RADIO
Dan's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 8 of 2026. He looks at potential warning signals from Justin Jefferson, Jonathan Taylor, Woody Marks, and Tucker Kraft.
Setting my fantasy football lineups often feels like an exercise in pessimism. As much as I hype myself up at the start of each new week, I can’t help but look for reasons why my players might hurt me. Every Thursday on RotoBaller, I share a handful of players who stand out as particularly worrisome in this weekly Warning Signals column.
I find Warning Signals all around. Looking back, I pick apart recent performances and trends in utilization. Looking ahead, I wring my hands over bad matchups and anticipate the ramifications of injury news and real-life roster shuffles. Even star players show Warning Signals from time to time, though I’ll usually treat them with the caveat that we rein in expectations rather than advocate for an outright benching.
If you are looking for more start/sit advice, then be sure to check out the trove of weekly preview columns at RotoBaller’s NFL hub. And before you lock in your lineups for this week, be advised of the following Warning Signals for Week 9 of fantasy football.
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Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
In last week’s column, I expressed concern over the viability of Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison despite a plus matchup against a leaky Lions defense. I have to confess that part of the reason why I highlighted Addison was that I was too chicken to shine a light on his teammate, Justin Jefferson.
Outside of a couple of games, Jefferson’s 2026 has been a massive disappointment. In Week 1, the star receiver seemed to hit the ground running with an eight-catch, 92-yard, two-TD performance. However, the closest Jefferson came to replicating that success was in Week 5, when he caught six balls for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Jefferson’s 335 receiving yards are the fewest he has had in his first six games in a season, by almost 200 yards. Jefferson has been held to 55 receiving yards or fewer in four games, including his 33-yard day against the Lions last week. The seventh-year vet looked justifiably upset in that game, dealing with multiple errant throws from quarterback Kyler Murray, who is playing like he received an advance copy of GTA VI.
Not too hard to see why Justin Jefferson is frustrated. These are bad misses from Kyler Murray. https://t.co/dZxoZmerCF
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) November 2, 2026
Murray is averaging 16.7 completions and 170.3 yards per game and has the lowest passing success rate of his career. Minnesota also has the seventh-most run-heavy offense in the league, cutting back on chances to get Jefferson the ball.
The results against the Lions and with Murray at quarterback in general have quashed my enthusiasm about Jefferson’s potential in his upcoming meeting against the Bills, who have given up the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers. This is a game where I start the stud and hope for the best, and then give serious thought to selling if a rebound game does happen.
Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts
Jonathan Taylor has been the subject of numerous trade rumors over the last few weeks, and with good reason. Taylor has eight touchdowns and the seventh-most scrimmage yards in the league through Week 8. The Colts are a sinking ship, and any team that acquires Taylor would immediately improve their outlook for the rest of the season.
Despite talk about Taylor’s fate heating up in the last week, the Colts still had him on the field against the Jaguars last Sunday. Head coach Shane Steichen said that he will continue playing Taylor as long as he is on the team and has no plans to adjust his workload for Indy’s Week 9 showdown with the Dallas Cowboys.
Indianapolis Colts' Shane Steichen On Why He's Playing Jonathan Taylor Amid Trade Rumors https://t.co/OyP6VaGy58
— Jake Arthur (@JakeArthurNFL) November 4, 2026
This Warning Signal is fairly tepid and boils down to staying on guard for the rug pull if a trade suddenly does develop, à la the Marvin Harrison Jr. deal in Week 5. Luckily, the Colts-Cowboys matchup is in the early slate, so there would be time to pivot in the face of a last-minute announcement. In the meantime, make sure Shane McGowan is stashed.
If Taylor is not traded before Sunday, I’ll take Steichen at his word and start him in fantasy. The Cowboys have allowed the fourth-most rushing yards to running backs and are giving up the most rushing yards before contact in the league.
Woody Marks, RB, Houston Texans
After starting the season in a near-even split with David Montgomery (groin), Texans running back Woody Marks has taken over the lion’s share of backfield work since his teammate succumbed to a groin injury in Week 5. Since Montgomery went down, Marks has held an 84% snap share and taken 64% of rushing opportunities.
Unfortunately, the new role hasn’t resulted in a significant boost to Marks’ fantasy value. In each of Houston’s last three games, their second-year back has had at least 15 rushing attempts but no more than 66 yards on the ground. Perhaps more disappointing is his lack of targets. When Marks came into the NFL last season, he was lauded for his potential as a receiver out of the backfield. Through Week 8, he has just 2.4 targets, two receptions, and 13.4 receiving yards per game.
Marks will be up against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 9. In addition to his team’s utilization of him, the Chargers have given up the third-fewest receptions to opposing running backs this year. Montgomery has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game, but based on Marks’ body of work, it is hard to see him deviating from the 8.2 to 10.5 half-PPR point range he has stayed within over his last five games.
Woody Marks Week 7
- 89% snaps
- 19 carries, 66 yards
- 15 routes, 1 target, 1 rec, 15 yds
- 9.1 fantasy pointsGreat volume, not so great production
— Michael F. Florio (@MichaelFFlorio) October 25, 2026
Tucker Kraft, TE, Green Bay Packers
Tucker Kraft’s slow start to 2026 got a nudge in the right direction in Week 4, when he pulled in six catches for 42 yards and a touchdown. After another two-week lull, Kraft was brought back to life with touchdown receptions in each of the last two weeks.
Measured by PPR fantasy points per game, Mike Gesecki, Pat Freiermuth, Juwan Johnson, and Brenton Strange are all within 1.5 points of Kraft. Kraft has not strayed far from his weekly averages of 4.3 receptions and 43.8 yards per game, relying on those touchdowns for his truly fantasy-relevant weeks.
Kraft will find it difficult to extend his scoring streak to a third game when the Packers square off against the Patriots this weekend. New England’s defense ranks 13th in red zone conversion rate, whereas Green Bay’s offense ranks 20th and is also dead last in EPA/play in the red zone. The Pats gave up big games to Brock Bowers and Colston Loveland already this season, but they have not allowed more than four receptions or 43 receiving yards to any other tight end.
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