Week 8 of the 2017 regular season is just about coming to a close with the Monday Night game remaining. Most fantasy football leagues will run their waiver wires late Tuesday or early Wednesday, but we are here to help you get a jump on the best options to consider.
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We will be ranking the top five players likely to be available in your league at each of the four major positions. Some weeks there might not be five good options available, but we’ll scour for the best we can find. Additionally, throughout the week, we will update each of these articles as ownership percentages change and news arrives. The following ownership percentages come via CBS Sportsline entering Week 8.
Josh McCown, New York Jets (45 percent ownership)
The fantasy world is finally starting to get it. McCown’s ownership in CBS leagues jumped way up this week to 45 percent after another solid outing last week in Miami. That number is going to jump again this week, because the man is just getting it done. This time McCown completed 26 of 33 for 256 yards and two touchdowns, his fourth straight multiple-touchdown effort. He should have totally earned your trust.
His day ended on a very sour note with his game-changing pick-six against the Bengals. But even with that, he completed 25 of 39 for 233 yards and two touchdowns. The longer the season goes, and the more the Colts lose, the less likely it is that Andrew Luck ever sees the field in 2017. Brissett is still a viable fantasy backup and bye-week fill-in to consider.
The pickings are slim in terms of guys that played on Sunday. Do we really want any part of Mitchell Trubisky or C.J. Beathard right now? So, we include some guys who had the week off — and one who’s been away for about two years. The Jaguars are apparently for real this season and Bortles has 32 fantasy points over his last two weeks. Even better, he draws QB-friendly defenses in Cleveland, Arizona and Indianapolis in Weeks 11-13.
It sounds like Bridgewater is on track to be activated for Week 10, and presumably he would start either that week, or soon after. He is the franchise and his return would be an enormous boost to the surging Vikings. Case Keenum (26 percent ownership) had one of his best games of the season on Sunday (27-for-43, 288 yards, two TDs), but Bridgewater is the Vikings stash for down the road.
Eli Manning, New York Giants (48)
Hear me out. It’s not hopeless for Manning. Sterling Shepard is expected back this week. Evan Engram is becoming a top-line tight end before our eyes. And look at the Giants’ schedule: Five of their next seven games come against defenses in the bottom 10 in the league in points allowed to QBs. Break the Eli glass in case of emergency.
