Fantasy Stars Who Will Struggle in Week 8: Tua Tagovailoa, Josh Jacobs, DK Metcalf and Evan Engram
My Week 7 choosing players to struggle in fantasy was a middling performance: one good pick, one bad pick, and two somewhere in the middle.
- Kirk Cousins played a bad Bears defense in Week 6, his first without the injured Justin Jefferson, and finished tied for 24th among quarterbacks in fantasy scoring. Facing a tough 49ers team in Week 7, Cousins flipped the script and went for nearly 400 yards, finishing sixth among quarterbacks, according to Fantasy Pros.
- Austin Ekeler suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 1. This was his second game back, and he didn’t looked like himself. Ekeler was facing a good Kansas City defense and gained just 46 yards, finishing in the 30s in both standard and PPR scoring.
- Diontae Johnson returned from injury against the Rams (a team in the top 10 against receivers) and had five catches for 79 yards, a better performance than I was expecting. I also thought George Pickens would struggle, but he had the same five receptions for 107 yards on a good day for Pittsburgh.
- Sam LaPorta has the fourth-most catches and yards among tight ends but had a pedestrian six catches for 52 yards, finishing 10th in PPR and 12th in standard. It was a decent day but not up to the heights he has consistently reached.
There are no teams on bye this week. It’s nice to have a few more options to choose from, both in this column and fantasy football in general. Four of the next five weeks have at least four teams on bye, so enjoy the availability of your stars.
This week's group consists of four guys who are usually weekly starters but have tough matchups in Week 8 and might not perform like starters at their position.
Quarterback
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins vs New England Patriots
Ok, let’s try this again. I chose Tua two weeks ago because I thought his team would dominate and not need his greatness, but that backfired as he was a top-five QB.
This time is different, though, as Tua has struggled in fantasy against the Patriots. Here are his five career games versus New England (everything here is from Fantasy Pros):
| Game | Comp - Att | Yards | TD - INT | Fantasy Points (QB Rank) |
| 2020 Week 15 Home | 21 - 26 | 145 | 0 - 1 | 19.7 (15th) |
| 2021 Week 1 Away | 16 - 27 | 202 | 1 - 1 | 17.2 (22nd) |
| 2021 Week 18 Home | 15 - 22 | 109 | 1 - 0 | 12.2 (23rd) |
| 2022 Week 1 Home | 23 - 33 | 270 | 1 - 0 | 14.8 (22nd) |
| 2023 Week 2 Away | 21 - 30 | 249 | 1 - 1 | 13.3 (26th) |
The 2020 fantasy performance looks OK, but it took two rushing touchdowns to reach double-digit fantasy points, and Tua hasn't run in a score since 2021. The 2021 Week 1 game also featured a touchdown run. He has otherwise failed to reach 15 fantasy points in a game against New England.
Week 2 of this year stands out: Tagovailoa was held to a pedestrian day, but more importantly, he was the top-scoring quarterback in Week 1 and the second-highest scorer in Week 3. The Patriots slowed down the guy who was otherwise the best fantasy quarterback to start the year. Tua has been in the top 20 all but two weeks, games against the Patriots and Eagles. Coming up against New England again seems like it could be another slower week for the explosive Dolphins.
I originally put Russell Wilson here but liked Tagovailoa's star power better; don't play Wilson this week against a dominating Chiefs defense.
Running Back
Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders @ Detroit Lions
Gus Edwards had a good fantasy day against Detroit in Week 7, but that still amounted to only 64 rushing yards. The Lions have allowed the second-least rushing yards and third-least fantasy points per game to running backs. Detroit runs the ball and stops the run: old-school mindset says that’s a Super Bowl recipe.
Jacobs led the league in rushing yards last season and had 12 touchdowns. He’s 19th in rushing yards through seven weeks and hasn’t had his bye (Week 13). Jacobs’ two touchdowns project to less than five over the full season. After nine top-10 weekly fantasy finishes last season, Jacobs in on pace for about half as many in 2023.
The Raiders hope to have Jimmy Garoppolo back for Week 8, which would help, but Jacobs will be stressed for space no matter who is under center. Jacobs hasn’t hit 80 rushing yards in a game and has only topped 100 total yards once, and this stout Lions defense isn’t the team to test.
Most won’t sit Jacobs, but you can definitely find a better matchup in Week 8. See if you have a realistic backup plan.
Wide Receiver
DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks vs Cleveland Browns
The Browns have allowed the second-least fantasy points per game and third-least receiving yards to wide receivers. They have been one of the best defenses in the league all season, even as Indianapolis scored 38 points last week.
Michael Pittman had 83 receiving yards and a touchdown while rookie Josh Downs went for 125 and a score of his own for the Colts. The only other receiver this season to hit 80 yards against Cleveland is George Pickens in Week 2 (with 127 yards and a touchdown). Last week was an anomaly: Cleveland is scary on defense.
Metcalf missed the first game of his career in Week 7, and his status for Week 8 is still unclear. He has two games with less than 50 receiving yards in 2023, and they are the two games in which Geno Smith failed to top 200 passing yards. Cleveland has allowed the least passing yards per game this season.
Smith is likely to have one of his tougher days, and that will carry over to Metcalf. If he does play, Metcalf may still be feeling the effects of his injury. If he doesn’t, I would also skip Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Jake Bobo, the players who would pick up the slack.
Tight End
Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh has allowed the third-least fantasy points per game and second-least receiving yards to tight ends in 2023. Their defense hasn’t been great, but they have shut down this position.
Engram has been consistently mediocre, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. He’s sixth in PPR points and 12th in standard points. Every game has seen Engram with between four and seven catches for between 28 and 67 yards, and he hasn’t scored a touchdown.
Engram is a player who will get you points every week but hasn’t had a great performance. He has five PPR finishes between fifth and seventh and excels in that format. He has just one finish higher than 10th in standard scoring and is much less valuable in those leagues.
Engram will catch several passes, and there is always a chance he gets in the end zone, but this is a bad matchup. The most likely scenario sees Engram finish near last week when he had five catches for 45 yards. That’s by no means a failure, but it kept him outside the top 10 tight ends in both scoring formats.
