Welcome to Week 8 of the 2026 Footballguys Roundtable. Our intrepid panel of fantasy pundits discusses and debates four topics every week. We split the conversation into separate features.
This week's roundtable features these four topics:
- Fantasy QB Most Likely to Improve
- Fantasy RB Most Likely to Improve
- Fantasy WR Most Likely to Improve
- Buy-Sell Week 8
Let's roll...
Matt Waldman: Give me one player from the list below that you're keeping or buying and one you're selling.
- QB8 Kirk Cousins
- RB11 Jaylen Warren
- WR13 Tre Tucker
- WR7 Malik Nabers
- WR11 Tee Higgins
Who are you buying?
Jason Wood: Jaylen Warren has been revelatory this season, and he passed the most important test in Week 7 against the Saints. Some doubters worried that Warren's run as a fantasy RB1 would end with Rico Dowdle's return to the lineup.
While Warren's snap share fell from the high 80 percent range to the low 60 percent range, he had yet another dominant bellcow performance, including 21 touches for 137 yards. Warren has always been better than his workload suggested, and he finally has a coaching staff that has given him a shot and will now ride him, no pun intended, in a push toward another AFC North title.
Phil Alexander: This isn't a knock on Higgins. He's awesome. I would just be surprised if he kept up the WR7 pace he's been on for the last month.
Higgins has been closer to a top 15 option throughout his career, while Ja'Marr Chase has been the truly elite option in Cincinnati. Chase is currently WR13 on a per-game basis, and I expect the gap between them so far has more to do with small-sample variance than a meaningful shift in the pecking order. Over a larger sample, more of Joe Burrow's passing production should swing to Chase.
Sean Settle: The case I'll make is that it does not seem to matter who is throwing the ball, they are looking Malik Nabers' way a lot, and that his 70 targets on 241 team pass attempts represent a 29 percent target share. That kind of volume survives a quarterback change, and Ryan noted Nabers saw nine of 28 targets, 32 percent of all passes, in J.J. McCarthy's first start, which tells you the target share is not tied to one passer's preferences.
Over his last four games, he's averaging 9 catches and more than 100 yards with 2 touchdowns, trailing only Puka Nacua among wide receivers right now. The Giants are on bye this week, which Ryan called the last chance to buy him at a reasonable price, and I agree.
Andy Hicks: With the Raiders falling further out of contention, it would be a major surprise if we don't see rookie Fernando Mendoza get his chance soon, especially against an upcoming softer matchup. The coaching staff won't keep him wrapped in cotton wool until 2027. He will start at some point in November once the coaching staff feels he is ready.
This transition isn't a knock on Kirk Cousins, who has fought admirably to keep the team competitive despite an incredibly weak wide receiver corps. However, Mendoza represents the organization's future.
As Las Vegas shifts its focus to long-term building, they must evaluate him live to pinpoint their exact off-season targets. Expect the rookie to get a one-to-two-month audition as the starter, effectively shifting Cousins into a veteran mentor role and removing him from the fantasy football radar.
Darin Tietgen: I'm keeping/buying Tee Higgins. He's an elite talent that just so happens to have an even more elite talent in Ja'Marr Chase to compete for targets with. The Bengals have a host of excellent matchups for the passing game yet to play, and a healthy Higgins is a productive Higgins, especially in a favorable matchup.
Ryan Weisse: People seem willing to sell Nabers because they don't trust the quarterback spot, but it does not seem to matter who is throwing the ball; they are looking Nabers' way a lot. The Giants have thrown the ball 241 times this year, and Nabers' 70 targets represent a 29-percent target share. Those are elite numbers.
In J.J. McCarthy's first start, Nabers saw nine of 28 targets, 32 percent of all passes. The Giants are on bye in Week 8, so this might be your last chance to buy at a reasonable price. Nabers is a top 10 receiver for the rest of the season based on volume alone. If he starts scoring touchdowns, he belongs in the Top 3
Jeff Blaylock: I'm buying Tee Higgins. He's third in yards per reception (17.3), fifth in yards per route run (2.96), seventh in air-yards share (44 percent), and sixth in yards per target over expected (2.49) among wide receivers with at least 30 targets.
He scored his second touchdown of the season this week after having at least 10 touchdowns in back-to-back seasons. As the Bengals' running game continues to flounder, they're 28th in yards per carry and 31st in rushing yards; expect Joe Burrow to continue relying on Higgins.
Waldman: Who are you selling?