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Should I start Xavier Worthy, Jaylen Waddle, Tetairoa McMillan for Week 8? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
Six teams are on bye in Week 8 of the NFL season, and eight inter-conference matchups are on deck. We also have seven backup quarterbacks filling in for injured starters, plus three rookies starting in Week 8. That creates some uneasiness when deciding which wide receivers to start in this crucial fantasy week.
In this article, we will look at the Week 8 outlooks of three wide receivers: Xavier Worthy, Jaylen Waddle, and Tetairoa McMillan. Only McMillan is impacted by the absence of his starting quarterback, but it marginally affects his projection.
So, should fantasy managers start Worthy, Waddle, and McMillan in Week 8? Let's dive in.
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Should I Start Xavier Worthy for Fantasy Football?
Worthy had a relatively quiet Week 7 in the first game with Rashee Rice back in the mix for the Kansas City offense. He actually had more yards than Rice, catching three of four targets for 35 yards and adding a rush for 13 yards, but it was clear they wanted to emphasize Rice in his first game back. It was an unusual game, however, with most of the Chiefs' starters resting in the third quarter after establishing a 31-0 lead against the poor Raiders.
The Kansas City offense looks like it is reaching its peak form, which will benefit Worthy. With Rice back as the supercharged, underneath YAC guy and speedsters around him to stretch the defense vertically, defenses have to pick their poison. And Patrick Mahomes should be able to do whatever he wants on Monday night against Washington's swiss cheese defense.
WORTHY JUMP BALL 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/yaPbMMG9SE
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 19, 2025
The injuries that Worthy has picked up earlier in the year are still in the back of my mind, but he projects as a good start again in Week 8 against Washington. Washington's defense has lost multiple key players to injury and has been disastrous lately in the secondary, allowing 12.5 yards per reception over their last four games, which is tied for second second-highest in the league over that span. Ranked as RotoBaller's WR22 in PPR formats, Worthy should be in lineups for a potential blow-up spot on Monday Night Football.
Should I Start Jaylen Waddle for Fantasy Football?
Week 7 was a nightmare for the Waddle and the Miami offense as they played in miserable wind and rain conditions, not something QB Tua Tagovailoa is built for. It was tough for any Dolphins player to have a productive fantasy day when they were unable to sustain any offense, so no one should be panicking about Waddle's one catch performance.
Since Week 5, after Tyreek Hill went down, Waddle has had WR1-type usage and efficiency with a 26% targets per route run and a 2.75 yards per route run, both top 15 marks among wide receivers and tight ends (minimum 50 routes), per Fantasy Points Data Suite.
TUA. WADDLE. @MIAMIDOLPHINS TAKE THE LEAD BACK.
MIAvsCAR on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXnxV pic.twitter.com/Y7S6BvGdY1
— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2025
The Dolphins are back in a cozy dome in Atlanta for Week 8, where Waddle should get back on track as the team's clear No. 1 target. Atlanta's defense has played well this season and has allowed the fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. With the tougher matchup, Waddle ranks as RotoBaller's WR24 in PPR leagues this week. He's still a solid bet to bounce back in Week 8.
Should I Start Tetairoa McMillan for Fantasy Football?
McMillan will be catching passes from 37-year-old Andy Dalton this week with Bryce Young (ankle) ruled out. That's not really a downgrade based on how they've performed over the last season and a half, and it could be viewed as an upgrade by some people.
The 22-year-old is coming off his two lowest yardage totals of the season, catching just three balls in both games on five targets in each of the past two games. However, he did score the first two touchdowns of his career in Week 6 against the Cowboys, so he still came through for fantasy managers.
Tet McMillan's first career TD!
DALvsCAR on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/NfZMzn8i5f
— NFL (@NFL) October 12, 2025
The matchup against the Buffalo Bills in Week 8 is favorable for the Panthers' WR1. They've allowed a few blowup games to opposing WR1s in each of the past two weeks. They allowed 10 catches for 146 yards on 12 targets against Stefon Diggs in Week 5 and then let Drake London post nearly the same line with 1o catches for 158 yards and a touchdown on 16 targets in Week 6. The London game could be a preview of what McMillan may do to this defense, as they are both bigger-bodied receivers with stylistic similarities. He is a borderline WR1 this week as RotoBaller's WR12 in PPR formats.
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 Xavier Worthy, Jaylen Waddle, Tetairoa McMillan. 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 - Xavier Worthy, Jaylen Waddle, Tetairoa McMillan. 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 Xavier Worthy, Jaylen Waddle, Tetairoa McMillan compared to others:
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