RADIO
Dan's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 8 of 2026. He looks at potential warning signals from Chase Brown, Rachaad White, Jordan Addison, and Colston Loveland
Hello, RotoBallers, and welcome to Week 8 of the NFL season. Thursday brings not just a new week of action, but a new edition of Warning Signals. For the uninitiated, I use this column to pick on a handful of players and explain why I believe they might spoil your weekend.
Warning Signals take many forms. Changes in utilization, trends in pace of play, and offensive matchups are the signs that most often stand out to me. Injuries can factor into the equation, but we also need to monitor for players whose return from injury will shake up a depth chart.
If you want a little extra help on sits and starts, adds and drops, or trade talks, hit me up on Bluesky (danifestmestiny.bsky.social). And as always, check out RotoBaller’s NFL hub for the latest news, rankings, and advice for the week ahead. Before you do any of that, read on and take note of the Warning Signals I see for Week 8 of the fantasy football season.
Bookmark our updated and revamped fantasy football rankings portal for all league formats!PPR rankings | Half-PPR rankings | Standard rankings | Rookie rankings | Superflex rankings | Dynasty rankings | Who To Start? | Injuries | Matchup Ratings | Strength of Schedule
Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
There’s no skirting around this one - Chase Brown has been a real bummer this year. Brown opened the year with a solid showing against the Buccaneers. In the season opener, he caught five passes, rattled off 78 scrimmage yards, and scored a touchdown, finishing as the RB14 (Week 1 saw an absurd amount of production from running backs). Unfortunately, it's been pretty much downhill from there.
Brown has not been back to the end zone since Week 1, and he has been inefficient as a runner. Brown is averaging a mediocre 3.5 yards per carry and has not made a play (rushing or receiving) longer than 13 yards so far this season. He is one of just four running backs with more than 50 carries to not have a run of 15 or more yards, and is the only one with at least 80 carries to not reach that threshold.
Things were looking really bad heading into the Bengals’ bye, as Samaje Perine’s steadily increasing snap share drew almost even in the team’s Week 5 win over the Dolphins. On the positive side, their split swung back in Brown’s favor in a big way when Cincy resumed play in Week 7. Unfortunately, that only got him 11 carries for 39 yards.
An upcoming matchup against the Titans looks promising. Tennessee has given up at least 90 rushing yards and a touchdown in back-to-back weeks to Jonathan Taylor and Quinshon Judkins. Hopefully, this can be a get-right game for Brown. If he can’t get things going in Week 8, though, I don’t know when he will.
"I'm very optimistic."
"But, it's more about winning football games."Chase Brown spoke with @GSorrentinoTV today on still looking for a breakout game this season.
#Bengals @FOX19 https://t.co/cu0BYaYrZE
— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) October 28, 2026
Rachaad White, RB, Washington Commanders
At the start of the season, the running back situation in Washington was up in the air. Jacory Croskey-Merritt (groin) was the odds-on favorite to be the lead back, but his shortcomings in 2025 invited speculation that free agent signee Rachaad White might get a shot. It took a few weeks, but White has his shot. JCM suffered a groin injury in Week 5 and was placed on injured reserve, opening the door for White to operate as the Commanders’ featured back.
Unfortunately, White fell flat in his first opportunity out from under Croskey-Merritt. In Week 6, White handled just seven carries for 27 yards against the 49ers. A receiving touchdown salvaged his game from a fantasy perspective, but it was another inefficient showing as a runner. Like Chase Brown, White is struggling to get going on the ground. He has averaged a modest 4.0 YPC so far, but has just two runs to exceed 10 yards.
Aside from his underwhelming production, White could be hampered by elements of his own offense. Thanks to Jayden Daniels’ talents as a passer and to gain yards on the ground himself, Washington is the 10th-most pass-heavy team in the league. The opportunities simply won’t be there for White to be a weekly impact player. Even though he had a commanding lead over his fellow running backs in snap share in Week 6, it only amounted to 11 touches.
Jordan Addison, WR, Minnesota Vikings
The deck appears stacked against Jordan Addison being a significant fantasy contributor in 2026. Being second in line behind Justin Jefferson will suppress production, but Addison is seeing a new low in his fourth year in the NFL. In five games played, Addison had 13 receptions for 183 yards and one touchdown on 25 targets.
Trading for Kyler Murray in the offseason and bringing him under the wing of head coach Kevin O’Connell was thought to be a sign that Minnesota’s passing game was about to take another step forward. Entering the eighth week of the season, we can see the opposite has taken place. The Vikings rank 31st in dropback rate, and Murray is averaging 162.4 passing yards per game, the fewest among all regular starting quarterbacks.
Luckily for Addison, and fantasy managers rostering him, the 24-year-old wideout has a pair of great matchups on deck. It will take an adjustment in the Vikings’ offensive approach for Addison to reap any benefits, but that may be in order so that Minnesota can keep up with the high-octane offenses of Detroit and Buffalo.
Another boom game on Sunday could make Addison appealing trade bait. However, if he can’t gain any ground against two of the most generous defenses to wide receivers this season, it will soon be time to cut bait.
Wes Phillips on leaning into @k1 's strengths https://t.co/nOqe5Zgiko
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 27, 2026
Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears
Colston Loveland’s slow start to 2026 sent fantasy managers reeling through the first month of the 2026 season. Loveland seems to have turned a corner, though, flirting with 20 PPR points in each of the last two weeks. So why pick on a guy who finished in the top four at his position in consecutive games? This one comes down to defense.
The Bears will square off against the Seahawks on Monday night in Week 8. Seattle has done well to hold tight ends in check this season, allowing the third fewest fantasy points and second fewest receiving yards to the position. More than their performance on a fantasy leaderboard, it’s Seattle’s zone defense that is the concern. And more pointedly, Loveland’s struggles in 2026 against the scheme.
In his first three games this season, Loveland faced zone-heavy defenses employed by the Panthers, Vikings, and Eagles. Loveland finally showed signs of life in Week 4 against the Jets, who employed man more often. Loveland saw more zone, and less work (two catches for 19 yards on five targets) against the Packers in Week 5, but rebounded amazingly well against the Falcons and then the Patriots. Can you guess what coverages they tend to run?
The track record might be short, but if Loveland is having trouble finding openings against zone defenses, then this will be another down week for him. The Bears have enough options on offense to avoid forcing the ball to Loveland when he’s not open.
Fantasy managers are probably still best served keeping Loveland in the lineup versus finding a streamer for Week 8. This Warning Signal is more to adjust expectations for Loveland and be aggressive elsewhere in your lineups to make up for a potential lack of fantasy points.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
