Should I Start Will Dissly or Taysom Hill in Week 8 Fantasy Football?

The Tayson Hill ride continues in Week 8.

Hill and his Saints face a Las Vegas Raiders team that is allowing 25.0 points per game, seventh-most in the NFL, and 366.7 yards per game, ninth-most. It doesn’t really matter that the Raiders are giving up the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season since Hill doesn’t play the traditional TE position.

What does matter is that Taysom Hill is insanely-good at making splash plays and scoring touchdowns, and the Raiders are allowing the third-most touchdowns per game. Plus, with Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry missing again, who else will the Saints be able to rely on to score touchdowns?

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Taysom Hill is a quality start at tight end in Week 8, and I will reveal another TD-hungry TE you should consider starting who is widely available as a free agent, Seattle Seahawks TE Will Dissly

Will Dissly's Week 8 Fantasy Football Outlook vs. Giants

Will Dissly began the season by catching a touchdown pass in three of Seattle’s first four games. Since then, he’s been on a dry spell for three weeks. But he has become a relatively consistent minor contributor in the Seahawks' offense. Every single game, he has been targeted at least once, and he has caught all but one of the passes thrown his way—for a 95% catch rate.

In six of seven games, Dissly has caught two or more passes, and he has gained between 30 and 45 yards in four games. It’s his best year since his sophomore season in 2019 when he missed 10 games. It’s not the stuff of a TE1, but it’s better than a lot of the leftovers floating around on the free agent wire on game day.

Seahawks QB Geno Smith likes to target his tight ends in the red zone. He’s thrown 25.0% of his red zone passes to TEs. Compare that to Jacksonville, where Trevor Lawrence has only looked to TEs 15.6% of the time. While Evan Engram—who is also a possible TE streamer—averages about 10 more yards per game than Dissly, he has yet to score a touchdown. Dissly could get more targets this week with Tyler Lockett possibly being inactive.

I would also start Dissly over Austin Hooper, who has gained fewer yards than Dissly in four of his six weeks. Start Dissly over Cole Kmet, Hunter Henry, Albert Okwuegbunam, and Tyler Conklin too. But don’t start him over Taysom…

Taysom Hill's Week 8 Fantasy Football Outlook vs. Raiders

I put Taysom Hill in a much higher tier than Dissly. He’s a potential every-week starter, and he ought to be rostered throughout the season. If you’re looking for him as a streamer today, you are unlikely to find him. He’s already rostered in 77% of Yahoo leagues.

By now, Hill should no longer be viewed as a trick-play gamble. He has finished as a top-three TE in PPR twice and as a top-20 TE four times. He’s even better in standard leagues, hitting top-12 status four times (he has added just two fantasy points by way of reception).

Even if you play PPR, and even if you start a name-brand TE, you can expect some duds. It’s the nature of the position. Mark Andrews goes TE1, TE41, TE3, TE2, TE51… sure, Hill is more volatile than someone like Dallas Goedert, but he has a higher ceiling. I think he could come closer to hitting his ceiling this week.

The Saints have experienced an offensive explosion since Andy Dalton took over at quarterback. In his four games, they have averaged 31 points per game (compared with 17 in the first three games) and scored 34 last week with 494 yards of total offense.

Hill has scored a touchdown or more in four of his six games for six total touchdowns. He has scored TDs as a rusher, a passer, and as a receiver. Of Hill’s two catches, one has been for a three-yard touchdown. His TD rate as a QB is 14.3%. As a rusher, he has turned 17.2% of his carries into TDs. For any other receiver, numbers like that would scream “unsustainable,” but the Saints' coaching staff recognizes they can exploit Hill’s strengths in high-leverage situations. They use him frequently inside the red zone.

I would consider starting Hill in just about any game, and I would strongly consider starting him in a game in which the Saints are missing other key weapons. That’s today. In games with no Jarvis Landry, Hill has averaged 5.5 more fantasy points per game than in games in which Landry does play.

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