Fantasy Football Week 8 Wide Receiver Start 'Em And Sit' Em: Keenan Allen Vs. DeVonta Smith

Chargers WR Keenan Allen is coming off his best game of the season last week, but Eagles WR DeVonta Smith is also coming off his best game of the season. With Allen entering a tough Thursday Night Football matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, is he a better Week 8 Start 'Em and Sit 'Em option than Eagles WR DeVonta Smith and his easier matchup against the New York Giants?

Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) carries the ball defended by New York Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke (58) during the first quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Welcome to this week’s wide receiver Start ‘Em and Sit’ Em decision! 

In this Week 8 article, we’ll be taking a look at whether fantasy owners should be starting Keenan Allen against the Minnesota Vikings or DeVonta Smith against the New York Giants. Both Allen and Smith are coming off their best games of the 2025 NFL season, so we have a tough decision to make between these two ascending players. 

Shawn Childs has a great Week 8 wide receiver projections article that dives into the numbers behind this decision (and others!), but let’s go through the decision and see if we can come up with our own thoughts on Keenan Allen vs. DeVonta Smith this week.

WR Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers

Ranked as our WR24 this week, Keenan Allen is now WR7 on the season in PPR leagues. Allen is averaging over nine targets per game in his second go-around as a Charger, and he saw a season-high 14 targets in the loss to the Colts last week. 

While the Chargers have a few mouths to feed with Ladd McConkey Jr., Quentin Johnston, and now Oronde Gadsden II, Allen is clearly part of their weekly game plan so we shouldn’t have to worry about usage too much this week. The type of usage is a little more worrisome as last week’s 11-catch, 119-yard effort was Allen’s first game this season with more than 68 receiving yards. 

Allen enters a tough matchup on Thursday Night Football this week as the Vikings have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers, and the seventh-fewest receiving yards per game to the position. It’s worth noting, however, that DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown both had huge days against Minnesota last week, so these numbers have to be taken as yet another input to our decision-making process. 

WR DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

DeVonta Smith is ranked as our WR16 this week and is currently WR11 on the season (again, in PPR leagues). He’s coming off a monster nine-catch, 183-yard, and one touchdown performance against the Vikings last week, and is averaging almost nine targets per game over his last three. 

The Eagles passing game had been struggling to show any consistency over the first few weeks of the season, but Week 7’s performance against Minnesota was their most complete performance of the season. Jalen Hurts threw for over 300 yards for the first time this year and has looked much more in-synch with his wide receivers. 

The Giants have allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers this year, and have allowed the second-most receiving yards per game to the position. Though it’s worth noting that Smith only had four catches for 49 receiving yards when the Eagles played the Giants two weeks ago. 

The Verdict

This one is closer for more than our wide receiver rankings would lead you to believe (and I think they’ll both be top-15 receivers this week…sorry Matt Brandon!), but I think Smith is better set up for success. Allen has a tougher (on paper) matchup and also has more teammates to fight with for targets, so I’m giving the slight nod to Smith due to his more favorable matchup and likely (higher) target share. 

I’m locking in DeVonta Smith over Keenan Allen for Week 8.