Week 8 idle: Who's in and who's out?

Who should you start with? Who will you sit with? To help you set your fantasy football lineups and avoid starting any offensive players who won't be in the lineup, we'll post fantasy-relevant updates and analysis here as NFL teams release their official inactive lists. Any rankings cited in this column come from our ESPN Fantasy Staff Ranks.

Official Sunday inactives should begin arriving approximately 90 minutes before the scheduled kickoff time: approximately 11:30 am ET for early games and 2:30 pm ET for late-afternoon games.

Refresh often for the latest information.

1 pm ET games

Keaton Mitchell, RB, BAL: knee — out
Impact: His 21-day return window is now open. Once he returns, he could replace Justice Hill as the No. 2 RB option.

Rashen Ali, RB, BAL: ankle — out
Implications: Given the news above, Ali can only be used on special teams once he makes it back.

Jay Flowers, WR, BAL: ankle — active
Impact: Looks like he'll try to play, but don't be surprised if Rashod Bateman is more effective.

Tee Higgins, WR, CIN: quadrilateral — inactive
Impact: His late addition to the injury report on Friday didn't bode well. Andrei Iosivus has improved slightly in fantasy value.

Jerome Ford, RB, CLE: Hamstring — out
Impact: Nick Chubb will be spelled Pierre Strong Jr.

Deshaun Watson, QB, CLE: Achilles — Out/IR
Impact: Jameis Winston will get a chance to hold out Dorian Thompson-Robinson (finger) to begin consideration moving forward.

Jameson Williams, WR, DET: Suspension
Impact: He will miss this week and next week. Kalif Raymond and Tim Patrick value increases.

Travis Etienne Jr., RB, JAX: Hamstring — inactive
Impact: Tank Bigsby and De'Ernest Johnson are being asked to step up again.

Tua Tagovailoa, QB, MIA: hurt — active
Impact: He cleared the league's concussion protocol and will return to the huddle Sunday. Tyler Huntley (shoulder) takes his place on IR.

Tyreek Hill, WR, MIA: feet — active
Impact: Jaylen Waddle could be WR option for Tua's return if not 100% heel.

Ja'Lynn Polk, WR, NE: hurt — out
Impact: He remains in the league's concussion protocol. Kayshon Boutte is currently the “safest” Patriots receiver.

Allen Lazard, WR, NYJ: chest — inactive
Impact: Even if he played, the Jets didn't trade Davante Adams to not throw him as much as possible.

Dallas Goedert, TE, PHI: Hamstring — out
Impact: Grant Calcatera gets the call instead.

Bucky Irving, RB, TB: Toes — active
Impact: He always expected to play, but Sean Tucker is lurking.

Mike Evans, WR, TB: Hamstring — out
Impact: Chris Godwin (ankle/IR) is out for the season. If all goes well, Evans could return in Week 12.

Rakeem Jarrett, WR, TB: knee — active
Impact: He was activated from IR this week as the Bucs look to restock a depleted WR room.

Will Lewis, QB, Tenn.: shoulder — inactive
Impact: Mason Rudolph took most of the reps with the first team this week, so that's no shock.

Tyjae Spears, RB, TEN: Hamstring — out
Impact: Tony Pollard should get most of the carries, with the remaining touches going to Julius Chestnut.

4 pm ET games

Curtis Samuel, WR, BUF: pectoral — out
Impact: He's a Week 9 target to return, but he has even less value now that Amari Cooper is in town.

Andy Dalton, QB, CAR: thumb — suspicious
Impact: Bryce Young will start if Dalton recovers from Tuesday's car accident.

Jonathan Brooks, RB, CAR: knee — out
Impact: Chubba Hubbard could be the Panthers' main man for at least one more week.

Tommy Tremble, TE, CAR: back to — questionable
Impact: Ja'Tavion Sanders (groin/wrist) was also limited in practice all week. Either TE can start and end.

Diontae Johnson, WR, CAR: ribs — out
Effect: He will sit even though he claims to be ready to go. Xavier Leggett and Jonathan Mingo started.

Adam Thielen, WR, CAR: Hamstring — out
Implications: Not yet ready to return from IR; We'll see if David Moore or Jalen Coker can get a look.

Travis Homer, RB, CHI: finger — questionable
Impact: Fresh off IR, he can spell De'Andre Swift.

Juju Smith-Schuster, WR, KC: Hamstring — out
Implications: At least he's not on IR. Just arrived in town, DeAndre Hopkins will match up with Xavier Worthy.

Will Disley, TE, LAC: shoulder — questionable
Impact: He caught eight passes last week with Hurst out, but it's likely a game-time call.

Hayden Hurst, TE, LAC: Groin — questionable
Implications: If Hurst and Disley both sit, Eric Tomlinson could be a TE sleeper.

DJ Chark Jr., WR, LAC: Groin — inactive
Impact: He was on IR during the week and wasn't active in time to play — and his team could have used him.

Darius Davis, WR, LAC: Hamstring — suspicious
Impact: If he can't go, Brendan Rice or Simi Fehoko could end up in the huddle for some snaps by default.

Quentin Johnston, WR, LAC: ankle — suspicious
Impact: It looks like Joshua Palmer is the only Chargers wideout you can count on to start. Jaylen Johnson and Jalen Regor were both promoted from the practice squad.

Ladd McConkey, WR, LAC: hips — questionable
Impact: He should be fit even if he misses two practices this week and only sees limited action Friday (out of necessity).

Aidan O'Connell, QB, LV: thumb — Out/IR
Impact: Gardner Minshew, whose mustache has usually been more impressive than his stat line, will start again at quarterback.

Jacoby Meyers, WR, LV: ankle — questionable
Impact: He is expected to play for the first time in a few weeks. He may be “on the pitch count”.

Derek Carr, QB, NO: italics — suspicious
Impact: Spencer Rattler will get another start as Carr tries to get back into throwing shape.

Cedric Wilson Jr., WR, NO: hips — out
Impact: Kris Olav, on the other hand, is expected to return this week after sitting out due to an injury.

DK Metcalf, WR, SEA: knee — suspicious
Impact: This will be Tyler Lockett and Jackson Smith-Nzigba for all your pass-catching needs.

Jayden Daniels, QB, WAS: ribs — questionable
Impact: This will be a game-time decision, and Marcus Mariota is ready to go if needed. Sam Hartman is on the practice squad, so that's a good sign.

Sunday night game

John Stephens Jr., TE, DAL: knee — Out/IR
Impact: His season is over. The freed-up roster spot helped make room for RB Dalvin Cook, who was promoted from the practice squad.

Jake Moody, K, SF: ankle — out
Impact: Anders Karlsson filled in again after missing an extra point last week.

Juan Jennings, WR, SF: hips — out
Impact: With Jennings and Brandon Ayuk (on IR with a torn ACL) out, Ricky Pearsall could be assigned the starting job.

DeBo Samuel Sr., WR, SF: Illness — questionable
Impact: Jacob Cowing and Chris Conley could also see some targets as Samuel deals with pneumonia, although he is currently expected to play.

George Kittle, TE, SF: feet — questionable
Impact: Especially on the WR issue, Kittle expects to play through injuries.