Players To Drop In Week 8 Fantasy Football: Justin Fields Can Be Dropped
GeoffUlrich breaks down the players you should drop in Week 8 of the fantasy football season.
Cutting bait on those investments you’re already underwater on sucks, but just like Warren Buffett always says, “throwing good money after bad is for non-ball knowers … avoid it like the Jets avoid the forward pass”.
That’s why I’m here to give you some of the best names you need to consider dropping NOW, before they drag your team down under the burden of another wasted roster spot, or worse, another week with a big, fat, single-digit fantasy score.
As always, you can pair the advice here with the fantasy football rankings, projections and other cool tools from a Fantasy Life+ subscription.
Week 8’s most pertinent Drop candidates are below. Let’s drop it like it’s hot.
Week 8 Fantasy Football Drops
Justin Fields | QB | Jets
As much as I like Fields’ upside, even in a limited offense, the situation with the Jets is unsustainable at this point. 17 forward passes in Week 6 in a full game was a huge red flag, but repeating the feat in a similar inefficient performance against Carolina is the end of the road.
Even if you’re a believer in Fields long-term, Aaron Glenn forced your hand for fantasy by pulling him from the game last week—and refusing to back him as starter this week. It’s possible Fields gets another shot and puts in a few big games before the end of the season but with the potential for Fields to get pulled anytime he starts a game, it’s not a situation you can reasonably rely on anymore. Time to say our (permanent) goodbyes.
Potential replacements: C.J. Stroud, Sam Darnold, Jaxson Dart
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TreVeyon Henderson | RB | NE
I included Henderson on the “watch list” last week, and unfortunately, he couldn’t stave off getting on the main drop list for Week 8. Much like the Fields, the coaches have forced our hand here somewhat. In Week 7, even without Antonio Gibson, Henderson took a whopping two carries and failed to draw any targets in the pass game. To make things even worse, the Patriots three-man RB rotation regrew a head this week as Terrell Jennings took five carries (three more than Henderson).
There are plenty of reasons why Henderson has failed to take off but the bottom line is that the Patriots aren’t willing to invest in the sort of patience with their rookie RB that some other teams have. We’re seven weeks into the season now so expecting that attitude to change is foolhardy. It’s been emotional TreVeyon, but we’ll see you on the other side.
Potential replacements: Kyle Monangai, Brashard Smith, Tyjae Spears
Kendrick Bourne | WR | SF
Unlike the Bourne move franchise, which spanned four Jason Bourne movies and one meh universe-related movie, the 2025 Bourne fantasy run ran out of steam after just two weeks. In a game where George Kittle returned but managed zero catches on just two targets, Bourne could still only muster up two receptions (two targets and 14 yards), which is not a great sign for him going forward. It’s true that the 49ers were running the ball better than they had all season vs the Falcons but given that Mac Jones was looking at Jauan Jennings all game (seven targets), and also given that Ricky Pearsall, when he returns, is likely the best WR the 49ers have … well … you can pretty much cue Moby and the end credits on this show.
If you want to wait a week to see if there is a dead catch bounce (or if Pearsall isn’t healthy yet) you’d be within your right, but dropping him for a better long term play is fine as well.
Potential replacements: Darnell Mooney, Marvin Mims, Malik Washington
Chig Okonkwo | TE | TEN
Despite Cam Ward throwing for 255 yards and dropping back to pass 34+ times, Okonkwo was held without a catch and saw just two targets on the day. It’s not outlandish to see TEs get gameplanned out for a week, like George Kittle seemingly did vs a top pass defense, but Okonkwo was seemingly bypassed by a bunch of tertiary receivers in this game, including another TE in Gunnar Helm, who posted four receptions and 36 yards, and out-targted Okonkwo five to two.
It’s not like you’ve been missing out on a whole lot if you’ve been hanging onto Okonkwo, who has yet to score a TD on the season, but he was providing sustainable PPR production before this recent slide. Bottom line is that if he can’t see an uptick vs the Patriots—who are a pass funnel defense—with Ridley out, he’s never going to. It’s fine to go waiver wire hunting at TE this week and make the drop.
Potential replacements: Oronde Gadsden II, Cade Otton
Luke McCaffrey | WR | WAS
A lot of people flocked to the waiver wires last week to pick up McCaffrey once it was announced that both starting WRs for the Commanders would be out. The result: two targets, zero catches and losing usage time to practice squad all-star Robbie Chosen, who played on nearly the same amount of snaps as McCaffrey.
McCaffrey’s had some big plays for Washington this season but his inability to gain traction in a bigger and more sustained role has been telling. For fantasy purposes, it’s not likey to get better anytime soon as one or both of Deebo and McLaurin may be back next week, and rookie Jaylin Lane is also likely to stay involved. Drop him as quickly as you got him.
Potential replacements: Darnell Mooney, Marvin Mims, Malik Washington
On Watch: (Not Dropping Yet, But The Finger Is On The Trigger)
Tony Pollard | RB | TEN
Pollard and Tyjae Spears have played amount the same number of snaps the past two weeks and it’s unlikely that trend will be stopping anytime soon. Given how poor Tennessee is at sustaining drives, Pollard would almost need Spears gets out of the picture entirely to go back to fantasy relevance. A trade is his best case scenario right now, but nothing is guaranteed there, and he could always get dealt as an insurance policy to a team with an already established RB. Give it a week, but the end is nearing.
Matthew Golden | WR | GB
It’s not that Golden is playing poorly, but zero TDs through seven weeks is not what you envisioned when you drafted the speedster. While he’s an every week threat to go for a long TD, he’s also playing behind two receivers in Romeo Doubs and Tucker Kraft who have far better red zone profiles, and don’t seem likely to relinquish their roles as primary targets anytime soon.
He remains a weekly boom or bust option, but needs to make this Packers passing game a three-way equation soon.
Kyler Murray | QB | ARI
On a per game basis the Cardinals QB now ranks just QB22 on the season and has yet to go for more than 19.0 FP in a single game this year. That’s in contrast to Jacoby Brissett, who went for 19.8 FP and 21.7 FP in his first two starts of the year for Arizona. Injuires are a somewhat excusable issue, but it’s also not a great sign when you get hurt and are immediately outplayed by your backup.
Overall, you want to give a QB with Murray’s rushing upside the benefit of the doubt, but if he can’t get healthy this week, the time to move on is coming.
Droplets (Quick Ideas For Rosters That Need Improvement)
Need a wild roster shakeup? Drop your useless WR for Chimere Dike.
Dike finally connected on a long TD pass from Cam Ward last week, after multiple failed attempts by Tennessee to work him in (in previous games). While he’s still a part of a very volatile Titans rotation at WR, Dike also looks like the best weapon Tennessee has at the moment, especially with Calvin Ridley out. It’s hard to see them not pushing the rookie more as we get closer to mid-season so picking him up as a stash over another WR not currently producing makes plenty of sense, especially with Tennessee’s offense and Ward likely to show more positive regression as the season wears on.
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