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Should I start Stefon Diggs, Alec Pierce, Troy Franklin for Week 8? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
The midway point of the fantasy season has arrived, making start-sit decisions even more crucial. In this article, we will evaluate three wide receivers and whether or not they should be trusted in starting lineups for Week 8.
New England Patriots WR Stefon Diggs has established himself as Drake Maye's clear No. 1 target, Indianapolis Colts WR Alec Pierce continues to deliver explosive plays for the best offense in the NFL, and Denver Broncos WR Troy Franklin has had encouraging usage despite his struggles catching the ball.
So, should fantasy managers start Diggs, Pierce, and Franklin in Week 8? Let's dive in.
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Should I Start Stefon Diggs for Fantasy Football?
Diggs is pretty close to must-start status at this point in the season. His 32% targets per route run is the third highest in the NFL, only behind superstars Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua. Since Week 4, when his route share got back to normal after easing into action following his ACL injury last season, he's racked up the 11th most PPR points (60.4) among wide receivers.
The 31-year-old wideout faces a tough Cleveland defense in Week 8, but certain coverage tendencies could favor Diggs in this matchup. The Browns have played man coverage at the sixth-highest rate (34.4%) through seven games this season, which plays right into Diggs' hands. Diggs has the highest yards per route run (4.89) in the league among wide receivers with at least 15 routes against man.
"STEFON DIGGS! JUST MASTERFUL!" pic.twitter.com/t8cvLfZycn
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 12, 2025
Of course, it'd be tough to talk about Diggs without bringing up how well second-year QB Maye has played this season. He's played at a near-MVP level, ranking second in EPA/Play (0.33) and first in completion percentage over expected (11.6%). Like Diggs, the 22-year-old has carved up defenses when they play man coverage. His 10.1 yards per attempt against man coverage ranks second, while his 12.8% Hero Throw%, which looks at the frequency of high-difficulty throws, leads all quarterbacks.
Diggs has established a safe WR2 floor every week with the upside for big spike weeks, seen by his 10 catch, 146 yard performance against the Bills in Week 5. He ranks as RotoBaller's WR20 for Week 8 in PPR formats and should be fired up with confidence.
Should I Start Alec Pierce for Fantasy Football?
Pierce has evolved his game and become a more complete wide receiver in his fourth NFL season. He's still among the most explosive and efficient receivers in football, ranking ninth in explosive catch rate (31.3%) and tied with Smith-Njigba for third in yards per target.
While the Colts' offense has been historically great through the first seven weeks, they lean more to the run and have plenty of mouths to feed in the passing game. Josh Downs (concussion) is set to return in Week 8 after missing last week's game. That leaves Pierce's weekly floor lower than you'd like, but he's much less boom or bust this season when he was largely just a field stretcher.
Perhaps a lot of that has to do with the QB change, as Anthony Richardson Sr. was among the most inaccurate passers last season, while Daniel Jones has been money in that area this season.
Alec Pierce wasn't dropping his weight and decelerating this effectively earlier in his career pic.twitter.com/gRz7Y5PkqI
— Matthew Harmon (@RPFilmClips) October 23, 2025
Fresh off his best game of the season with five catches (10 targets) for 98 yards, there's an opportunity for Pierce to follow it up with another big performance against a leaky Titans defense that will be without its two best players in DT Jeffery Simmons (hamstring) and CB L'Jarius Sneed (quadricep). Tennessee's defense has allowed the fifth-highest yards per attempt (17.5) on targets of 20 or more yards downfield, which bodes well for Pierce's big play potential.
The return of Downs may lower the floor a bit, but he ranks as RotoBaller's WR34 for Week 8 with spike week upside. With a flurry of bye weeks this week, Pierce is a solid flex start in Week 8.
Should I Start Troy Franklin for Fantasy Football?
Franklin has encouragingly held down the No. 2 WR spot opposite Courtland Sutton through seven weeks. He and Sutton are the only Denver pass catchers to run at least 60% of the team's routes in all but one game this season. It hasn't resulted in any real production yet for the second-year WR, however.
The 22-year-old wideout broke out against the Colts in Week 2, catching eight of nine targets for 89 yards and a touchdown and adding a carry for 11 yards. The usage was exciting in that game, utilizing his dynamic ball-in-hand ability and winning downfield for a 42-yard catch. It's been disappointing outside of that as he's caught just 58.7% of his targets for the season, but Week 7 signaled some positive signs and reason for optimism heading into Week 8. He earned a season-high 10 targets and racked up 163 air yards, the most of any Broncos WR this season.
Franklin has recorded three of the four highest single-game air yard totals for Denver this season. Now, he gets a dream matchup against a Dallas Cowboys secondary that has allowed the most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers through seven weeks. This is as good a game as any for Franklin and his college teammate, Bo Nix, to connect on some of these deep shots.
What a throw and catch from Nix to Franklin 👀
DENvsIND on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/K3qjnAUHHu
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
Additionally, head coach Sean Payton likes to design easy layups to get the ball in Franklin's hands. His 11 designed targets are the most on the team and the third most in the league, per Fantasy Points Data Suite. The Cowboys, like in nearly every defensive category, struggle to contain designed targets, allowing the fifth most yards in the league (169).
Franklin ranks as RotoBaller's WR37 for Week 8, putting him right on the WR3/flex radar. With the favorable matchup, he's a good start for managers looking for a potential spike week.
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 Stefon Diggs, Alec Pierce, and Troy Franklin. 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 - Stefon Diggs, Alec Pierce, and Troy Franklin. 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 Stefon Diggs, Alec Pierce, and Troy Franklin compared to others:
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