Sit Ryan Fitzgerald in Week 8 if you have a real alternative — 4.9 projected points lands 2.6 under the K starter line.
- Projection
- 4.9 pts
- K rank
- #25
- Matchup
- at GB
Ryan Fitzgerald's fantasy role in Week 8
Ryan Fitzgerald goes into Week 8 of the 2026 season as a deep-league K flyer for the CAR. He is rostered in 14% of leagues and actually started in 12% of them, and we rank him K25 on our own weekly board at 4.9 projected points.
Interest is cooling — roster rates slipped roughly 4% in the last week, so he is getting cheaper to acquire if you believe in the role.
No injury designation to work around right now, which keeps his projection honest.
Week 8 matchup breakdown
The matchup: at GB. Our Pepper Meter heat rating for this spot is 1 out of 5, which is how we grade the combination of role, projection and opponent difficulty.
Against a typical starting K baseline of 7.5 points, his 4.9-point projection is 2.6 points short. That gap is the whole start/sit argument in one number.
How to play it
Sit Ryan Fitzgerald in Week 8 if you have a real alternative — 4.9 projected points lands 2.6 under the K starter line.
If you are deciding between him and another K, compare projections first, then lean on the Pepper Meter heat rating as the tiebreaker.
Sally's take
Peppers & Picks ranks Ryan Fitzgerald (CAR K), our K25 this week for Week 8 of the 2026 NFL season at GB, projecting 4.9 projected points with a mild Pepper Meter rating. Sally wants fireworks, and 2.6 points below a typical starter isn't fireworks. Nothing in the projection defends him — 35% below positional par is a bench line for me. The at GB draw matters here — road snaps against GB shape how often he's asked to do something. Mild on the Pepper Meter is generous, honestly.
Tina's take
Peppers & Picks ranks Ryan Fitzgerald (CAR K), our K25 this week for Week 8 of the 2026 NFL season at GB, projecting 4.9 projected points with a mild Pepper Meter rating. Tina calls it a floor problem: 2.6 points under the starter line is a lot of risk for a lineup spot. He's being dropped at a 4% clip, and I don't think the market is wrong about it. 12% of managers already start him, and the depth-chart role behind that number looks stable. The projection sits about 35% under what a startable K returns, so I honestly can't pretend the price tag matches the output. The Pepper Meter cools him to Mild, and that reading is doing its job.