Fantasy Football Rankings for Week 8, 2022: Model says start Travis Etienne, sit

Christian McCaffrey’s return to the Bay Area as a member of the San Francisco 49ers was a forgettable one from a Fantasy perspective. Following his trade from Carolina, he logged 10 total touches against the Kansas City Chiefs and finished with 38 rushing yards, 24 receiving yards and no touchdowns. Prior to the season, McCaffery was a certain top-five Fantasy pick, but where does he belong in the Week 8 Fantasy football rankings?

The 49ers move on to a big matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, and while San Francisco has had their number in recent years, the Rams are coming out of a bye and the 49ers are coming off of back-to-back losses. McCaffrey already played Los Angeles once this season and finished with 69 yards on the ground and 89 through the air, but what will he do for an encore, and should he be among your Fantasy football picks? Before you lock in your lineups, be sure to check out the Week 8 Fantasy football rankings from the advanced computer model at SportsLine.

When it comes to ranking players, SportsLine’s model beat human experts in Fantasy football for the past several seasons especially when there were big differences in ranking. Over the course of a season, that could literally be the difference between winning your league or going home empty-handed.

Last week, the model was extremely high on Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III, saying he’d finish as a top-five player at his position. The result: Walker recorded 23 carries for 168 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Chargers. Anybody who had him in their lineup was well on their way to a huge week.

Now, the model, which simulates every NFL game 10,000 times, has revealed its Fantasy football rankings for Week 8 of the 2022 NFL season. Head to SportsLine now to see them.

Top Week 8 Fantasy football picks  

One player the model is high on this week: Jaguars running back Travis Etienne. The writing was on the wall for James Robinson after he finished last week’s loss against the New York Giants without a single carry. Meanwhile, Etienne got the majority of the workload and had 14 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown.

Following the game, the Jaguars traded Robinson to the New York Jets in the wake of rookie running back Breece Hall’s ACL tear. Jacksonville takes on that same Denver team in London on Sunday morning, and the Broncos‘ defense has given up 546 rushing yards to opponents over the last four weeks. Without a timeshare to worry about in the Jags’ backfield, Etienne is a clear top-15 running back in SportsLine’s Week 8 Fantasy football RB rankings. See who else to target here.

And a massive shocker: Packers running back Aaron Jones, who finished with over 75 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns last week, stumbles big-time and doesn’t even crack the top 20 at his position. Jones rushed eight times for just 23 yards in Sunday’s loss against the Commanders but brought in nine of 10 targets for 53 yards and two scores.

The Packers are struggling offensively, averaging just 18.3 points per game this season. Plus, Jones and the Packers will square off against the Buffalo Bills, a defense that’s giving up just 281.5 yards per game this season, which ranks first in the NFL. With one of the toughest NFL matchups, Jones is a player to consider putting on the bench in Week 8. See who else to fade here.

How to set Week 8 Fantasy football rankings

The model is also calling for a surprising quarterback you aren’t even thinking about to finish in the top 10 of its Week 8 Fantasy football rankings. This pick could be the difference between winning big and going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.

So who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 8 Fantasy football rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that has outperformed experts big-time.