Week 8 Fantasy Football QB Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Prescott, Goff, Williams, and More

The Week 8 byes have a major effect on the middle-high section of the fantasy quarterback world. Brock Purdy (QB2), Tyler Shough (QB9), and C.J. Stroud (QB11) all rank in the top 11 at the position, and J.J. McCarthy has played five strong quarters with the Giants, making him an intriguing player.

We aren't missing any of the top weekly fantasy quarterbacks (despite Purdy's current ranking), but there are four players who are worthy of consideration every week depending on matchups, leaving things shorter for those who need a streamer.

Let's look at three quarterbacks to start and three to sit in Week 8 of the NFL season. Most stats are from NFL.com, and fantasy points and rankings are from FantasyPros.

Use FantasySP's start/sit tool to compare players and help make your toughest lineup decisions each week!

Start

Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks vs. Chicago Bears

Playing with Jaxon Smith-Njigba makes things a lot easier for any quarterback. Last year's Offensive Player of the Year is WR1 by a wide margin in both standard and PPR, averaging more than eight catches and 120 yards per game. That's a major reason why Darnold has mostly found success despite no other pass catcher really stepping up.

The matchup here is also one of the best available, as the Bears have allowed the most yards per pass attempt. They are 10th in most fantasy points per game given up to quarterbacks, but Chicago has faced the fourth-fewest pass attempts, and every team below them has had their bye while the Bears have played every week. Volume is why Chicago looks a little better by fantasy standards.

Darnold is a strong fantasy option this week. He was better than average in a tough matchup with the Chiefs last week, and the outlook here is much better, setting him up with top-five upside.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals

Prescott is having a good volume season, averaging close to 265 passing yards and two touchdowns per game on the way to a QB6 ranking. He has been a little below average from an efficiency standpoint, though, and I'm not at all ready to call him a must-start fantasy player despite his bigger volume.

That all changes this week: Prescott is absolutely a must-start player in Week 8. Arizona has allowed the second-most yards per pass attempt and the second-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. The Cardinals have given up more than 220 passing yards in all but one game and multiple passing touchdowns in all but two games, though one of those included 73 rushing yards and a score on the ground from Bo Nix.

Arizona has faced the sixth-fewest pass attempts despite not having their bye yet, with the Bears the only team below them also having played seven games. The Cardinals are giving up a ton of volume without facing much of it, leaving a huge ceiling for Prescott and the Cowboys' passing game.

Geno Smith, New York Jets vs. Las Vegas Raiders

Oh, look: Geno returning to the scene of the crime from last season, where his one year in Las Vegas brought the Raiders the worst record in the league and top overall pick Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza hasn't played much yet, but it's the defense we are more worried about here, as Vegas has given up the fifth-most yards per pass attempt and the fifth-most fantasy points per game to QBs.

Smith was close to average from an efficiency standpoint last season but took a ton of sacks and averaged more than one interception per game. He has been much better in 2026, completing 70% of his passes at 7.8 yards per attempt with 10 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He has thrown for at least 247 yards in four of seven games, though he reached double-digit TDs in just two of those contests.

The matchup is so far in his favor here that Smith is a strong fantasy option. He has a few intriguing playmakers around him, and though injuries have been a bit of an issue with those players, this has a chance to be one of his best games of the season.

Sit

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings

Goff is doing as well as he has in any other season. He is QB7 and just 3.5 points from fourth place while averaging eight yards per attempt (tied for his third-best number) with 14 touchdowns and no interceptions. He doesn't run much, so Goff will always have a lower ceiling than some other guys, but he has shown again that he should at least be considered as a fantasy starter pretty much every week.

This might not be one of those weeks, though. Minnesota has allowed the fourth-fewest yards per pass attempt and the fewest fantasy points per game to QBs, regularly holding down their opponents. The matchups haven't been very tough, including facing the Bears in a rainstorm, but it's hard to argue with what the Vikings have done so far on defense.

While Goff could still put up numbers with a strong supporting cast around him, this isn't a great outlook. Some owners might not have a better option, particularly in deep leagues, but I suggest trying to find a player with a better matchup in Week 8.

Bo Nix, Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Nix's place here has as much to do with last week as anything else. He has struggled hard this season, only playing two games at even an average level, and both those games came in great matchups against the Jaguars and Cardinals, the latter of which was last week. I listed Nix as a player to start in Week 7, and he did well with 222 passing yards on 7.7 per attempt to go with the aforementioned 73 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

The matchup turns opposite this week, as the Chiefs have given up the 10th-fewest yards per pass attempt and the third-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. Specific to Nix, Kansas City has only allowed one QB to run for more than 26 yards, and that was a fantastic runner in Malik Willis.

If you want to see what Nix can do against the Chiefs, you only have to look back to Week 1, when he threw for 131 yards on just 4.7 per attempt while running for only two yards. Even if he does better, it would be a surprise to see Nix even have an average game; he's a must-sit player this week.

Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears @ Seattle Seahawks

This is a bit of a risky one given the highs that Williams has reached. Missing three-plus games has him outside the top-20 fantasy QBs, but Williams averaged 294 passing yards per game on nine per attempt with 125 total rushing yards and seven total touchdowns (five passing) in the three full games he has played. He struggled against the Vikings in Week 2, but again, that came in a rainstorm, so we have to take it with a grain of salt.

This might be the toughest fantasy matchup for any quarterback, though. Seattle has allowed the fewest yards per pass attempt by a wide margin and the second-fewest fantasy points per game to QBs. That's a brutal outlook, and even for a team that has found plenty of success on offense, I'm skeptical of every Bear in fantasy this week.

While some owners won't consider sitting Williams, and I understand, I would be doing everything I could to find another option if I were a Williams owner. There's a low floor here.