Alec Pierce and More Emergency Fantasy Football Starts for Week 8 Bye-Mageddon

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Comet:

If any fantasy manager tells you that Bye-Mageddon is a terrible week to play fantasy football, be sure to channel Captain Tenneal of MXC and tell them, “Well, you’re wrong!”

Bye-Mageddon affords fantasy managers the opportunity to make moves that might not work in any other week. It’s a week that rewards creativity and risk-taking like no other and can result in roster decisions that you remember for a long time.

If you are in a spot where you need some upside Bye-Mageddon options, here are four to consider …

Alec Pierce, WR, IND

Pierce earned a prime spot on our WR rankings this week. Matthew Freedman pointed out that Pierce is a boom-or-bust producer, but with Bye-Mageddon coinciding with the Los Angeles Dodgers being in the World Series, it may be an apt time to go all Shohei Ohtani and swing for the fences with someone wearing blue and white.

Pierce has the benefit of a cornerback matchup of L’Jarius Sneed, who is averaging 9.9 PPR PPG allowed since Week 4 (per Stathead). It’s possible Sneed will miss this week due to injury and leave Pierce facing a backup cornerback. Even if Sneed is playing, Pierce is someone worth strong start consideration.

Isiah Pacheco, RB, KC

Pacheco was at the top of Chris Allen’s Week 8 fantasy football trade analyzer in part because Pacheco had only 44% of the Chiefs rush attempts in Week 7. That number could increase in Week 8 in a Monday Night Football matchup against a Washington defense that has the sixth-highest RB Opportunities Boost score.

Our rankings page indicates that Pacheco is currently slated to sit in 41% of leagues. If you are one of those managers sitting Pacheco, you’ve stuck with him for this long and have been waiting for any reason to justify putting him into a starting lineup. This matchup may be just the reason you’ve been looking for.

Chimere Dike, WR, TEN

Dike scored a season-high 14.8 points last week. That earned him a place on our best Week 8 waiver wire adds. Dike could replicate or improve upon last week’s total because he has a perfect 100 matchup points total in my weekly review of the best and worst matchups of Week 8.

If you decide to start Dike as a longshot upside play, you’ll also get to brag about having started someone with one of the coolest names in the NFL today. It’s as cool as Storm Duck and Christian Mahogany, but falls just a bit short of the all-time greatest name in NFL history—Elbert “Golden Wheels” Dubenion.

Mason Taylor, TE, NYJ

Our DvP tool says there are upside matchups against tight ends, and then there are the Cincinnati Bengals. Per this tool, the Bengals give opposing tight ends an 8.3-point fantasy boost. That is nearly triple the second-highest total in this category (Colts, 2.9).

This boost is so big that it actually tops the 7.6-point fantasy boost that the Cowboys give to quarterbacks. Yes, there is a concern about Tyrod Taylor being under center for the Jets, but Tyrod is going to need as many high percentage targets as he can get. He’ll look for his fellow Taylor early and often. That could return Mason Taylor to the land of double-digit points.

BIGGEST FANTASY BUSTS & 9 MORE THINGS TO KNOW

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About Last Night …

The Chargers broke out navy throwback unis for Thursday Night Football, and the offense hummed like in the Air Coryell days. Except the QB put his wheels to good use in 37-10 victory over the Vikings at SoFi Stadium. Here are some highlights:

Justin Herbert (227-3, 7-62 & 25.28 fantasy points) to Ladd McConkey (6-88-1, 20.8) was just cinema.
Time to take Oronde Gadsden (5-77-1, 18.7) really seriously as a weekly TE starter.
Kimani Vidal (117-1, 19.7) shows again what he can do when the Chargers are rolling.
Jordan Addison rewarded his fantasy managers with this TD and 11.6 fantasy points.
This rookie got his first career TD.

GADSDEN’S LAST THREE GAME LOGS TELL A STORY

Editors’ Picks

And with that, Week 8 is underway. We’ve got some data to work with, as well as rankings and Xfinity Best Projections. And this great content helps, too …

Week 8 Mismatch Report

WR/CB Matchups Week 8

You’ll be smiling if you have Courtland Sutton or Rashee Rice in your lineup. Or both. Chris Allen breaks down the best WR/CB matchups, as well as the ones to avoid.

Week 8 NFL DFS Picks

After a second-place, $1,500 finish in Week 7, Pete Overzet has zeroed in on his favorite stack to target in Week 8 … plus an extra Sicko Stack for those that want to dive deeper.

Fly High With The Falcons in Week 8

The terrific twosome’s back in the saddle for Week 8’s Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em, looking to keep those fantasy squads afloat as bye weeks loom …

Michael Penix, QB, ATL

LAGHEZZA: Everything to do with Atlanta’s been a veritable roller coaster ride so far this season. After trouncing Minnesota in Week 2, who could’ve predicted the massive goose egg on deck in a shutout at the hands of the struggling Panthers? Then the Dirty Birds turn it around to shock the Bills, only to get flattened by San Francisco’s second-stringers as an encore. Frustration falls short of fitting.

The Falcons currently rank bottom-five in scoring, and Michael Penix Jr. doesn’t own a single top-10 positional fantasy finish—but all that changes this weekend. Somehow, Atlanta’s the NFL’s only team scoring fewer than 20 points per game despite boasting a +20-yard net differential and at least two first downs per drive. So what’s the common throughline, knowing it’s not competition-based if you can defeat BUF but get blanked by CAR?

Maybe it’s the fast track, ideal temperature control, or a truly satisfying down-home Southern breakfast—whatever it is, Penix plays an order of magnitude better at home in 2025. Check the splits …

Michael Penix, 2025: Home ⏩ Away

EPA/Attempt: +0.33 ⏩ -0.28
Completion Rate: 67.0% ⏩ 54.7%
Passer Rating: 103.0 ⏩ 66.5
Passing Yards Per Game: 287.0 ⏩ 182.7
Yards Per Attempt: 8.6 ⏩ 5.8

Raheem Morris and his boys in black host Mike McDaniel and the Fins, whose problems under center may be distracting attention from just how bad this Miami defense is playing. Easily bottom five by the macros (29.3 points allowed per game, -0.12 EPA/play, 49.9% defensive success), Miami’s also stone-cold worst in EPA/dropback (-0.25), opposing passer rating (113.9), completion rate allowed (74.6%) and QB hits/game (6.0). Yikes.

I know it hasn’t been easy to click the Penix button, but fear not—the Falcons soar for us this weekend.

Tyler Allgeier, RB, ATL

CLEMONS: Let’s not forget, as a rookie, Allgeier ran for over 1,000 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per rush. He has always been an effective runner, but he has not been given the opportunity to be the lead back since his rookie year. He has still served as a great backup to Bijan Robinson.

The Falcons are taking on the Dolphins in the midst of a full-on organizational collapse. The Dolphins are 32nd in rushing yards, and we have seen RB2s have decent performances against this team because the games usually get out of hand after the RB1 has already done serious damage. The game script could get out of hand, and if so, Allgeier could be in line for added carries. If he can find a goal-line touchdown, his career 4.2 yards per carry will be good enough to get him into double digits.

MORE STARTS AND SITS FOR WEEK 8

Breece Hall Is Primed To Bounce Back In Week 8

Somebody needs to throw up the Bat Signal because nothing has gone right in Gotham this year. The Jets are winless, Garrett Wilson is banged up, Justin Fields was banished to the pine and Aaron Glenn doesn’t seem to know what to do.

There is only one logical solution: Get the ball in the hands of Breece Hall.

Despite Hall coming off consecutive stinkers (5.9; 6.2 FP), there is a storm of factors that are pointing to a big bounceback in Week 8.

Much like Quinshon Judkins’ situation last week, the Jets’ grounded passing attack (30th in pass EPA) plays right into Hall’s favor. There is an undeniable contrast between Hall’s performances this season based on the strength of defenses faced.

From a fantasy perspective, Hall’s three biggest games have come against defenses ranking outside of the top 20 in rush EPA allowed and 25th or worse in EPA/play. As you can see below, the Bills are the outlier as the only struggling defense Hall failed to gash. Keep in mind, the Jets game plan immediately went off the rails in that game as Buffalo jumped out to a 20-0 first-half lead.

I’m hoping we don’t have to worry about that against the Bengals.

Week 1: PIT | 145 total yards

22nd (Rush EPA allowed)
25th (EPA/play allowed)

Week 2: BUF | 38 total yards

29th (Rush EPA allowed)
22nd (EPA/play allowed)

Week 3: MIA | 111 total yards

26th (Rush EPA allowed)
31st (EPA/play allowed)

Week 5: DAL | 155 total yards

28th (Rush EPA allowed)
30th (EPA/play allowed)

As much as New York looks like a team on wobbly legs, this is not the time to throw in the towel on Breece Hall. He has consistently had his way with defenses like Cincinnati (30th & 29th in categories mentioned above).

The incentive of showcasing Hall for a potential trade partner strengthens the probability of a higher workload. As the focal point of the Jets offense, Hall is set up to soar to a season high this week.

MORE WEEK 8 SMASH STARTS