By this point in a challenging 2022 season, every roster has faced adversity. This week’s brutal byes also won’t help. With our Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 8, we can help you recognize hidden values in competitive fantasy leagues that may need to be plugged into your starting lineup. Whether it is as a bye-week replacement or longer, here are some Fantasy Football Sleepers Week 8 to consider.
Quarterbacks
Andy Dalton New Orleans Saints
The Saints have named Dalton as their starting quarterback for this week and he is an outstanding sleeper option. He is matched up against a putrid Raiders’ pass defense this week. They are allowing the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. The Raiders made Davis Mills a viable fantasy option last week and Dalton is coming off a 361-yard, four-touchdown game.
Davis Mills Houston Texans
Speaking of Mills, last week he posted over 300 yards and two touchdowns and has another nice matchup this week against the Titans. Tennessee is allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to QBs and the fewest to running backs, so the game plan should favor Mills. Look for him to throw more than often and have success doing so.
Running Backs
Obviously, you’re starting Tony Pollard with Zeke out, you don’t need us to tell you that. It’s Tony Pollard SZN!
Khalil Herbert Chicago Bears
Despite being the backup in Chicago, Herbert is the RB17 on the season ahead of guys like Ezekiel Elliott and Najee Harris. Last week he started to get a larger workload and that’s expected to continue. On Monday Night Football, Herbert had 14 opportunities to David Montgomery’s 15. If Herbert looks better early he could take over as the lead back and his floor is the better back in a split-back system.
Chuba Hubbard Carolina Panthers
If you look at the numbers from last week, D’Onta Foreman looked like the clear RB1. However, Hubbard missed much of the second half with an ankle injury and the touches were very close when he went down. Hubbard also finished with a touchdown and more targets. While we do believe Foreman is the better player, Hubbard should still have a big role in this offense.
Mark Ingram New Orleans Saints
Ingram was likely dropped coming off a terrible week so you may be able to snag him off waivers. Last week looks like an aberration when he only saw six carries and three targets. While he has a low ceiling, most weeks he’s good for about nine carries and a couple of targets. He’s also been getting into the game near the goal line. He only has one TD so far this season, but he’s seeing opportunities and Alvin Kamara is yet to find the end zone all year.
Kenyan Drake Baltimore Ravens
Drake was a massive disappointment last week and now all the hype has been heaped upon Gus Edwards. However, when you look at the carries Edwards’s 16 carries were only five more than Drake’s 11. Granted, Drake somehow managed to only total five yards while Edwards scored two TDS, but that could easily change this week. Let’s not forget how good Drake was in Week 6 and Edwards is now in just his second game back off a serious knee injury and on a short week. There’s a real chance his touches are limited.
Wide Receivers
Devin Duvernay Baltimore Ravens
This comes down to whether or not Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews play on Thursday Night. Neither guy has got a full practice in and Bateman looks legitimately questionable. If Bateman doesn’t play Duvernay is a sleeper option. If neither play he should be in your lineups. The Bucs’ secondary is also dealing with a ton of injuries this week which Lamar Jackson should be able to exploit.
DeVante Parker New England Patriots
Over his past four games, Parker has seen 23 targets which he’s turned into 14 receptions for 312 yards and a TD. He has quietly been a productive fantasy wideout and the matchup lines up well for him this week. Sauce Gardner is expected to be locked up on Jakobi Meyers which should leave Parker as the top target in this game for the Patriots.
Tre’Quan Smith New Orleans Saints
It’s looking like the Saints will once again be without Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, and Adam Trautman opening up opportunities for Smith. He has been the clear WR2 on this team in their absence. The past two weeks he has seen nine targets and caught eight passes for 102 yards and a TD. This week they take on the Raiders who are allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to wideouts and are now without their best corner.
Phillip Dorsett Houston Texans
Nico Collins went down with a groin injury last week and Dorsett stepped up in his absence and made some big plays. He caught two of his three targets for 45 yards and a TD. Collins will not play this week and the Texans face off with the Titans who are allowing the second-most fantasy points to WRs. Chris Moore should also see an increased role. He saw one more target than Dorsett last week but has less upside.
Tight Ends
Harrison Bryant Cleveland Browns
Jacoby Brissett has always loved his tight ends and that’s why David Njoku has been the TE4 on the season in PPR formats. He is down for a while with a high-ankle sprain and Bryant will step into his role. It’s as simple as that. Bryant is the next man up in an offense that is going to use their tight end.
Chris Myarick New York Giants (Some sites still list at Fullback)
This is a similar situation to Bryant, but a deeper sleeper. Daniel Bellinger went down last week with an eye injury and may miss the remainder of the season. He had been a big part of the offense with a growing role and a security blanket for Daniel Jones. If you look at the Giants’ depth chart the next man up looks to be Tanner Hudson. However, if you scroll up just a bit you’ll see Myarick the fourth-string RB. He is expected to be the guy to add if you need a sleeper instead of Hudson.
