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Aidin Ebrahimi's five fantasy football bold predictions for Week 8 of the 2026 NFL season. Expert predictions for Dak Prescott, Derrick Henry, Justin Herbert, Caleb Douglas, and AJ Barner.
Don't blink, it's almost Week 8! We're getting closer to the trade deadline, and teams such as the Colts have already started their fire sale. Crazy how they were going "all in" one year ago today!
I'm back with another weekly bold predictions article. Week 7's article had some ups and downs. Let's start with the good, as J.J. McCarthy and Jonathan Taylor both made me proud. McCarthy beat the Texans in a gutsy overtime performance and is now on his way to win the NFC East. Taylor had a good 19.0 PPR-point "audition" against the Vikings as he looks destined to leave Indianapolis in the coming days. Tucker Kraft also finished as the PPR TE5. The bad: Zach Charbonnet couldn't make it to the Chiefs game, and Tetairoa McMillan and Sam LaPorta also had poor outings (McMillan outscored Jalen Coker, but not in the way I had anticipated). Now, we will look at five of my boldest predictions for Week 8. Some of these predictions are bolder than the others, and there's a high chance that none of them will even come to fruition. But hey, what's the fun in going for the obvious picks every single week?
Without further ado, let's dive in and find out why my Week 8 bold predictions include Dak Prescott, Derrick Henry, Justin Herbert, Caleb Douglas, and AJ Barner.
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Dak Prescott Overcomes His Cardinals Curse
The Dallas Cowboys have a long and interesting history with their former division rivals, the Arizona Cardinals.
DAK TO PICKENS WHAT A PLAY
DALvsPHI on ESPN Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/nlz2rotipP
— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2026
From the start of the Super Bowl era in 1966 to the 1998 regular season, the Cowboys had a 46-15-1 record against the Cardinals while winning five Super Bowls in that span. But everything changed in the 1998 playoffs.
Jake Plummer's "Cardiac Cardinals" defeated the Cowboys in an unbelievable upset in the Wild Card Round, with Troy Aikman throwing three interceptions in his penultimate playoff game.
Ever since that fateful night, the Cowboys have had problems with the Cardinals, problems that have gotten even worse since the teams started playing in different divisions.
Since 2008, Dallas has gone 1-8 against Arizona, including four one-score losses. Their lone win came in 2017, when Dak Prescott led them to a 28-17 victory. The Cowboys desperately need Prescott to do this again if they want to take advantage of a historically bad NFC East.
Coming into the season, they expected to compete with the Eagles for the division crown, but with Jalen Hurts' season-ending injury, they have to compete with the 4-2-1 New York Giants.
In their next five games, the Cowboys will face four very easy opponents: the Cardinals, Colts, Titans, and Eagles.
Even if they win these games and their final two, which will be divisional matchups against the Commanders and Giants, they will still "only" finish with a 9-8 record. Every single game counts if Brian Schottenheimer wants to keep his job, and there needs to be a sense of urgency.
Look for Prescott to feel the urgency and have an outstanding game against the NFL's bottom-ranked scoring defense. If they end up losing this game, you can kiss their playoff chances goodbye.
Derrick Henry Returns to Form
The NFL is a "blink, and you miss it" league. Just a few weeks ago, Derrick Henry was off to a historically dominant start, and now, he might be washed up.
Henry started the year with 538 yards and eight touchdowns from scrimmage in his first five games, helping the Ravens to a 4-1 record.
However, he has averaged just 3.0 yards per carry while scoring no touchdowns in his last two games. His failure to convert on third- and fourth-down situations has been a big talking point, and some analysts believe Father Time has finally caught up to "King Henry."
Henry will face the Bills this week, a team he's had success against in recent years. He has rushed for 368 yards and three touchdowns in two games against Buffalo ever since he joined Baltimore in 2024.
However, the Bills' once-suspect run defense has improved tremendously this season, as they rank ninth in fewest yards per carry allowed, up from 30th last season.
Henry will have his work cut out for him, especially if Lamar Jackson misses the game. But I've learned to never count Henry out in fantasy football, and this is a great opportunity for him to prove his critics wrong.
Justin Herbert Has His First Standout Performance of 2026
The Chargers, once viewed as Super Bowl contenders, are in disarray. Even my 2-5 Buccaneers have more of a chance of making the playoffs than the 0-6 Chargers. The vibes are terrible, and trade rumors surround star players like Ladd McConkey and yes, even Justin Herbert.
Chargers Considering Simplifying Offense for Justin Herbert
https://t.co/a90r7kGTtc
— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) October 21, 2026
But I refuse to believe that a quarterback as gifted and talented as Herbert will keep playing like the worst quarterback in the league until the end of the season. No two ways about it, this is a lost season.
But that doesn't mean that Herbert can't use the second half of the year to give fans hope for 2027 and attract new coaches to replace Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel, who are dead men walking.
Herbert is 4-2 in his career when coming out of a bye week, a record that includes two games with a passer rating over 100. Herbert hasn't had a game with a 100+ passer rating since Week 17 of the 2025 season, and has lost and been very poor in his last eight games.
The Rams have allowed four of the seven starting QBs they've faced, namely Brock Purdy, Bo Nix, Josh Allen, and Kirk Cousins, to finish as a weekly top-10 fantasy QB.
Herbert has had just one top-10 weekly finish since Week 10 of the 2025 season, and he desperately needs a good performance. In his only other career game against the Rams, he threw two touchdowns and had a sparkling 119.9 passer rating in Week 17 of the 2022 season.
Caleb Douglas Continues to Establish Himself
Longtime readers should be familiar with how I feel about Caleb Douglas. Douglas' incredible physical tools stood out to me heading into the draft, and I was convinced the Dolphins had landed a stud who would lead them to glory.
The Dolphins have been much, much worse than I had anticipated, but Douglas has met my lofty expectations so far despite his right ankle injury. Douglas has put up 35.4 PPR points in the two games he's started and finished so far this season.
Douglas leads Miami's WR room in yards per game (61.0) and receiving touchdowns (two). The Dolphins will have a really hard time against the Patriots and their top-10 defense. But even if Malik Willis' crew falls behind big early, Douglas can still make some big plays.
Amongst the 16 rookie WRs with 10+ targets so far this season, Douglas ranks third in passer rating when targeted (121.5) and receiving success rate (61.5%), second in yards per reception (20.3), touchdowns (two), and yards per route run (2.41), and first in YAC per reception (11.1).
AJ Barner Finally Has a Great Receiving Day
National Tight Ends Day was a bit of a letdown last week, but have no fear, AJ Barner is here! Barner proved he's still an integral part of the Seahawks offense by converting three "tush push" first downs against the Chiefs in Week 7.
AJ Barner showing the versatility of TEs to close out National Tight Ends Day. https://t.co/47NIoQ21eL
— NFL (@NFL) October 26, 2026
Barner's fantasy season hasn't gotten off to a great start. The 2025 PPR TE14 is now the PPR TE27 behind the much-scrutinized Jake Ferguson and Mark Andrews.
But he has averaged 5.2 targets per game over the last five games, up 1.2 from last season. He just needs some luck to turn these targets into big plays and some points.
The Bears are an average defense against tight ends, as they have allowed the 14th-most receiving yards per game to opposing TEs. They have also allowed Hunter Henry to finish as the PPR TE8 last week and Kyle Pitts Sr. as the PPR TE2 the week before.
Look for Barner to finally have his first weekly top-10 finish and score his first receiving TD of the year.
