Fantasy Football Sleeper Picks: Week 8

Fantasy Football Sleeper Picks: Week 8

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Weeden has found a groove in the past few weeks, coinciding with the emergence of Josh Gordon as a reliable outside threat who can take it to the house. The Chargers are coming off of a bye, but prior to that had allowed nine touchdown passes in their previous three games.

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Indianapolis hasn't given up a lot of yardage recently (201.3 passing yards per game over the past month) but also hasn't intercepted opponents (just two all season) and has allowed at least two touchdown passes in five of its six games, including seven over the last three contests. In other words, a quarterback like Hasselbeck who throws for moderate yardage, a couple of touchdowns and limited interceptions is perfectly suited to face this defense.

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The Pats and Rams traveled across the pond to face off at London's Wembley Stadium, a trip that poses a unique challenge for a young Rams squad. However, Bradford will be facing a Patriots defense that has allowed myriad touchdown passes in recent weeks, surrendering at least three to Joe Flacco, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson before limiting Mark Sanchez to one last week. Rams receivers Chris Givens and Brandon Gibson are both hot and could find their way into the end zone.

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Neither Jennings nor the injured Maurice Jones-Drew has been anything to write home about fantasy-wise this season, but Jennings will monopolize the carries against the league's 17th-ranked rushing defense this weekend. Plus, a slew of fantasy's must-start backs (Ray Rice, Arian Foster, C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson, BenJarvus Green-Ellis) are on bye weeks, adding to Jennings' Week 8 value.

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After twice sitting out as a healthy scratch, Dwyer finally shined against the Bengals last week, gaining 122 yards while playing for an injured Rashard Mendenhall. With Mendenhall's and Isaac Redman's status in doubt for this Sunday, it's wise to have Dwyer around just in case he gets a chance to run against a Washington defense that's given up five rushing scores over its last five games.

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Fantasy owners' excitement over Chris Johnson's yardage resurgence has been tempered somewhat by Harper's usage in short yardage situations. Over the past two games the 5-foot-11, 233-pound second-year man has scored three times while gaining just nine yards. The Colts' run defense has been a bonanza for fellow touchdown vultures John Kuhn and Michael Bush (two touchdowns), which makes Harper an option this week in larger leagues.

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The blueprint this season against the Jets has been to run the ball right into the teeth of the once-vaulted defense, something Miami is well-equipped to do with Reggie Bush, Lamar Miller and Thomas. In the earlier meeting between these two teams, Thomas ran 19 times for 69 yards and the first of his two touchdowns on the season. A repeat performance is certainly a possibility.

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Although Felix Jones got more touches last week (20 versus 14 against the Panthers),Tanner saw more action (35 snaps to 33). The Cowboys chewed up the Giants' line for 143 rushing yards in the season opener, and while Tanner will again split carries with Jones, his style is closer to DeMarco Murray's than Jones' is and therefore better suited for success against a New York defense allowing more than 150 rushing yards per game over the past month. With Jones' status also in doubt for the game, Tanner has been taking first-team reps in practice.

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Kerley caught just two balls in the first meeting between these two teams, but he made one of them count to the tune of a 66-yard score. He's one of nine wide receivers to gain at least 50 yards in a game against Miami and one of six men to have caught a touchdown against the Dolphins. And since that first meeting Kerley has been targeted nearly twice as many times as any other Jet (29 times to Chaz Schilens' 15) and has nearly twice as many receptions (17 to 9).

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One thing we know for sure: Passing teams get healthy against the Redskins, who are allowing a league-high 340.4 yards per game to opposing receivers. Ben Roethlisberger will pick apart the 'Skins using all of his weapons, including the talented but underperforming Sanders, who has yet to go for more than 55 yards or score a touchdown in any game this season. The odds are in his favor this week.

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A few weeks ago, after Meachem's two-touchdown return to New Orleans, we advised owners that Meachem would be useful down the road. Well, when the Chargers travel to the shores of Lake Erie, Meachem will get to run routes against the league's 27th-ranked passing defense. He's widely available since he has just 12 catches for 189 yards and those two scores, but he's worth a spot start this week thanks to the matchup alone.

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Two weeks ago Jenkins had a big game, catching six of 10 targets for 67 yards and a score against a struggling Redskins secondary. One of the few teams that has struggled against the pass as much as Washington is Tampa Bay, a defense that's allowed the second-most passing yards in the NFL (behind, you got it, Washington). Percy Harvin and Kyle Rudolph will have big games Thursday night, and so will Jenkins, who as a Falcon once set his career-high for single-game receptions with nine against the Bucs.

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Sidelined for most of the year with a sore hamstring, Keller came back with a bang against the Patriots, grabbing all seven passes thrown his way for 93 yards and a touchdown. The Dolphins have struggled against the likes of Brandon Myers and Owen Daniels, and when healthy Keller is as good as those two. Look for the Jets to go to their big tight end often this Sunday.

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Tennessee has allowed a league-high seven touchdowns to opposing tight ends, and five big men have scored against them. Fleener has been relatively quiet as a rookie, but don't be surprised to see him score his first NFL touchdown against the Titans.