October 29, 2016

Here are Renee Miller's DraftKings daily fantasy football lineup picks for Week 8 for the NFL season. If you are playing on DraftKings, build your lineups with her DFS sleepers & FLEX values.

It’s easy to let your DraftKings FLEX spot be left up to the amount of salary remaining after you fill out the rest of the squad. That’s the ‘flex-by-default’ strategy. The purpose of this Week Eight DraftKings DFS article is to help you avoid it. You can and should use the FLEX spot to strengthen and diversify your daily league lineups for Week 8 of the NFL season.

A couple of thoughts: 1) You don’t have to spend all the salary cap. A better player in a better situation may force you to leave a few hundred salary cap dollars on the table. Force yourself to roster the best lineup, even if it fails to use the whole cap. 2) As a scientist, I like to use players for which I can build a case based on multiple pieces of evidence. I look at things like opportunities, efficiency, opponent and game flow to start my research. I want as many players that are positive in all categories as I can fit. Having an idea of the players I want before I work with salaries helps me with #1 too.

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Week 8 DraftKings FLEX Options - Daily Fantasy Football Picks

Use this list as your flex cheat sheet; if a player is on here, there’s good reason to roster him in your last spot.

I assume that you have $6,500 or less to work with for this final spot on the roster. I also assume you’ll arrange accordingly so that the player with the latest game start is in the flex in case you should need to swap someone out.

Safe Options - Week 8 DraftKings Lineup Picks

Ty Montgomery $5,300: Hard to believe Montgomery is listed as a safe play but at his recent usage rate and price it’s hard not to. Green Bay is in the same dire RB situation as they were last week when Montgomery rushed for 60 yards and caught 10 passes. His versatility lining up as both RB and WR affords him unique opportunity for volume other players can’t touch. Atlanta is the favorite, but they allow almost as many points per game as they score. They also rank fourth in fantasy points allowed to QB and sixth to running backs, suggesting the Packers will be able to move the ball through Montgomery in a variety of ways.

Michael Thomas $5,000: Yes, again. His price is too low on both sites given the role he’s playing in this offense. While defenses are forced to cover Brandin Cooks and Coby Fleener in addition to the star rookie, Thomas has been able to come away with 26 of his 38 targets over the last four games (36/47 on the season). I expect more of the same against another good defense, Seattle. Drew Brees will throw a lot at home as he always does, and Thomas will see one-on-one coverage he can beat often enough to reach value.

Devonta Freeman $6,500: I think we all want as many pieces of this game as we can get in Week 8 DFS. With Tevin Coleman looking somewhere between questionable and doubtful to play Sunday, Freeman would be in line to pick up the slack, and frankly, he’s been valuable without the extra work. I like him if Coleman is active, love him if Coleman is out. If you’re worried about the Packers defense, remember that Ezekiel Elliott was fine against them, and that their great defensive ranking against the run comes mainly against less talented backs/teams.

Upside Options - Week 8 DraftKings Lineup Picks

Jacquizz Rodgers $5,800: He could have easily gone in the safe section, with 30 and 26 carries the past two weeks, but against Oakland’s sieve of a run defense, he has enough upside at this price to include here. He’ll be popular but with emerging value at the position, not too popular to avoid in tournaments.

James White $4,800: If you really want to differentiate your lineup, think about James White, who has been really elevated since Tom Brady’s return. His last four weeks on DraftKings: 11, 27, 12, 11 fantasy points. In a game where I expect the Patriots to dominate, both White and LeGarrette Blount could have significant upside.

Stefon Diggs $5,600: I can’t quit Diggs, and it’s a real problem… I like taking receivers against the Bears secondary, because although they’re actually okay in limiting the upside of opposing QBs, they have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing receivers. Cordarrelle Patterson will almost certainly enjoy higher ownership in slates including the Monday night game, so I love Diggs as a lineup differentiator. He has been productive in the past, and being another week removed from the groin strain that plagued him earlier this season can only help him and Sam Bradford pick apart the Bears on primetime.

Value Options - Week 8 DraftKings Lineup Picks

Devontae Booker $3,700: I was high on Booker based on his upward trajectory over the past 2-3 weeks even before it was reported that C.J. Anderson would be dealing with a knee injury for the next few games. Booker is almost a must-play at this price against a generous Chargers run defense (seventh-most fantasy points to running backs this year).

Mike Gillislee $3,800: Hopefully it’s as hard for the Buffalo Bills to trust LeSean McCoy as it will be for fantasy players. If McCoy is ruled out with his re-injured hamstring this weekend, I think they’ll turn heavily to Gillislee. He boasts an above-average yards per carry (6.2 in 2016, 5.7 career YPC). The receiving situation is as bad or worse for Buffalo with Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, and Marquise Goodwin all battling various injuries, so Buffalo will have to look to beat New England up on the ground in Week 8.