Fantasy Football: Week 8 Wide Receiver Rankings

MIAMI, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Odell Beckham Jr., Antonio Brown, and Jarvis Landry lead the list of benched wide receivers for Week 8. Their teams are among the six with bye weeks, along with the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams, and the San Francisco 49ers.

That will give many fantasy football team owners a chance to see how some of their bench depth can perform when promoted to starter status.

To help you figure out how to replace those studs, even if you don't have anyone appealing on your current roster, here are my top 50 wide receivers for the week. You can also view my add/drops for the week and more positional rankings in the links below.

TOP SHELF

New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall is a top-3 play for me against the Cleveland Browns. I see Week 8 as a rebound week for Marshall, who has just two touchdowns on the season and six catches in his last two games. The Browns have a Swiss cheese secondary, allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. That secondary has also allowed 10 touchdowns this season to wide receivers, including four in its last two matchups. This is an excellent chance for Ryan Fitzpatrick and Marshall to gain some midseason chemistry. Houston Texans rookie Will Fuller started the season on fire and I like his chances to return to form in Week 8 against the Detroit Lions. Fuller, like every other wide receiver, struggled with four catches and 22 yards in Week 7 against the Denver Broncos. He failed to earn a snap in Week 6. He also struggled in Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings' tough secondary. I expect at least one score from the rookie against a defense allowing the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. Fuller is a low-end WR1 play for me this week.

SNEAKY PLAYS

Indianapolis Colts speedster T.Y. Hilton is another guy with a terrific matchup in Week 8. Hilton is battling a Kansas City Chiefs unit allowing the most fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season. He could return WR1 value.

LONGSHOTS

Like Fuller, Stefon Diggs started the season hot. He piled up 16 receptions for 285 yards and a touchdown through two weeks, but then fizzled. I like his chances to reignite against a Chicago Bears secondary allowing the seventh-most fantasy points this season to the position. Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams, who is also one of my top adds this week, should be a decent play against the Atlanta Falcons. Adams has stepped up into a bigger role in the Packers' passing game and I expect that to continue. Last week, he corralled a career-high 13 receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns. It sure looks like Aaron Rodgers has found something special in the third-year pass-catcher. The Packers travel to Atlanta in what is poised to be a shootout against Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. The Falcons are a middle-of-the-pack secondary when it comes to allowing fantasy points to wide receivers.