Yahoo NFL Week 8 DFS Picks

Welcome to the weekly Yahoo DFS picks article. The whole point of this article is to find the best plays to fit in your $200 team budget on the Yahoo main slate each week. Sometimes that means paying up, sometimes it means finding value, and sometimes it means taking some dart throws. Let’s dive in.

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Quarterbacks

Josh Allen vs. MIA – $39
Allen is the most expensive quarterback on the slate for good reason. The Bills are big favorites against Miami and have a 31.5 point team implied total, the highest on the slate. Allen has accounted for 17-of-22 total touchdowns for Buffalo so far this season. He could put up four total touchdowns in the game and rack up huge fantasy points along to way.

Jalen Hurts @ DET – $33
It doesn’t matter how ugly it is, as long as Hurts remains the starter in Philly, he needs to be in DFS lineup consideration. He’s the overall QB2 on the season and hasn’t finished outside of the top ten yet. He’s a rock-solid cash play, but also has the ceiling to get you to the top of tournaments.

Jameis Winston vs. TB – $28
With Winston’s former team coming to the Superdome this weekend, we’ve got a full-blown revenge narrative. He could be forced to air it out against a Tampa Bay team that’s seen the second-most pass attempts and allowed the most completions in the NFL this season. Winston has already had two games with at least four passing touchdowns this season, and he could be in line for his third this week.

Matt Ryan vs. CAR – $24
Ryan is by far my favorite discount quarterback this week, and I especially like him in tournaments. He’s one of just three quarterbacks, along with Tom Brady and Justin Herbert, averaging at least 40 pass attempts/game this season. His arsenal of pass-catchers is heating up now that Calvin Ridley has returned and Kyle Pitts is coming into his own. Cordarrell Patterson and Russell Gage have also made their fair share of plays lately. You can bet Ryan and his pass-catchers are going to appear in my DFS stacking article this week.

Playing on DraftKings or FanDuel also? Make sure to check out the DK and FD studs article for Week 8!

Running Backs

Joe Mixon @ NYJ – $29
Mixon is the RB11 on the season, the Bengals are double-digit point favorites, and the Jets give up the most fantasy points to running backs on average this season. Everything is lining up for a monster week from Mixon, and his moderate salary makes it relatively easy to find room for him in your DFS lineup.

Najee Harris @ CLE – $25
Harris is a volume hog, and one of the safest cash game plays you can find. He’s dominating the Steelers backfield with an 88% team rush share and doubling down on usage with a 20% target share. The matchup with Cleveland is better than it appears at first glance. The Browns have given up just the 25th most fantasy points to running backs, but that metric has increased to tenth most over the last three weeks.

Darrell Henderson @ HOU – $23
Henderson is in a similar situation as Joe Mixon this week and at a lower salary. The Rams have nearly a 31 point implied team total and are massive 14 point favorites. As the clear leader of the backfilled, Henderson could be in for a big day.

D’Andre Swift vs. PHI – $22
Yahoo refuses to list Swift at the salary he deserves. He’s the RB3 in all of fantasy football this season, but he has just the 14th highest salary among running backs on the main slate. The matchup isn’t anything to be afraid of either, as the Eagles give up the third-most fantasy points to running backs.

Zach Moss vs. MIA – $18
He’s far from a sure thing, but if anybody other than Josh Allen is going to be responsible for a Bills touchdown this week, Moss is likely the guy. As massive 13.5 point home favorites, he has a better chance than usual to score.

Kenneth Gainwell @ DET – $17
Boston Scott @ DET – $13
Miles Sanders is highly questionable to suit up this week with his ankle injury, and both Eagle backups are intriguing DFS options. Gainwell played more snaps and saw more receiving work when Sanders exited last week, but Scott got more carries, including a goal-line carry that he converted to a touchdown. 

Myles Gaskin @ BUF – $14
Salvon Ahmed @ BUF – $10
Gaskin has been up and down, but his salary is far too cheap. Even in a tough matchup, Gaskin is likely to lead the Miami backfield and get passing-game work, which is how he did his damage in Week 5 against Tampa Bay when he finished as the RB5. It’s also worth considering Ahmed in tournaments at his minimum salary. He’s seen nine opportunities in back-to-back weeks and could see more with Malcolm Brown on injured reserve.

Mike Davis vs. CAR – $11
Four carries last week is concerning, but he averaged 12.4 carries/game in the previous five games. That’s nothing to write home about, but it will work for a running back with a near-minimum salary.

Wide Receivers

Stefon Diggs vs. MIA – $30
It’s an expensive stack, but I love pairing Diggs with Allen in tournaments this week. Miami has been torched by WRs lately, giving up the most points to the position over the last three weeks. Diggs has a 27% target share and a 36% air yard share for the Bills. Those kinds of peripheral numbers could be pointing to an explosion against the Dolphins this week.

Diontae Johnson @ CLE – $23
Chase Claypool @ CLE – $22
Johnson is as safe as it gets. He’s finished as a top-20 wide receiver in every game he’s played since Week 2. The Browns defense has been faltering lately, giving up nearly 40 fantasy points/game to the position. Chase Claypool is a riskier option, but his big-play ability puts him in play for tournaments at $1 cheaper. 

D.J. Moore @ ATL – $23
Speaking of tournaments, Moore is a wideout that warrants tournament consideration. In one of the wilder stats, Moore has scored just three touchdowns in 39 career games played in outdoor stadiums. Conversely, he’s found the end zone a ridiculous ten times in just 14 games played in a weather-controlled (dome or retractable roof) stadium. He’ll look to stay hot in the controlled environment of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium this week. 

Calvin Ridley vs. CAR – $21
As the 16th highest salaried receiver on the slate, $21 for Ridley seems like another misprice. As mentioned earlier, Matt Ryan and the Falcons are airing it out 40 times per game. Ridley is one of only seven receivers to average double-digit targets/game this season, and he’s one of the best values on the slate.

Tee Higgins @ NYJ – $16
Nobody’s going to argue that it should cost more to get Ja’Marr Chase in your lineup than Higgings, but nearly double the salary seems a bit excessive. Higgins is averaging more targets/game than his phenom rookie teammate and saw a ridiculous 179 air yards last week. Those air yards could pay off this week against the lowly Jets.

Jaylen Waddle @ BUF – $14
In yet another misprice, Waddle carries the 40th highest salary among wideouts on the slate. That’s incredible value for the wideout who leads all rookies in targets and currently sits at WR25 on the season. In fact, Waddle still has room to grow given the play-making ability he showcased at Alabama, but we haven’t seen it in the NFL yet.

Gabriel Davis vs. MIA – $12
Davis has been mostly irrelevant for the Bills this season, but that could change this week. The absence of Dawson Knox opens up 4.5 targets/game, and Davis is a candidate to soak them up. He makes a nice dart throw against Miami in tournaments.

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Tight Ends

Kyle Pitts vs. CAR – $21
We’ve seen Pitts break out over his last two games, and the pricing hasn’t adjusted yet. Over that two-game span, he’s caught 16-of-18 targets for 282 yards and a touchdown, making him the TE1 by average fantasy points over that span. His $21 salary is a steal, even as the most expensive option at the position.  

Dallas Goedert @ DET – $17
In his first game with Zach Ertz off the team, Goedert saw a season-high 93% snaps, 16% target share, and 100% of the tight end targets last week. He’s always had the talent to be one of the top tight ends in the league, and now he has the opportunity to go along with it.

Pat Freiermuth @ CLE – $11
In the absence of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Freiermuth smashed his season-high with seven targets the last time out, and he caught all of them. Coming off the bye week and with JuJu done for the season, we can expect similar usage from Freiermuth moving forward. His salary isn’t likely to stay this low much longer.

Team Defense

Tampa Bay @ NO – $14
As I mentioned in the quarterbacks sections, Jameis Winston could be forced to air it out against Tampa this week. While that means he could throw for multiple touchdowns, it also means there’s a strong chance he commits multiple turnovers, leading to more fantasy points for the Buccaneers defense that forced five turnovers from Justin Fields last week. 

Jacksonville @ SEA – $10
The Jaguars are a great option for spending down on defense this week. Usually, I wouldn’t want to roster a mediocre defense headed into Seattle, but as long as Geno Smith is at quarterback for the Seahawks, you can get away with it. He’s been sacked five times in each of his two starts and 

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