The Washington Commanders will face the Chicago Bears 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 WR Terry McLaurin.
Is Terry McLaurin Playing in Week 8?
McLaurin 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 Commanders’ 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 Terry McLaurin in Week 8?
Dan Quinn has been blunt when it comes to the status of Jayden Daniels — they are going to operate with an abundance of caution. And they should, but fantasy managers riding McLaurin (four top-20 finishes over his past five games) can’t be thrilled with this development.
Should Daniels play through the rib injury, I’d have McLaurin pushing for a WR1 ranking. But with me assuming that the rookie is inactive, Washington’s WR1 is hanging onto fantasy WR2 status by a thread.
I thought Marcus Mariota looked fine last week, but he was in a favorable script against the worst defense in the league, so forgive me if I’m not overly excited about a QB who has been on four rosters over the past four seasons and has just 19 touchdown passes on his résumé since the start of 2020.
Only two receivers have had big days against the Bears this season (12.5+ PPR points): Nico Collins in Week 2 and Gabe Davis in Week 6. The Collins thing happens to almost everyone, and the Davis game is just random variance — he has three of those games a season and Chicago just happened to be on the wrong side of it. Outside of that, this defense has been as stingy as any, and with a full week to prep for Mariota, I’m more likely to roster the Bears DST in DFS than look the way of McLaurin.
Despite being his team’s top option, McLaurin lives in the world of WR2s for Week 8, ranking in the same tier as Garrett Wilson, DeVonta Smith, and Tank Dell.
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.
Terry McLaurin’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 8
McLaurin is projected to score 15.4 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 5.4 receptions for 73.2 yards and 0.4 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
Terry McLaurin’s Week 8 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 9:15 AM ET on Saturday, January 18. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Divisional Round Superflex Rankings.
Divisional Round WR PPR Rankings
1) Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET (vs. WAS)
2) Puka Nacua | LAR (at PHI)
3) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. LAR)
4) Nico Collins | HOU (at KC)
5) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at DET)
6) Jameson Williams | DET (vs. WAS)
7) Khalil Shakir | BUF (vs. BAL)
8) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. HOU)
9) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. LAR)
10) Cooper Kupp | LAR (at PHI)
11) Rashod Bateman | BAL (at BUF)
12) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. HOU)
13) Hollywood Brown | KC (vs. HOU)
14) Keon Coleman | BUF (vs. BAL)
15) Amari Cooper | BUF (vs. BAL)
16) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at DET)
17) John Metchie III | HOU (at KC)
18) Dyami Brown | WAS (at DET)
19) Curtis Samuel | BUF (vs. BAL)
20) Demarcus Robinson | LAR (at PHI)
21) Tim Patrick | DET (vs. WAS)
22) Nelson Agholor | BAL (at BUF)
23) Mack Hollins | BUF (vs. BAL)
24) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. HOU)
25) Zay Flowers | BAL (at BUF)
26) Diontae Johnson | HOU (at KC)
27) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. LAR)
28) Tylan Wallace | BAL (at BUF)
29) Xavier Hutchinson | HOU (at KC)
30) Robert Woods | HOU (at KC)
31) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at DET)
32) Tutu Atwell | LAR (at PHI)
33) Justin Watson | KC (vs. HOU)
34) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at DET)
35) Anthony Miller | BAL (at BUF)
36) Jordan Whittington | LAR (at PHI)
37) Kalif Raymond | DET (vs. WAS)
38) Devontez Walker | BAL (at BUF)
39) Johnny Wilson | PHI (vs. LAR)
40) Xavier Smith | LAR (at PHI)
41) Allen Robinson II | DET (vs. WAS)
Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders Insights
Chicago Bears
Team: The Bears give away just one first down via penalty per game this season (tied for the third-fewest; only the Steelers and 49ers allow fewer).
QB: Caleb Williams took a few games to look like the prodigy he was sold as, but we are moving in that direction:
Weeks 1-3:
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- 59.3% completion percentage
- 5.3 yards per attempt
- 65.3 passer rating
- 13.7 pressure passer rating
- 0.5 touchdown-to-interception rate
Weeks 4-6:
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- 74.1% completion percentage
- 8.5 yards per attempt
- 122.8 passer rating
- 109.6 pressure passer rating
- 7.0 touchdown-to-interception rate
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Offense: The scheming hasn’t been effective for the Bears – only the Browns are averaging fewer yards per play in first quarters than Chicago this season.
Defense: The Bears are the only defense in the league this season to have allowed a touchdown to the slot.
Fantasy: There is one running back who has strung together three straight top-six finishes at the position this season, and his name is D’Andre Swift.
Betting: The Bears are coming off their bye and have seen five of their past six games on extra rest go under the total (average difference to the projected total: -5.3 points).
Washington Commanders
Team: The Commanders lead the NFL with a plus-66 point differential. It’s Washington’s best point differential through seven games since 1991, the season of their last Super Bowl title.
QB: Jayden Daniels is averaging 8.4 yards per pass this season, a rate only Brock Purdy topped in 2023.
Offense: Last week was the third time the Commanders have posted at least a 52% success rate in a game this season. The rest of the NFL has done that six times combined, and no team has done it more than once.
Defense: The Commanders allow 9.4 yards per fourth-quarter pass, the second-most in the league (Jaguars).
Fantasy: Brian Robinson Jr. has been a top-25 running back in every game he has played this season, but be careful – he’s gone consecutive games without a target and four straight without a 20-yard rush.
Betting: When rookie QBs oppose one another, the home team has covered six of the past eight.
