NFL Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings

Jalen Hurts’ streak of top-12 QB1 fantasy football finishes extended to 10 games, Cordarrelle Patterson has regulated Mike Davis to RB handcuff status, and waiver wire running backs such as D’Ernest Johnson continue to produce — just like we all predicted.

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All jokes aside, the NFL season has already been a wild ride. The constant change of player roles and injuries has made it critical to continually adjust fantasy football player rankings based on new information and trends. Realizing Tee Higgins owns a 30% target share since returning from injury is a tell-tale sign that a massive game is on the horizon.

With plenty of PFF premium stats available to adjust rankings based on a player’s high-value opportunities, expected fantasy point output and routes run participation, it will be easy to highlight the best waiver wire pickups, optimal starts/sits and under-the-radar trade targets/DFS plays.

Those key data points — along with PFF player grades, implied team totals, PFF fantasy projections and strength of schedule — are all factored to mold my position-by-position Week 8 fantasy football rankings.

2021 WEEK 8 QB FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS

JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

As noted in the introduction, Hurts has still yet to play a full NFL game and not finish the week as a top-12 fantasy football quarterback. It’s quite the achievement considering Hurts’ real-life NFL play — 74.2 PFF passing grade, 20th in the league — is more mediocre than his fantasy stats would indicate. His rushing ability — 361 yards, second only to Lamar Jackson among quarterbacks — makes his passing efficiency woes almost obsolete.

Eventually Hurts’ inconsistent play will catch up to him, but I doubt that happens against the 0-7 Lions in Week 8. It’s the best matchup for quarterbacks, per PFF’s strength of schedule tool.

But don’t be afraid to flip Hurts in a trade while he remains on his hot streak. Joe Flacco’s departure to New York means Gardner Minshew II will be the backup, and the latest reports are that he could start sometime down the road.

KIRK COUSINS, MINNESOTA VIKINGS

It’s rare that NFL fans are awarded a prime-time matchup between two teams that rank top-six in plays per game, but that’s the case with Sunday night’s marquee dome game that pits the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys in a projected 54.5-point shootout.

Points are going to be plentiful in this matchup, which is why Cousins should be in all lineups. The Cowboys rank fifth in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks this season, and their reliance on Cover 1 (man coverage with a single safety deep) plays into Cousins’ strengths.

Captain Kirk is PFF’s fourth-highest graded quarterback versus Cover 1 this season (87.7).

DANIEL JONES, NEW YORK GIANTS

Danny Dimes will not be denied fantasy production. Despite Big Blue dealing with a plethora of injuries to their wide receivers, Daniel Jones still managed a decent 17 fantasy point stat line (QB16 finish) in Week 7.

With some of his weapons returning, look for Jones to be a fringe QB1 versus a Kansas City Chiefs defense that just allowed a productive outing to Ryan Tannehill and company. On the season, Kansas City ranks second-worst in fantasy points per game allowed to opposing quarterbacks.

Jones possesses the second-most fantasy points scored under expectation over the last three weeks — a tell-tale sign that he should experience some positive regression soon. He’s easily one of the best streaming quarterbacks available off the waiver wire for Week 8.