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Should I start RJ Harvey, Brashard Smith, Tyler Allgeier for Week 8? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
It can be an utter nightmare navigating injuries to your starting running backs or finding which players to start in place of your RBs that are on bye weeks. Trying to figure out which backup RBs, some of which you might have to start, will have big games is very difficult.
Often, the starting running backs of teams will hog the lion's share of the touches, leaving precious little work for their teams' RB2s to gain fantasy points. And in "bye-pocalypse" weeks like this one, even small differences in their final scores can be the difference between winning and losing your fantasy matchups.
Denver Broncos RB RJ Harvey, Kansas City Chiefs running back Brashard Smith, and Atlanta Falcons tailback Tyler Allgeier (hip, knee) are three backup RBs that will be started in quite a few leagues for Week 8, but should you start them?
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Should I Start RJ Harvey for Fantasy Football?
Harvey's season thus far has been an absolute disappointment. Hopefully, for future seasons, he'll serve as a reminder not to get carried away with draft capital and landing spot and to just not draft rookies inside the first four rounds. First-year players drafted in those rounds have by and large been fantasy duds this year.
Harvey had four carries for zero rushing yards and caught one of his paltry two targets for a two-yard touchdown, finishing with 7.2 PPR fantasy points. He came very close to an absolute goose egg, though, and that doesn't inspire much confidence for him in Week 8.
The rookie RJ Harvey breaks free for 50-yard gain!
TENvsDEN on FOXhttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/XjSqE1ClGM
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
He showed promise in Week 1, but the Titans have been one of the worst rush defenses in the NFL. Since then, he's failed to pick up more than 50 rushing yards in all but one contest. In the last three games, he has just 16 rushing yards. And third-string back Tyler Badie is siphoning away a lot of passing down snaps.
Harvey shouldn't be started outside of very deep leagues.
Should I Start Brashard Smith for Fantasy Football?
Smith, unlike Harvey, actually had his best game of the season last week. He carried the ball 14 times for 39 yards and caught five passes for 42 yards. Most of that rushing work came in garbage time, as the Chiefs were relentlessly throttling the flailing Las Vegas Raiders, but it's the receiving work that's intriguing.
In PPR leagues, Smith has some level of relevancy. He's been targeted 16 times in his last four contests, and he's getting a sort of De'Von Achane style of usage, where he's running routes from receiver spots in the formation. His targets are very easily catchable, and he's an elite athlete, too.
Andy Reid today on rookie RB Brashard Smith
"We’re moving him all over the place. I wouldn’t see that part changing, we’re going to keep utilizing his talents."
Smith lines up out wide / in slot 39% of his snaps (PFF)#Chiefs are developing a positionless personnel group 😈 pic.twitter.com/4EZeQsD77r
— Ron Kopp Jr (@RonOnChiefs) October 23, 2025
Kansas City is easily the best short passing team in the league, and is the only one that's consistently productive on screens. Smith is a rookie, and his role should increase as the season goes on. As a converted WR, his PPR upside seems stable. He's a nice desperation flex start in 12 team leagues and a solid start in deeper leagues.
Should I Start Tyler Allgeier for Fantasy Football?
Allgeier is dealing with hip and knee injuries, and it's unknown if he'll take the field in Week 8 yet. But he logged three straight limited practices this week, so it seems like he's set to play. And if he does, he has a very nice matchup coming up.
The Falcons will play against the Miami Dolphins at home. Miami has been the worst team against running backs this season -- they've been absolutely gashed by Rico Dowdle, Quinshon Judkins, Breece Hall (knee), and Kimani Vidal this year.
Dolphins vs the run 📉
📊 Last three weeks, RBs have dominated the Dolphins defense, which is bottom 5 in almost every rush D metric this year
🔸Quinshon Judkins: 22 RA, 80 yds, 3 TD
🔸Kimani Vidal: 18 RA, 124 yds
🔸Rico Dowdle: 23 RA, 206 yds, TDCould be another breakout day… pic.twitter.com/6CI9enMKFK
— Make Vegas Pay (@MakeVegasPay_) October 22, 2025
You can see from the above post just how bad it's been. While we certainly expect Falcons lead back Bijan Robinson to have a great game, it's easily possible that the collapsing Dolphins get blown out by Atlanta, and Allgeier gets a nice workload.
The Falcons will start QB Kirk Cousins this week due to an injury to their "QB1", Michael Penix Jr. (knee). I put QB1 in parentheses because Penix has played terribly and been inaccurate this season. Cousins presents an upgrade for the whole offense. Allgeier is a fine starter at flex in 12-team leagues if he can play.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 8 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like RJ Harvey, Brashard Smith, Tyler Allgeier. 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 - RJ Harvey, Brashard Smith, Tyler Allgeier. 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 RJ Harvey, Brashard Smith, Tyler Allgeier compared to others:
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