Who Should I Start? Alec Pierce or C.J. Stroud

Saturday, October 25, 9:29 AM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce has carved out a productive role with his team in 2025. Pierce has caught 16 passes for 317 scoreless yards in five games as the Colts have looked his way often on deep passes downfield. The speedy wideout will look to keep it going in Week 8's home matchup against the Tennessee Titans. Tennessee does not represent a difficult matchup for Pierce as their defense is allowing the 13th-most fantasy points per game to opposing receivers this year. Pierce isn't a safe play in fantasy but he does have value as a boom/bust flex option in a week with six NFL teams on bye.

Saturday, October 25, 9:07 AM

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had a monster game before the team's bye week, but he struggled against the Seahawks on Monday night and will be without key pass-catchers in Week 8. Both Nico Collins (concussion) and Christian Kirk (hamstring) are out, so Stroud will be forced to be creative and rely on less proven options. The Texans' offense looked to be headed the right way before their bye week, and Stroud racked up six touchdown passes and no interceptions in big wins over the Titans and Ravens. In his return after 15 days off, though, he completed just 23-of-49 pass attempts for 229 yards, a touchdown, and an interception on the road in Seattle. He'll look to get back on track against a tough San Francisco defense that ranks in the middle of the pack against quarterbacks but effectively shut down the Falcons and Michael Penix Jr. last week. In this home matchup, Stroud is the No. 21 QB in RotoBaller's rankings, meaning he shouldn't be started in single-quarterback leagues and is a fringe QB2 in this matchup.