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Week 8: Who To Start Rankings Posted
Bills RB Anthony Dixon is ready for his close-up
Report: Saints RB Pierre Thomas will be out for 2-3 weeks
Report: Colts WR Reggie Wayne might miss 1-2 games due to elbow injury
Bengals WR A.J. Green admits he may not be healthy for rest of the season
Week 8: Fantasy Football Sleepers
9 Players You Must Consider
Week 8: Player Downgrades

Week 8: Who To Start Rankings Posted

Posted: 22 Oct 2014 08:01 AM PDT

We project the point totals for both offensive and defensive players for this week.

Bills RB Anthony Dixon is ready for his close-up

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 08:44 PM PDT

It took only 10 minutes of game time Sunday for the injury bug to tear down Buffalo's running game. Now the Bills will spend the next few weeks trying to build it back up, at least until Fred Jackson comes back from his groin injury. C.J. Spiller and his broken collarbone may never come back. Fifth-year running back Anthony Dixon hopes that the team calls upon him first in its effort to replace those two players. He says he's ready for such a call. quot;This is opportunity I've been waiting for, to get back in that workhorse role and show people what I can do," Dixon said to The Buffalo News after Sunday's last-second win over Minnesota. "I want to show people what I could do in college and high school. "I feel like I really didn't get labeled right coming out of college. People tried to do something else with me, make me somebody that I really wasn't. ... Put me in short-yardage, say I couldn't run routes or I ain't got hands. "I don't see what they're seeing. I'm ready for the opportunity." FANTASY ANALYSIS: Dixon spent the first four years of his pro career with the 49ers and didn't handle more than 30 carries in any season past his 2010 rookie year. That was something else Dixon lamented Sunday, saying the Niners "never gave me a chance to have this opportunity. That was one of the reasons why I had to get out of there." So he signed with the Bills in March and has carried the ball 20 times in the past two games alone. But he's not alone in this backfield. The Bills also have Bryce Brown, although you wouldn't know it if you've watched any Bills games this season; he has been a healthy scratch for each of them. Brown, 23, certainly doesn't lack NFL ability. He is 6-feet tall, weighs 220 pounds and has 4.4 speed. The Bills sent a conditional 2015 fourth-round pick to the Eagles in May for his services, so their brass must see something in him. That "something" was on full display when Brown got back-to-back starts in place of LeSean McCoy in 2012. He gained more than 370 yards from scrimmage and scored four times in those two games. You saw that speed and power wrapped up in one eye-opening runner. But not all that glitters is gold. Once defenses started to catch on to Brown, he showed an overwhelming desire to take every carry to the perimeter of the formation. He does a poor job of following his blocks and prioritizing ball security. His inability to play special teams is why he has been sidelined up to this point, but now the Bills have no choice. They really must play him. But will he get more work than Dixon? That's what fantasy owners are pondering as they put in those FAAB bids tonight. If the coaches just wanted the more talented player, Brown would be the better pick, and it wouldn't be close. As highly as Dixon thinks of himself, he is what everyone says he is and everything he thinks he's more than: A grind-it-out, physical runner who can attack the middle of the line in short-yardage. He isn't a good receiver. He doesn't have enough juice to get to the outside and can't cut on a dime. He doesn't offer the flash that makes Brown so enticing. Dixon is just steady. He hasn't fumbled the ball in 187 career touches, and the Bills know what they can expect out of him after seeing him play these past two weeks. That familiarity may be Dixon's biggest advantage. We've already seen how Doug Marrone and his staff handle skilled-but-flawed runners -- See: Spiller, C.J. They may be just looking for the dependable guy whom they know will be able to at least keep them afloat while they wait for Jackson to come back. Brown's upside is certainly greater, but he hasn't played in a regular-season game in 10 months. I don't think either player is worth emptying your fantasy wallet for. Again, both will probably be playing bit parts once Jackson is ready to return, perhaps as soon as Week 11. But if you are desperate and need a player out of this backfield to start for you right away, Dixon is the better add, I think. He gained 51 yards on 13 carries last week. I could see him getting as much work this Sunday against the Jets before Buffalo heads into its bye. But if you want to invest in a future for bench depth, try Brown. At some point, I would hope, Buffalo has to understand just how much more special he is than Dixon as an athlete. Maybe they never will, but if those coaches continue to run Dixon out there without giving Brown a chance, they'll be limiting the potential of their own offense.

Report: Saints RB Pierre Thomas will be out for 2-3 weeks

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 04:34 PM PDT

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport tweeted Tuesday morning that, according to a source, Saints running back Pierre Thomas will miss the next 2-3 weeks because of the shoulder injury that forced out of Sunday's loss to the Lions in the third quarter. FANTASY ANALYSIS: The nature and severity of Thomas' injury hasn't been disclosed, but Rapoport's timetable gives the sense that it's a shoulder sprain. Thomas has been an up-and-down flex RB in PPR leagues. With him sidelined, Travaris Cadet should be owned in such leagues. He had nine targets against the Lions, only one behind team leader Marques Colston, and five of those targets came during the fourth quarter while Thomas was in the locker room. Cadet caught six of those passes for 51 yards. Cadet has a couple of nice upcoming matchups as well -- hosting Green Bay and at Carolina. Mark Ingram will remain at the head of the table in this backfield while Khiry Robinson will get some scraps. Cadet is an understandable PPR flex this weekend against the Packers on the Superdome turf.

Report: Colts WR Reggie Wayne might miss 1-2 games due to elbow injury

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 03:49 PM PDT

Mike Chappell of ABC 6 in Indianapolis has been told by a knowledgeable source that wide receiver Reggie Wayne could be out for a week or two because of his elbow injury. Wayne suffered the injury in the first quarter of Sunday's game against Cincinnati. He played through it and ended up catching four passes but for only 15 yards and he dropped at least two other targets. On Monday, Wayne underwent an MRI on the elbow, the results of which have not been revealed. If Wayne misses the next two games, he won't play until after the Colts' bye in Week 10. FANTASY ANALYSIS: Chappell has been covering the Colts for 30 years, so his anonymous-source reports are very much worth heeding. For what it's worth, Wayne said Tuesday that it's quot;too early" to rule him out for Week 8. He won't practice tomorrow, but he never practices on Wednesdays. Regardless, the 35-year-old probably shouldn't be in your lineups right now. He has scored just five points over the past two weeks in standard leagues and has just one visit to the end zone this year. He is still getting a bunch of targets -- about nine per week -- but he's just not doing much with them. He is only a WR4 at this point. Hakeem Nicks and Donte Moncrief will see more snaps if Wayne misses any time.

Bengals WR A.J. Green admits he may not be healthy for rest of the season

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 03:15 PM PDT

Whether Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green plays this weekend is still unknown -- he specifically said Tuesday that he quot;hopes" to play, but "it's still up in the air." If he is given the green light after missing the past two games due to a stubborn toe injury, fantasy owners should know that they won't be getting a fully healthy Green for this week and perhaps for the rest of the season. "It's probably not gonna be 100 percent, but I hope it's just manageable," Green said on NFL Network's "NFL AM." "I can get through the season and be fine and still play at a high level." The Bengals host the Ravens this weekend. FANTASY ANALYSIS: There have been mixed signals on Green's Week 8 status since Sunday. On that day, there was a report that Green told a teammate he would play in the next game. On Monday, head coach Marvin Lewis said Green has made "tremendous progress." But Green apparently doesn't want us to get ahead of ourselves. We'll see if he can make it through a couple of practices. Green's return would be good news for not only fantasy owners but also for everyone on the Bengals' offense. Coming out of their pathetic 27-0 defeat to the Colts, it's obvious the Bengals are desperate for Green's playmaking ability.

Week 8: Fantasy Football Sleepers

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 02:56 PM PDT

The best Fantasy Football sleepers that can push your team to victory. Be careful though, your friends will want to know where you're getting your information!. This week's picks include Jake Locker, Bryce Brown, Mark Ingram, George Winn, and Keenan Allen.

9 Players You Must Consider

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 02:32 PM PDT

Value Plays for Week 8 - Get Them In your Lineups

Week 8: Player Downgrades

Posted: 21 Oct 2014 12:43 PM PDT

The Fantasy Football players who are on the decline in the coming weeks and should be downgraded at least one tier. This week's picks include Ben Roethlisberger, Chris Ivory, DeMarco Murray, Brandon Marshall, and Julius Thomas.