Who Should You Draft with the 8th Pick in Fantasy Football?

Aug 16, 2026

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Earning or selecting the eighth pick in a 12-team fantasy football draft means there are going to be long waits between your picks once the draft gets going. Depending on which way the snake is turning, you will have to wait either eight or 14 picks between your selections. Should that cause us to make panic moves or draft someone well above ADP? Of course not. It just means being more strategic with each selection, understanding the draft needs of your league mates, and knowing what they might do between picks.

However, the eighth pick also means, assuming things go as expected in a half-PPR format, you will not have Ja'Marr Chase, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Puka Nacua, or Jaxon Smith-Njigba on your team. Those five are guaranteed to go before you pick. Christian McCaffrey is also likely to be gone.

Those are the consensus top six picks in 1QB leagues on the 4for4 Multi-site ADP Tool and will likely be unavailable when it is your turn to draft. The next group of five players still consists of some of the best skill position players the NFL has to offer. And in many cases, they represent players who have performed at an elite level longer than the players at the top of the draft.

Our Perfect Draft series covers multiple draft spots in various scoring formats and league sizes using Draft Hero software. Find your perfect draft today!

When I have the eighth pick in standard half-PPR drafts. I know that I am getting one of the players below, and then I only have eight picks before it is my turn again. In some drafts, that might mean securing two of these five players on my team, if you're lucky. The fantasy football teams drafting in those top few slots have no hope of getting two players in the top 15 of ADP.

Is there a no-doubt, guaranteed candidate that should always go with the eighth pick in half-PPR drafts? Perhaps, but depending on your format and league’s tendencies, any one of the players below has a case. Read on to find out why.

The Candidates (in ADP Order)

WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions

Amon-Ra St. Brown might be the most consistent player in fantasy football. For the last four seasons, he has played at least 16 games, secured 106 receptions, and earned 146 targets. Since 2023, he has had no fewer than 115 receptions and 1,263 yards. And while the knock used to be that St. Brown could secure yards and receptions, and not touchdowns, he has 10, 12, and 11 touchdowns each of the last three seasons.

While all of those accumulated statistics are impressive and worthy of the number eight pick (or even higher), the most impressive number on his ledger might be games played. He has missed a total of two games in the last four years, so fantasy managers can literally set him in lineups and forget about it.

In 2025, St. Brown's 172 targets trailed only Ja'Marr Chase among wide receivers, and he averaged 13.75 targets in Weeks 15-18, the most important weeks of the fantasy football season. There are no nits to pick with Amon-Ra St. Brown heading into 2026.

RB Jonathan Taylor, Colts

Jonathan Taylor may not have the same durability as St. Brown (Taylor has missed at least three games in three of the last four seasons), but he played all 17 games in 2025 and is coming off arguably the best season of his career. Last year, even with Daniel Jones missing a third of the season and opposing defenses jamming up the box when Old Man Philip Rivers was quarterback, Taylor rumbled for 1,585 rushing yards on a league-leading 323 carries.

He also scored 18 rushing touchdowns and added a 46-378-2 line on receptions. A player with 20 total touchdowns is the Holy Grail in fantasy football, and Taylor has now done it twice in his career. Taylor is coming off a career-high 46 receptions in 2025, but there is an argument to be made that he could be even more involved in the passing game in 2026 with the loss of Michael Pittman Jr. and the injury to Alec Pierce.

RB James Cook, Bills

James Cook's production has exploded over the last two years, including leading the league in rushing touchdowns in 2024 (16) and leading the league in rushing yards in 2025 (1,621). He has played at least 16 games in each of the last three seasons, so what would happen if he plays in 17 games and combines the touchdown equity of 2024 with the rushing success of 2025? We would probably be looking at fantasy football's number one overall player.

He is no slouch in the receiving department either. Cook has three straight seasons with at least 32 receptions, 258 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. Cook was sixth in total half-PPR scoring last season even though every player above him had significantly more receptions and receiving yards. Cook is the other side of the coin to drafting Taylor, who does have injury concerns and is the older player. Cook might not get the rushing touchdown upside of Taylor because of the presence of Josh Allen at the goal line, but he is younger and has a more diverse skill set all over the field.

WR CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys

Can CeeDee Lamb be the number one wide receiver in fantasy football and outscore the four receivers taken ahead of him? Of course he can, and he has done it before. He was the clear WR1 in 2023 when he pulled in 135 of his 181 targets for 1,749 yards and 12 scores. In 2025, he accumulated 1,077 yards on 117 targets despite missing four games in the regular season. He was on pace for 153 targets and 1,408 yards. He only scored three touchdowns last year, which suppressed his fantasy value, but he begins 2026 with a healthy outlook.

The issue with Lamb, of course, is the presence of George Pickens, another elite wide receiver, on the same team. Pickens finished 2025 as the WR5 with 93 receptions, 1,429 yards, and nine touchdowns. The fear is that Pickens may be the better option in the end zone, and Lamb will need to have his scores be slightly more manufactured or come from runs after the catch.

In 2025, Lamb had the higher target rate (targets per snap) between the two, and is likely to finish with more fantasy points (assuming both are healthy). But the reason Lamb doesn't crack the top six in the draft this season has nothing to do with Dak Prescott, the Cowboys' offense, or Lamb's nagging health issues. It has everything to do with the player lined up at wide receiver on the other side of the field.

RB Ashton Jeanty, Raiders

Ashton Jeanty’s rookie season was disappointing relative to the expectations that came with being the number six overall pick in the NFL draft, but there are plenty of reasons to believe he can bounce back and become an excellent fantasy selection at number eight. The surface-level numbers of 975 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns, and just 3.7 yards per carry on 266 attempts weren’t what fantasy managers wanted. But Jeanty’s underlying numbers tell a much more encouraging story. He forced 61 missed tackles as a rookie, tied for fifth among NFL running backs, while averaging 3.06 yards after contact per attempt.

The other reason to be willing to spend the eighth pick on Jeanty is his receiving ability and the elite talent he demonstrated before entering the NFL. He caught 55 of 68 targets for 346 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie, giving him 10 total touchdowns in 2025 despite his struggles as a runner. That receiving workload is particularly valuable in half-PPR formats because it gives Jeanty another path to elite production even if the Raiders' rushing offense remains mediocre and they spend the year deciding between Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza at quarterback.

It's also worth remembering just how dominant Jeanty was at Boise State. In 2024, he posted an absurd 1,970 yards after contact and 152 forced missed tackles. If Las Vegas improves its offensive line even modestly, Jeanty has the workload, receiving role, and tackle-breaking ability to turn his 2025 disappointment into a massive second-year breakout.

Who Should You Draft?

There is a case to be made that, depending on your format, other players like Justin Jefferson, Saquon Barkley, or even Brock Bowers (in Tight End Premium formats) could go in this spot. But these five players above represent the most likely outcomes of a home draft if you were to repeat the exercise across many drafts.

At this point last season, Christian McCaffrey's ADP was pick number eight on various fantasy football sites. He finished the year as the top non-quarterback scorer by a wide margin in half-PPR formats because of a historic offensive performance rushing and receiving for the 49ers. Just because you don't have a top-three pick doesn't mean you can't have the overall number one player in fantasy football. Each of these players could achieve that.

Can we duplicate that success with the 1.08 pick this year? That is the goal, but depending on format, there are a couple of players who seem to be the best choices here.

My pick at the 1.08 in each format:

In formats that award any kind of point-per-reception, Amon-Ra St. Brown is the pick. His floor of 110 receptions is like fantasy gold in those formats, and now we have seen it accompanied by double-digit touchdowns in each of the last three seasons. In Standard formats that do not award points for receptions, yards and touchdowns are much more valuable. That leads us to the running backs, and you really can't go wrong with James Cook or Jonathan Taylor.