Monday Night Fantasy Football Start Decisions and Rankings: Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Xavier Worthy and More

Week 8 of the NFL regular season ends with a matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders.

Let's go over each offensive fantasy option tonight and rank them at the end of the article.

Use the FantasySP start/sit tool for help with any last-minute lineup decisions.

Quarterbacks

This was supposed to be a fun fantasy matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Jayden Daniels, but instead, we'll get Mahomes and Marcus Mariota.

Mahomes is obviously the best fantasy quarterback option in this one. He's projected for 23 fantasy points in what is a favorable fantasy matchup.

Mahomes ranked first in my week 8 quarterback rankings. Mariota was near the bottom of my list.

Mariota is projected for 16 fantasy points in a pretty tough matchup.

This one's easy, start Mahomes over Mariota, and it's not remotely close.

Running Backs

Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt and Brashard Smith are all options at running back for Kansas City. Jacory Croskey-Merritt has been the top running back for Washington, with Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols filtering in.

Pacheco is projected for nine PPR points tonight, while Hunt is at six and Smith seven. Croskey-Merritt sits at 10 PPR points, while McNichols is over five and Rodriguez sits at just three.

The Kansas City backs have a pretty average matchup tonight. The Washington running backs have a tougher test. 

I have Pacheco as the top fantasy option from this contest - he ranked 21st overall in my top-30 PPR rankings for week 8.

Croskey-Merritt ranked 25th for me, while nobody else made my top 30. I'd rank everyone else like this: Smith, McNichols, Hunt and Rodriguez.

Pacheco and Croskey-Merritt are part of a trending decision on the start/sit tool here at FantasySP. Fantasy owners like Croskey-Merritt over Pacheco, and are starting both guys nearly 38% of the time.

Croskey-Merritt is a clear favorite over Smith, but 17% of fantasy owners are starting both - remember, six teams were on byes, so some are forced to start both backs. 

Wide Receivers

The wideouts from each team are all active tonight.

Washington will get Deebo Samuel Sr. and Terry McLaurin back, so that's a massive boost for the offense. Jaylin Lane, Chris Moore and Luke McCaffrey have been helping out with the top two out of the picture over the past several weeks.

Rashee Rice is back and immediately is serving as WR1 for KC. Xavier Worthy, Marquise Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton are also worth mentioning.

The Chiefs' wideouts have a pretty solid matchup tonight, while the Commanders' wide receivers have a tougher test again.

Rice is projected for 20 PPR points tonight, which was one of the top projections in our system this week. Worthy is at 12 PPR points, while Brown made the cut at eight PPR points. Smith-Schuster is projected for over four PPR points, while Thornton is set for just under three.

Samuel is set for 14 PPR points tonight, while McLaurin is at 12 in his first game back. McCaffrey also barely made the projection page at three points. Moore is also projected for about three PPR points, while Lane is projected for three as well.

Rice is already up to my No. 4 fantasy wideout in the week 8 rankings, and it could rise with another big game tonight. Samuel checked in 19th for me, while Worthy was 29th. Nobody else was ranked from this game. 

McLaurin being active finally is a hit to Samuel's overall outlook, but I'd still take him second today, just ahead of Worthy, and McLaurin is just a few spots behind Worthy.

After Rice, Samuel, Worthy and McLaurin, I'd want Brown, Smith-Schuster, McCaffrey, Moore, Thornton and Lane. 

There's three trending decisions involving receivers from tonight's game.

Worthy is barely preferred over Samuel, with both guys starting 48% of the time. Worthy is preferred more over McLaurin, with both starting 34% of the time. 

Samuel is preferred over McLaurin, with fantasy owners who have both Washington wideouts starting them nearly 29% of the time.

Tight Ends

At tight end, Kansas City still has Travis Kelce leading the way, while the veteran Zach Ertz leads Washington. Guys like Noah Gray and John Bates could factor in, but they'd be at the bottom of my rankings, so I'm going to skip talking about them.

Kelce is projected for 11 PPR points tonight, while Ertz is at nine. Kelce has a pretty average matchup ahead, while Ertz had one of the tougher tests for a tight end coming into the week.

Kelce was my No. 7 fantasy PPR tight end for week 8, while Ertz checked in 14th. I just trust the Chiefs' offense more, plus Mariota starting instead of Daniels makes Ertz, and every other pass catcher, a worse fantasy option.

Kickers

Harrison Butker still does the kicking for the Chiefs. Matt Gay is the Washington kicker, but is questionable, so that'll be something to watch. 

Butker is projected for nine fantasy points tonight, which was tied for the highest mark this week. Gay is at six points, but could go up if he ends up playing. 

I like the Chiefs to win this game, and think that will give Butker a lot more chances to score, so I will easily take him as the top fantasy kicker in this one. Even if Gay was healthy, I'd want to take Butker.

Washington doesn't have another kicker on its roster, so if you have Gay as your kicker, you might need to drop him and replace him with the new kicker if Gay ends up missing the game. If you don't need any points from the kicker spot, just starting Gay is probably the smartest choice, as he's a better long-term fantasy option than whoever might replace him for tonight.

Defenses/Special Teams

The Chiefs DST is projected for eight points tonight - that's tied for the top mark for a week 8 projection. The Commanders DST is set for just three points, which is tied for the worst mark among DST.

Kansas City's defense has allowed 1,962 total yards across seven games, while giving up just 17.7 points per game. The unit has seven takeaways and 13 sacks so far.

Washington's defense has allowed 2,550 yards and an average of 24.3 points per game over seven contests. The defense has just three takeaways and 19 sacks.

This is another pretty easy choice in the favor of the Chiefs' fantasy option. Start them confidently tonight, and avoid the Commanders DST if possible - they might even score negative points.

Offensive Overall Rankings (OP or Flex Spots)

1. Patrick Mahomes

2. Rashee Rice

3. Deebo Samuel Sr.

4. Travis Kelce 

5. Xavier Worthy

6. Isiah Pacheco

7. Jacory Croskey-Merritt

8. Terry McLaurin

9. Marquise Brown

10. Zach Ertz

11. Marcus Mariota

12. Brashard Smith

13. JuJu Smith-Schuster

14. Jeremy McNichols

15. Luke McCaffrey

16. Kareem Hunt

17. Chris Moore

18. Tyquan Thornton

19. Chris Rodriguez

20. Jaylin Lane