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Should I start Kendrick Bourne, Keon Coleman, Josh Downs for Week 8? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
Some fantasy managers play in deep leagues. Some are in dynasty leagues with massive starting rosters and benches. Some have redraft leagues with three starting wide receiver spots, or three starting flex spots, and the like. Not every league has the standard lineup of two WRs and one flex spot.
So players like San Francisco 49ers wideout Kendrick Bourne, Buffalo Bills WR Keon Coleman, and Indianapolis Colts slot receiver Josh Downs are important in a lot of fantasy leagues. That's why each of them are rostered in over 50 percent of Sleeper fantasy football leagues.
But are they worth starting in Week 8? Each of them has shown a very low floor, logging multiple single-digit PPR fantasy point outputs. In fact, each has games with under 5.0 PPR points this year. So should you start Bourne, Coleman, and Downs in Week 8?
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Should I Start Kendrick Bourne for Fantasy Football?
I'm not sure anyone's excited about putting him in their starting lineups after Week 7. In Week 5 and Week 6, Bourne scored 24.2 and 19.2 PPR fantasy points by catching 15 passes for 248 yards combined in those two contests.
The next game, he managed just 3.4 points. The good news, for Bourne's fantasy prospects, at least, is that 49ers WR Ricky Pearsall (knee) still won't play in Week 8 due to a knee injury. The bad news is that WR Jauan Jennings (knee, ribs, shoulder) will play, and he's the team's top healthy receiver right now.
Texans are #31 in missed tackle rate this season, missing 44 tackles on the season. (s/o @sfdata9ers)
Think there's a big YAC opportunity for the #49ers on Sunday, starting with George Kittle, Christian McCaffrey, Jauan Jennings, etc.
— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) October 25, 2025
The Houston Texans, who the 49ers are playing in Week 8, are a tough matchup against wide receivers, and the coverage of their cornerbacks could be difficult for Bourne to overcome. But if he can make some catches in space and run with them, he could have success against Houston's poor tackling on defense.
Still, with this week's starting 49ers QB Mac Jones (oblique, knee) dealing with multiple injuries, perhaps only tight end George Kittle is worth starting of the team's pass-catchers. Bourne should be benched outside of very deep leagues.
Should I Start Keon Coleman for Fantasy Football?
Nothing about Coleman's sophomore season in the NFL has been exciting, save for his Week 1 performance against what we now know is an absolutely horrible Baltimore Ravens defense. Since then, Coleman hasn't had double-digit PPR fantasy points in a single game.
Instead, he's been very far down the priority list for targets of his team's pass-catchers. It appears that he's been outplayed by WRs Khalil Shakir and Josh Palmer, tight end Dalton Kincaid (oblique), and even running back James Cook at times as a pass-catcher.
The Bills have a Keon Coleman problem, and the discourse surrounding him is a very layered discussion.
Although, I noticed something that doesn’t have to do w/ separation, or Xavier Worthy lol.
It’s the types of targets he’s getting. The location of the throws. Check it out!⬇️ pic.twitter.com/QnPRa0ygQm
— The Caveman (@thecavemannfl) October 17, 2025
There are quite a few issues to his game described by the film breakdown above, if you're interested in watching. And while his size and physicality give him enough talent to be a decent NFL WR, it seems that the Bills are preferentially targeting their WRs and TEs that get better separation.
This isn't much of a surprise, as often, contested targets lead to turnovers and pass break-ups, as you can see in some of the plays above. I wouldn't be comfortable starting Coleman right now.
Should I Start Josh Downs for Fantasy Football?
Downs is an interesting player to dive into this week. He's on an offense that doesn't give him a lot of playing time, unfortunately -- with rookie tight end Tyler Warren having such a great season, the Colts have a new target-earner that deserves plenty of passing game looks, and they can run more 12-personnel formations.
12 personnel is a grouping in which the team's slot receiver usually isn't on the field. Downs is the Colts slot receiver, so his playing time has been negatively impacted. And in addition to Warren, Indianapolis has WRs Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce, who have both been playing well this year.
Taylor’s dominance, Jones’ resurgence, & Warren’s insane career start might get the headlines; but don’t forget about the Colts WR trio…
The Colts are the only team w/ 3 WRs in the top 25 of EPA/target:
17. Alec Pierce: +.5
19. Michael Pittman Jr: +.46
21. Josh Downs: +.42 pic.twitter.com/MIfukGYcX2— Jay Robins (@TheJayRobins) October 21, 2025
A rising tide lifts all boats, and all the team's receivers have been playing well, but the Colts might just blow out the Tennessee Titans early and pull their starters to rest them. Indy's offense is dominant, and the Titans are arguably the league's worst team.
It's hard for me to trust Downs in starting lineups this week as a result.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the 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 Kendrick Bourne, Keon Coleman, Josh Downs. 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 - Kendrick Bourne, Keon Coleman, Josh Downs. 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 Kendrick Bourne, Keon Coleman, Josh Downs compared to others:
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