Daily Fantasy Football: DraftKings Value Plays and Lineup – Week 8

Joique Bell

Week 8 begins tonight with the Denver Broncos taking on the San Diego Chargers. For the first time this season, the Thursday slate will have a ton of fantasy implications, with both offenses being amongst the top in the NFL.

XN Sports will present values and picks for DraftKings each and every week throughout the season for all your daily fantasy needs. Check out all the contests at DraftKings here, and be sure to enter the Week 6 freerolls right away.

If you have not played on DraftKings yet, be sure to make your first deposit which will earn you a free spot in a paid tournament. Why play DraftKings? In addition to being one of the most aesthetically-pleasing websites on the internet, DraftKings offers user-friendly scoring and rules which can be found in full here. In addition, there is no kicker so any of those six field goal days will not ruin your weekend.

The details of this week’s contest:

Contest Details

-DraftKings $100K Play-Action

-Turn $2 into $10,000

-$100,000 in Total Prizes

-$10,000 First Place prize

-Just $2 to enter

Without further ado, your value plays and lineups for Week 8.

Reminder: The Falcons/Lions game starts at 9:30 a.m. EST on Sunday morning.

Running Back

Joique Bell, $4,800

With pricing on DraftKings being a little on the soft side this weekend, a lot of players will invest in values at running back. One of the values, and possibly the best, is Bell. With Reggie Bush listed as questionable and not practicing, Bell’s value could be even higher. Bell and the Lions take on the Falcons this week, who are, by far, the best matchup for opposing running backs. The Falcons have allowed a dozen rushing touchdowns on the season already, along with 886 yards rushing. In addition, if Bush is out that makes Bell a feature in the passing game too. The Falcons have allowed opposing running backs to catch 42 passes for 379 yards this season as well, both in the bottom five amongst NFL defenses. Bell may be owned by everyone this weekend, but it is still worth adding him to your lineups.

Wide Receiver

Wes Welker, $3,500

Welker seems like an afterthought behind Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, and now Emmanuel Sanders in the Broncos passing game. That is one reason why his price has fallen to $3,500. But, do not let that scare you away. Welker has played in four games this season, and only has one dud in terms of fantasy performance. In Week 6 against the Jets, Welker only caught one pass for eight yards. In the other three games however, Welker has averaged over five catches for 55 yards, and he has scored one touchdown. While not a top-tier play, that is a solid floor for a player that costs the same as Miles Austin and Markus Wheaton. In addition, the Chargers will likely be without their top corners, which will give Welker a huge boost against someone lower on the depth chart. Chris Davis could be an option, and he has allowed five catches on six targets as a rookie in limited snaps this season.

Tight End

Zach Ertz, $3,200

The minimum price for tight ends on Draft Kings is $3,000, which means you can get Ertz for just over the minimum. With players like Julius Thomas, Rob Gronkowski, and Jimmy Graham costing almost double his price, that makes Ertz a value this weekend. Ertz has three or more catches in every game but one this season, and only has one game below 6.9 fantasy points on DraftKings. Ertz and the Eagles will take on the Cardinals this week, who have allowed 35 catches for 414 yards and three touchdowns to tight ends this season. Only twice have the Cardinals allowed less than nine fantasy points to an opposing tight end, and that was against the Raiders (whose top tight end only has 25 targets) and the Niners who were playing without Vernon Davis. In the other four games, the Cardinals allowed no less than 99 yards and/or a touchdown to opposing tight ends.

Tight ends against the Cardinals in those four games:

San Diego Chargers (Antonio Gates): eight catches for 105 yards, or 18.5 DraftKings points.

New York Giants (Larry Donnell): eight catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, or 22.2 DraftKings points.

Denver Broncos (Julius Thomas): seven catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns, or 27.3 DraftKings points.

Washington Redskins (Jordan Reed and Niles Paul): nine catches for 99 yards, or 18.9 DraftKings points.

Lineup (Including Thursday)

QB – Peyton Manning $8,900

RB – Joique Bell $4,800

RB – Matt Forte $8,800

WR – Larry Fitzgerald $4,400

WR – Demaryius Thomas $7,900

WR – Wes Welker $3,500

TE – Zach Ertz $3,200

FLEX – LeSean McCoy $5,800

DST – Vikings $2,600

Lineup (Sunday-Monday)

QB – Nick Foles $6,300

RB – Joique Bell $4,800

RB – LeSean McCoy $5,800

WR – *Calvin Johnson $6,300

WR – Jordy Nelson $7,800

WR – Dez Bryant $6,900

TE – Zach Ertz $3,200

FLEX – *A.J. Green $5,900

DST – Cowboys $3,000

Disclosure: The link to DraftKings is an XN affiliate link

* Indicates possible inactive, check inactive reports an hour before kickoff.

author avatar
Josh Collacchi
In addition to writing here at XNSports, my fantasy content can be seen at Pro Football Focus Fantasy, eDraft, and Project Roto. Member of the FSWA and the FWAA and can be reached on Twitter @JoshCollacchi

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