Although the Week 8 bye won’t be near as impactful as last week’s horrendous slate, there are still plenty of fantasy football managers who will be looking to reinforce their rosters this week.
Here are some sleepers for fantasy footballers to consider in Week 8 of the 2021 NFL season.
Week 8 byes: Baltimore Ravens, Las Vegas Raiders
Teddy Bridgewater (QB) Denver Broncos
After a couple of miserable weeks, Bridgewater has been widely cast to waivers in fantasy leagues. If you are streaming quarterbacks this week and he’s on waivers then you may be in luck. This week the Broncos take on the Washington Football Team who are allowing more fantasy points to quarterbacks than any defense in the league and he gets his top receiver Jerry Jeudy back from injury.
Make no mistake, I’m not here telling you Bridgewater is good or a long-term option, but everyone looks good against Washington. He’s a one-week fix, but if that’s what you’re looking for grab him and plug him in.
Salvon Ahmed (RB) Miami Dolphins
Malcolm Brown has been sent to injured reserve so frustrated fantasy owners and Dolphins fans alike can breathe a sigh of relief. Myles Gaskin is assumed to be the man there, however, the team has been erratic with running back usage and has shown they want to get Ahmed involved. Last week with Brown going down early we saw Ahmed get seven carries and two receptions. We’ve also seen him get red-zone work this year.
It looks like the team is going to give him his own drives. If he is making plays and looks good he could get more work than expected. If they get down by the goal line while he’s in I wouldn’t expect him to be pulled for another back. While very risky, he could be a nice sleeper who is overwhelmingly likely to be on your waiver wire.
Boston Scott (RB) Philadelphia Eagles
You will see a trend with the running backs in this article this week. With Miles Sanders almost certainly out for at least this week, Kenneth Gainwell will be the consensus start, but Scott could have a lot of value. Philly does not like rolling with just one back and as much as fantasy owners want Gainwell to be the guy, history tells us Scott could very well be in a full split system with him. Scott had seven carries last week to Gainwell’s five. Hopes are Gainwell will be a bell-cow. Reality tells us that won’t happen. Scott is a sneaky good flex option Week 8 and perhaps a few weeks after.
Philly also takes on the Lions this week so when the ideal matchup meets increased opportunity you have a recipe for success. They are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing rushers and we could see a lot of running this week if the Eagles get a nice lead early.
Phillip Lindsay (RB) Houston Texans
Mark Ingram has been shipped out of town to New Orleans and a whole lot of touches opened up in Houston. The touches will likely be split between David Johnson and Lindsay. I expect Johnson to be the back most owners rush out to get so maybe sneak in there and grab Lindsay. There is a decent chance Lindsay gets a lot of the early-down work.
It’s not far-fetched to think Lindsay could slide into the majority of the Ingram work and Johnson keeps his pass-catching role. It could be a situation similar to what the Raiders did. When Josh Jacobs went down Kenyan Drake maintained his role and Peyton Barber slid in as the lead back. Houston made clear all preseason they don’t want to overwork Johnson and want to keep him in the role he currently plays. If this is the case, Lindsay could immediately have a ton of value.
Brandon Bolden (RB) New England Patriots
Bolden seems to have fully taken over the James White role in New England. Last week we saw him catch six passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. He only had two carries for no yards, but those carries were goal-line carries. His pass-catching should give him a nice floor in PPR leagues.
As usual, the Pats backfield will be unpredictable and you aren’t going to want to start Bolden week in and week out, however, this week seems like a good matchup. The Chargers’ defense is very tough on wide receivers and the passing attack in general. Plus they score a ton. It’s logical to believe that they will need to dump off to Bolden regardless of the game script due to matchup. I also believe the Chargers will be able to score so the Pats will have to throw to keep up. All this leads me to believe we will see a lot of Bolden Week 8.
Dante Pettis (WR) New York Giants
A lot depends on who the Giants have out there for Pettis, but he posted another solid fantasy game last week catching five passes for 39 yards and a TD. We don’t know what’s going to happen with Sterling Shepard or John Ross this week and Kadarius Toney will be sidelined. The Giants play on Monday Night Football against the Chiefs.
If Shepard is out Pettis deserves flex consideration. Especially against the Chiefs who can’t stop anybody from doing anything they want. The best-case scenario here is for Shepard owners. You can hold Pettis and if Shepard doesn’t play, slide him light into your flex. I love having the option to get a piece of this game which is sure to be full of offense and lack defense.
Jamal Agnew (WR) Jacksonville Jaguars
Agnew is likely forgotten coming off a bye, but he was playing great heading into the bye and looks like the biggest beneficiary of the D.J. Chark injury. In his last two games, Agnew saw 13 targets. He caught 11 of them for 119 yards and added an eight-yard carry. Trevor Lawrence is looking for him and the coaches are looking to get him the ball in space. There is a real chance that this week and moving forward Agnew is the piece of the passing attack you want to own in Jacksonville. If he’s on waivers and you have a spot to put him, pick him up now. He’s a sleeper this week with an upside for the rest of the season.
Pat Friermuth (TE) Pittsburgh Steelers
Friermuth is another guy coming off his bye and is benefitting from a season-ending injury. It looks like the absence of Juju Smith-Schuster is going to lead to a ton of targets for the rookie tight end. He saw seven targets Week 6 and caught all seven of them for 58 yards. If he keeps seeing those looks and can grab a TD here and there, he’s a weekly startable asset. Being a rookie he should only improve as he moves through the season. I am starting him this week as a sleeper tight end and I predict in a few weeks we will be talking about him as a TE1, not as a sleeper.
