Fantasy football projections, Week 8: Jaguars-Titans featuring Allen Robinson, Blake Bortles, DeMarco Murray, more

The Week 8 matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans features two division rivals facing off on Thursday Night Football. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Coming into the season, many experts thought 2016 would be the year the Jaguars would take things to the next level. Nearly halfway through the season it’s obvious that’s not going to happen. Fantasy owners of wide receiver Allen Robinson can’t be too happy about it. He’s currently averaging fewer than 50 receiving yards per game. Teammate Marqise Lee currently has more receptions and Robinson has only found the end zone in two games this year. He’s still getting targeted often but has fallen out of the double-digit range. Hopefully Robinson can find a way to break free from coverage in Week 8. If he doesn’t do it soon, there is no way he will come anywhere near his season-long projections, and he won’t have the trust of fantasy owners week to week.

It certainly doesn’t help that quarterback Blake Bortles is also struggling. Coach Gus Bradley gave his young passer a vote of confidence following the team’s Week 7 loss. It means Bortles will remain the starter for now. Still, it might be time to bench Bortles in fantasy leagues. His nine touchdowns on the year go hand-in-hand with nine interceptions. That’s simply not good enough. Bortles can’t possibly be counted on to reach his projections at the moment.

DeMarco Murray just keeps on rolling. The veteran running back has 172 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the last two weeks. He’s also got five rushing touchdowns in the last five games, and he’s alternating between 100-yard games. Week 8 might be the week that Murray gets over that plateau for the second straight game. Jacksonville only ranks in the middle of the pack against the run and the Jaguars simply aren’t playing well. With the opposing offense turning the ball over consistently, there’s a good chance Murray wears down the Jaguars in the second half of the game as the defense gets tired. Whether he hits his projections or not doesn’t matter. Murray has rejuvenated his career in Tennessee and will be in starting lineups on Thursday.

Hopefully quarterback Marcus Mariota can do his part to help lead the Titans and fantasy owners to a win. Mariota completed 22 passes for 232 passing yards and two touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7. He’s thrown eight touchdown passes compared to just one interception over the last three weeks. It seems like he’s found his game as Mariota has gotten the benefit of capitalizing on inferior opponents lately. A home game with the offense playing well sounds like a recipe for success going into Week 8.