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Should I start Alvin Kamara, Breece Hall, Isiah Pacheco for Week 8? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara, New York Jets running back Breece Hall (knee), and Kansas City Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco are all their team's starting running backs. But none of them are dominant RB1s, and all have had poor games this season.
Even though each is talented in their own right, they all have certain flaws to their game and/or are not in ideal situations for running back production. These issues have caused these players to not reach their full potential this season, and they've been headaches for fantasy football managers.
But being the starting RB for a team gives a player enough upside, usually, to be worth starting in 12-team leagues. It's in the smaller leagues that things are more questionable. So should you start Kamara, Hall, and Pacheco for fantasy football Week 8?
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Should I Start Alvin Kamara for Fantasy Football?
Probably. Drafting Kamara in his age-30 season an expecting him to put up a repeat of last year's performance was probably not the most enlightened decision, but he's still been serviceable enough to play as an RB2 or flex, depending on the league size.
He's the RB22 overall this season, putting him in the RB3 conversation, since the Saints haven't had a bye week yet. But he has zero games with above 15 PPR fantasy points, and three so far in the single digits. Perhaps the injury to his backup, Kendre Miller (knee), will give him a higher floor, though.
We'll see what happens with Kendre Miller's injury, but rookie Devin Neal is likely in line for a significant role going forward in the #Saints offense. This is what Alvin Kamara said when I asked about his day in Chicago: pic.twitter.com/1BPFpHHpQl
— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) October 20, 2025
It will depend on how the team's third-string back, Devin Neal, functions in his new role in the offense. There's a good chance he takes over most of what Miller's role was, which wouldn't leave a lot of extra work on the table for Kamara. Neal wasn't impressive in college against Power-4 conference competition, though.
I expect a slight boost to Kamara's rushing volume, but he'll remain a flex starter for now.
Should I Start Breece Hall for Fantasy Football?
Hall is dealing with a knee issue, which concerns me. He struggled all last season with explosiveness, and I suspected early on that he was dealing with problems with his surgically-repaired knee -- the one in which he tore his ACL in 2022.
The exact details of his injury aren't known yet, but there's a chance that the same knee has been bothering him for well over a year now. If that's the case, things become a question of load-management. And it's possible they restrict his touches as a result.
Clean spin move by Breece Hall pic.twitter.com/CoBgliTdAE
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) October 13, 2025
Still, he's a talented player facing one of the weakest defenses in the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals, New York's opponent in Week 8, have been gashed by running backs this year. It makes Hall a difficult player to bench. Keep an eye on his status as we get closer to game time.
And if you haven't already, you should probably stash his backup, Isaiah Davis. If Hall can't go, the Jets will be incredibly thin at RB, and Davis could have very nice volume.
Should I Start Isiah Pacheco for Fantasy Football?
Pacheco is one of the worst players you could have picked in the fifth round of fantasy football drafts in 2025 that hasn't dealt with injury. He's simply not had much volume and not been a factor in the passing game. A lot of his work is being siphoned away by backup Kareem Hunt (knee) and rookie pass-catching RB Brashard Smith.
Hunt is expected to play in Week 8, so the usage bump Pacheco had last week due to Hunt's injury could evaporate. And without PPR upside to make up for it, you're basically relying on a touchdown to save Pacheco's fantasy day yet again.
Andy Reid: Let me scheme up a great play to isolate Josh Simmons on the left side as a lead blocker to get a touchdown
Isiah Pacheco: Nah I'm good pic.twitter.com/YIKgptv58c
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) September 6, 2025
The fantasy community seems to still have a much higher opinion of Pacheco than he deserves. He has terrible vision and constantly chooses the wrong holes to run through, and it costs his team. He's much more athletic than Hunt, and you'd think there would have to be a major reason why Hunt is still getting work.
The upside Pacheco used to have simply isn't there any more, and Hunt is still there to vulture away goal-line carries. I'd leave Pacheco on the bench this week outside of deeper leagues, where he's a very risky flex play. I'd almost rather start Smith in PPR leagues, though his role is pretty minimal still.
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 8 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Alvin Kamara, Breece Hall, Isiah Pacheco. 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 - Alvin Kamara, Breece Hall, Isiah Pacheco. 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 Alvin Kamara, Breece Hall, Isiah Pacheco compared to others:
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