There is nothing easy about making lineup decisions in fantasy football. It is a necessary part of the game. Getting these decisions correct is key to your success as a fantasy manager. Here to help you make those decisions are our positional start ’em and sit ’em picks.
Fantasy decisions will only get more difficult from here on out, so let’s take a look at our Week 8 start/sit plays for the WR position.
Which WRs Should You Start in Fantasy This Week?
Marquise Brown, Arizona Cardinals (vs. BAL)
For most start ’em and sit ’em plays, it’s just playing matchups with good players that aren’t auto-starts every week. Sometimes, I go a little outside the box, though.
The Baltimore Ravens are not an easy matchup. They’re allowing the 10th-fewest points per game to wide receivers. Most interestingly, teams target the WR position a lot against them, doing so 66.5% of the time, which is the fifth-most in the league.
However, just 66.7% of their receiving yards allowed go to WRs, which is in the bottom half of the league. The Ravens’ 9.9 yards per route run allowed is the lowest in the league.
So, why would you want to start Marquise Brown? I love a good revenge game.
Not only did Brown leave the Ravens, but he did so on not-so-great terms. There was at least a little animosity over the offense and the way he was used. You can bet he wants to show his former team just who he is.
MORE: Week 8 Start/Sit Options — QB | TE | RB
Additionally, it helps that Brown is also good at football and has a great role. His 27.5% target share is elite. After scoring an incredibly consistent 16.1-17.4 fantasy points from Weeks 2-6, Brown disappointed with 7.4 and 7.9 points the past two weeks. Still, he’s seen 18 targets over that span.
The volume is there, the talent is there, and the motivation is there. I’m expecting a big game from “Hollywood” this week.
Garrett Wilson, New York Jets (at NYG)
For all the concerns over Garrett Wilson without QB Aaron Rodgers, he’s been doing alright. He no longer has elite WR1 upside, but at 13.5 points per game, he’s been a good WR2.
Relative value matters a ton in fantasy. Yes, Wilson is a bust relative to his ADP, but he hasn’t been so bad that he’s unstartable. He’s still a weekly WR2. You can be disappointed at his production while simultaneously understanding he’s still a weekly fantasy starter.
Over his last three games, he’s shown signs of life. Wilson saw a whopping 33 targets over that span. He posted games of 15.0, 8.4, and 17.0 fantasy points without a touchdown.
I’m banking on the Jets using the bye week to figure out more ways to get Wilson the ball. This offense needs to run through him and RB Breece Hall.
The New York Giants are a decidedly average matchup for WRs, ranking in the middle of the pack in points per game allowed. Wilson remains the only game in town at wide receiver for the Jets. Fire him up in the Battle of the Meadowlands.
Which WRs Should You Sit in Fantasy This Week?
Calvin Ridley, Jacksonville Jaguars (at PIT)
It was admittedly a challenge to find wide receivers to sit this week. There are so many talented guys with good matchups. When all else fails, there’s always Calvin Ridley.
In my QB section, I mentioned my policy on not drafting players who miss a year of football due to non-injury reasons. That applies to Ridley, too.
Ridley supporters may point to Weeks 1 and 5 as evidence Ridley is still a top-tier player. We’ve seen far, far worse players pop off for a big game or two. What the evidence actually shows is a 28-year-old WR who hasn’t played football for nearly two years and hasn’t been good in three, struggling to get open.
Yes, we all saw Ridley make an over-the-shoulder circus catch that was ruled out of bounds but probably should’ve been overturned. That looks cool, but maybe stop to think why it’s necessary. Ridley cannot separate — at all. As a result, he cannot command targets.
Ridley currently has a 20.2% target share. That is three percentage points behind the Jaguars’ true WR1, Christian Kirk.
The former Atlanta Falcon has scored 7.0 fantasy points or fewer in four of his seven games this season. The only reason it isn’t five is because one of his whopping two targets in Week 4 went for a touchdown.
It is very difficult to bench a guy you drafted in the third round. It’s also Week 8. We know who Ridley is, and that’s not a guy who is anything more than a rotation WR3 at the NFL level anymore. On your fantasy team, he belongs on the bench.
Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots (at MIA)
We just saw the Miami Dolphins get absolutely torched by Eagles WR A.J. Brown on Sunday night. Due to that performance, they are now allowing the ninth-most points per game to wide receivers. In theory, this isn’t a bad matchup for the WRs of a team likely to be trailing and throwing. I just can’t buy into Kendrick Bourne suddenly being a weekly starter.
Bourne seemingly does this every year. He posts a big game, and fantasy managers rush to pick him up. They start him the next week, and he disappears. After a few weeks, Bourne gets dropped, and the cycle repeats.
MORE: PFN Consensus Rankings
Well, last week, Bourne actually broke it. He followed up a 10-89 effort with 6-63-1. If you chased his Week 6 production, you were rewarded. I say take the production and run. I just don’t think Bourne can do it again.
The Patriots just played the best game of their season last week in an upset win over the Buffalo Bills. Meanwhile, the Dolphins never really had a chance against the Eagles. Look for the Dolphins to bounce back and completely shut down the Patriots.
Prior to Week 6, Bourne had scored between 5.6 and 8.6 fantasy points in four straight games. This one is admittedly more narrative-based than stats-based, but I think Bourne goes back to being a random WR4/5 in Week 8.
Trending Searches for WR Start/Sit
Did you know that we have a Start/Sit Optimizer here at Pro Football Network?! It’s completely free to use, and it allows you to enter up to six players to find the best option to plug into your starting lineup!
It also allows us to see the most popular trending searches, which we’ve jotted some of them down here to help provide some clarity on!
Should You Start Marquise Brown or Joshua Palmer?
I severely undervalued how good Joshua Palmer was worth off waivers after Mike Williams went down. I was bullish on Palmer but not nearly enough. He’s not topped double-digit fantasy points in four straight games, with at least 60 receiving yards in each.
Brown had a stellar four-week stretch from Weeks 2-5 but has disappointed his last two weeks. The thing is, Brown has been playing just fine. It’s Josh Dobbs who has just missed him on a bunch of throws.
MORE: Fantasy News Tracker
Palmer has the better matchup this week against a Bears defense that is roughly middle of the pack in fantasy points allowed to WRs. The Ravens are obviously far tougher. But I am buying the revenge game here.
The Start/Sit Optimizer has Palmer ever so slightly ahead of Brown by 0.1 points. So it’s not exactly going out on a limb to say I’d prefer Brown.
Should You Start Calvin Ridley or George Pickens?
If it were possible to present this question by only seeing these players play and looking at their stats — without knowing either of their names — it wouldn’t be close. Calvin Ridley is surviving purely on name value.
I have no doubt that fantasy managers out there are still debating whether to start Ridley every week. They shouldn’t. He’s averaging 11 PPG and is around the WR45 on the season (depending on games played qualifiers).
Meanwhile, George Pickens is inside the top 18, averaging 15.1 PPG. He is one or two strong games away from hitting the 16 PPG WR1 threshold.
Ridley simply can’t get open. As a result, Trevor Lawrence just doesn’t throw to him. If you watched last Thursday’s game, you likely noticed that even when Ridley was targeted, he was completely blanketed. Sure, he’s capable of making a circus contested catch. That’s the only way he’s scoring any fantasy points.
Pickens has proven to be a complete receiver. He wins at all levels and is an elite downfield threat. Ridley may have the far better QB, but WR talent matters, and Pickens runs laps around Ridley.
The Start/Sit Optimizer has Pickens at a projection of 11.2 and Ridley at 10.2. In my personal rankings, at the time of this writing, Pickens was 14 spots ahead of Ridley. This one isn’t close. Start Pickens (and just never start Ridley).
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!