Austin Ekeler, Ray-Ray McCloud and more

Welcome to Fantasy Life's Start/Sit column, where John Laghezza and Gene Clemons go deep with non-obvious, outside-the-box lineup tips. John is a numbers guy, Gene is a football coach in the truest sense of the word – what more could you want?

Fully dive into the data behind your biggest start/sit dilemmas with our Start/Sit tool!

Laghezza's Week 8 RBs starting: Austin Ekeler and Jamaal Williams stream

Using a weighted mix of over a dozen different advanced stats on each side of the ball, I put every defense in the league into a reverse strength rating – all to point fantasy players of every league size toward the right start/sit answers this weekend .

1. Commanders (against giants) – The Giants continue to emerge as the perfect weekly RB magnet and that trend continues on Sunday. Not only is Big Blue dead last in yards/rush (6.2), yards before contact/rush (2.7) and +20 yard carries (8), the offense stinks. Daniel Jones is certainly a bottom-five prospect, but his inability to sustain attacks prevents the already struggling defense from getting enough rest between shots. Brian Robinson He's in a “start of the week” mood, but I'm in the queue too Austin Ekeler as a FLEX game when he might otherwise have been on the bench.

2. Saints (vs. Panthers) – Oh, Carolina, just turn it off. Things are getting worse for the now historically bad Panthers, as they have simply lost whatever talent was left through injuries and trades. Line up all of your fantasy players against the Panthers, with them ranking last in rush success rate (48.1%) and rushing TDs allowed (8). Nobody really thinks about sitting car smash Alvin Kamarabut perhaps there is another, less traveled path here. Kendre Miller left last weekend's game injured (again), so I'll pick up on that Jamaal Williams as a deep league stream with a real chance of finding the end zone.

Laghezza's Week 8 QBs/WRs/TEs starting: Meet Grant Calcaterra

1. Eagles (vs. Jaguars) – Philadelphia rallied at the WR position after the bye and picked up three straight wins with a very leaky Jaguars secondary in their sights. Jacksonville makes a compelling case for the worst pass defense in the NFL, ranking 30th or worse in EPA/Dropback (-0.30), Opponent Passer Rating (111.8), Passing Yards/Play (271.1) , +20 yard completions (34) and passing TDs (17). Best for Fantasy Managers? JAX has shown a bit of cockiness on offense lately, opening up the opportunity for maximum gains by pushing this game into shootout territory. Start the obvious 1-2 WR punch from AJ Brown And DeVonta Smith with the green light for tight end Grant Calcaterra.

2. Chiefs (vs. Buccaneers) — If the pirate shoe fits, wear it. I used pass catchers against TB all season long – my favorite pass catcher. Look at the average QB line against this Buccaneers defense over the last month: 26 completions, 306 passing yards and 3.5 touchdowns per game with an opponent pass rating of 119 and 19 completions for a total of +20 yards. That’s three top 3 finishes in four weeks! Start your Chiefs. Travis Kelce You may never ride Fantasy Pine, but definitely don't miss out on possible games from DeAndre Hopkins and especially Xavier Worthy.

Gene's Bold Prediction: Start Ray-Ray McCloud, WR, Falcons

That's certainly a deep dive – but I don't have to tell you to start with Mark Andrews, do I? The truth is: If you had better options, you wouldn't need bold predictions.

McCloud has played his role well for the Falcons this season. He has become the de facto WR3 on the team and has as many targets (42) and catches (29) as Kyle Pitts. He's also good for one or two carries, which is surprising considering the running backs Atlanta has, but that's how good McCloud is with the ball in his hands. The Cowboys offer an exciting duel because they really struggled to stop the “others” in pass coverage. Two weeks ago, Tim Patrick had three balls for 68 yards in the Cowboys' loss to the Lions. Last week, Ricky Pearsall had four catches on four targets. Ray-Ray can benefit from a defense where he is neither first nor second. If you are looking for someone who is off the radar, this is the perfect solution.

Laghezza's Week 8 RBs to Sit: Bench…James Cook?

1. Broncos (vs. Ravens) – First week in a while that I haven’t mentioned the Ravens’ aforementioned true pass funnel tendencies. You could bench your RBs based on season stats alone: ​​82 yards/game, 3.5 yards/rush, 2.3 YAContact/rush, 5% explosive rush rate and 0, you heard that right, 0 +20- Yard carries. And as good as this Broncos' D scored, no one solved Todd Monken and Lamar Jackson's partnership this year. If and when Baltimore secures a lead, it's unclear where DEN's backfield work will go. Everyone sit down Javonte Williams To Jaleel McLaughlin – across the board.

2. Bills (vs. Dolphins) – The most difficult seats risk great risk to your face, but luck favors the brave. Wherever I can find a viable replacement, I bench last week's overall RB1 James Cook (Gulp). First of all, this Miami D didn't get the recognition it deserved by carrying the carcass of a Tim Boyle/Tyler Huntley-led offense for a month. Staying healthy during the Week 6 bye didn't hurt either. The Fins have allowed less than 4 yards/carry since halftime. Tua under center should keep it tight and shift the Bills' carry percentage towards Ray Davis – similar to what we saw against the Ravens.

Laghezza's Week 8 QBs and WR/TEs remain out: Davante Adams rides Pine

1. Jets (vs. Texans) – As a lifelong Jets fan, I would like to say… sigh. When is it our turn? Why do we do this to ourselves every year? I don't know the answer, but here we are again. Apparently, the more talent NYJ adds, the worse they get – so you can fade away at will.

If things get serious for a minute, Thursday night's matchup between the Texans and Jets has the makings of a heated rock duel. The Jets, in particular, move incredibly slowly on offense. It's a terrible matchup across the board for NYJ's pass catchers, facing a star-studded Texans pass defense that's only allowing 16.1 completions per game for an absurd 53% completion rate. I know he's a borderline first-rounder and understand that he and Aaron Rodgers are best friends forever – sit Davante Adams.

2. Patriots (vs. Titans) – I used all my guts to trade Devante Adams for better options, none of which play for the Patriots. Drake Maye brought life to New England's offense before suffering a severe concussion and ceding snaps to Jacoby Brissett. I'm not sure who is under center will make a difference against the Titans. They stifled the opposition for eight weeks. Only Josh Allen threw for more than 201 yards, while Keon Coleman remains the only WR to rush for more than 67 yards in a game. It's not for nothing that the Pats have the unflattering distinction of having the lowest implied team total (17) this weekend.

Gene's Bold Prediction: Sitting Javonte Williams, RB, Broncos

As John said above, I would normally advise you to bench a member of the Ravens because of how good that Broncos team was, but this Ravens offense is different and has Lamar Jackson at the helm. Denver has to prove it to me. However, these ravens defense has proven to be a legit running back threat on a weekly basis – but is it because the run defense is good… or because the pass defense has been suspect? Whatever the reason, the running backs had a hard time producing good plays against Baltimore. Nick Chubb, dude. Ekeler, dude. Chase Brown scored a TD on a pass play at the goal line, but it still wasn't a great day. Cook, dude. Dowdle, dude. Zamir, dude. Pacheco? Respectable. This Ravens defense knows how to keep a running back in check. In addition to the Ravens defense understanding how to control an offense, the Broncos can give Bo Nix the odd goal-line carry because they've made him the focal point of the offense. That's not a good sign for Williams.

John's parting thought: Let's go to the circus

Simply put, winning weekly fantasy matches is all about competing in the highest scoring games. Check out this beauty (you may need to zoom in a bit):

When I'm in distress, this is my favorite image, when I'm at a loss for a thousand words – and when all else fails, turn to circus music. As a simple reference, I have graphically displayed the points scored for the entire league with the points allowed:

Gene's parting thought: It's trading season

We are in the middle of “dealing season”. Either you are happy with your team and want to strengthen your reserves, or you urgently need help. We're halfway through a fantasy season, so it's not ridiculous to hit the panic button — but if not? That would be a far wiser move. Look for the other desperate fantasy managers and know that they think like you but may not be as confident. Here's how to turn your team around in the middle of a subpar season. Happy hunting and good luck to all the squads out there!