Week 8 DFS Battle
Welcome back to Week 8 of our season-long DFS battle.
Week 7 Recap: Week 7 was one of our best performances to date, with Kendall crushing it in the Milly Maker and cashing $250 with his lineup. We also both smashed our stacks of the week, with JT going with Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett for a whopping 91.9 fantasy points on Draftkings. Kendall built his money-making team on the backs of Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, putting up a juicy 74.9 point performance. Keep following the boys as they continue to heat up.
Without further ado, here are our Week 8 lineups:
| Kendall’s Lineup | Tino’s Lineup | |
| QB | Lamar Jackson, $7,400 | Ryan Tannehill, $6,200 |
| RB | Dalvin Cook, $7,500 | Alvin Kamara, $8,200 |
| RB | Jamaal Williams, $6,100 | Le’Veon Bell, $4,600 |
| WR | Brandon Aiyuk, $5,800 | AJ Brown, $6,900 |
| WR | Marquise Brown, $6,100 | Tyreek Hill, $6,700 |
| WR | Tee Higgins, $5,600 | Keenan Allen, $6,200 |
| TE | Jonnu Smith, $4,100 | Jonnu Smith, $4,100 |
| Flex | A.J. Green, $4,500 | Denzel Mims, $3,200 |
| DST | Bears, $2,800 | Colts, $3,100 |
Stacks of the Week
KB: My stack of the week is only one for the very, very bold players out there. At first glance, it looks disgusting and if I’m being fully transparent, I’m playing this stack in a lineup this week and I don’t feel great about it. My stack of the week comes from the same game as Tino’s but I’m going to the other team with Nick Foles ($5,800) and Allen Robinson ($7,000) of the Chicago Bears. Everyone got to watch the Bears get absolutely embarrassed against the Rams in Week 7, which will help keep ownership low in this game. Not to mention, because the Bears have such a good defense and bad offense, their games are always low scoring. But there is reason to be excited for the Bears in this game.
For starters, the Saints have proven that they are one of the league’s worst defenses against opposing quarterbacks having surrendered 17 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions on the season through six games. The Saints have also allowed multiple touchdown passes in all six of their games this season. Despite Nick Foles’ struggles this season, he has as good of a matchup that you could ask for in Week 8.
Now let’s get to Allen Robinson. Although he had a quiet game against the Rams, Robinson is the team’s undisputed number one target. Since head coach Matt Nagy made the switch to Foles, Robinson has averaged 10 targets per game and 18 fantasy points. Robinson has not scored a touchdown in three consecutive weeks, but Foles has only thrown 2 touchdowns to 4 interceptions over that span.
This pick is not so much me showing faith in Foles and Bears to turn it around as it is more so me showing faith in the Saint’s defense to continue allowing a ton of points to QBs. Something’s gotta give and this is a cheap, low ownership stack for you to shoot your shot on.
Projected Ownership
Nick Foles ($5,800): 1.1%
Allen Robinson ($7,000): 3.3%
JT: My stack of the week comes purely from a scheme fit that I expect to benefit Alvin Kamara immensely. Chicago’s ability to pressure the quarterback is going to lead Brees to be checking it down to his speedy scat-back all game.
I’m expecting Kamara to leave this game with 8+ receptions, and my stack comes on the hope that it leads to at least 1 Kamara receiving TD. Kamara has 7 TDs through 6 games this year, with 3 of them coming through the air.
Having no Michael Thomas will keep Brees’ ownership down, and I’m willing to take the shot that he and Kamara move the ball throughout the air all day. I’m fully confident (as always) in Kamara, but Brees is the true defining factor for this stack. At just over 2% ownership, capitalizing on a few Brees to Kamara passing TDs would be a huge differentiator to separate yourself from the pack.
Projected Ownership
Drew Brees ($6,300): 2.2%
Alvin Kamara ($8,200): 17%
Triple Stack of the Week
KB: I am again coming at you with an unsexy stack, BUT this stack is just about the cheapest and lowest projected ownership stack that you can play this week. This week 8 matchup between the Titans and Bengals could be a juicy fantasy game (spoiler alert: just check out Tino’s triple stack). The O/U for the game came in as the 3rd highest of the slate at 54.5 points. This high projected O/U is exactly what we want in a game stack and Joe Burrow, AJ Green, and Drew Sample are the cheapest options for us to get some exposure.
For starters, let’s look at the matchup for Joe Burrow. The Titans have allowed 15 touchdowns this season which is the 3rd most of any team on the slate. The Titans also have only been able to sack the quarterback 7 times all season… to put that in perspective Burrow has been sacked 7 or more times twice this season already. Burrow could have more time to stand in the pocket than he has all season long against a defense that has allowed multiple touchdown passes in every game this season except in week 1 against Drew Lock and the Broncos.
Now onto the matchup for AJ Green. The Titans have been a friendly defense to opposing WRs. Of the teams on this week’s slate, the Titans give up the fourth most DK points per game to the position. The matchup for Green is great but it’s not the only reason that Green is such a strong play. After a shockingly slow and, quite frankly, abysmal start to the season, A.J Green has finally seemed to have gotten back on track. Although Green is a shell of himself as a player, volume is still king in fantasy football and Green is seeing plenty of targets. Over the last two weeks, Green is averaging 89 yards receiving on 12 targets per game. At $4,500 in a favorable matchup, you’re not going to find someone in this price range with the opportunity that Green has in front of him.
The last piece of this trifecta is tight end Drew Sample ($3,400). If you’re someone who likes to ‘punt’ the tight end position in your lineup, look no further than Drew Sample. The Titans are giving up 15.4 DK points per game to the position and Drew Sample is the man at TE in Cincinnati. He played on 96% of snaps last week, received 6 targets, and caught 5 balls for about 50 yards. Sample should be involved again this week and hopefully finds a way to score his first touchdown of the year. At 2% ownership, you don’t need much from Sample to help you cash your lineup.
Projected Ownership
Joe Burrow ($6,200): 8.6%
AJ Green ($4,500): 5.0%
Drew Sample ($3,400): 2.1%
JT: My triple stack of the week comes out of the music city, with Gase survivor Ryan Tannehill, AJ Brown, and Jonnu Smith. The Titans are matched up against a Cincinnati defense who has improved from last season, but has only held opponents to under 20 points one time this season. I expect Tannehill and his receiving corps to bounce back from their first loss of the year against a stingy Pittsburgh defense, and carve up the Bengals secondary.
When looking for a triple stack, you want to look on the other side of the ball and see if you believe the opposing offense will be able to score points and keep the game out of “chew clock” mode. In this situation, I believe the rookie Joe Burrow will be able to do so. Tennessee is surprisingly giving up the 7th most passing yards per game to fantasy QBs, and Burrow is far from afraid to chuck the ball around. I think Burrow’s ability to keep up will keep the Titans passing game in play during the second half, and expect Tannehill’s top 2 options to shine.
Projected Ownership
Ryan Tannehill ($6,200): 10.5%
AJ Brown ($6,900): 16.7%
Jonnu Smith ($4,100): 4.7%
Values of the Week
Tino’s Value of the Week: Denzel Mims
I’m honestly very surprised that Mims was priced this dirt cheap going into week 8.
In week 7, he made his debut and put up a stat line of 4-42 in a slow-paced game against the Bills. In a game where the Jets very likely could get 50 points put up against them, they will obviously need to pass to even attempt to keep up. With Jamison Crowder and Breshad Perriman both highly questionable going into the weekend, Mims is looking like a high volume target for Sam Darnold.
Mims has the draft capital (2nd round), has recently received high praise from dictator Adam Gase, and looked very sharp in his debut. I expect him to be one of the few bright spots for a historically poor Jets team in week 8. Hold your nose and plug him in to free up options at other positions this week.
Projected Ownership
Denzel Mims ($3,200): 3.7%
KB’s Value of the Week: Dalvin Cook
My value this week does not feel like a value. Priced at $7,500 as the third most expensive RB on the slate, Dalvin Cook is not necessarily a value… or is he? Well not until you take a look at the projected ownership. I guess the bit of uncertainty around Dalvin’s groin injury is scaring off DFS players, but I don’t get it. Maybe it’s my Vikings bias (#SKOL) Zimmer has already said that Cook is expected to play on Sunday. If that’s the case Dalvin is a must-start in my book. If you remember back in Week 6 when I made Ronald Jones II my value of the week? The same logic applies here.
Dalvin has had a couple of weeks to recover from his groin injury and should thrust right back into the bell-cow role. Somehow his ownership is only projected at 7%?! I don’t understand it particularly in a matchup against the league’s worst defense against fantasy RBs. This is the cheapest Dalvin’s DK price has been all year and he is certainly talented enough to break a slate. Don’t miss out on Dalvin, particularly if his ownership remains below 10%.
Projected Ownership
Dalvin Cook ($7,500): 7%
