Wondering who to start in fantasy football for Week 8 of 2025? We’ve got you covered. Here’s a few of the players at each position that have the potential to go off this week to help guide your fantasy football start sit decision-making!
You can watch NFL games every day on DIRECTV with a service that lets you access live sports, and only live sports including ESPN Unlimited at no extra cost! MySports™ Genre Pack™ from DIRECTV can do just that!
Fantasy Football Starts & Sits by Position — Week 8, 2025
Here are our top picks for who to start in fantasy football for Week 8 of the 2025-26 NFL season.
We’ll be focusing mostly on players who aren’t clear-cut must-starts every week — no matter their matchup — to help you make the best decisions for your squad. Don’t forget to check your league’s waiver wire for some of these players!
Quarterback Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 8
Start ‘Em
Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at New Orleans Saints)
Baker has been on fire this season. He’s taken the consistent progress we’ve seen from him since arriving in Tampa Bay (his stats last season were nearly identical to those of the Bengals’ Joe Burrow, especially in passing) and turned it up to 11. His performance against Detroit left a bit to be desired, but he’s likely to have open season against the Saints.
Bo Nix, Denver Broncos(vs. Dallas Cowboys)
Nix has been a pretty reliable starter this season, but he’s got a matchup this week that every fantasy manager can salivate over: the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas is the absolute bottom of the barrel defensively this season, ranked dead last in both overall defense and, crucially for this matchup, pass defense and close to the bottom for rush defense, too.
Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears (at Baltimore Ravens)
The Ravens have been a force in the league for the last few seasons, but not so this year and their banged-up defense is a big part of the problem. They’re so depleted that it presents a near must-start opportunity for any player facing them each week, and this week, that’s Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears, who have also been on a bit of a hot streak.
Sit ‘Em
CJ Stroud, Houston Texans (vs. San Francisco 49ers)
Stroud’s rookie season was a breakout, but he regressed hard during the 2024 season and hasn’t been able to bounce back in his third campaign. Houston’s O-line is middle-tier at best, and he’s expected to face a lot of pressure from the 49ers pass rush.
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (at Atlanta Falcons)
Miami’s offense has been so bad this season that Tua finally hit the bench in favor of backup Quinn Ewers during their catastrophic loss to Dillion Gabriel and the Cleveland Browns, of all opponents. Tua has only cracked the 20-fantasy point threshold once this season, and he put up just 1.6 in the Browns game. Sure, Cleveland’s defense tops the league, but Tua will face another one of the league’s best defenses in Week 8 from Atlanta. Sit at all costs.
Running Back Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 8
Start ‘Em
Rico Dowdle, Carolina Panthers (vs. Buffalo Bills)
Rico Dowdle stepped into injured Panthers starter Chuba Hubbard’s role, literally hit the ground running and never looked back. Any manager that picked up Dowdle as a Hubbard handcuff has been well-rewarded for their stash gamble, and even with Hubbard returning, he’ll be up against one of the league’s weakest run defenses in the Bills.
D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears (at Baltimore Ravens)
For the same reasons as Caleb Williams, D’Andre Swift is a must-start for us this week against a 26th-ranked Ravens rush defense. The Ravens have been so bad defensively that’s its practically open season for any manager with players set to face them.
Sit ‘Em
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders (at Kansas City Chiefs)
“Bill” has turned out to be a fine pick for a rookie running back that went in the middle to early late rounds, having taken over a larger role in the backfield amid injuries and the departure of Brian Robinson, Jr. That said, he’s coming off back-to-back poor performances, and this is not the week we expect he’ll buck that trend: the Chiefs run defense has been as airtight as it comes against the run this season. Leave Bill on the bench.
Rhamondre Stevenson/TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots (vs. Cleveland Browns)
Rhamondre had a monster game against the Tennessee Titans last week, but he’ll be plowing straight into one of the league’s top overall defenses against Cleveland. On top of that, the Patriots’ run game has been generally awful aside from last week’s performance from Stevenson, no matter their opponent, and Cleveland has the league’s fourth-best run defense. That means we’re sitting Stevenson this week, and we’re definitely sitting TreVeyon Henderson, who was nearly non-existent against the Titans.
Wide Receiver Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 8
Start ‘Em
Rome Odunze, Chicago Bears (at Baltimore Ravens)
Like De’Andre Swift, Odunze is another automatic for us this week based purely on his matchup against the bottom-feeding Baltimore defense. Baltimore’s depleted defense presents Rome with a veritable buffet that’s too good to pass up this week. Make sure he’s in your lineup.
Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings (at Los Angeles Chargers)
Addison was stellar against Philadelphia last week, outshining even Justin Jefferson, who was smothered by the Eagles’ defense. Since his return from suspension, he’s been a reliable WR2 and a clear favorite of Carson Wentz, who is starting under center in J.J. McCarthy’s absence. He’ll have a tougher time against the Chargers pass defense, but he’s been consistent enough to be a safe start.
Sit ‘Em
Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins (at Atlanta Falcons)
We’re sitting Waddle for the same reasons as Tua: The Dolphins will face one of the league’s best defenses, immediately after imploding against the league’s top-ranked defense in Week 8 against the Cleveland Browns. Waddle is a solid receiver, but his skill can’t save him from Miami’s all-around pitiful offense.
Tight End Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 8
Start ‘Em
Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. Minnesota Vikings)
Is Gadsden still sitting on your league’s waiver wire? Time to snap him up, if you can. Gadsden had a breakout game against Indianapolis last week, hauling in seven receptions for 164 and one TD. Los Angeles’ offense started out the year on fire, but their backfield is now in shambles with injuries to starters Najee Harris (season-ending) and Omarion Hampton (IR) and their receiving corps has been spotty at best. Gadsden turned that into a big opportunity last week and has a chance to do it again.
Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons (vs. Miami Dolphins)
Yeah, we know: Pitts is a pretty constant fixture on the sit ’em section of this page, and for good reason. But this week, he’s a start solely due to the opportunity in front of him: He’s up against the Miami Dolphins. Similar to the Bears players this week, that’s too good of a matchup to pass up. We’re actually moving Pitts off the bench this week. Fingers crossed.
Sit ‘Em
Zach Ertz, Washington Commanders (at Kansas City Chiefs)
Kansas City’s defense is on fire, and that doesn’t bode well for the Commanders, whether the injured Jayden Daniels starts under center or not. The Commanders also struggled last week against the Dallas Cowboys (Yes, that Dallas. The team we told you is a five-course meal of a matchup earlier). None of this is a good for Ertz, which means he’ll ride our bench along with most other Commanders players.
Defense Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em – Week 8
Start ‘Em
New England Patriots vs. Cleveland Brown
The Patriots offense may struggle against the Browns’ top-ranked defense, but the Cleveland offense is an entirely different case. Cleveland has been starting unproven rookie Dillon Gabriel, who has looked pretty good in his first few games, but the New England defense looks much like its old self: they’ve been shutting down the run and posting close to 10 fantasy points per game on average. Sure, Quinshon Judkins has been a revelation in the Browns’ backfield, but he’s up against a steep hill here.
Sit ‘Em
Washington Commanders at Kansas City Chiefs
The Commanders are up against the Chiefs, who struggled early in the season but surged back with a serious vengeance. Nothing about the Chiefs look beatable in this matchup, from their suffocating defense that will keep the Washington defenders on the field longer, presenting more opportunities for their clicking offense to rack up points. Avoid this matchup at all costs.
Watch NFL Football on DIRECTV
You can follow your fantasy players all season long by watching NFL football every week on DIRECTV!
Frequently Asked Questions
How many weeks are in a fantasy football season?
Typically, the fantasy football regular season is 14 weeks, with weeks 15-18 reserved for the playoffs in most leagues.
DIRECTV Insider brings you our views on what’s happening in streaming, t.v., movies and sports. Companies and persons mentioned are not necessarily associated with and do not necessarily endorse DIRECTV. We will disclose sponsored content on our site when we show it to you, and some of the links on the site may be ads or affiliate links which means DIRECTV may earn compensation from your purchases.
