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Should I start Xavier Legette, Marvin Mims Jr., Matthew Golden for Fantasy Football Week 8 for Week 8? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
The lower tier of wide receivers isn't ever one you want to have to rely on as a fantasy football manager, but unfortunately, sometimes you simply don't have a choice. There are quite a few teams with bye weeks this week, and the WR position has been fraught with injuries this year.
Carolina Panthers WR Xavier Legette, Denver Broncos wideout Marvin Mims Jr., and Green Bay Packers wide recevier Matthew Golden (hip) fit in the tier of receivers that you're probably grudgingly starting, if at all. They've all been unproductive this year.
Each has had a few solid games, but for the most part, they've been bench or even waiver wire material. That could always change, and you might be deciding between these and similar players anyway, so should you start Legette, Mims, and Golden in Week 8?
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Should I Start Xavier Legette for Fantasy Football?
Panthers starting quarterback Bryce Young (ankle) has been ruled out for Week 8, meaning that backup veteran Andy Dalton will take the reins at signal-caller. This seems like it will be a good thing for Legette. With Young starting, the second-year pro has been useless for fantasy football all season.
In the team's six games before Week 7, Legette was able to play in four contests, missing two because of injury. His PPR fantasy point totals for those contests were 4.0, 0.8, 11.1, and 3.1 over that stretch, making him unstartable in virtually every format possible.
Nobody wants to talk about it but Xavier Legette had his best career game against the Jets yesterday
🐆 9 receptions
🐆 92 receiving yards
🐆 1 TDExpectations for first rounders are always about being a WR1. Legette can be a decent WR2. Just like QJ it will take time pic.twitter.com/cIY3BUYEs1
— Prospect Film Room (@FilmProspect) October 20, 2025
And yet, when Young was injured and Dalton substituted in for him, Legette caught a total of 60 passing yards from the "Red Rifle"... which happened to be all of Dalton's passing yards. The Panthers presumptive WR1, Tetairoa McMillan, had just one target from the vet, which fell incomplete.
Legette thus has flex appeal in deeper leagues. It should be obvious by now that Young is simply not a good QB. There have been a mountain of excuses made for him on social media, but it's clear that he's holding back the potential of Legette. And his film has been littered with poor play.
Should I Start Marvin Mims Jr. for Fantasy Football?
Mims has a low enough floor in fantasy football -- virtually zero -- that makes it hard to trust him in starting lineups at any point this season. He's had three games with double-digit PPR fantasy points, but also has logged scores of 2.2, 1.4, 3.9, and 4.8 points.
He checks in as the WR44 overall despite not having missed time due to injuries or a bye week. It's hard to trust him in any contest. Even in good schematic matchups, like in Week 6 against the New York Jets, he was hardly impactful. And aside from a miracle fourth quarter comeback in Week 7, the Broncos offense has been disappointing.
Nix to Mims for 32 yards! 👀
NYGvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/WMhEeiqEVN
— NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2025
He fits into a very expansive group of players that are simply better for best ball than they are for redraft leagues. His 15.8 point game in Week 7 was cool, but it's so difficult to project anything here. Mims does much better against man coverage than zone coverage, at least.
The Broncos will face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8. They ran a high rate of zone coverage all year until switching to a primarily man-coverage focused pass defense in Week 7, but they were also facing the Washington Commanders, who were without their top-2 receivers, Terry McLaurin (quad) and Deebo Samuel Sr. (heel).
Who knows what coverage they'll run against the Broncos, but I suspect it will be more zone-heavy, and that's not a good matchup for Mims. So I'd keep him on the bench. He's not a big priority in Denver's passing offense.
Should I Start Matthew Golden for Fantasy Football?
Golden (hip) is dealing with a hip injury, and officially listed as questionable on his team's injury report for Week 8. It's unknown yet whether he's expected to play, but the Packers play on Monday Night Football, meaning it might be a sticky situation to decide whether to sub him out or risk him being ruled out.
That being said, in the case that he does play, it's still not a very easy decision whether to start him. It looks like fellow Packers WR Christian Watson (knee) will return to play for the first time in 2024. While he's unlikely to be a target hog, as he's coming back from a torn ACL injury, it further dilutes the targets on an already heavily spread out passing offense.
Matthew Golden drafters look away. The Packers passing offense spreads the ball around as much as possible. Matt LaFleur schemes his receivers open. Golden doesn't have the talent to buck that trend and be more than a rotational piece. pic.twitter.com/LEAxFygvEe
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 10, 2025
Golden had his best game of the season in Week 6, catching three passes for 86 yards and totaling 13.2 PPR fantasy points thanks to some rushes. That came off just five targets, though. He was targeted four times last week and scored only 7.7 fantasy points.
It's been WR Romeo Doubs that's served as the Packers WR1. He's garnered 17 targets in his last two games, gaining 127 yards and scoring 10.5 and 13.2 PPR fantasy points. At this time, he's probably the only Packers wideout you want to start, and he and tight end Tucker Kraft are the only Green Bay pass-catchers I'm interested in.
I'd leave Golden on the bench.
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 8 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Xavier Legette, Marvin Mims Jr., Matthew Golden. But not to worry, we are here to help 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.
Week 8 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Xavier Legette, Marvin Mims Jr., Matthew Golden. 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's name. In the second box, search for the second player's 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, enhanced search results with data to compare, and 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 circles), 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 Week 8 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Xavier Legette, Marvin Mims Jr., Matthew Golden compared to others:
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