Best Plays for DFS: Week 8
Each week we will review some of the content found in the DFS Pass and discuss some of our most confident plays heading into Sunday. A lot can change over the weekend, especially with injury news (See Betz’s Injury Blitz podcast) and roster percentage projections in the Optimizer shifting who is in-or-out before roster lock time. Let’s review.
- Locked-in Cash Plays
- CORE Plays
- Game Stacks We Love
- Full-On Fades of the Week
- Favorite Leverage Plays
- Favorite Dart Throws
- Boldest Calls of the Week
Week 8 Main Slate Podcast
Locked-In Cash Plays
Borg – As a double-digit favorite at home against the hapless Titans, I’m riding with Chase Brown this week in cash. His price point mixed with the Bengals implied total makes him a juicy bounce back candidate.
Betz – Without Davante Adams on the field this year, Puka Nacua is being targeted on 46% (!) percent of his routes. Terrance Ferguson remains on IR, Colby Parkinson went DNP x3 and is questionable. His role + talent profile should be priced north of $9,000.
DraftKings Core Plays
These are the 3-5 players at each position we have mixed in our cash player pool. Based on salaries, late news, and budget constraints, it is guaranteed you will not be able to fit in all of them. But their high floors and team-implied totals make them great plays for the week in both cash & GPPs.
These are simply in order of favorite core players. You obviously won’t be able to fit all in a cash lineup and there are salary tradeoffs for paying up at each position.
Quarterbacks
| DraftKings-QB | BORG | BETZ |
| 1 | Dak Prescott | Dak Prescott |
| 2 | Josh Allen | Trevor Lawrence |
| 3 | Trevor Lawrence | Jacoby Brissett |
| 4 | Joe Burrow | Joe Burrow |
| 5 | Jacoby Brissett | Josh Allen |
You can expect to see plenty of Dak this week in cash games on both sites, and it’s easy to understand why when you consider the price point, matchup against the Cardinals and the lofty team total. Pivots include T Law against the Colts, Burrow against the Titans and Jacoby in the same game for a bit cheaper. With so much of the field spending in the low $6K range this week on DraftKings, spending up on the studs in the Baltimore/Bills game is interesting for GPPs, but for cash, we recommend saving the money with the cheaper options.
Running Backs
| DraftKings-RB | BORG | BETZ |
| 1 | Chase Brown | Chase Brown |
| 2 | Jahmyr Gibbs | Bhayshul Tuten |
| 3 | Bhayshul Tuten | Javonte Williams |
| 4 | Bijan Robinson | Jahmyr Gibbs |
| 5 | Rhamondre Stevenson | Bijan Robinson |
| 6 | Javonte Williams | Rhamondre Stevenson |
| 7 | Derrick Henry | Jonah Coleman |
It’s another incredibly strong RB slate, so even in tournaments, we’re likely to keep our pool pretty condensed to some of these best plays. For cash, we’re building around Chase Brown in the low $6K range in this matchup against the Titans. The RB2 spot is a decision based on how you want to build – do you spend up for one of Gibbs or Bijan or go with more of a balanced build with someone like Tuten or Javonte? We like both setups, so play around with the combinations and see what it let’s you do at WR. If you do spend up for Gibbs or Bijan, it’s very difficult to play Puka and/or Zay, two of our favorite WR plays on the slate. You also need to keep Braelon Allen in your pool in the event that Breece (Questionable, Quad) gets ruled out.
Wide Receivers
If Puka Nacua is on the slate, he’s very likely WR1 for us in the best plays table and that’s the case yet again in Week 8. His role is just absurd right now with Adams on the shelf. He’s expensive, but probably not expensive enough. If you drop down into the next pricing tier, Zay Flowers, Tee Higgins and Parker Washington are strong considerations. Depending on how you want to build (stars and scrubs vs. balanced), you may be forced to drip down into the $3K range. Elic Ayomanor, Ja’Kobi Lane and Kendrick Bourne are in consideration as punts, but obviously, those guys are shaky. Wan’Dale Robinson can be your WR3, but we’d advise against playing both Tennessee guys in the same cash lineup.
Tight Ends
| DraftKings-TE | BORG | BETZ |
| 1 | Trey McBride | Hunter Henry |
| 2 | Hunter Henry | Trey McBride |
| 3 | Cade Otton | Brenton Strange |
| 4 | Brenton Strange | Cade Otton |
| 5 | Mark Andrews | Mark Andrews |
Assuming AJ Brown doesn’t play, Hunter Henry is a solid play in a fantastic matchup against a Dolphins secondary bleeding fantasy points to TEs. Other options in the cheap range include Brenton Strange, our hero Cade Otton without Egbuka and Mark Andrews in a great game environment with Lamar back in the lineup. Worth noting, even though we expect the Jags to roll, we’d be cautious playing T Law, Tuten, P Wash and Strange together.
DSTs
| DraftKings-DST | BORG | BETZ |
| 1 | PIT | DEN |
| 2 | DEN | PIT |
| 3 | DET | LV |
| 4 | LAR | LAR |
| 5 | CLE | CLE |
We don’t usually want to play DSTs against Mahomes, but Denver is only $2,300 at home and is getting Pat Surtain back this week. Given that we want to prioritize RB & WR, they’re a fine punt option, but be careful in GPPs. They’re going to easily be the most owned DST on the slate.
FanDuel Core Plays
| FanDuel | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| QB | Joe Burrow | Dak Prescott | Trevor Lawrence | Jacoby Brissett | Josh Allen | — | — |
| RB | Jahmyr Gibbs | Chase Brown | Javonte Williams | Bijan Robinson | Bhayshul Tuten | Rhamondre Stevenson | — |
| WR | Tee Higgins | Puka Nacua | Zay Flowers | Parker Washington | Ja’Marr Chase | Germie Bernard | Drake London |
| TE | Trey McBride | Hunter Henry | Travis Kelce | T.J. Hockenson | Brenton Strange | — | — |
| DST | DET | LAR | JAX | MIA | CIN | — | — |
Games to Stack This Week
Borg – Count me in on BUF/BAL with Lamar Jackson in tow. The Ravens passing attack should be able to have its way against a Buffalo defense that ranks dead last in EPA per drop back and 30th in explosive play rate. I also do not mind CIN onslaughts adding in Chase Brown as a “pass-catcher”.
Betz – I was expecting DAL/ARI to be mega mega chalk this week and while Dak is the ‘cash QB’ on this slate and Javonte is popular, there’s some sneaky GPP plays in this game. Everyone is spending down for TE…what if Trey McBride breaks the slate here? Lamb will get played, but everyone is scrolling right past George Pickens. Meanwhile, this is a really sneaky spot to play it before you see it with Jeremiyah Love at sub 5%. These defenses stink!
Player You Will Be Fading This Week
Borg – Bucky Irving might have a solid price point but the matchup against Atlanta is dicey. The Falcons are 2nd in EPA per rush attempt, 2nd in forced missed tackle rate, and crushing against zone-based scheme runs. They know OC Zac Robinson quite well so Bucky being top-5 in roster percentage at RB feels like a situation I will be willing to come underweight on.
Betz – The only reason people are playing Elic Ayomanor this week is because he’s $3,o00. If he gets pushed to 15+% or 20+% in the small field contests I play, that’s an easy pass for me.
Favorite Leverage Play of the Week
Borg – Why is no one playing Michael Wilson this week? We would’ve died for this Dallas matchup weeks ago but now it feels like he is off everyone’s radar. At $6,200 on both sites, he feels like a steal and a chance to get leverage on DAL WRs or some of the more popular WRs in the $6K range like Parker Washington, Tee Higgins, or George Pickens. Consider it a price point pivot.
Betz – I mentioned fading Ayomanor. If I’m going to spend down at WR this week, I’m looking for pivots at a fraction of the ownership. Give me Ja’Kobi Lane, Kendrick Bourne, Ted Hurst, etc. over Ayomanor.
Favorite Dart Throws of the Week
Borg – Perhaps this is the week Ashton Jeanty finally breaks out as a runner. The Jets rank 28th in rush success rate, 30th in stuff rate, and 29th in expected rushing TDs allowed. The catch? They’re only 13th in rushing TDs allowed. They will be without EDGE David Bailey, DL T’Vondre Sweat, and EDGE Joseph Ossai in this one. You know the receiving work is there so throwing a dart on a RB who can hit 25-30 DK points at low ownership is worth it in a large field tourney.
Betz – Perhaps this is too thin depending on your contest, but Eli Raridon is super interesting. The field is piling into Hunter Henry for the role + matchup. Meanwhile, Raridon is coming on as of late and could also post a big score (for his salary) against Miami. This is only an option if AJ Brown doesn’t play.
Other Dart Throws: (Under 5%)
- Laquon Treadwell ($3100) – He is running a route on 74% of IND drop backs over the last month and JAX is prone to outside WRs.
- Jeremiyah Love ($5,400) – This is the matchup for RBs. Play it before you see it at 5%.
- Denzel Boston ($5,200) – Awkward price point and KC Concepcion stole the show last week
Late Swap Options
| Positions | Early Window Popular Plays | Late Window Potential CHALK | Late Swap Options |
| QB | Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence | — | Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye |
| RB | Chase Brown, Bhayshul Tuten, Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Javonte Williams, Bucky Irving | Rhamondre Stevenson | Kenneth Walker |
| WR | DAL WRs, CIN WRs, Zay Flowers, Parker Washington, TEN WRs | Puka Nacua | Ladd McConkey, Malik Washington |
| TE | Mark Andrews, Brenton Strange, Cade Otton | Hunter Henry | Tyler Higbee |
| DST | PIT, LV | DEN, LAC | LAR, NE |
This week has very few late swap options available given how the early window carries all of the good games.
Bold Call of the Week
Borg – Chase Brown delivers (finally!) with 25+ DK points.
Betz – Zay Flowers goes for 150 yards this week.
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