Fantasy Football Week 8 quarterback rankings: How should you replace Lamar Jackson, Derek Carr?

Week 8 is, thankfully, much easier to navigate at quarterback for Fantasy Football. While we have  Josh Allen, Hustin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousins, Ben Roethlisberger, and Trevor Lawrence on byes, this week, it’s only Lamar Jackson and Derek Carr. I don’t mean to minimize the absence of those players for those of use who have to deal with them, but there are just a lot fewer of us impacted this week.

Which means the need for streamers isn’t as great this week. If you do need one, I think the top choice is probably Carson Wentz, who is quietly enjoying a nice little breakout season here. He has multiple touchdowns without an interception in four straight games and now gets an excellent matchup against the Titans, who — Week 7 aside — have been pretty bad against the pass dating to last season.

Here are my QB rankings for Week 8. To see the rankings from Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings, make sure you head here.  

Week 8 QB Rankings

1. Josh Allen vs. MIA — There might not be a quarterback who dominates a single team more than Josh Allen does with the Dolphins. He’s averaged 32.9 points per game against them in seven career games, compared to 23.9 for his career. 
2.  Patrick Mahomes vs. NYG — No, I’m not particularly worried about Mahomes. Yes, the Chiefs offense has been uncharacteristically shaky and he’s coming off one of his worst games ever. However, he’s still been one of the best Fantasy QBs in the league, and this is an excellent matchup. You shouldn’t even be thinking about sitting him, and I hope I don’t have to tell you that. 
3. Kyler Murray vs. GB
4. Tom Brady @NO — The Saints have allowed the second-fewest Fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season, and they might actually be a rare team who might be able to slow Brady down. He had two touchdowns and five interceptions in his two games against them last season, and they have nine interceptions to six touchdowns allowed this season. Brady should be able to overcome that, but there’s more risk here than most weeks. 
5. Jalen Hurts @DET — This might be the rare game where Hurts doesn’t need garbage time to put up a good Fantasy game — although, for what it’s worth, I think those criticisms of Hurts are overblown and reflect the play calling and state of the offense more than anything about him. He remains a must-start Fantasy option. 
6. Justin Herbert vs. NE — Here’s another elite Fantasy QB with a tough matchup, as the Patriots rank 10th in points allowed to quarterbacks. But if the Saints aren’t enough to scare me off Brady, the Patriots won’t scare me off Herbert.
7. Dak Prescott @MIN — Prescott has a calf injury, which is worth keeping an eye on. At this point, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to limit him this week.
8. Matthew Stafford @HOU — There’s the classic dilemma of a great player in a game his team figures to win easily. The Rams probably won’t need to throw the ball much in this one, and they’ve been surprisingly happy to limit Stafford’s attempts in situations like that — Stafford has 30 or fewer pass attempts in three of seven games so far. Of course, if the Rams do go up by three scores in the first half, say, Stafford probably plays a pretty big part in that. You’re starting him.  
9. Kirk Cousins vs. DAL — The Cowboys have been an opportunistic defense, but not necessarily a good one, surrendering the eighth-most points to opposing quarterbacks this season, including two touchdowns per game. Cousins will probably have to throw quite a bit in this one, and is a strong starting option. 
10. Joe Burrow @NYJ — Like with Stafford, there’s a chance the Bengals are in a position to sit on the ball, limiting Burrow’s opportunities. Burrow is less of a sure thing than Stafford, but I can’t sit him against a defense allowing the eighth-most Fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. 
11. Matt Ryan vs. CAR
12. Carson Wentz vs. TEN 
13. Ryan Tannehill @IND — A.J. Brown is back to himself and Julio Jones figures to see his role increase if he can stay healthy, so I’m back on Tannehill as a fringe QB1. It’s been a difficult season for him for Fantasy, but I’ll bet on things evening out — his 3.1% touchdown rate is less than half his 2020 rate. That’ll improve moving forward. 
14. Tua Tagovailoa @BUF — This is where I perceive a pretty sizable drop-off in the rankings. Tagovailoa has played very well over the past two weeks, putting up 59.9 points combined, but the Bills have allowed the fewest points to opposing quarterbacks per game and they put constant pressure on the Dolphins in Week 2, eventually knocking Tagovailoa out with that rib injury.
15. Trevor Lawrence @SEA
16. Daniel Jones @KC — It’s an excellent matchup, as the Chiefs are allowing the second-most points to opposing quarterbacks. And Jones should be in position for a lot of volume playing opposite Mahomes. If Sterling Shepard, Kadarius Toney, Kenny Golladay, and Saquon Barkley are back — or even just two of them — Jones could be in line for a very big day. Do I need to move him up? 
17. Taylor Heinicke @DEN
18. Aaron Rodgers @ARI — Rodgers is probably looking at no Davante Adams or Allen Lazard on a short week thanks to COVID protocols. I don’t want to doubt him too much, but it’s asking a lot to expect a good game without his top three passing game weapons — Marquez Valdes-Scantling is still on IR. Avoid if you can. 
19. Teddy Bridgewater vs. WAS
20. Sam Darnold @ATL
21. Jameis Winston vs. TB — Revenge game narrative! The Saints have been happy to limit Winston’s attempts with Michael Thomas out, and if their defense can remain stout against Brady, they’ll be happy to continue to do so. There’s a chance this turns into a shootout, but I wouldn’t want to start Winston even if it does. 
22. Jared Goff vs. PHI
23. Ben Roethlisberger @CLE
24. Jimmy Garoppolo @CHI