Fantasy Billboard: Giddy Up! And Whoa Down! for Week 8

Christian and Deirdre are newlyweds who used to manage a Fantasy Football team together at law school. Now Christian has his own team, and his Thunder Monkeys are a struggling 2-5. A long-time Buffalo Bills fan, (his grandfather was a cameraman for NBC Sports at Bills home games in the ’70s), Christian is taking his poor record in stride. Buffalo fans are a hardy bunch who are used to epic highs and catastrophic lows. So, for now, the plan is to let the Thunder Monkeys play out their season of woe while Christian and Deirdre enjoy their first of many seasons of love.

GIDDY UP!

QB Bo Nix (vs. Panthers) — Can we trust Nix to get 20 Fantasy points against the Carolina Kittens? Five of the last seven QBs they’ve faced have done it. Go with Bo.

QB Sam Darnold (at Rams) — Darnold had his poorest outings of the season against the Jets and Lions. Visiting the Rams’ lowly secondary will be a breath of fresh air.

RB Joe Mixon (vs. Colts) — Mighty Joe had 125 combined yards and a TD against the Colts last year. I predict a repeat performance.

RB Kenneth Walker III (vs. Bills) — If they’re smart, Seattle will ground and pound all day (like the Jets should have done two weeks ago) against Buffalo’s 31st ranked run defense. It’s a smash day for Walker.

WR Drake London (at Bucs) — I love the Drake. He destroyed the Bucs last year (10/172) with the lackluster Desmond Ridder throwing to him. The upgrade of QB Kirk Cousins should keep London calling the shots in Tampa Bay.

WR DeVonta Smith (at Bengals) — The novice Fantasy player might bench Smith after his disastrous outing against the Giants (one catch, minus two yards). But that game was won on the back of Saquon Barkley. The Eagles will need to soar through the air to beat the Bengals, and Smith will be flying high when all is said and done.

TE Cade Otton (vs. Falcons) — Otton is the last man standing on a Buccaneers team that is fresh out of receivers.

WHOA DOWN!

QB Kyler Murray (at Dolphins) — The Fins are terrible, but their secondary has given up just three TD passes. The Pod Squad held Josh Allen to 11 points and Geno Smith to 13. Murray will have his work cut out for him.

QB Drake Maye (vs. Jets) — I don’t love this Drake. Although back-to-back impressive outings for the rookie against sieve-like secondaries (Texans, Jaguars) might give some a reason to start him, the 2-5 Jets are in a foul mood. They will start blitzing Maye before he gets off the bus.

RB Tony Pollard (at Lions) — Pollard has surprised as a top 20 Fantasy RB on the season. There’s no way Pollard’s a top 20 back this week.

RB Travis Etienne (vs. Packers) — If he plays on his bum hamstring, Etienne runs the same risk as Mike Evans last Monday night; a reinjury that cost him the game and a few more down the road. Etienne is on my bench, preferably with an ice wrap around his hammy.

WR Davante Adams (at Patriots) — Let’s wait another game to let Adams get on the same page as Rodgers. Even if he performs better than last week, don’t expect 100 yards and a TD.

WR Terry McLaurin (vs. Bears) — Scary Terry has been feasting on the non-frightening secondaries of Carolina, Baltimore, Cleveland and Arizona. But no WR has scored more than 19 points against Chicago. That’s terrifying.

TE Pat Freiermuth (vs. Giants) — The G-Men don’t do many things well, but they are tough on TEs, allowing just 246 yards all year and no TDs to the position.

Thursday Night Special: The Vikings are a three-point favorite over the Rams, which seems a bit low. Kyren Williams will find some running room against the vaunted bend-but-don’t break Vikings, but that same defense (24 sacks, 11 INTs) will pressure Matthew Stafford into one mistake too many. The firepower of Sam Darnold to Justin Jefferson will be make it difficult for the Rams to keep up, even if Cooper Kupp returns. Vikings 28, Rams 17

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Bill Reinhard is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and a columnist for FantasyGuru.com. Catch Bill every Thursday night at 6:45 on ‘This Week in Pro Football’ on YouTube TV.