These Week 8 fantasy football sleepers are players to keep an eye on and maybe even snag off of the waiver wire this week. 

Life is getting in the way, isn’t it? Thanos has taken all of your sure bets and in a snap, made half of them useless – except Bitcoin, of course ($BTC). Nothing stopping that. Out of options, you are tossing Hail Mary’s like Dion Lewis and just praying something happens. This must be The Horror Marlon Brando uttered in “Apocalypse Now.”

Welcome to bye week(s) hell my friend; you can’t blame all this on ball-chinned Grimace. In fiery Doomsayer fashion, you’ve been warned not to count on Alvin Kamara or similar make-or-break players all season. That it is quite possible your pathetic quarterbacks are not going to bring home the bacon and you should look at possible trades, while you can. Of course, we can’t know for certain what the future holds but to not consider the possibility of tragedy, at least this late in the season, will be a mistake you’ll remember.

[Also See: Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings | Week 8 Waiver Wire | Week 8 Rookie Report]

Time is short. Those who are dependable are most likely off the waiver wire. Dart throwing never looked so desperate. Keep an eye on the usual suspect positions, but the most underrated roster spots this late into the season are kickers and defenses. Whoever had the testicular fortitude to leisurely grab Denver’s defense off the waivers last week and started them know what I’m talking about. Nothing like 40 points by a defense on a Thursday night to strike fear into your opponent’s psyche going into the weekend. Dinner tasted like ash that night, I’m sure. It’s time to dedicate processing power to these positions and audible when needed, as it can deliver that tight win Monday night.

Stream Team, baby. There is a time in every season that it comes to this. We talked about data points to be aware of last week: weather, matchup and short-week. We need to start looking at points that affect our kicking and defensive game; playing against a D that is good enough to stop drives but not before your kicker gets in range. Maybe your favorite defense is riddled with injuries and they’re playing a mid-range or better team ‑ time to make a change. A windy Soldier Field doesn’t sound like a great place to kick field goals. This is how we’re going to audible to success.

If your end game is to stream Baker Mayfield or C.J. Beathard, what can I say? God bless you, Frontliner; that French beach may or may not go well for you. Most likely in that spot, due to very poor decisions and a lack of season awareness, there isn’t much a battlefield doc can triage there when all is said and done. However, there is a lot to work with on the waivers at kicker or defense any given week. Be aggressively smart at those positions and you’ll be on the winning side of 118.55 – 111.65.

Week 8 Fantasy Football Sleepers

Tyrell Williams, WR, San Diego Los Angeles Chargers, 16% owned

So hot he could be in a band with Dirk Diggler and Reed Rothchild, Tyrell Williams is a wide receiver to go after this week. Yes, I know he is on bye, but you need to start planning ahead; he’s got a lot of great matchups down the stretch. Also, because Williams is on a bye, you might be able to get him without burning a waiver. With the ‘ol man Rivers throwing the ball, on average, 31 times a game, this is a good move to strengthen your bench.

Cody Parkey, K, Chicago Bears, 8% owned

We are deep into bye-week territory. You probably didn’t plan appropriately and so, here we are, hungry and in dire need of some water. Wise defense or kicking choices will play a monster role in bailing you out through this morass. Chicago is looking at what I believe to be some high-scoring matchups all the way through the playoffs. Cody Parkey can be that 4-10 point difference maker in your lineup.

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Raheem Mostert, RB, San Francisco 49ers, 14% owned (FanDuel: $5,600; DraftKings: $3,800)

I had Raheem Mostert on the sleeper list last week. Surprise, he’s on the list this week for the same reason: Matt Breida can’t handle a full workload. It’s really that simple. As you are beginning to see, late in the season, any running back who can get a decent amount of work regardless of if they go off is gold. I can see Mostert having to take over for Breida before the season is through.

Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles, 5% owned (FanDuel: $4,800; DraftKings: $2,600)

We are making a hedge bet here. Dallas Goedert isn’t setting the world on fire, but he’s a tight end on a team that targets the position a lot and that can move the chains. Classic Alaska effect. If it weren’t for Skynet’s diabolical plan against all tight ends, we probably wouldn’t be talking about Goedert. However, should Zach Ertz fall prey to The Curse, you’ve got yourself a locked and loaded every-week TE1. I’ve wasted bench space on a lot worse.

D’Onta Foreman, RB, Houston Texans, 18% owned

Anyone that is watching the Texans know their run game under Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue is bad, terrible even. Running back should be a position they focus on in the off season and either make a draft play or work a deal to get someone with a pulse. D’Onta Foreman could be walking into a starting job, once he returns, under these circumstances. Might be early to the party on this one, but we’re at the point in the season where taking a little risk like this at a thin position could pay off big.

Crypto Corner (NOT Financial advice)

1. Following up on the Stable Coin mention from last week. Coinbase, the largest cash on/off ramp exchange for cryptocurrency in the US, has partnered with Circle and launched a stable coin. USDC has begun trading on the Coinbase platform. Discounting the recent craziness surrounding stable coins, getting more on the market from reputable sources will inevitably be a positive step for the whole sector.
2. The Securities and Exchange Commission has set up an office dedicated to assisting fintech companies through the ICO process. FinHub will work directly with these start ups in an effort to navigate the murky waters of regulation. If this isn’t normalization of the blockchain sector, I don’t know what is.
3. The Chinese government has layeth’d the smack’eth down’eth on blockchain based services. In a constricting move, China has said any service utilizing the blockchain or decentralized ledger must require users to register their names and government ID cards in addition to granting the government complete access to all user and system data. Wow. A great write up (worth the read!) from Pomperoni on this subject can be found here.