This is a really tough week for quarterbacks, especially considering six teams are on bye. Fantasy owners will be without previously solid quarterbacks Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler (injury aside), Andrew Luck, and the owners who for whatever reason had been playing Jake Locker when healthy.

For the quarterbacks that are left, some of them are set up for failure in Week 8 and should be avoided, barring extreme circumstances.

Terrelle Pryor, Oakland Raiders

Pryor may be a popular start in Week 8 because of his surprising performances this season and his ability to pick up yards on the ground. But his opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers, is allowing the least amount of fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. Pryor has 285 rushing yards in five games, but opposing quarterbacks have only picked up 51 yards on the ground against Pittsburgh in six games.

Darren McFadden may return this week, and Pittsburgh is allowing 19.2 points per game to running backs. Even if the Raiders focus on the ground game and Pryor gets 50 or more rushing yards, don’t expect him to put up more than one touchdown against the Steelers.

Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins

Another replacement possibility, Tannehill is almost a for-sure waiver pickup in most leagues. He’s not the flashiest quarterback, but he has managed to score 14 or more fantasy points three times this season. However, expect his performance to drop down below average this week against the New England Patriots, who have the 11th ranked pass defense in the NFL.
Tannehill completed three touchdowns in Week 7 against the Buffalo Bills, which was his highest total of the year. But he only picked up 194 yards, and the Patriots have forced eight interceptions in seven games. Don’t try to get lucky this week with Miami’s quarterback, coming off his best fantasy performance of the season, you’ll just get burned.

Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals

Dalton has caught fire in the past two games, scoring 26 and 28 fantasy points against the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions, respectively. Looking at the chemistry Dalton and A.J. Green are starting to have together, Dalton could be one of the top adds this week, if he isn’t already owned in your league. But the New York Jets are a better defense than most people assume, coming in at 10th in pass defense. Quarterbacks have been able to score 10 touchdowns against the Jets, but are still only scoring just over 16 points per game.

Dalton might be coming into his own as a professional quarterback, but this is not the week to expect major fantasy production.