NFL DFS GPP Lineup Advice: Week 8 (Main Slate)

Greetings, friends, and welcome to Week 8 of our Main Slate GPP Advice series. As always, we’ll be focused on GPP contests and players you can use to fill out your lineups while saving some of your budget. Let’s take a look at some of my favorite GPP targets for this week.

GPP means we are going to look for value and take big swings. You shouldn’t have every player below in your DFS lineups. These are players with upside to target so that you can save money to use on higher-priced studs. We are going to identify value. We are going to monitor injury situations. We are going to take some risks. And most importantly, we are going to make some money.

As a general reminder, these are how most FanDuel and DraftKings contests are formatted:

• FanDuel $60,000 salary cap, 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 DEF ($6,667 average price per position)
• DraftKings: $50,000 salary cap, 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 DEF ($5,555 average price per position)

Have questions or just want to talk football or DFS? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime.

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The players below are ones I’m looking at for large-field tournament considerations for Week 8 main slates:

Quarterbacks

FanDuel

Trevor Lawrence (JAC - QB): $6,700 vs. SEA

I also write a DFS Pricing Exploitation piece every week, and there is occasionally some overlap since we are looking for similar things. This week, Trevor Lawrence on FanDuel jumped out as someone I needed to include in both articles. The Jaguars had their bye week in Week 7 and have a somewhat favorable matchup against the Seahawks in Week 8. After throwing seven interceptions through his first three games, he has thrown just one interception over his last three games. At $6,700 on FanDuel, he is priced as QB27 this week. I have him valued just outside of QB1 numbers, so there is a wide gap there as far as I am concerned.

Jameis Winston (NO - QB): $7,400 vs. TB

Is this the Jameis Winston revenge game? Probably not. But the Buccaneers do have a vulnerable pass defense, and Winston has thrown eight touchdown passes against just one interception over his last four games. And while he hasn't thrown for more than 279 yards in any game this season, his pass attempts have increased for four games in a row. In Week 7, he threw the ball 35 times, and he may be in line for a similar workload in Week 8 given Tampa Bay's stout run defense. Volume is key here, and the Saints know they are going to have to hand the keys to Winston if they are going to have a chance to win on Sunday.

DraftKings

Jared Goff (DET - QB): $5,200 vs. PHI

This could turn out to be the GPP play of the year. This Eagles defense is one of the worst I have ever seen. They don't stop the run. They don't stop the pass. When I watch the broadcast, I'm not even sure where five or six of their defenders are on half of the plays until I watch the All-22 and see they are in different zip codes. They are off to a historically bad start to the season, especially when it comes to completion percentage. They don't have a single sack over their last two games. Goff is QB22 on DraftKings but should easily put up QB1 numbers unless this Philadelphia defense figures out some kind of identity.

Carson Wentz (IND - QB): $5,700 vs. TEN

The reports of Carson Wentz's demise were greatly exaggerated. Now that he is out of Philadelphia and both of his injured ankles are feeling better, we are starting to see the Wentz of old. He has 11 touchdown passes against one interception this season, and that one interception was way back in Week 2 against the Rams. The Titans have allowed the 7th-most points to opposing quarterbacks, and Wentz is QB11 in terms of price on DraftKings in Week 8.

Running Backs

FanDuel

Elijah Mitchell (SF - RB): $5,800 vs. CHI

Elijah Mitchell is back, folks. In Week 7, he rushed 18 times for 107 yards and a touchdown. At $5,800 in Week 8, he is, get this, RB30 on FanDuel. That is not a typo. He isn't even priced as an RB2 despite clear RB1 upside. It's really that simple. Sure, the matchup isn't ideal. But it also isn't terrible. I'm expecting another significant workload for Mitchell, especially if the 49ers are leading late in this one.

Kenneth Gainwell (PHI - RB): $5,900 vs. DET

This looks like your standard injury replacement, but Gainwell was already outperforming Miles Sanders before last week's ankle injury. The catch here is that Gainwell is likely going to split time with Boston Scott, and Jordan Howard may be activated and see some touches, as well. But Gainwell should see the majority of the work, and he has added value in PPR and Half-PPR leagues because of his pass-catching ability.

DraftKings

Darrell Henderson Jr. (LAR - RB): $6,500 vs. HOU

Another DFS Pricing Exploitation repeat. Despite this matchup against the Houston Texans, Darrell Henderson is priced as a back-end RB1 in Week 8. That's partly because he didn't produce against a bad Lions team in Week 7, but he finished as RB4 overall in Week 6 against the Giants. He received 18 touches in Week 7 and has been hovering around 20 touches per game all season. After a bit of a letdown performance against the Lions, I'm expecting the Rams to get out to an early lead and spend a lot of time running the ball in the second half of this one. Henderson should receive plenty of opportunities once again, and it's likely he finds the end zone at least once.

Chuba Hubbard (CAR - RB): $6,000 vs. ATL

DFS players and season-long managers who have been streaming Chuba Hubbard have at least one more week before Christian McCaffrey comes back. Hubbard is priced as RB15 on DraftKings in Week 8 after a down performance against the Giants, but he has an even better matchup this week in the Falcons. Take the discount on Hubbard for at least one more week.

Wide Receivers

FanDuel

Michael Pittman Jr. (IND - WR): $6,600 vs. TEN

Despite playing in some tough weather conditions against the 49ers last week, Pittman still hauled in all four of his targets for 105 yards and a touchdown. Though he has just six targets in his last two games combined, he had at least six targets in four straight games before a blowout win over the Texans and the 49ers game. He is emerging as Carson Wentz's top target, and Wentz is showing a willingness to give Pittman opportunities for contested catches. He is priced as a low-end WR2 on FanDuel, but we have seen his WR1 upside.

Stefon Diggs (BUF - WR): $7,300 vs. MIA

The Stefon Diggs price is one that jumped off the page on FanDuel this week. Sure his production hasn't been elite, and season-long fantasy managers have grown frustrated. But he caught nine of his 11 targets for 89 yards and a touchdown against the Titans in Week 6 and is coming off a bye week. Oh, and he gets a matchup against the freefalling Dolphins who are allowing a ton of points to opposing wideouts this week. He is priced as WR12 on FanDuel in Week 8 but has the potential to be the overall WR1.

DraftKings

DeVonta Smith (PHI - WR): $5,500 vs. DET

The Eagles are bad. The Lions are bad. This game is probably going to be ugly. Through seven games, DeVonta Smith has caught 32 of his 53 targets for 406 yards and one touchdown. That one touchdown came in Week 1, however, and he has not produced consistently through the first seven weeks of his rookie season. He does lead the Eagles in targets, however, and Philadelphia just lost Miles Sanders to an ankle injury. Smith is WR25 in terms of price on DraftKings this week, and that price tag and his projected volume are enough to make him an intriguing GPP play.

Jerry Jeudy (DEN - WR): $4,900 vs. WAS

Jerry Jeudy hasn't played since Week 1, and he is significantly discounted because it wasn't clear he would actually play in Week 8 until later in the week. He is WR39 on DraftKings, meaning he is practically free at $4,900. Washington has struggled to stop opposing receives this season, and Jeudy has a chance to jump right back into fantasy relevance this week.

Tight Ends

FanDuel

Tyler Higbee (LAR - TE): $5,300 vs. HOU

I almost went with Goedert here too, but he is an even better value on DraftKings than he is on FanDuel. So, we're going with Tyler Higbee instead. Higbee is TE12 on FanDuel, but I love this matchup for him. As our own Pat Fitzmaurice noted earlier this week, "Over the last four weeks, Dawson Knox, Hunter Henry, Mo Alie-Cox, and Zach Ertz have combined for five touchdowns against the Texans." Higbee has five receptions over his last two games but hasn't found the end zone since Week 5 against the Seahawks. I think that changes against the Texans, and Higbee is a great value play on FanDuel in Week 8.

DraftKings

Dallas Goedert (PHI - TE): $4,700 vs. DET

We have been talking about Dallas Goedert a bunch lately because of the Zach Ertz trade. We saw him as the TE1 last week, and he should be in for an even better day against the Lions this week. He is projected to be rostered in the 5-10% range, but his TE7 price tag makes him the perfect GPP play at this thin position.

Defense/Special Teams

FanDuel

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (TB - DST): $4,200 vs. NO

It may seem odd that we discussed Jameis Winston as a GPP play earlier in this article and are now talking about his opposing defense as a play, too. To be clear: I don't advocate starting both in the SAME GPP lineup. But remember what we said about Winston's value? Volume is key. The Saints are going to have to throw the ball on Sunday, and they are going to go as far as Winston takes them. You know that. I know that. The Saints know that. And the Bucs know that. More volume means more opportunities for Winston, but it also means more opportunities for the Tampa Bay defense to record sacks and force turnovers.

DraftKings

Buffalo Bills (BUF - DST): $3,300 vs. MIA

DraftKings made this one easy. I have the Bills D/ST projected to score the most points this week, but they are priced at D/ST7 for some reason. The roster% might be high for GPP contests because others are going to see what I am seeing: that this looks like a mistake. But that's ok. If DraftKings is going to give you one of the better defenses in football at a discount despite a good matchup and the fact that they're coming off a bye, don't question it. Take the discount and use your money elsewhere.

Want to keep the conversation going or just have a question? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime.

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Mike Maher is an editor and featured writer at FantasyPros and BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive, follow him on Twitter @MikeMaher, and visit his Philadelphia Eagles blog, The Birds Blitz.