Week 8 Start/Sit Calls

Five players to start this week, led by Jacoby Brissett and Tucker Kraft, and four to bench, including Patrick Mahomes and Xavier Worthy. Plus three hurt players to start if they're cleared, including Jahmyr Gibbs.

Every week our model ranks each player twice: once for this week alone, and once for the rest of the season. When those two ranks are far apart, that's a start or sit call. A start is a player who ranks much higher this week than he usually does. A sit is a player you might be thinking about starting who doesn't make a 12-team lineup this week.

Rankings are half PPR for a 12-team league, from Thursday morning's update, and they include tonight's Panthers at Packers game. Every rank and point total below assumes the player suits up, so a hurt player isn't marked down just for being hurt. Houston, New Orleans, the Giants and San Francisco are on bye. Injury news is as of Thursday afternoon, so check the live rankings before you lock anything in. They update every day.

Start

Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals (at Cowboys). He's QB4 this week and QB9 for the rest of the season, at 20.0 projected points. Arizona and Dallas are expected to score about 54.5 points between them, tied for the most of any game this week, and the model has Brissett throwing about 38 times. Last week he was one of our sits. This week's matchup is much better.

Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (vs Colts). He's QB5 this week and QB10 for the rest of the season, at 19.6 projected points. Jacksonville is expected to score about 28 points, tied for third-most this week. If you need a quarterback with Brock Purdy or Tyler Shough on bye, he's a good one.

Bucky Irving, Buccaneers (vs Falcons). He's RB7 this week and RB13 for the rest of the season, at 16.0 projected points. Kenny Gainwell didn't practice Wednesday with a hip injury, and the model gives Irving about 18 carries and 4 targets.

Christian Watson, Packers (vs Panthers, tonight). He's WR6 this week and WR12 for the rest of the season, at 13.8 projected points on about 9 targets. Matthew Golden is questionable for tonight with shoulder and foot injuries, and Green Bay is expected to score about 25 points.

Tucker Kraft, Packers (vs Panthers, tonight). He's TE3 this week and TE10 for the rest of the season, at 10.1 projected points on about 7 targets. Only Trey McBride and Brock Bowers rank ahead of him at tight end this week.

Sit

Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs (at Broncos). He's QB12 for the rest of the season but only QB21 this week, at 15.3 projected points. Kansas City is expected to score about 21 points in Denver, tied for eighth-fewest this week, and only one game has a lower expected total. If Lawrence or Brissett is on your bench, start him over Mahomes.

Justin Herbert, Chargers (at Rams). Herbert is QB16 for the rest of the season and QB18 this week, at 16.0 projected points. The Chargers are expected to score about 19.5 points, tied for sixth-fewest this week, and the model has him throwing only about 31 times.

Xavier Worthy, Chiefs (at Broncos). Worthy is WR32 for the rest of the season and WR42 this week, at 8.0 projected points on about 7 targets. Rashee Rice was back at practice on a limited basis Wednesday, his first time on the field since he hurt his hamstring in Week 4, and Kansas City isn't expected to score much.

Kyle Pitts, Falcons (at Buccaneers). Pitts is TE17 for the rest of the season and TE19 this week, at 7.1 projected points on about 5 targets. Atlanta is expected to score about 21 points, tied for eighth-fewest this week. Michael Mayer and Mark Andrews both rank ahead of him.

Hurt Players to Start If They Play

Three players rank low on the page this week only because they might sit. If they're cleared, start them. If he plays, Jahmyr Gibbs (shoulder) is RB2, Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) is WR8 and Matthew Golden (shoulder and foot) is WR18. Gibbs and St. Brown missed Wednesday's practice, but both were back on the field Thursday. Their official practice reports weren't out yet when we wrote this. Golden is questionable for tonight, so you'll know before kickoff tonight. Have a backup ready for all three.

Where to Find the Rest

Every player's rank for this week and the rest of the season is on pigskinprojections.com, and it updates every day as injury news comes in. Our free Saturday email puts the start/sit calls up top.