With six teams on bye and only 13 games on the slate, there aren’t a lot of compelling matchups in Week 8. But there are three that look pretty sexy:
- The Eagles have to be seething after being embarrassed by the Giants two weeks ago, and now they face the Giants in Philadelphia.
- The Cowboys head West for a Rocky Mountain shootout against the Broncos in Denver. Can anything top the Broncos’ wild come-from-behind win over the Giants last week? Probably not, but the Dallas offense versus the Denver defense is must-see TV.
- The Packers face the Steelers in the Aaron Rodgers Bowl.
In fact, Packers-Steelers seems like a great place to start with our 10 most intriguing players of Week 8.
The 10 Most Intriguing Players of Week 8
1. Aaron Rodgers (QB – PIT)
Where else could we possibly start but with Aaron Rodgers facing the team with whom he spent 18 seasons?
Rodgers won 147 regular-season games, 11 playoff games and one Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers. The team he defeated in the Super Bowl? The Pittsburgh Steelers.
Rodgers has beaten every team in the NFL except one — the Packers.
This could be the final season of Aaron Rodgers‘ career. He’s 41 now and will turn 42 in December. And yet Rodgers is still playing reasonably well. He ranks eighth in the league in completion rate, 10th in passer rating and 13th in yards per attempt. Rodgers has guided the Steelers to a 4-2 record and a 1.5-game lead in the AFC North.
But Rodgers isn’t the downfield playmaker he used to be. His average depth of throw is just six yards, according to Pro-Football-Reference. He’s dinking and dunking his way to success. That’s probably a good recipe against the Packers, who have a hellacious pass rush led by new addition Micah Parsons. Rodgers seems less willing to stand in the pocket and take hits than he once did. We might see a lot of quick-hitting throws from Rodgers on Sunday night.
Some fantasy managers might be tempted to lean into the revenge angle and start Rodgers even though the matchup is daunting. Hey, we know how much Rodgers would love to stick it to his old team. This is a man who never forgets a perceived slight.
And let’s not forget that there’s extra motivation on the other side of this quarterback matchup. Jordan Love was Rodgers’ protege for two seasons in Green Bay. By all accounts, they had a good relationship. But Love undoubtedly wants to play a good game in a matchup against his friend and former teammate.
Get your popcorn. Sunday night’s Packers-Steelers matchup is going to be a fun one.
2. Kyle Monangai (RB – CHI)
The darlings of Week 8 waivers were Oronde Gadsden II (who would have been included on this week’s Most Intriguing list had he not been in a game that was played before the release of this article) and Kyle Monangai.
Against the Saints last week, Monangai had 14 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown, along with two catches for 13 yards. It was an eye-opening performance. But this looks like merely a good game, not a backfield takeover.
Chicago’s lead back, D’Andre Swift, had 19 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown against the Saints. The Bears had a run-friendly script in a game they led most of the way. It was a windy day in Chicago, which incentivized head coach Ben Johnson’s run-heavy play-calling.
Not that it’s silly to be excited about Monangai. He’s an intriguing fantasy asset, and he’s clearly surpassed Roschon Johnson on the Bears’ depth chart.
When he was Detroit’s former offensive coordinator, Johnson used to preside over a potent two-headed backfield featuring Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. The people who just scooped up Monangai on waivers are hoping the rookie can become Johnson’s new David Montgomery.
A seventh-round pick out of Rutgers, Monangai stands only 5-foot-8, isn’t especially fast, and wasn’t much of a pass-catcher in college. But, man, this dude runs hard. Monangai has good vision, quick feet and the heart of a warrior. He’ll fight for every yard.
Monangai might not get double-digit carries again this week. Swift is still clearly Chicago’s lead back. The Bears are road underdogs against the Ravens, so the game script might not be as run-friendly as it was against the Saints. But the Ravens have struggled against the run. They’re allowing 4.7 yards per carry to running backs this season.
It’s possible Monangai could build on last week’s breakout.
3. Bijan Robinson (RB – ATL)
We have an epic three-way battle going on for fantasy supremacy at the running back position in 2025. The contenders: Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey and Bijan Robinson.
Taylor is averaging 24 half-point PPR fantasy points per game and leads the NFL in rushing yardage. McCaffrey is averaging 22.9 points and leads all running backs in receiving yardage. Robinson is averaging 21.7 points.
But Robinson could close ground on Taylor and McCaffrey this week thanks to a dream matchup against Miami.
The Dolphins are getting torn asunder by opposing running backs weekly. Rico Dowdle had 206 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Dolphins in Week 5. Kimani Vidal had 124 rushing yards against them in Week 6. Quinshon Judkins had 84 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Dolphins in Week 7.
Robinson’s fantasy stakeholders are drooling over this matchup like Pavlov’s dog.
4. Jaxson Dart (QB – NYG)
Two weeks ago, Jaxson Dart led the Giants to a 34-17 upset of the defending Super Bowl champs, the Eagles. Dart threw for 195 yards and a touchdown in that game, ran for 58 yards and a touchdown, and just generally oozed moxie.
Now, Dart has a return match against the Eagles in Philadelphia, and you can bet the Eagles have revenge on their minds. They didn’t have star defensive tackle Jalen Carter for their first matchup against Dart and the G-Men. Carter returned from a heel injury last week and will be good to go for this NFC East showdown.
Dart has been a revelation in his first four NFL starts. Giants fans believe they have their quarterback of the present and future.
What’s making Dart’s performance especially impressive is that he’s playing with a ragtag group of pass-catchers. Second-year stud Malik Nabers is out for the year with a torn ACL. Darius Slayton is dealing with a hamstring injury that has caused him to miss two games and has left his Week 8 status murky. If Slayton can’t play this week, Dart’s top two receivers will be the diminutive Wan’Dale Robinson and journeyman Lil’Jordan Humphrey.
But Dart has been a MacGyver (look it up, kids), making do with whatever materials he has at his disposal. Last week against the vaunted Denver defense, Dart completed six passes to tight ends Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger for 154 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-32 loss.
This week’s game against Philly looks like a tough spot for Dart, but do we dare doubt the kid at this point?
5. Emeka Egbuka (WR – TB)
The Buccaneers lost veteran wideout Mike Evans to a broken collarbone in their Monday-night loss to the Lions. With Evans expected to miss an estimated 6-8 weeks, and with Chris Godwin out with a leg injury of unknown severity, rookie Emeka Egbuka is quarterback Baker Mayfield‘s undisputed No. 1 target.
Egbuka has already made quite a rookie splash. He’s the WR6 in half-PPR fantasy scoring with 31 catches for 527 yards and five touchdowns.
A hamstring injury had Egbuka’s Week 7 status in doubt until shortly before Monday night’s game, but he gutted it out and finished with four catches for 58 yards on a team-high 12 targets.
The Evans injury is soul-crushing. The widely beloved receiver will have his streak of 11 straight 1,000-yard seasons come to an end. Evans had already missed time with a hamstring injury this season. In the three games Evans missed, Egbuka had 13 catches for 288 yards and two touchdowns.
Now, Egbuka has another chance to shine.
6. DeVonta Smith (WR – PHI)
DeVonta Smith‘s fantasy production has oscillated wildly this season. He’s had three games in which he’s scored 19.4+ PPR fantasy points, and four games in which he scored fewer than 10 PPR points.
Smith had his best game of the season last week against the Vikings, with nine catches for 183 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. The big Week 7 performance makes Smith an appealing fantasy option this week against the Giants. But when Smith faced the Giants two weeks ago, he had 4-49-0 on five targets.
The wild card here is the health status of A.J. Brown, who missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday with a hamstring injury. If Brown isn’t able to go this week, Smith could be heavily targeted on Sunday as the Eagles seek their vengeance.
7. George Kittle (TE – SF)
George Kittle investors rejoiced when it was announced that Kittle would play in Week 7 for the first time since sustaining a hamstring in Week 1.
Joy turned to sorrow when Kittle was held catchless for the first time in his NFL career.
Not that Kittle didn’t have an impact. He’s always been a top-drawer blocking tight end, and Kittle’s road-grading paved the way for Christian McCaffrey to churn out a season-high 129 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the 49ers’ 20-10 win over the Falcons.
You’ll have to excuse Kittle stakeholders for being less than enthusiastic about their tight end’s blocking exploits.
But that’s kind of the bargain people make when they take George Kittle in a fantasy draft. There are times when the Kyle Shanahan game plan calls for Kittle to be more of a blocker than a pass-catcher. But then there are the times when Kittle puts fantasy teams on his back with huge games. In 2024, Kittle had six games in which he scored more than 20 PPR fantasy points.
Kittle and the 49ers have a tough matchup this week against the Texans, but spite-benching Kittle because of the doughnut he threw up last week would be foolhardy.
8. Terry McLaurin (WR – WSH)
It’s Halloween season, and Scary Terry is back.
Terry McLaurin hasn’t played since Week 3 due to a quad injury, but he’s been practicing this week and should be good to go for the Commanders’ Monday-night matchup with the Chiefs.
Last year’s WR6 in half-PPR fantasy scoring, McLaurin is obviously capable of being an impactful fantasy performer. But can he be a fantasy rainmaker with Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels out of the lineup?
Daniels sustained a hamstring injury last week and will miss at least one game. That means Marcus Mariota will start at quarterback for the Commanders on Monday. Mariota also started for the Commanders in Week 3 — the game in which McLaurin injured his quad. McLaurin had three catches for 74 yards in that game before leaving in the third quarter.
McLaurin seems destined to be at the crux of a lot of fantasy football start sit dilemmas for fantasy managers this week.
9. Dak Prescott (QB – DAL)
Dak Prescott has been hotter than Chinese mustard.
Over his last four games, Prescott has thrown 13 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. He’s completed 71.4% of his throws for an average of 8.1 yards per attempt while taking only three sacks. That’s MVP-caliber stuff.
Prescott has been a fantasy ace over that period. He ranks QB2 in fantasy scoring over the last four weeks behind only Patrick Mahomes.
Part of Prescott’s fantasy appeal is that the Dallas defense is so bad. Because opponents can move the ball and score so easily against the Cowboys, Prescott has to stomp the accelerator to keep up. He’s averaged 41.5 pass attempts over his last four games.
But Prescott gets a tough road matchup this week against the Broncos. Denver is allowing the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks and has yielded only seven touchdown passes in seven games.
Prescott versus the Denver defense. The Cowboys’ receivers versus the Broncos’ cornerbacks. Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun.
10. Tee Higgins (WR – CIN)
Six weeks into the season, Tee Higgins was the WR44 in half-PPR fantasy scoring.
But Higgins came to life last week with the help of recently acquired Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco, catching six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown in Cincinnati’s 33-31 upset of Pittsburgh.
Things were looking bleak for Higgins after Joe Burrow sustained a turf toe injury in Week 2. In the three games that backup quarterback Jake Browning started for the Bengals, Higgins had seven catches for 69 yards and one touchdown.
In Flacco’s two starts, Higgins has 11 catches on 18 targets. Flacco understands the assignment: Get the ball to the dynamic duo of Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase.
On Sunday, Higgins faces a Jets defense that could be without ace cornerback Sauce Gardner, who’s in the concussion protocol.
The fantasy outlook is certainly brighter for Higgins these days.
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