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Justin's wide receiver start 'em, sit 'em picks for fantasy football Week 8 lineups (2025). Read his expert WR start/sit advice for Jaylin Noel, Marquise Brown, Troy Franklin, others.
Can I retroactively tell you to sit someone? Because if so, I'd go back in time and recommend that you don't play Quentin Johnston on Thursday night.
In a game where the Chargers scored 37 points and quarterback Justin Herbert threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns, Johnston wasn't even targeted. He played 52 percent of Los Angeles' offensive snaps, but the ball never came his way. It also probably isn't a good sign going forward that Tre Harris led Chargers receivers in snaps and caught a touchdown.
So, are there other Johnston-esque landmines to avoid this week? Sure! Let's figure those out in this article. Below are my Week 8 WR start 'em, sit 'em picks. The starts aren't obvious WR1/WR2 type of players and the sits are guys you might normally consider playing.
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Week 8 Starts - Potential Fantasy Football Booms
Tez Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I recommended Sterling Shepard last week, using the logic that the Buccaneers were banged up and he was more consistent than Tez Johnson.
Well, the Buccaneers weren't as banged up as expected, at least when the game began. Emeka Egbuka and Mike Evans both played, but Evans broke his collarbone during the game. Meanwhile, Shepard wasn't the worst play in full PPR as he caught seven passes, but his 25 total receiving yards probably left a sour taste in your mouth.
It also became clear on Monday night that Johnson is the guy to target in fantasy with Evans out, not Shepard. Johnson was targeted nine times, catching four of those passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. He was second to Egbuka in snaps among the team's wide receivers.
Tez Johnson scores on the screen pass!
TBvsDET on ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN App pic.twitter.com/fLNxdLnDPm— NFL (@NFL) October 21, 2025
Both Johnson and Shepard will be on the field a lot this week, but Johnson's touchdown upside makes him a better play against a Saints defense that's allowed 14 passing touchdowns this season.
Jaylin Noel, Houston Texans
The Texans offense is a disaster, as the team has no real way to keep quarterback C.J. Stroud upright. That's really killed Nico Collins in fantasy this year. He's had some good games, but his receiving yards per game have dropped from 83.8 last year to 56.5 this year. Stroud doesn't have time to let plays develop for Collins down the field, which is where he's at his best.
There has been one encouraging part of this offense, though: rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel. The Iowa State product thrived with Christian Kirk out last week, catching four of his seven targets for 77 yards. Kirk has been absent this week from practice with a hamstring issue.
Meanwhile, Collins is in concussion protocol, putting his availability for this game against the 49ers in jeopardy. There's a very good chance Houston will be without both guys.
The Texans NEED to let Jaylin Noel play far more than he does. pic.twitter.com/oG3oKqPNGj
— James Roy (@JamesRoyNFL) October 21, 2025
As far as, like, winning football games goes, that's bad! But as far as you, reader, winning your fantasy football games go, it might be good news...if you have Noel on your roster. The game plan this weekend should be for Stroud to get the ball out quickly, which will benefit Noel. While he might not pile up the yardage, he should get a lot of short, easy catches, making him a strong play in PPR leagues.
Troy Franklin, Denver Broncos
I recommended Troy Franklin last week and the results were...strange. In Denver's 33-32 win over the Giants, Franklin was targeted a season-high 10 times and caught his second touchdown of the season, but he also finished with just three receptions for 19 yards. Without the touchdown, it would have been a complete bust week for the second-year receiver.
This week, I'm on Franklin again, and I feel even better about it than I did before the Giants game.
That's because the Broncos face the Cowboys this week, and you should generally plan on playing everyone you possibly can when they play against the Cowboys.
Dallas allows 260.3 passing yards per game, the most in the NFL. The team has given up 16 passing touchdowns, second only to the Bengals. This is despite a schedule that featured Justin Fields and Bryce Young in recent weeks, while last week's game was against a Commanders team that was without its two best wide receivers and whose quarterback was injured during the game and replaced by Marcus Mariota.
Simply put, the Dallas pass defense might actually be worse than the numbers suggest. If Franklin gets double-digit targets again this week, he's going to eat.
Week 8 Concerns - Potential Fantasy Football Busts
Darnell Mooney, Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney is coming off a solid game against the 49ers, catching three passes for 68 yards. However, don't expect a repeat against the Dolphins this week.
Miami is a bad football team and ranks 29th in points allowed per game, but much of that is due to how bad the run defense has been, with the team allowing the most rushing yards in the league so far.
The pass defense has been solid, especially when facing lesser quarterbacks. Last week, the Dolphins allowed 31 points to the Browns, but none of those points came via passing touchdown. The team actually held Dillon Gabriel to 116 passing yards, and No. 1 receiver Jerry Jeudy had two receptions for 17 yards.
This is a week for the Falcons to lean heavily on Bijan Robinson. I'd expect more rushing attempts than passing attempts, with Mooney seeing very few targets.
Kendrick Bourne, San Francisco 49ers
After back-to-back games with 142 receiving yards, Kendrick Bourne crashed back to earth against the Falcons last week, catching two passes for 14 yards. Those two receptions were his only targets.
Bourne is a solid player who can excel when he gets opportunities, but with Jauan Jennings and George Kittle healthy, there are limited chances for Bourne to get involved for the 49ers. This isn't some pass-happy offense. Christian McCaffrey is going to dominate touches, leaving little room for the receivers to make an impact.
Then there's this week's matchup to consider. The 49ers face the Texans, who have the league's best scoring defense, allowing just 14.7 points per game. The team has allowed the fewest passing touchdowns and the fifth-fewest passing yards in the NFL. I don't really want any part of San Francisco's passing attack this week.
Marquise Brown, Kansas City Chiefs
The return of Rashee Rice meant the end of Marquise Brown as a major piece of the Chiefs' offense. Sure, he scored his fourth touchdown of the season against Las Vegas, but he only caught two passes for 14 yards. That touchdown feels fluky.
Rice was targeted 10 times in his return. Brown was tied for third on the team in targets with Xavier Worthy, but it's just tough to really see him getting the looks he needs to be a consistent fantasy play. He also played just 33 percent of the team's snaps, fewer than Worthy, Rice, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and tied with Tyquan Thornton.
The matchup against the Washington Commanders this week is theoretically a good one, but it's just really tough to look at this team with Rice back and think that Brown is anything more than a boom-or-bust streaming option.
Nine different receivers caught a pass on Sunday!
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 21, 2025
The Chiefs have too many solid players. Rice is the No. 1 receiver, and everyone else is going to be inconsistent on a weekly basis.
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