Fantasy Football Week 8 Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em: Tony Pollard breakout week, Tua Tagovailoa dream matchup, more

The biggest thing we want to see in Week 8 is an injury-free scoring period. The mash unit we had in Week 7 was brutal, and we’re still trying to pick up the pieces.

From Breece Hall (ACL) to DK Metcalf (knee) to Mike Williams (ankle) and many others, it wasn’t fun to watch our star players fall apart. Injuries happen, we know that. It’s part of the NFL. But we can hope that this week isn’t as bad, and that the injuries don’t mount up.

The flip side of players going down is that it can open up jobs for other players, and we’ll address that below with Ezekiel Elliott (knee) being out in Week 8 for Tony Pollard. But I’m sure most Fantasy managers would rather have limited injuries or none at all when it comes to our stars, especially when it knocks them out for a significant period of time.

I wasn’t planning on using Pollard as the Start of the Week, but when the news broke Wednesday that Ezekiel Elliott (knee) was going to miss Week 8 against the Bears, he became a fantastic option. For those Fantasy managers who drafted Pollard this season, you were waiting for a chance to see how Pollard would do in a featured role, and here we are.

He’s already done a nice job in tandem with Elliott, scoring at least 12 PPR points in three of his past six games. He has two games this season with over 100 total yards, including Week 7 against Detroit, and he scored two touchdowns for the year.

With Elliott out, Pollard could be looking at his first game this season with 20-plus touches. Elliott averages 15.5 carries for the season — he only has six catches — and that work should mostly belong to Pollard. In four games this season with double digits in touches, Pollard has either 100 total yards or a touchdown in three of them.

The Bears have allowed a running back to score at least 12 PPR points in six games in a row, including five with at least 18 PPR points, and Chicago just traded star defensive end Robert Quinn to Philadelphia on Wednesday. A suspect defense just got worse, and Pollard should excel in this matchup.

The Cowboys, even with Dak Prescott back, should still lean on their ground game, and Pollard is now the catalyst of that attack with Elliott out. I like Pollard as a top-10 running back in all leagues for Week 8.  

Titans (at HOU)

The Titans defense was great in Week 7 against the Colts with two interceptions, a fumble recovery, three sacks and a touchdown. The Titans DST should stay hot this week against the Texans. Excluding a 41-point blowout by the Bills in Week 2, Tennessee has been stout on defense, allowing 22 points or less in every game. The Texans offense has only scored more than 20 points one time this season, and Houston has allowed at least three sacks in three of six games this year, with five interceptions. Expect another solid performance from the Titans DST this week.

• Colts (vs. WAS)
• Jaguars (vs. DEN)
• Bengals (vs. CLE)

Packers (at BUF)

The Packers defense has underwhelmed through an inviting portion of the schedule, allowing at least 23 points in four straight games to the Patriots, Giants, Jets and Commanders. The Bills have the second-highest scoring offense in the NFL behind only Kansas City, averaging 29 points per game and 40 points per game at home. Expect Josh Allen to go off again at home against the Packers, who have one just two interceptions on the season and four sacks in their past three outings.