DraftKings NFL Week 8: Picks, Sleepers & Strategy

Here at Roto Street Journal, we fancy ourselves as fantasy addicts. Fantasy football has evolved into something much more than your standard league draft. With the opportunity to enter new lineups every week through Daily Fantasy Sports, the RSJ will be giving you the best plays for your lineups, in order to win you some cash. From the high-priced superstars, to the penny stock sleepers, we have you covered to piece together the optimal lineup week by week.

Note:

• Standard DraftKings salaries are used when creating these lineups.
• The Thursday Night, London and Monday Night Football games are excluded from tournament play

Quarterbacks

• Top Shelf

  • Aaron Rodgers ($7,500) – After metaphorically telling everyone to “relax” last week against the Bears, Rodgers goes to the Georgia Dome for a date with the Falcons. With virtually no running game, the Packers seem destined to throw 40+ times a game.
  • Matt Ryan ($7,000) – Ryan struggled last week in a sweet spot against the Chargers. With the ever so depleted Packers secondary on deck, Ryan gets a chance to redeem himself at home.

• Retail Price

  • Andrew Luck ($6,800) – Luck has put together a sneaky great fantasy season as the second highest scoring QB. With the Chiefs coming to town, Luck’s home splits paired with the leaky Kansas City secondary is a terrific play.

• Bang For Your Buck

  • Tyrod Taylor ($5,200) – The only kind of positive that comes out of the LeSean McCoy hamstring injury is it forces Taylor to do more. Going against New England, T-Mobile needs to bring his A-game with a lack of running game. He’s put up 20+ points in back to back appearances.

• My Pick

  • Jameis Winston ($5,700) – Famous Jameis got back on track last week throwing three touchdowns and now faces the Raiders in Tampa. They held Blake Bortles in check, but Bortles stinks so I trust Winston to hook up with Mike Evans for points. A home matchup against the defense giving up the 6th most points to quarterbacks is a great spot.

Running Backs

• Top Shelf

  • David Johnson ($7,700) – The beast that is DJ continues to roll through his competition week in and week out. Even against the Seahawks in a game where nobody scored a touchdown, Johnson still got his and put up 28 points. That’s impressive
  • Christine Michael ($7,300) – CMike didn’t have the same success that DJ did Sunday night, but he will be rewarded with the New Orleans defense in Week 8. That’s as good a matchup as you could possibly ask for. Thomas Rawls is still out, allowing Michael to handle pretty much all the carries.
  • Ezekiel Elliott ($7,200) – Zeke comes fresh off of a bye week and has run for 130+ yards in four straight. You know he will be fed the ball a lot Sunday and has arguable the highest floor among fantasy RBs aside from DJ.

• Retail Price

  • Spencer Ware ($6,800) – Ware asserted himself as the guy in Kansas City over Jamaal Charles and ran away with it (pun intended) against New Orleans. He faces the almost as bad Colts run defenses where he should feast all day.
  • Matt Forte ($6,400) – Forte had another explosion after receiving 30 carries for the second time while once again scoring over 30 points. With both Ryan Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith dealing with injuries/sucking, Forte has been the feature of the offense. He could do the same to the Browns if he’s featured yet again.

• Bang For Your Buck

  • Latavius Murray ($4,500) – Murray returned from injury last week and plunged two into the end zone. He got the lions share with 18 carries and hopefully continues to run away (another pun intended) with the touches. The Bucs are suspect to defending the run, making Murray an interesting play for flexibile lineups.
  • Devontae Booker ($3,700) – With the news that CJ Anderson is out, Booker finds himself in the drivers seat against a very bad Chargers run defense. Booker had 17 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown last week against Houston. Imagine what he could do with a full workload against San Diego.

• My Pick

  • Jacquizz Rodgers ($5,800) – With Doug Martin out again in Week 8, Rodgers has the backfield to himself once again in Tampa. He’s been great in his featured role getting 26 and 30 carries in back to back games. He’s broken the 100 yard mark both times but has yet to find the end zone while still putting up 20+ points. The Raiders have a bad run defense that Rodgers can exploit for another big game. (A+ shirt game btw)

Wide Receivers

• Top Shelf

  • Julio Jones ($9,600) – Julio had himself a big game despite not recording a touchdown. Now he gets another juicy play against the depleted Packers secondary that is basically throwing undrafted free agents out there to cover this beast. The last time Julio played Green Bay? 11-259-1 stat line.
  • Mike Evans ($8,100) – Evans is the model of consistency this year at the receiver spot and did not disappoint as last week’s pick. His targets and production go up in Vincent Jackson‘s departure. He should have no problem torching the Raiders defense.

• Retail Price

  • Doug Baldwin ($6,900) – Baldwin and the Seahawks have struggled offensively as of late. The best cure for an ailing offense is a spoonful of Saints defense. The matchup is just too good here for Dougie Fresh.
  • Randall Cobb ($6,400) – With Jordy Nelson likely to be shadowed by Desmond Trufant, that opens up plenty of opportunities for Cobb along with other Packers receivers. Green Bay has no real running back, leading me to believe that Rodgers is gonna throw just as much as he did against Chicago.

• Bang For Your Buck

  • Ty Montgomery ($5,300) – Montgomery has become a staple in the Packers offense. Whether it be in the backfield, or in the receiving game, Ty has carved himself a spot as a must start fantasy option.
  • Michael Thomas ($5,000) – Thomas has not only been the most surprising receiver for the Saints, he’s probably also been the best. The only real reason to consider him here is the game is in the dome and Brees will have to spread the ball around while facing a tough Seahawks secondary. All while coming at a low price.
  • Marquise Goodwin ($3,600) – After Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods both suffered injuries and have been on the sidelines, Goodwin has assumed that #1 role for Buffalo. With McCoy likely out or severly limited this week, Buffalo will look to throw. ***UPDATE*** – Goodwin did not practice Thursday and has yet to clear a concussion test. He’s all but guaranteed not to play, so look for either Woods ($4,000) or Justin Hunter ($3,100) to step up.

• My Pick

  • TY Hilton ($7,900) – TY Hilton has seen his numbers skyrocket this season after Donte Moncrief‘s injury. He’s been getting double digit targets every week, and always is a threat for a huge 50+ yard touchdown. Now playing at home against the Chiefs who were just torched by Drew Brees, Hilton has a great shot at exploding once again.

Tight Ends

• Top Play

  • Jimmy Graham ($6,100) – Graham traveling back to New Orleans to face his former team with a shitty defense that traded him away? Yes please.

• Bargain Plays

  • Jack Doyle ($3,500) – The legend of Jack “The Beanstalk” Doyle continues to grow each week. The absence of Dwayne Allen has really helped boost his production, but we like to think it’s the positive reinforcement from here at RSJ that makes Doyle the low swinging hammer in Indy.
  • CJ Fiedorowicz ($2,800) – CJ has really built a rapport with god awful QB Brock Osweiler this year, and becomes an intriguing cheap option for teams needing flexibility. He faces the Lions at home who just gave up 300 yards to Kirk Cousins.

Defenses

• Top Play

  • Denver Broncos ($3,700) – As you know, Denver is a very good defense. Playing at home in a revenge game against San Diego could yield top results.

• Bargain Plays

  • Philadelphia Eagles ($3,200) – I don’t know how they do it, but the Eagles defense seems to score a touchdown every week. Those seven points off turnovers are often enough to get the job done
  • Dallas Cowboys ($3,000) – Here’s my sneaky play of the week. The Cowboys are a very underrated defense, and control the tempo/clock with their offense. They play in a huge divisional matchup against the Carson Wentz led Eagles. You know Dallas will be fired up, they could take advantage of Wentz’ lack of experience.