Kirk Cousins: stays Raiders starter for Week 8 vs. Jets
THE FACT. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said Monday that Cousins remains his starting quarterback for Week 8 against the Jets, telling reporters there is "no controversy" at the position, per NFL.com and RotoWire. Kubiak added that No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza will play at some point but gave no timeline, with Las Vegas sitting at 3-4 after four straight losses.
THE VERDICT. Redraft: Cousins stays a usable streamer. He leads the NFL with 16 touchdown passes and ranks third in passing yards at 1,877, and the 2-5 Jets are not the week to bench him. Start him in superflex and two-quarterback leagues. DFS: fine as a cheap pivot at quarterback. Dynasty: Mendoza managers get another week of nothing, but an open-ended "at some point" means the rookie is one bad stretch from the job, so keep stashing him. Raiders pass-catchers hold their value as long as Cousins is the one throwing.
Respectfully, I'm benching him outside superflex this week. The Jets are giving up about 185 passing yards a game, top five in the league, and they've piled up 19 sacks already. That's not the spot to stream a quarterback whose team has lost four in a row. Kyle Soppe at Pro Football Network actually has Cousins as his number one Week 8 drop and outside his top 15 QBs. The counting stats are great, I just don't think they survive this defense. In one-QB leagues I'd rather stream the matchup than the name.