Fantasy football Week 8 QB preview: If Kyler Murray is going to get going it has to be now

Week 8 at quarterback feels a little bit like the haves and the have-nots. There are five QBs who are projected for at least 23 Fantasy points: Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye, and Dak Prescott. You should feel fortunate if you have them and expect a big week. There are another five that we are starting, mostly with confidence: Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff, and Matthew Stafford. After that it's anyone's guess. You may need a streamer; I have options below.

Even that second tier of quarterbacks comes with some risk. Is Lamar Jackson's high ankle sprain finally healed? Can Jayden Daniels and Matthew Stafford keep it up without their veteran starting receiver? And maybe most troubling, can Jared Goff find success against the Vikings? Minnesota is the number one defense against QBs, and only Jordan Love has scored 20 Fantasy points against them. But they haven't faced anyone who has scored like Goff. He is currently QB3 in CBS leagues. This is a true strength-on-strength matchup that will be fascinating to watch, even if it does make Goff a little scarier to start. Even last year's results tell a mixed story, as Goff threw for 284 yards and two scores in one game and 197 yards and two interceptions in the other. If you want to get away from him, I understand, but there are no streamers I would start over him.

Let's get to the rest of the preview:

29.33 -- The Lions have given up a league-worst 29.3 FPPG to opposing QBs. If Kyler Murray is ever going to be startable, this should be the week.

2.52 -- Bryce Young's time to pressure is 2.52 seconds, which is the fastest among QBs who have been pressured on at least 40% of their dropbacks.

43.1 -- Jacoby Brissett leads the league in dropbacks per game at 43.1. He hasn't played particularly well, but with that type of volume he's generally in the streaming conversation.

21 -- Jordan Love has already had 21 passes dropped this season. No other QB has had more than 13 dropped passes.

8.0 -- Michael Penix is averaging 8.0 yards per attempt, which ranks sixth amongst qualified starters. This is a big test against a better-than-expected Tampa Bay defense.

20.4% -- J.J. McCarthy has a 20.4% explosive per dropback rate. He may be a starter after his bye.

24 -- Kirk Cousins has 24 completions of 20+ yards, which is tied with Brock Purdy for fourth-best.

5.7 -- Bo Nix is averaging 5.7 air yards per pass attempt, which ranks dead last. Even after his great performance last week, we don't want to start him.

My full set of Week 8 Fantasy football projections for every position is here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 8. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available and will be updated throughout the week as I make changes.

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