Uncertainty is one of the more difficult things to deal with in Fantasy Football, and we had plenty of it at quarterback heading into Week 8. Thankfully it's clearing up.

Drew Brees is in and Patrick Mahomes and Matt Ryan are out. As a result, Matt Moore and Matt Schaub are in.

I'm plugging Brees right back into my lineup as a top-10 option against a good matchup against the Cardinals. There just aren't enough good quarterbacks in Week 8 to consider sitting him. 

The loss of Bridgewater as a streaming option does make that group seem a little less appealing, but there are still a pair of top-12 options available on the waiver wire and I've ranked them below.

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Week 8 QB Preview

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Numbers to know
  • 2,419 - Total attempted air yards this season for Matt Ryan, the most in the league. The Falcons can't run the ball or stop Seattle, so I'd expect Matt Schaub is going to have to wing it as well if Ryan is out. 
  • 10.5 - Averaged intended air yards for Stafford this season. That type of downfield attack should work very well against the Giants secondary.
  • 2.48 - Average time to throw for Sam Darnold. Only Andy Dalton has had it worse. 
  • 82.2% - Share of Ryan Tannehill's throws that have been "on-target" this season, according to SIS. That's the third best mark in the league, but it's still a very small sample size. 
  • 7.04 - Gardner Minshew's ANY/A. That's the fourth-highest mark in the past decade for a rookie quarterback with at least 100 attempts. 
  • 6.8% - Jacoby Brissett's touchdown rate this season. He's been great, but there's probably some touchdown regression in his future. 
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Matchups that matter
Matchups that Matter
Projections powered by Sportsline
Kirk Cousins QB
ATL Atlanta • #18
Age: 36 • Experience: 13 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs WAS MIN -16 O/U 42

OPP VS QB

24th

PROJ PTS

20.6

QB RNK

14th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1711

RUYDS

37

TD

14

INT

3

FPTS/G

20.1
Mason Rudolph QB
TEN Tennessee • #11
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs MIA PIT -14.5 O/U 42.5

OPP VS QB

30th

PROJ PTS

20.4

QB RNK

NR

YTD Stats

PAYDS

646

RUYDS

19

TD

7

INT

2

FPTS/G

15.8
Matthew Stafford QB
LAR L.A. Rams • #9
Age: 36 • Experience: 16 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs NYG DET -7 O/U 49.5

OPP VS QB

23rd

PROJ PTS

21.2

QB RNK

12th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1751

RUYDS

63

TD

13

INT

3

FPTS/G

23.2
Jameis Winston QB
CLE Cleveland • #5
Age: 30 • Experience: 10 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ TEN TEN -2.5 O/U 46.5

OPP VS QB

11th

PROJ PTS

16.2

QB RNK

NR

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1771

RUYDS

38

TD

12

INT

10

FPTS/G

20.8
Carson Wentz QB
KC Kansas City • #11
Age: 31 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ BUF BUF -1.5 O/U 43

OPP VS QB

3rd

PROJ PTS

15.8

QB RNK

7th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1649

RUYDS

94

TD

14

INT

4

FPTS/G

20.6
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Waiver Wire Targets
Top Streamers
Gardner Minshew QB
LV Las Vegas • #15
Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Ownership

61%
Minshew put up another starter-worthy performance in Week 7, and he was unlucky it wasn't better. He had 255 passing yards and 48 rushing yards. He marched the Jaguars up and down the field but only got in the end zone once. I'm not so sure Jacksonville will be able to run easily on the Jets, so I think Minshew's volume could be up. More importantly, I think he's a weekly starter in Fantasy unless he's in a terrible matchup.
Mason Rudolph QB
TEN Tennessee • #11
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Ownership

54%
No team has given up more Fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks than the Dolphins. While I would expect the Steelers to run the ball as much as possible, there's still a good chance Rudolph finds a couple of scores. And if the Steelers decide this is a good chance to work on their passing game, he could have a massive game. The Dolphins aren't stopping anyone.
One to Stash
Cam Newton QB
CAR Carolina • #1
Age: 35 • Experience: 12 yrs.

Ownership

45%
Newton is expected to start practicing after the bye week, and I fully expect him to take his job back once he's healthy. It's easy to forget that before all these young dual-threat quarterbacks, there was Newton doing it better than anyone. When he's right, he has as much upside as any player in the league.
Sam Darnold QB
MIN Minnesota • #14
Age: 27 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Ownerdship

41%
Yes, that was embarrassing on Monday night. But after Week 8, the Jets get the Dolphins, Giants, Washington, Raiders, Bengals and Dolphins again. If Sam Darnold is ever going to be good in Fantasy, it will be against this stretch of opponents.
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DFS Plays
Top Play
Matthew Stafford QB
LAR L.A. Rams • #9
Age: 36 • Experience: 16 yrs.

Week 7 Prices

FanDuel

$7,700

DraftKings

$6,100
Stafford's price actually jumped quite a bit, but not quite enough. He's thrown more than 34 passes twice this season. He's topped 360 yards and thrown at least three touchdowns in both games. I can't imagine the Lions will go run-heavy without Kerryon Johnson, which should keep Stafford's volume up against a Giants defense allowing 8.9 yards per pass attempt.
Top Contrarian Play
Gardner Minshew QB
LV Las Vegas • #15
Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Week 8 Prices

FanDuel

$6,900

DraftKings

$5,500
Minshew keeps producing while his price and ownership stays low. I'll keep playing him.
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Heath's projections

Rank 

QB 

FPTs 

Russell Wilson 

30.60 

DeShaun Watson 

30.35 

Matthew Stafford 

29.90 

Gardner Minshew 

26.32 

Aaron Rodgers 

25.83 

Tom Brady 

25.48 

Drew Brees 

25.45 

Jared Goff 

25.45 

Mason Rudolph 

24.94 

10 

Matt Ryan 

24.92 

11 

Jacoby Brissett 

23.90 

12 

Kirk Cousins 

23.62 

13 

Kyler Murray 

23.08 

14 

Philip Rivers 

23.08 

15 

Carson Wentz 

21.96 

So who should you sit and start in Week 8? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy football rankings for every single position, and see which shocking QB comes out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.