Heading into week 8 of the NFL it seems as though the league is more wide open that it has ever been. The Chiefs just got blown out by the Titans and look absolutely lost on the football field. The only argument against this is that the Bucs look just as good as they did during their super bowl season last year, but outside of them there are a lot of divisions up for grabs. As usual I will be covering the top quarterbacks and players to stack with them for GPP contests across the NFL DFS industry, so any stack that I recommend is in play for both FanDuel and DraftKings. With that said, let’s get to the picks!
The QB’s
A. The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off of a bye this week, as are quite a few teams across the NFL given that week 7 was apparently the week of the byes. With the Urban Meyer narrative long in the rearview mirror and long since overshadowed by Jon Gruden, Trevor Lawrence ($5,500 DK / $6,700 FD) and this Jags team should now be fully focused on their opponent. Speaking of their opponent, they will be playing the Seattle Seahawks, who are on the opposite of a bye as they are dealt a short week given that they just played a pretty pathetic game against the Saints on Monday. This Seahawks teamed looked pretty horrendous, and the only reason that they were able to hold the Saints to 13 points was because they are the Saints, and the weather was detrimental to offensive production. Regardless of weather, the Seahawks rank 21st and 25th in total DVOA and DVOA against the pass, respectively, while ranking 16th in defense against the quarterback position. Lawrence has looked very rough this season, and this is definitely a GPP-only play, but if there is ever a breakout spot for a young rookie #1 overall pick, this is it.
B. Another quarterback that I expect to be extremely low-owned is Sam Darnold ($5,600 DK / $7,300 FD). As you can see, my plan is to continue to look to save money at the quarterback position in the majority of my lineups this weekend. What a rollercoaster of a ride it has been for Sam, as he has gone from being a total and complete bust in the NFL with the Jets, to reaching his potential and flourishing with the Panthers as they started 3-0, and now back down to rock bottom as Carolina has dropped four games in a row. Let’s be honest though, the Panthers beat the Texans and Jets as two of their first three games so is that really at all impressive? Regardless of your thoughts on Darnold, he did have three clear ceiling games to show us that he does possess tournament-winning upside at this price and with this team. In a matchup against an Atlanta Falcons team that seemingly ranks in the bottom of the entire NFL in most defensive metrics each season, I expect Carolina to put the ball in Sam’s hands early and often to give him one final chance to salvage his career.
C. Strangely enough, I will be looking to target the exact same QB3 this weekend as I did in week 6 for my previous article, and that QB is Joe Burrow ($7,100 DK / $7,800 FD). While his prices are not necessarily as low as they were the last time that I looked to target him, they are still at reasonable levels given his production so far this season. As my New England Patriots showed on Sunday, this Jets defense and team in general is pretty laughable. The Pats made this team look like they belong in college, and I expect Joe and the Bengals to do the same. Ranking 29th in total DVOA, 28th in DVOA against the pass, and 26th in adjusted line yards, the Jets defense is truly subpar on all accounts. The line yards are of particular importance, given that this O-line is not much improved from the one that allowed opposing defenses to torment Burrow his rookie season that ultimately resulted in a devastating leg injury. JB should continue to show glimpses of his greatness at LSU this weekend and I want to be along for the ride.
The Stacks
A. There is the narrative going around the DFS industry lately that the field is forcing bring-backs when they do not need one and while I think that that is true in some cases, I will still be highlighting our options when a bring-back does make sense. If I do not feel the need to, I will make that clear, as is usually the case with teams like the Lions or the Texans. Anyway, looking at the Jaguars, we have an interesting situation as they just lost their WR1 DJ Chark to a fractured left ankle. This leaves us with week 1 (and honestly 2 as well) darling Marvin Jones, who has seen his price rise over the weeks as expected. My favorite option from this group though is Laviska Shenault, who is priced to move across the DFS industry. Jamal Agnew may get some buzz, but I will likely keep any Jags stacks to just these two pass catchers, with a potential Dan Arnold sprinkle given how weak the TE position is. Typically I would look to run a bring back with the Seahawks and DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, or even Gerald Everett, but that is not the case this week. With a short week, a recent and absolutely disgraceful 10 point performance, and Geno Smith attempting to play quarterback, I am totally off of this team.
B. Sam Darnold and the Panthers present us another interesting situation, as we are able to target the running back in our stacks since Chuba Hubbard catches passes out of the backfield from Darnold. We can also of course look to alpha wideout DJ Moore, who has shown us GPP takedown upside on a few occasions this season. Robby Anderson appears to have had a blip on the radar during previous seasons as he has totally fallen off a cliff in 2021. This is common in the NFL as it is so difficult to stay consistently productive. Ian Thomas is another cheap TE punt that we can look to if we are desperate, but we should not even expect double digit fantasy points necessarily. For the Falcons side of the ball, Calvin Ridley will be extremely chalky on DraftKings at a price point of $6,600, but he and Kyle Pitts are the clear-cut options for a bring-back in a game where I think we do need to target both sides to win tournaments.
C. To close things out for week 8 of the NFL, the two Joes (Burrow/Mixon) will be teaming up with Burrow’s former LSU teammate and breakout rookie of the year candidate, Ja’Marr Chase, against the hapless New York Jets. The GD Jets are so bad, that we can not only look to these two top-tier options, but also the WR2 and WR3 of this team, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. Tight end CJ Uzomah has also been extremely productive at times and has looked like a top 10 TE in the league this season. With someone named Mike White that I have honestly never heard of taking over the reigns for the pathetic joke of an NFL franchise that is the New York Jets, you can bet every penny you have that this is a spot where I will avoid including a bring-back. Look for the Bengals to keep rolling because if the Pats hung 50+ on this team, so can Joe and Ja’Marr.
That will do it for this week’s article. If I am not taking down the million this Sunday, then I hope that it is a member of our WDS fam! Please make sure to check out our projection model by clicking here, and if you have any questions about GPP strategy or the top stacks for the week, I will be in our expert chat in Discord leading up to Sunday afternoon. Feel free to shoot me a DM or @ me in chat! Lastly, do not forget to subscribe to the WinDaily YouTube channel and follow me on Twitter: @AThr0ughZ!