The Indianapolis Colts will face the Houston Texans in Week 8. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR Michael Pittman.
Is Michael Pittman Playing in Week 8?
Updated at 11:30 AM ET on November 10
Pittman Jr. is inactive for today's game.
Michael Pittman Jr. is still battling the back injury that the Indianapolis Colts initially thought would send him to injured reserve in Week 6. Pittman miraculously played that week and suited up again in Week 7.
Indy has been managing his practice reps. Pittman has only practiced on one day in each of the past two weeks. After sitting out Wednesday’s practice, Pittman was a full participant on Thursday and Friday, and will be available against the Texans on Sunday.
Pittman led the Colts in targets (five), receptions (three), and receiving yards (63) in last week’s win over the Dolphins, but it’s hard to trust any Indianapolis pass catcher with Richardson under center. Pittman’s WR37 finish in Week 8 was his best output with Richardson as his starting QB.
We’ll continue to monitor the Colts’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Michael Pittman in Week 8?
I don’t want to say that Pittman is bizzaro Jaylen Waddle, but …
Pittman with Anthony Richardson, 2024
- 17.4% under fantasy expectations
- 11.9 aDOT
- 57.1% catch rate
Pittman with Joe Flacco, 2024
- 7.8% over fantasy expectation
- 8.9 aDOT
- 63.2% catch rate
While Waddle is a bench player until his preseason QB1 is back under center, it’s looking more and more like Pittman is a bench player only when his preseason QB1 is under center. Last week, Pittman led the Colts in catches and targets while accounting for 48.8% of the team’s receiving yards. That’s a profile that usually prefaces a breakout stat line — but nope, not the case here.
It took all of that for Pittman to get you 9.3 PPR points. Under normal circumstances, I’d write off such inefficiency as an outlier, but this has proven to be the norm. Back in Week 1, against these Texans, Pittman earned a 42.1% target share and turned that impressive usage into 7.1 points.
This is a square-peg/round-hole situation, and while there will likely be moments of production, you are acting with too much hubris if you think you can pinpoint those spots. Pittman is a WR4 for me this week — why wouldn’t I play Jauan Jennings against a banged-up Dallas defense while fulfilling the Brandon Aiyuk role or Darnell Mooney (8.3 targets per game over his past six games) against a vulnerable Buccaneers defense on short rest over him?
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Michael Pittman’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 8
Pittman is projected to score 11.6 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 4.8 receptions for 51.6 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
Michael Pittman’s Week 8 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 5:15 AM on Sunday, November 10. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 10 WR PPR Rankings
1) Justin Jefferson | MIN (at JAX)
2) Ja'Marr Chase | CIN (at BAL)
3) Amon-Ra St. Brown | DET (at HOU)
4) A.J. Brown | PHI (at DAL)
5) Malik Nabers | NYG (at CAR)
6) Nico Collins | HOU (vs. DET)
7) Tyreek Hill | MIA (at LAR)
8) Drake London | ATL (at NO)
9) Garrett Wilson | NYJ (at ARI)
10) Cooper Kupp | LAR (vs. MIA)
11) Puka Nacua | LAR (vs. MIA)
12) Davante Adams | NYJ (at ARI)
13) Terry McLaurin | WAS (vs. PIT)
14) CeeDee Lamb | DAL (vs. PHI)
15) Zay Flowers | BAL (vs. CIN)
16) DeVonta Smith | PHI (at DAL)
17) Deebo Samuel Sr. | SF (at TB)
18) Josh Downs | IND (vs. BUF)
19) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. DEN)
20) Darnell Mooney | ATL (at NO)
21) George Pickens | PIT (at WAS)
22) Ladd McConkey | LAC (vs. TEN)
23) Khalil Shakir | BUF (at IND)
24) Tank Dell | HOU (vs. DET)
25) Jaylen Waddle | MIA (at LAR)
26) Brian Thomas Jr. | JAX (vs. MIN)
27) Jauan Jennings | SF (at TB)
28) DJ Moore | CHI (vs. NE)
29) Calvin Ridley | TEN (at LAC)
30) Courtland Sutton | DEN (at KC)
31) Jameson Williams | DET (at HOU)
32) Marvin Harrison Jr. | ARI (vs. NYJ)
33) Jordan Addison | MIN (at JAX)
34) Keenan Allen | CHI (vs. NE)
35) Xavier Legette | CAR (vs. NYG)
36) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. DEN)
37) Rome Odunze | CHI (vs. NE)
38) Wan'Dale Robinson | NYG (at CAR)
39) Jalen Tolbert | DAL (vs. PHI)
40) Jalen Coker | CAR (vs. NYG)
41) Rashod Bateman | BAL (vs. CIN)
42) DeMario Douglas | NE (at CHI)
43) Jalen McMillan | TB (vs. SF)
44) Noah Brown | WAS (vs. PIT)
45) Demarcus Robinson | LAR (vs. MIA)
46) Quentin Johnston | LAC (vs. TEN)
47) Michael Wilson | ARI (vs. NYJ)
48) Ray-Ray McCloud III | ATL (at NO)
49) Parker Washington | JAX (vs. MIN)
50) Andrei Iosivas | CIN (at BAL)
51) Joshua Palmer | LAC (vs. TEN)
52) Diontae Johnson | BAL (vs. CIN)
53) Alec Pierce | IND (vs. BUF)
54) Sterling Shepard | TB (vs. SF)
55) Ricky Pearsall | SF (at TB)
56) Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | TEN (at LAC)
57) Kalif Raymond | DET (at HOU)
58) Troy Franklin | DEN (at KC)
59) Mason Tipton | NO (vs. ATL)
60) Jalen Nailor | MIN (at JAX)
61) Trey Palmer | TB (vs. SF)
62) Tyler Boyd | TEN (at LAC)
63) Kayshon Boutte | NE (at CHI)
64) John Metchie III | HOU (vs. DET)
65) Adonai Mitchell | IND (vs. BUF)
66) Tim Patrick | DET (at HOU)
67) Gabe Davis | JAX (vs. MIN)
68) Xavier Hutchinson | HOU (vs. DET)
69) Amari Cooper | BUF (at IND)
70) Mike Williams | PIT (at WAS)
71) Devaughn Vele | DEN (at KC)
72) Tutu Atwell | LAR (vs. MIA)
73) Mack Hollins | BUF (at IND)
74) Greg Dortch | ARI (vs. NYJ)
75) Lil'Jordan Humphrey | DEN (at KC)
76) KaVontae Turpin | DAL (vs. PHI)
77) Robert Woods | HOU (vs. DET)
78) Kendrick Bourne | NE (at CHI)
79) Justin Watson | KC (vs. DEN)
80) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (vs. PIT)
81) David Moore | CAR (vs. NYG)
82) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (vs. PIT)
83) Mecole Hardman Jr. | KC (vs. DEN)
84) Odell Beckham Jr. | MIA (at LAR)
85) Jonathan Mingo | DAL (vs. PHI)
86) Nelson Agholor | BAL (vs. CIN)
87) Jalen Brooks | DAL (vs. PHI)
88) Ja'Lynn Polk | NE (at CHI)
89) Tim Jones | JAX (vs. MIN)
90) Simi Fehoko | LAC (vs. TEN)
91) Dyami Brown | WAS (vs. PIT)
92) Marvin Mims Jr. | DEN (at KC)
93) Jahan Dotson | PHI (at DAL)
94) Trenton Irwin | CIN (at BAL)
95) Rakim Jarrett | TB (vs. SF)
96) Zay Jones | ARI (vs. NYJ)
97) Allen Robinson II | DET (at HOU)
98) Curtis Samuel | BUF (at IND)
99) Ryan Miller | TB (vs. SF)
100) Jordan Whittington | LAR (vs. MIA)
101) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. DEN)
102) Calvin Austin III | PIT (at WAS)
103) Tyler Johnson | LAR (vs. MIA)
104) KhaDarel Hodge | ATL (at NO)
105) Ashton Dulin | IND (vs. BUF)
106) Parris Campbell | PHI (at DAL)
107) Van Jefferson | PIT (at WAS)
108) DeAndre Carter | CHI (vs. NE)
109) K.J. Osborn | NE (at CHI)
110) Trent Sherfield | MIN (at JAX)
111) Brandon Powell | MIN (at JAX)
112) Jermaine Burton | CIN (at BAL)
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans Insights
Indianapolis Colts
Team: One team this season is giving away at least five minutes in time of possession per game, and it’s the Colts – at -7:34 per game.
QB: Anthony Richardson’s 48.5% completion percentage is the lowest through a team’s first seven games since Josh Freeman in 2013.
Offense: The Colts are allowing pressure on just 27.9% of dropbacks, the third-lowest rate in the league.
Defense: Indianapolis has allowed a touchdown on just 2.2% of deep passes, the fourth-lowest rate in the league.
Fantasy: Tyler Goodson has finished each of the past three weeks as RB33 or better (Trey Sermon has finished worse than that in the past two weeks).
Betting: The Colts are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 road games with a projected point total north of 45 points.
Houston Texans
Team: A win would be Houston’s third straight over Indianapolis, tying their longest win streak ever vs. the Colts (also done from 2015-16).
QB: C.J. Stroud ranks second in EPA per dropback against man coverage (0.36), but only 24th against zone (-0.11). The Colts play zone coverage at the third-highest rate of any defense (78.7%).
Offense: The Texans allowed a 51.7% pressure rate in Sunday’s loss to the Packers, their second-highest in C.J. Stroud’s 22 career starts.
Defense: The Texans have allowed a touchdown on a league-high 7% of opponent passes.
Fantasy: Nico Collins was injured on Stroud’s way to a second straight game with over 330 passing yards and has missed two games now – Stroud has 278 yards through the air in those contests. In Weeks 1-5, Stroud completed 51.2% of his 8.2 deep pass attempts per game and was threatening defenses vertically on a consistent basis. Since, he’s at 36.4% on 5.5 attempts per game.
Betting: Unders are 9-4 since the start of 2020 when the Texans host a divisional opponent (69.2%).