Fantasy football projections, Week 8: Raiders-Buccaneers featuring Derek Carr, Latavius Murray, Mike Evans, more

The Week 8 matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers features two teams who have gone through their share of ups and downs at the running back position. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Quarterback Derek Carr has thrown for 225 passing yards or less in three of the last four games. It’s only cost the Raiders one loss, but it’s probably hindering fantasy owners a little bit more than that. Part of the reason for Carr’s lower numbers is simply the fact that the Raiders have found other ways to win. He needed just one touchdown pass to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7. Carr will likely have to do more than that to top the Buccaneers in Week 8. He’s due for a multi-touchdown game, so three scores and 300 yards is a possibility this time around. Even a slightly lower yardage total would get Carr beyond his projections.

Carr’s final box score will likely be impacted by the performance of running back Latavius Murray. Murray returned to the lineup against the Jaguars after overcoming a toe injury. He only rushed for 59 yards on 19 carries, but two of those carries resulted in touchdowns. While the touchdowns were an exciting development for Murray’s fantasy owners, his 59 yards rushing matched his season-high. Fortunately the Buccaneers have been generous to running backs this season. Murray will need to get it going if he wants to be clearly defined as the Raiders’ No.1 rushing option. It’s anybody’s guess as to whether he surpasses expectations this week.

Fantasy owners who were smart enough to jump on the waiver wire and grab Jacquizz Rodgers a few weeks ago are now reaping the benefits. Doug Martin has had a setback with his hamstring injury and Charles Sims is on injured reserve. Those developments have led Rodgers to 255 rushing yards on a whopping 56 carries in two weeks as the team’s starting back. That’s slightly more than 4.5 yards per carry. To average such a high number of yards on a large volume of touches is fantastic. Rodgers will be heavily involved in the game plan once again in Week 8. He’ll slow down a bit sooner or later, but riding the hot hand as a fantasy owner is a good idea right now.

So is starting wide receiver Mike Evans in all formats. Evans has scored a touchdown in all but one game this season. Against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7, Evans caught eight of 13 targets for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Only two teams in the league have given up more fantasy points to wide receivers than Oakland. When the Bucs’ default No. 1 running back needs a break, their No. 1 receiver will be a busy man. Evans has been targeted at least 11 times in five straight games. That trend will continue in Week 8.