Week 8 Fantasy Football Start/Sit Candidates: Wide Receivers
Wondering whom to start and sit at wide receiver this week? Below are two top-notch start and two sit options at the wide receiver position for Week 8 of the 2022 NFL season.
Week 7 Review – half-PPR scoring
Starts
- WR Michael Pittman Jr. (Indianapolis Colts) @ Tennessee Titans – 6.8 fantasy points (WR49)
- WR DeAndre Hopkins (Arizona Cardinals) vs. New Orleans Saints – 15.3 fantasy points (WR10)
Sits
- WR D.J. Moore (Carolina Panthers) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 16.1 fantasy points (WR8)
- WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling (Kansas City Chiefs) @ San Francisco 49ers – 12.6 (WR20)
Wide Receiver – Starts
Wan'Dale Robinson (New York Giants) @ Seattle Seahawks
Sunday afternoon’s New York Giants at Seattle Seahawks matchup opened with a moderate 45.0-point over/under. The bout is the NFL’s winningest Week 8 contest.
To sum up how insane this season has been so far: There is only one game in Week 8 between teams with winning records:
Not Ravens-Bucs.
Not 49ers-Rams.
Not Packers-Bills.
🗣 It's Giants vs. Seahawks.
Go figure.— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 25, 2022
New York rookie wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson exited early in Week 1 with a knee injury but the lightning-quick, 5-foot-11, 185-pound ankle breaker has been a revelation in his return. On a per-route basis, few can match his target-earning ability and his yardage efficiency. The table below ranks Robinson against NFL wide receivers with at least 10 targets over the last two weeks.
| Wan’Dale Robinson | Targets per Route Run Rate |
Yards per Route Run
|
Yards After Catch per Reception
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Weeks 6-7
|
32.0% (No. 9) | 2.29 (No. 11) |
5.4 (No. 11)
|
Robinson is New York’s clear-cut No. 1 wide receiver. His path to double-digit targets this week looks like a walk in the park.
Brandon Aiyuk (San Francisco 49ers) @ Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has posted team-highs in both total targets (22) and targets per route run rate (26.0%) over the last two weeks. That trend should continue this week as San Francisco takes on the division rival Los Angeles Rams. The race for the NFC West has all four teams within one game of one another.
No. 1 wide receiver Deebo Samuel suffered a hamstring strain last week and head coach Kyle Shanahan is likely to shut him down. Per Adam Hutchison’s Injury Index, wide receivers typically miss 2.6 games with the ailment and San Francisco also has their bye in Week 9. Given their Super Bowl aspirations, it would be wise to let Samuel get right for the stretch run.
Samuel and Aiyuk have made a habit of missing games simultaneously but the results of Aiyuk’s last three healthy games, sans Samuel, are shown below. While Aiyuk has been an efficient receiver, he has not been utilized frequently or effectively as a rusher.
| Brandon Aiyuk without Deebo Samuel | Week 13, 2021 | Week 15, 2020 | Week 10, 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rec./Targets - Yards - TD | 3/6 - 55 - 0 | 9/13 - 73 - 1 | 7/14 - 75 - 1 |
| Rush Att. - Yards - TD - Fum | 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 | 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 | 1 - -8 - 0 - 0 |
Amon-Ra St. Brown (Detroit Lions) vs. Miami Dolphins
Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was averaging 20.5 half-PPR points per game (the WR4) from Weeks 1-3. Since suffering an ankle sprain and being removed from Week 7 due to the concussion protocol guidelines (he did not, in fact, suffer a concussion), St. Brown has averaged just 2.4 half-PPR points per game. Week 8 is his bounce-back game.
Detroit versus the Miami Dolphins opened with a 51.5-point over/under, the highest game total on BetMGM, and both of their quarterbacks, Jared Goff and Tua Tagovailoa made the Starts section of this week’s Quarterback Starts/Sits column.
Miami’s injury-depleted secondary and 29th-ranked pass rush (13.4% quarterback pressure rate, per 4for4’s NFL Team Stats Explorer) are allowing 251.4 passing yards per game, eighth most in the NFL.
* Check out the full WR Rankings here.
Wide Receiver - Sits
Diontae Johnson (Pittsburgh Steelers) @ Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson has been a mess for four weeks. Despite earning a team-high 8.2 targets per game, his 35.2 receiving yards per game are fourth on the team and his abysmal 0.86 yards per route run sit sixth, among Pittsburgh pass catchers with at least five targets during that span.
Johnson is now tasked with correcting his course against the Philadelphia Eagles, who are limiting opposing wide receiver corps to just 22.7 half-PPR points per game, the second-fewest in the NFL. Their 23.6% quarterback pressure rate is No. 6 in the NFL and their 0.15 interceptions per drive are second only to the Buffalo Bills.
