Dolphins Fantasy Football Start/Sit: Week 8
The Dolphins are riding a three-game winning streak into Baltimore this week as they get set to take on the Ravens Thursday night.
Not a lot of people are giving the Miami Dolphins credibility (shocking) as they enter Week 8 with a 4-2 record. On a short week, the Dolphins will have the opportunity to showcase to the world how good they really are when they take on the Ravens in Thursday’s primetime spot.
The Dolphins have lost six of the last seven meetings against the Ravens, including a 38-6 drudging last December. At 3-4, Baltimore is not the dominant team they once were, and this is a perfect opportunity for the Dolphins to pick up a big win on the road. Winning is what’s most important, but can fantasy owners rely on Miami’s personnel to come through for them on their respective teams? Here’s this week’s start/sit suggestions to let us know.
With Jay Cutler out for at least 2-3 weeks, it’s Matt Moore at the helm for the time being, and possibly the remainder of the season. Fans have been calling for Moore practically since the season started as they’ve grown frustrated with Cutler. The fans may believe that Moore is the right fit to lead this team to the playoffs, but I’m sure they don’t believe the same for their fantasy teams.
Moore had a very nice game against the Jets in less than a half of football, completing 13 of 21 passes for 188 yards and two scores. He also threw one pick. To expect Moore to continue with this kind of production is unrealistic, although he could be a viable streaming option in the right matchup. This is not it, however, and even though there are six teams on a bye this week, Moore should only be owned in deeper leagues, and 2 QB formats.
Sit
Sigh. Despite seeing over 25 touches in each of the last three games, Ajayi has still yet to find the end zone this season, and is not producing near the RB1 numbers we expect to see with that kind of volume. It just goes to show how bad the offensive line has been, and Ajayi should actually be commended for his 3.5-yard average per carry. Injuries surely haven’t helped, but time has run out on the excuses for this Miami line. Because of the workload, Ajayi has done a good job of at least racking up yards as best he can. I got to believe that Ajayi will have a breakout game sooner than later, and I just can’t keep him on the bench with that amount of touches.
Start
Landry has been the clear benefactor, and the most consistent fantasy player on the Dolphins roster by a large margin. He’s also been the most publicly passionate player too, evidenced by his “stop doubting us” post-game interview on Sunday. Landry is a no-brainer start in all formats, and could see an added boost if DeVante Parker is forced to miss his third straight game.
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Start
Parker was “limited” in Tuesday’s practice, and appears to be a game-time decision for Thursday night. It’s possible that if this game were being played on Sunday then Parker would be a go, but on a short week it’s unclear. Even if Parker does suit up he’ll likely be limited on a snap count, which are not words you want to hear in fantasy football. It’s best to leave Parker on the bench for at least one more week.
Sit
I was reluctant at first to start Stills even with Parker out of the picture with Cutler under center. Now that Moore is the starter, however, Stills gets a major boost if Parker continues to miss time. Stills had his best game of the season on Sunday, and it was Moore who threw his two touchdown receptions. Prior to his second touchdown of the day, Stills initially had a touchdown pass called back on the drive, only for Moore to go back his way a couple of plays later.
If Parker plays, Stills fantasy values takes a dive, but as the #2 receiver, he could see a ton of targets yet again.
Start
Three…That’s the amount of receptions you can expect Julius Thomas to reel in on a weekly basis. Not the most eye-popping stat on the surface, but to be fair, there’s a lot worse you can do at the thinnest position in fantasy football. Still, the highest fantasy points Thomas has produced in any game this year is just 8.8, and that’s in PPR leagues. He still has yet to score a touchdown, making him an easy fade against Baltimore’s middle-of-the-road defense.
Sit
Defense
This is a tough one to be honest. While Miami’s defense has vastly improved since last year, it hasn’t really carried over to the fantasy world, excluding the Tennessee game. The Ravens offense is up and down at times. I’m confident that the Dolphins can keep the Ravens scoring low, but not so much in creating enough turnovers and sacks that make an impact for fantasy defenses. You may want to look elsewhere first for a streaming defense.
Sit