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Welcome to bye week hell. With six teams on bye, fantasy owners are left in a bind for Week 8, as the options to keep lineups across the spectrum competitive have dwindled. It would be nice to reassure fantasy owners that it only gets better going forward, except Week 9 will have six more teams taking their bye weeks. Fun times.
In the meantime, fantasy owners can look at each game to see who can be a capable fill-in while their studs are sidelined, starting with the Seahawks and Saints.
Seattle Seahawks
Start ‘em
Christine Michael gets the best matchup that any fantasy owner could ask for of his or her running back to have, and needs to be starting in lineups of all formats against a Saints defense that has surrendered more fantasy points per game to the position than any other team. Added to it is the fact that the Seahawks also have a defense capable of slowing even the Saints in The Superdome, allowing the offense to stick with the running game.
Jimmy Graham and Russell Wilson can also be started, despite Wilson dealing with one injury after another all season. It can be speculated that it’s part of the reason why Wilson is on pace for just 88 rushing yards in 2016, but against a hapless Saints defense, there is upside to be had for him and his receivers. Doug Baldwin can also be considered an upside flex play, even with Graham’s reemergence.
Sit ‘em
The complementary receivers of Tyler Lockett, Jermaine Kearse and C.J. Prosise are not garnering enough volume to be placed into fantasy lineups.
New Orleans Saints
Start ‘em
Though Brandin Cooks has an atrocious matchup at hand, fantasy owners can take solace in the fact that Cooks moves around the formation enough that he won’t only have to deal with Richard Sherman lining up across from him. That alone gives Cooks a higher floor than a typical No. 1 receiver facing the Seahawks, and Cooks’ upside can be considered even higher with the benefit of having Drew Brees throwing to him at home. Despite facing an elite pass defense, Cooks and Brees need to be in lineups of all formats. The Seahawks have allowed 335 passing yards or more in back-to-back weeks, and are looking at a potential third week in a row of doing so.
Start ‘em?
Terrible matchups present themselves for Coby Fleener and Mark Ingram, but with six teams on bye, fantasy owners may not have a choice but to pen them into lineups at already shallow positions. Fleener is a TE1 while Ingram is a middling RB2, and downsides exist for both.
Sit ‘em
Michael Thomas has emerged as a force in the Saints’ offense, but he and Willie Snead may not get the volume necessary to be fantasy relevant against a Seahawks team that boasts an elite secondary and a clock-chewing offense.