Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 8 RBs Include Tony Pollard

The second half of the fantasy football regular season is here and so is a rampant case of the injury bug. Several fantasy stars went down last week and are destined to miss time or at least have their status in question heading into Week 8 action. Of course, for fantasy managers, it’s now or never to start stacking wins and lock up a spot in the playoffs to chase championship glory. As such, making accurate and well-researched fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em decisions is of the utmost importance, especially at the pivotal RB position.

As a reminder, players like Breece Hall, Saquon Barkley and Derek Henry will still be started in lineups weekly. It’s the RB2 and FLEX spots where things can get a bit trickier. To help you make some of these tough decisions, check out our weekly fantasy football rankings and continue reading for our Week 8 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em analysis at RB.

Wide Receivers — Week 8 Fantasy Football Start/Sit

Tight Ends — Week 8 Fantasy Football Start/Sit

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Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 8 RBs

Start: Tony Pollard Fantasy Outlook vs. Lions

Expert Consensus Ranking (ECR) Rank: 21

Players that fall on the fringes of the RB2 threshold often have their fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em outlook determined by the matchup. The opposite is actually true this week for Tony Pollard of the Tennessee Titans. On paper, this would be a week to consider sitting Pollard as far as the matchup is concerned. The Titans will be on the road to face a Detroit Lions defense that has given up the second-fewest PPR points per game to opposing RBs and the fifth-fewest rushing yards per game to opponents overall.

So, why the Pollard love? Despite the tough run defense he will be up against on Sunday, Pollard lands on the friendly side of this column due to the situation in Tennessee. After playing 60-70% of the team’s offensive snaps through the first five games, he saw an uptick to an 89% share in Week 7 with backfield cohort Tyjae Spears sidelined by injury.

Although Spears was able to log a limited practice on Wednesday, his status for Week 8 remains very much in doubt. Thus, Pollard is poised for a huge role and usage rate that gives him an RB2-caliber floor if Spears misses or is available in a limited capacity.

Start: Brian Robinson Jr. Fantasy Outlook vs. Browns

ECR Rank: 22

Seeing Brian Robinson ranked all the way down at RB22 in the ECR this week is somewhat comical. Is everyone freaking out about the knee injury that forced him out of the Washington Commanders’ Week 6 tilt or something? Oh wait, it must be the fact that he has played less than 40% of the team’s offensive snaps and has only logged 19 total carries spanning his last two games in action, right?

News flash: the Commanders didn’t need to run Robinson into the ground last week against a Carolina team that should be relegated to playing cricket. Seriously though, Robinson has done nothing to be ranked on the fringes of RB2 territory. In fact, when healthy and active, he has done everything to be ranked as a top-20 back weekly without question. Even in the two most recent games, he still salvaged his fantasy line by finding the end zone.

Robinson has scored double-digit PPR points in every game he has played this season. Yet, this ranking suggests he is in danger of losing his job to Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols. Please. The Chicago Bears have a decent run defense, but Robinson can still be started with confidence.

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Sit: Rhamondre Stevenson Fantasy Outlook vs. Jets

ECR Rank: 28

Although the New York Jets defense remains very susceptible to being gashed on the ground, Rhamondre Stevenson generates little to no excitement for fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em purposes this week. Heck, the first time the New England Patriots faced the Jets back in Week 3, Stevenson only had six carries, lost a fumble and turned in a miserable performance.

In more recent weeks, the 26-year-old missed a game entirely with an injury and has struggled to crack 50% of the team’s offensive snaps when on the field. He has averaged four yards per carry just once since the season opener. The outlook for Week 8 got even murkier on Wednesday when Stevenson missed practice due to the same lingering foot injury and other personal reasons. We can stop short of automatically assuming that he won’t suit up for Sunday’s game. However, it reinforces the notion there are issues here.

Both Antonio Gibson and Ja’Mycal Hasty have been earning snaps in games as well. Trying to rely on Stevenson as an RB2-caliber player against a desperate Jets team in Week 8 just feels like the equivalent of running head-first into a brick wall.

Sit: David Montgomery Fantasy Outlook vs. Titans

ECR Rank: 23

We are bookending this week’s fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em column with players in the same matchup. Ordinarily, one would think that David Montgomery should definitely be in starting lineups for the Detroit Lions’ clash with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday and any other game for that matter. After all, the former Iowa State standout regularly logs 12+ carries and is the focal point of the offense down in the red zone. This week, it kind of feels like it may take scoring a touchdown to rescue Montgomery’s day in fantasy.

There are two key concerns when it comes to locking Montgomery in as a surefire RB2 for Week 8. First and foremost is the fact that he is battling a knee contusion. While he was able to return to last week’s game after suffering the injury and also practiced on Wednesday, there’s a real possibility that Detroit aims to reduce his workload in what should be a comfortable victory.

The second issue here is that the Titans’ defense is solid. Tennessee enters this game allowing the seventh-fewest rushing yards per game. Combine the sneaky-good defense with Montgomery’s injury and finishing outside of the top 25 at the position suddenly seems quite possible.