect fit and a top-12 fantasy receiver in the making as he develops an understanding of this playbook.
The Seahawks played a viable passing quarterback four times this season, and in all four of those games, a featured receiver cleared 18 PPR fantasy points (Drake London, Deebo Samuel Sr., Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Darius Slayton, when he was filling in for Malik Nabers).
Nothing I saw over the weekend has me thinking that Cooper can’t extend those struggles as his route participation increases and he remembers what it is like to play with a consistent quarterback.
Curtis Samuel, WR
The narrative this offseason was that Samuel could rediscover his previous form with Joe Brady, but that simply hasn’t come to fruition. The veteran receiver has played 40% of Buffalo’s offensive snaps just once this season, and even when he’s on the field, he’s been far from productive (33.6% below fantasy expectations based on where his targets come on the field).
With Amari Cooper’s usage likely to trend up, Keon Coleman beginning to pay off some of his pedigree, and Khalil Shakir continuing to be the most efficient on planet Earth, Samuel’s piece of the Buffalo pie is borderline non-existent.
You may be stuck at the receiver position due to the rash of injuries across the league – you can do better than Samuel. I’d rather roll the dice on the size/matchup profile for Cedric Tillman or get a piece of the completion machine that is Jared Goff by way of Tim Patrick or Kalif Raymond with Jameson Williams suspended.
Keon Coleman, WR
With three 40-plus-yard catches over the past three weeks, Coleman’s stock is quietly ticking up. I like his pedigree, though his volume ceiling is probably capped at the seven targets he saw last week with Amari Cooper poised to assume an alpha WR1 role and Khalil Shakir’s efficiency in the slot not going anywhere.
The Seahawks create pressure at the fourth-highest rate, and if Josh Allen is feeling the heat, Coleman’s floor very much comes into play. Coleman has caught only three of eight targets when his quarterback is pressured this season (13-of-19 otherwise), and it wouldn’t shock me if he is the fourth or fifth option in such situations moving forward.
Last week was Coleman’s first finish as a legitimate fantasy starter. While it was encouraging to see, I need more evidence before I consider him in anything less than a perfect matchup.
Khalil Shakir, WR
With defenses game planning to take away the chunk plays, you could argue that Shakir’s quick-twitch skills are as valuable in today’s NFL as any time in league history.
It was a little bit of a slow burn last week, but Shakir produced his third top-25 performance of the season. We all thought that his 86.7% catch rate from a season ago was unsustainable. As it turns out, that may have been a down season (27 catches on 28 targets this season). Shakir is the most efficient receiver in the NFL, a skill that is going to need to stick for him to return Flex value. The target count is far more likely to decline than grow with Amari Cooper getting acclimated.
Shakir is a low-end Flex play in this specific matchup because his strength matches up with the strength of a limited Seahawks defense. Through seven weeks, Seattle is allowing a league-low 5.4 yards per slot pass this season, something that knocks Shakir just outside of my top 30 this week.
Dalton Kincaid, TE
With just one finish inside the top 10 at the position this season, it’s impossible to label Kincaid’s season as anything other than a fantasy bust through seven weeks of this season. Add in the fact that this team brought in an alpha receiver to vacuum in targets and the outlook doesn’t look great for Kincaid, a player who had a breakout season written all over him after a strong 2023 showing.
That said, I’m not punting on him just yet. He has set a new season high in receiving yards in consecutive weeks (yes, it’s pathetic that it only took 52 yards to get there, but any step forward is worth noting), and he’s averaged at least 2.0 yards per route in four of his past five games.
Kincaid has fallen out of my must-start tier at the position, but I still have him ranked ahead of the widely available streaming options. The season-long numbers look OK for the Seahawks, but since Week 3, they are allowing the second-most yards per pass, making this a matchup that could well continue the positive momentum.
Buffalo Bills at Seattle Seahawks Game Insights
Buffalo Bills
Team: This is an important stretch for the Bills. They have the Seahawks this week, the Dolphins in Week 9, and the Colts in Week 10. After that, they play three Super Bowl contenders in their next four games (Chiefs, 49ers, and Lions).
QB: Josh Allen has thrown 12 TD with 0 interceptions this season. He’s the second QB to throw at least 12 TD with no picks through seven games in NFL history (Alex Smith had 15 TDs and 0 Int in 2017 on the Kansas City Chiefs).
Offense: The Bills have the best turnover differential in the league through seven weeks (+1.43 per game).
Defense: The Bills allow just 4.2 yards per fourth-quarter pass, the second-lowest rate in the league (Cowboys).
Fantasy: Amari Cooper was targeted on five of his 12 routes (41.7%), which is easily the highest target rate by any Bills player in a game this season. It’s also the highest target rate in any game of Cooper’s career (min. 5 routes run).
Betting: #BillsMafia might travel well, but the offense hasn’t of late – unders are 15-5 in Buffalo’s past 20 road regular season games.
Seattle Seahawks
Team: Seattle has a pair of home games before its Week 10 bye. It comes out of the bye with three divisional games in a four-game stretch.
QB: Geno Smith’s in-pocket touchdown rate is trending down for a second consecutive season, while his interception rate is ticking up again.
Offense: The Seahawks are averaging 4.9 offensive penalties per game (only the Browns average more).
Defense: The Seahawks allowed a league-low 5.4 yards per pass to the slot this season (NFL average: 7.7 yards).
Fantasy: Kenneth Walker III has been a top-15 running back (PPR) in every game he has played this season.
Betting: The Seahawks are just 1-5-1 ATS in their past seven home games under Geno Smith.