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Fantasy Football: Wild-card starts who could win you Week 8

With double-digit fantasy weeks rapidly approaching, it’s even more important to get those wins and work our way up the leaderboard. There’s still ample time to make moves and hopefully earn a playoff berth in the weeks ahead.

Injuries and bye weeks can tie our hands, but one thing we can control is who we put in the starting spots on our rosters. If you need maximum output this week (and who doesn’t) I’ve come up with some boom-or-bust players who have the potential to come through for you in Week 8.

Or as always, they may not. Here is this week’s Wild Card starts.

Samaje Perine (Bengals) @ Jets

Joe Mixon is the clear lead back in Cincinnati; there’s no committee to worry about there, which is actually refreshing in today’s NFL. However, Samaje Perine makes for an interesting play this week as the team’s RB2. He was just one rushing attempt shy of Mixon last week in a contest that could see a similar game script to this week’s tilt against the Jets.

New York is dead last in fantasy points allowed to opposing backfields this season and has also surrendered 10 rushing touchdowns to RBs, which is the most in the NFL. If the Bengals get up early in this contest — which is very likely — we could see a heavy dose of Perine in the second half.

Devin Singletary (Bills) vs. Dolphins

He’s rostered by 66 percent of Yahoo! managers, but Singletary is most likely hanging out on benches awaiting a bye week to get the starting nod. Week 8 presents a really nice matchup for the 24-year-old, as Miami has struggled against the run this season, allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to the position through seven contests.

Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills hands the ball off to Devin Singletary #26
Devin Singletary could be the beneficiary of a positive game script in Week 8. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

These two teams have already met this season and Buffalo torched the Dolphins 35-0; Singletary out-touched Zack Moss 15-10 in that matchup, with a 16.1 half-PPR result on the day. If this one gets out of hand again, the Bills may roll with more Singletary than usual, resulting in a bonus for anyone who decided to start the Buffalo back this week.

Teddy Bridgewater (Broncos) vs. Football Team

With just Derek Carr and Lamar Jackson watching from home this week, chances are you have a starter already on your roster. However, if your QB is faltering, enter Teddy Bridgewater. Sure, he was rough last week and we saw Drew Lock warming up on the sideline at one point, but he’s had 10 days of rest on his foot and gets a beautiful matchup this week.

The Football Team has been a sieve to opposing QBs in 2021, allowing 29.5 fantasy points from Daniel Jones, 37.2 from Josh Allen, 29.0 from Matt Ryan, 25.8 from Jameis Winston, 23.0 from Patrick Mahomes, and they just let Aaron Rodgers post 24.7 last week. Bridgewater also gets the talents of WR Jerry Jeudy back this week and will be playing at home at altitude.

T.Y. Hilton (Colts) vs. Titans

I never thought I’d see the day when Hilton was considered a wild card or lottery-ticket starter but apparently that time has come. The Colts WR was out last week with a quad injury, but the team is optimistic he’ll be back for Week 8.

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Michael Pittman is now the WR1 in Indy, but Hilton has shown he can still make some big plays as he displayed with a four-catch, 80-yard performance in Week 6. The Titans have allowed the most receiving yards to wideouts this season and if Carson Wentz starts throwing the deep ball on Sunday, Hilton could be the beneficiary.

Pat Freiermuth (Steelers) @ Browns

This may seem like a desperation play, and it is, but if you’re missing Darren Waller or Mark Andrews this week and your waiver wire is picked over, Freiermuth may be your ticket. With Juju Smith-Schuster out in Week 6, the rookie saw seven targets as the underneath guy, which he turned into seven catches for 58 yards.

This game is on the road in Cleveland, and with Ben Roethlisberger not exactly chucking it downfield these days — he ranks 31st in average depth of target with 6.9 yards — Freiermuth could be the recipient of fantasy-relevant volume in Week 8.

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