Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Week 8 is upon us, and this is the first week with some major byes. Six teams are taking the week off: Ravens, Steelers, Giants, 49ers, Rams and the Dolphins. We're not losing tons of fantasy players, and really a lot of them could use a week off - see Odell Beckham and Ben Roethlisberger. But I digress, we're here for Week 8! This week, look for Derek Carr to have a big day capping off his Florida vacation. Matt Jones, Julian Edelman and Vernon Davis (if there's no Jordan Reed) all deserve to be in your lineup as well.

Week 10 is here, and if you're in one of my fantasy leagues, this means Rivalry Week! This probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but for me it's 3 opportunities to beat Dave. Now you're excited, right? Here are our consensus rankings, basically the mid-point of our fantasy football rankings.

This week, make sure you get Carson Palmer into your lineup against the 49ers. On the other side in that game, put DuJuan Harris in if Carlos Hyde sits out again. At receiver, Stefon Diggs and Mike Wallace are both guys that need to be starting for you. Finally, Jason Witten is having a little renaissance right now, get in on it before it goes away.

There's only three weeks left in the fantasy football regular season, so if you haven't started to panic yet, you might want to consider doing so. This week we have a Thursday night NFC South clash and a Monday night game in Mexico City. I'd take both of those into account when setting your lineup - but what effect playing in a smoggy high altitude stadium will have on the Raiders and Texans remains to be seen.

This week, make sure you're getting Stefon Diggs and Golden Tate in your lineup, and avoid Jeremy Hill Darren Sproles. For more lineup advice, ask us on twitter, @drinkfive or join us each week during the podcast Tuesdays @ 8:30pm CST.

With the fantasy football playoffs upon us, it's time to set aside all the leagues you didn't advance in and forget about most of the bench players who you won't be starting. The playoffs (and coffee) are for closers! While you're getting ready for this week, make sure to check out the news and updates from week 13, this week's podcast and the Week 14 Rookie Report as well.

This week, despite where the experts rank Derek Carr, we think he should be in your lineup against KC. Dance with the one who brought you, as they say. At RB, be cautious when deciding to start Doug Martin, and it's also probably time to move on from Tim Hightower. At wideout, I know you've started him all year, but isn't it time that DeAndre Hopkins grabbed some bench? Finally, it's time to look for options other than Greg Olsen - he's not bad, but his offense is and he's currently on a streak of 4 games with less than 50 yards receiving.