NFL 2020: DraftKings Week Eight Selections

The 2020 NFL season is well and truly underway, meaning time for some DraftKings Week Eight selections! The weeks have seen some great action on the field and some big scoring players. Hopefully, that continues for this week and beyond!

Throughout the season, I shall be providing players that I feel you should include in your lineups, with some rationale. So, let’s dig into whom I am thinking of slotting in my lineups for Week Eight!

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Aaron Rodgers ($7,600)

Rodgers, besides a bump in the road after his bye week in Tampa, has been lights out all season. The Green Bay QB has averaged 23.9 fantasy points per game this season and has been a consistent option for our lineups.

Week Eight sees Rodgers take on Minnesota once again, a team in which the Green Bay QB scored 33.76 DK points in Minneapolis on the opening week. Minnesota as a pass defense has not improved since then, ranking 29th allowing 292.5 passing yards per game on average.

Expect more of the same from Week One in this matchup at Lambeau Field in Week Eight.

Derek Carr ($5,500)

A bit like Gurley in last week’s selections, I cannot believe Carr has wormed his way into this article, but Carr is hard to ignore in a tough slate for pricing.

The Las Vegas QB has been dependable over the last three games, putting up 20+ DK points in each week. Carr travels to Ohio in Week Eight to take on a Cleveland defense that has given up a per game average of 24.1 DK points to the QB position through seven games. This average ranks eighth-worst in the league.

Derrick Henry ($8,000)

King Henry has returned for the upcoming winter months, a time in which he shows his dominance. Henry averaged 28.38 DK points per game in November and December of 2019.

The King’s first victim is Cincinnati, a team who has been consistently poor against run-heavy teams (Week Two v Cleveland and Week Six v Baltimore as examples).

With the King’s clear 20+ path to touches evident this season, this should be an excellent spot to slot him in your lineups for now and the foreseeable future.

Kareem Hunt ($6,900)

With Hunt one of my favourite plays of the slate this week, it was hard for me not to talk about the Cleveland running back here.

Hunt takes on a Las Vegas defense who are tied second with Carolina for the most DK points given up on a per game average to the running back position, at 32.9 points. With Hunt seeing twenty-one touches last week in the win over Cincinnati, as well as having a decent touchdown rate this season, Hunt is an excellent play in your lineups at this price.

Myles Gaskin ($5,200)

A lot talk down in South Beach, of course, has been centred around the new starting QB Tua Tagovailoa and Gaskin could be one of the main beneficiaries.

He has showcased his skillset with his route running and is fourth amongst his position for receptions (27) this season. Gaskin takes on a Los Angeles team who off a short week and travelling cross-coast will struggle to pull away in this one, therefore keeping the game close.

As a result, I expect Gaskin to continue to see the 20+ touches he has been seeing the last few weeks pre-bye week and be a decent flex play in your lineups.

Notable mentions: Le’Veon Bell ($4,600) – Revenge game vs New York, should see garbage time touches

Keenan Allen ($6,200)

The target share that Allen is getting is ridiculous. Allen’s 30.9% target share ranks fourth amongst his peers per PlayerProfiler. Herbert, like Taylor has taken a real liking to the Pro Bowl receiver and his transition between both that has been smooth.

Allen takes on Denver this week, who have been relatively middle of the road when it comes to defending the wide receiver this season, allowing 38.7 DK points per game to the position. So not bad against them, but certainly room for exploitation with the right matchup.

One trend to mention with Allen is his home vs away performance in 2020 so far. Allen has averaged 25.4 DK points per game at home whereas on the road the per game average is only 10.9 DK points. With Los Angeles travelling to Mile High this week, this is a factor to bear in mind when slotting him in your lineups.

At this price, Allen is worth the risk in my eyes to put in your lineups and hope he breaks this trend.

Brandon Aiyuk ($5,800)

San Francisco is the next team that gets to take on Seattle and their free pass to big games to opposition wide receivers. With Samuel pulling his hamstring in Week Seven, this opens up a significant opportunity for Aiyuk.

This will most likely be common knowledge now but just in case it is not, Seattle give up a per game average of 63.4 DK points to the wide receiver position. Aiyuk led the team in targets (7) and receptions (6) last week in his 20.5 DK performance, showing that he can maximise his efficiency with his touches and be the difference-maker.

In this more than favourable matchup, it is hard not to add Aiyuk to your lineups.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling ($3,800)

You hit gold if you took our advice on our dart throw of Diontae Johnson in Week Seven. This week, our dart throw comes in the form of the Green Bay receiver.

MVS has been a bit of a disappointment this season, most notably with his 0.9 DK point performance last week. The one week where MVS had a standout game was in Week One against Minnesota, going for 19.6 DK points. Guess who Green Bay are playing this week? That’s right, Minnesota. A secondary who has been poor all season, allowing a per game average of 49.3 DK point average to wide receivers and have just placed one of their starting corners, Cameron Dantzler on the COVID-19 list.

It is worth noting that Lazard has returned to practice this week. However, he is still on IR and needs to be activated off of it to participate on Sunday. It seems a longshot that Lazard will be ready to go, making MVS a great play in my eyes.

Darren Waller ($5,600)

With Carr’s increased volume of passing attempts, Waller being has seen plenty of targets come his way, being one of the Las Vegas QB’s primary targets. The tight end has seen twenty-seven targets over the last three games, which included a bye week in the middle of those.

Waller and Las Vegas travel to Cleveland in Week Eight. They face a thirtieth ranked passing defense, giving up 296.4 passing yards per game. This game should be a bit of a shootout, as it has been in most of Cleveland’s games this season.

With Waller being one of Carr’s key targets in the offense, I would expect similar volume in this matchup, if not more, meaning more DK points.

Jonnu Smith ($4,100)

Like the quarterback position on this slate, the tight end pricing is a tough one to get a grasp off. However, Smith seemed to be the stand-out option after going through the options several times.

His combined 4.2 points may put some off over the last two weeks. However, where others zig, we zag.

Smith is taking on Cincinnati, who the past few weeks have allowed forty-nine fantasy points to the position. Smith has been quitely allowing A.J. Brown to have his production upon his return, but it is about time Smith ‘got his’, and at this discounted price, I will put my money on Smith bouncing back.

San Francisco ($2,700)

Going back to targetting the Seattle offense again as I did in Week Seven, Arizona scored seven points last week, which was a decent return if you played them as I did.

The San Francisco defense is in form, coming off a 17 DK point performance on the road against New England and the lack of a run game for Seattle with Carson out, the potential for turnovers is plenty.

Miami ($2,400)

Miami’s defense gets to up against a Los Angeles offense who is not only coming off of a short week but also having to travel east for an early kickoff typically has its’ negative factors.

To only add to those factors, Miami’s defense was inform pre bye week. The unit had scored 12+ DK points in 3/4 games leading up to this.