Week 8 QB Rankings: Bo Nix Will Stay Hot vs. Cowboys
Matthew Freedman highlights the biggest risers in his Week 8 quarterback rankings.
It's Week 8.
Apple cider. Pumpkins. Fallen leaves.
An NFL-high six teams on bye.
As Thomas Paine once wrote almost 250 years ago: "These are the times that try fantasy football managers' souls."
Let's get into the Week 8 QB edition of Freedman's Favorites, where I highlight guys I'm upgrading because of …
- Favorable betting factors and situational spots
- Advantageous defensive matchups (perhaps aided by injury)
- Increased usage expectations (again, maybe aided by injury)
For process notes regarding this series, my Week 8 fantasy football rankings, and my weekly projections, see the end of this piece. Also, check out the rest of my favorite Week 8 fantasy football plays.
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Week 8 Quarterback Rankings
Bo Nix Gets the Flowchart Matchup in Week 8
To simplify my life, I've created a simple flowchart to guide me when doing my rankings. It looks like this.
- Question: Is this QB playing the Cowboys this week?
- Answer 1: Yes → Action: Aggressively move him up the ranks.
- Answer 2: No → Action: Carry on with my life.
This week, Bo Nix gets the flowchart matchup against the Cowboys, who are No. 1 in most fantasy points allowed to QBs (25.5).
I say this almost week—but it's just as true now as it was earlier in the season: This year, the Cowboys have made bad QBs look good, good QBs look great, and great QBs look elite (per our Fantasy Life Scoring Matrix).
- Jalen Hurts (Week 1): 24.3 points | 152 yards passing | 14-62-2 rushing
- Russell Wilson (Week 2): 31.3 points | 450 yards, 3 TDs passing | 3-23-0 rushing
- Caleb Williams (Week 3): 29.1 points | 298 yards, 4 TDs passing | 5-12-0 rushing
- Jordan Love (Week 4): 26.3 points | 337 yards, 3 TDs passing | 3-28-0 rushing
- Justin Fields (Week 5): 25.9 points | 282 yards, 2 TDs passing | 7-26-0 rushing
- Bryce Young (Week 6): 19.5 points | 199 yards, 3 TDs passing | 3-5-0 rushing
- Jayden Daniels & Marcus Mariota (Week 7): 22.6 points | 219 yards, 1 TD passing | 10-69-1 rushing
In the offseason, Nix was on my do-not-draft list, and I have no regrets about that.
I don't think he's a strong NFL player—but he's better in fantasy than reality—last week he was the No. 1 QB in fantasy (with 40 points in an epic 33-32 win over the Giants), and this week he gets the crème de la crème matchup against the Cowboys.
Although the Broncos are on the "wrong side of the hook" as 3.5-point favorites, I still have them as a five-star bet in our Fantasy Life NFL Game Model for two primary reasons.
First, the Cowboys could have a cluster injury situation in the secondary without CB Trevon Diggs (knee, concussion) and FS Juanyeh Thomas (migraine).
And second, the Broncos are playing their second straight game in Denver, they have one of the league's best home-field advantages (+6.59, No. 2 over the past five seasons), and their home edge is fully maximized against the Cowboys, who are in a different division and conference and play indoors on turf (vs. outdoors on grass).
The fantasy points should flow for the Broncos and Nix this week.
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Joe Flacco Gets Revenge Game in Week 8
It has been almost seven years since the Ravens traded away Joe Flacco. Since then, he has been on six different teams.
That means he will have a lot of opportunities to get revenge this season against former teams—one of which happens to be the Jets, for whom Flacco played for the 2020-22 seasons.
No one looks back on Flacco's New York years with nostalgia—especially Flacco. With the Jets, he went 1-8 as a starter, completed just 57.5% of his passes, and had a subpar 6.2 AY/A.
He was so bad with the Jets (or, phrased differently, the Jets sabotaged Flacco's career to such an extent) that he was forced out of the league for most of the 2023 season before signing with the Browns, dominating in limited action, and winning a surprise Comeback Player of the Year award.
Now he's with the Bengals—and this week he gets a revenge game against the Jets.
Traded to the team from the Browns just a couple of weeks ago, Flacco is yet to have a typical full week of practice with the Bengals. In Week 6, he was traded on Tuesday, and then in Week 7 he played on Thursday.
Despite his abbreviated preparation time with the Bengals, Flacco has done well so far, passing for 561 yards and five TDs (with no INTs), completing 65.2% of his attempts, and heavily relying on stud WRs Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Now with three extra days coming off Thursday Night Football, Flacco should have the full playbook at his disposal … and the Jets are No. 31 in defensive pass DVOA (37.5%, per FTN).
On top of that, they might be without CBs Sauce Gardner (concussion) and Michael Carter (concussion).
Flacco is widely available on waivers and is a viable option for a bye-impacted team.
The Dropback
Caleb Williams (Bears) at Ravens: Williams has seen year-over-year improvement with new offensive HC Ben Johnson (6.5 AY/A last season, 7.6 this season), and the Ravens are No. 2 in most fantasy points allowed to QBs (22.7).
Jaxson Dart (Giants) at Eagles: Dart was a poor passer in his first two starts (4.7 AY/A), but he looked like a veteran in his two most recent games (8.8 AY/A), and since he became the starter in Week 4, Dart is the No. 1 QB in designed rush share (15%, per our Fantasy Life Utilization Report). He was the No. 3 QB in fantasy against the Eagles just two weeks ago (23.6 points), and their defense is dealing with injuries to EDGEs Nolan Smith (triceps, IR), Ogbo Okoronkwo (triceps, IR), Azeez Ojulari (hamstring), DT Moro Ojomo (head) and CB Adoree' Jackson (concussion).
Michael Penix (Falcons) vs. Dolphins: This year, Penix has significant location splits (8.6 AY/A at home, 5.1 on the road). The good news is that Penix is home this week—and he's playing the Dolphins, who have been without No. 1 CB Storm Duck (ankle) almost all year and are No. 32 in defensive dropback EPA (0.276, per RBs Don't Matter).
Tyrod Taylor (Jets) at Bengals: As of writing, HC Aaron Glenn is yet to name Taylor the Week 8 starter, but he benched Justin Fields in the middle of Week 7, and he notably failed to endorse Fields when asked about who will start this week. The Bengals are No. 31 in defensive dropback SR (52.8%), EDGE Trey Hendrickson (back) is uncertain to play, and Taylor as an underdog is an elite 23-12-3 ATS (24.5% ROI, per Action Network). He's a streamable superflex waiver option, and I might even consider him this week in Guillotine Leagues™.
Notes For My Week 8 QB Rankings
Byes: This week, the Lions, Raiders, Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks and Jaguars are on bye.
Injuries: Since I write Freedman's Favorites on Tuesday, I have incomplete injury information. After I submit this article, any updated thoughts I have regarding injuries will manifest in my rankings and projections. For our quick fantasy thoughts every day, subscribe to the Fantasy Life newsletter.
Schedule: This season, I have the following rankings and projections schedule.
- Tue AM: Publish rankings and projections
- Thu AM: Refresh rankings and projections
- Thu PM: Make necessary TNF rankings changes
- Sat PM: Update rankings and projections
- Sun AM: Revise rankings
- Sun PM: Finalize rankings based on news prior to 1 pm ET kickoff
Accuracy: I'm a six-time top-20 ranker in accuracy and a long-time profitable player prop better.
Scoring: All fantasy points are half-PPR scoring unless otherwise stated.
Cohesion: My positional breakdowns are published separately, but I think of them as comprising one whole, so check out the rest of my favorite Week 5 fantasy football plays (via my Fantasy Life author page).
Abbreviations: Here are some abbreviations I might have used in the piece.
- Fantasy Points per Game (FPPG)
- Against the Spread (ATS)
- Over/Under (O/U)
- Team Total (TT)
- Moneyline (ML)
- Return on Investment (ROI)
- Adjusted Yards per Attempt (AY/A)
- Expected Points Added (EPA)
- Success Rate (SR)
- Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE)
- Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA)
- AirYAC (Air Yards + Yards After Catch)
- Weighted Opportunity Rating (WOPR)
- Average Depth of Target (aDOT)
- Short Down and Distance (SDD)
- Long Down and Distance (LDD)
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