Who Should I Start for Week 8? Fantasy Football outlooks for Brian Robinson Jr., Justice Hill, Rashod Bateman, Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Sean Tucker, Colston Loveland, Isaiah Likely, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Roman Wilson.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 8 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Brian Robinson Jr., Justice Hill, Rashod Bateman, Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Sean Tucker, Colston Loveland, Isaiah Likely, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Roman Wilson. However, don't worry, we are here to help you make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 8. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
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Fantasy Football Matchup Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider starting in Week 8:
Brian Robinson Jr., RB, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers running back Brian Robinson Jr. had his most productive game since Week 1 on Sunday night. San Francisco leaned heavily on their rushing attack in their Week 7 win over the Atlanta Falcons, allowing Robinson nine carries, tying his season high.
Robinson also hit new highs in rushing yards (36) and snap share (26%). His on-field involvement in Week 7 is significant. In Weeks 1 and 2, he had shares of 24% and 23%, respectively, but his rate fluctuated between 7% and 15% in the games since then.
Brian Robinson's rebound in usage in Week 7 might be an indicator that the team is realizing they need to do better at divying up the backfield workload to take pressure off Christian McCaffrey. Robinson is not producing enough in his change-of-pace role to start in fantasy football, but he is one of the more valuable handcuffs in the league.
Justice Hill, RB, Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens running back Justice Hill has received a bit of an uptick in snaps while Lamar Jackson (hamstring) has been sidelined. A combination of the defense giving up a historic amount of points while the offense fails to get any type of rhythm meant Hill had some more passing plays to work with.
Unfortunately, that only turned into nine fantasy points across their last two games. In the three games that Jackson started and finished, Hill registered a total of nine fantasy points as well. If Jackson returns against the Chicago Bears, Hill will likely take a bigger step back snap wise.
On top of that, the Bears have been better against opposing running backs through the air than on the ground. Fantasy managers can avoid Hill in this matchup if possible.
Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman is in the midst of quite a rough fantasy season. Outside of his big game against the Detroit Lions, he's scored a total of nine fantasy points in the other five games in half-PPR formats.
It turns out that when Lamar Jackson (hamstring) is hurt, there's no one to throw a deep ball to Bateman. In Week 8 against the Chicago Bears, Bateman could have his starting QB back under center with a good matchup in front of him. Nahshon Wright is likely to lineup opposite him, and he's allowed 8.6 yards per target and four touchdowns so far this year.
Rashod Bateman's value is quite dependent on Jackson playing, so he'll be off the fantasy radar if the two-time MVP can't suit up.
Pat Freiermuth, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth caught four of his five targets for 111 yards and two touchdowns during Thursday's Week 7 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. His touchdowns came on 19-yard and 68-yard receptions, the latter of which gave Pittsburgh a late lead (that they would ultimately relinquish).
Freiermuth had not yet posted a fantasy performance with more than 6.1 fantasy points this season (PPR), so Thursday's breakout was admittedly unexpected. It should give fantasy managers optimism moving forward, but there's no denying that the 26-year-old continues to face competition at the tight end position.
Fellow tight ends Jonnu Smith and Darnell Washington each scored touchdowns on Thursday night, too, offering Aaron Rodgers plenty of options when he's looking to target big, physical receivers in the passing game. As a result, managers should view Freiermuth as a low-end TE2 for Week 8.
Sean Tucker, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Sean Tucker hasn't been able to bring much to the table over the last few weeks. Tucker has moved up the depth chart to the No. 2 option behind Rachaad White in recent weeks. That should remain the same in Week 8 with Bucky Irving (foot, shoulder) still sidelined.
Despite that, Tucker hasn't been able to find much success on the field. Last week, Tucker rushed one time for four yards and hauled in one reception for two yards in the loss to the Detroit Lions. The hope is that Tucker will be more involved against the New Orleans Saints in Week 8.
However, fantasy managers shouldn't count on him considering he has 10 total carries over the last three games. It's obvious that the Bucs trust White with a majority of the carries in the backfield, so Tucker isn't going to offer much value.
Who Should I Start Tool
You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.
Week 8 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Brian Robinson Jr., Justice Hill, Rashod Bateman, Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Sean Tucker, Colston Loveland, Isaiah Likely, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Roman Wilson. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 8.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 8 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 8 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 8 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 8 for Brian Robinson Jr., Justice Hill, Rashod Bateman, Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Sean Tucker, Colston Loveland, Isaiah Likely, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Roman Wilson:
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