Daily fantasy football continues to climb in popularity as jackpots have risen consistently and more fans are joining sites every week. Our weekly article showcases players to target at three general levels of value: The big dollar talent (Heavy Hitters), the average-priced contributors (Average Athletes), and the guys very questionable players at the bottom of the cost charts (Sneaky Sleepers). Our selected players are based on DraftKings values as that is our daily fantasy site of choice, but the values should translate fairly well to any other sites you may use. We don’t share specific lineups or optimized computer rankings, but we will give you some great candidates for you to consider. We set this breakdown up that way because while winning is great, a big part of the fun draw of daily fantasy is mixing and matching your lineups to see how you can maximize your team. That and the fact that we are trying to win the same way that you are, and quite frankly, we don’t want our readers to all have the same exact lineups.

NFL Week 8 Recap

Week 8 wasn’t particularly good to us with our bets or our DFS plays as we gave back some of the big winnings from week number 7. For the first time all season we whiffed on our Star of the Week as Kareem Hunt could not crack the century mark or find the end zone despite having a strong matchup and a game that was made for running. Where we did find success was pairing up Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams who basically were the only bright spots for the Packers in their unexpected stumble against the Vikings.

We spent the money on Travis Kelce at tight end and he didn’t disappoint. The tight end that actually did disappoint however, was Johnnu Smith as really the entire Titans offense stalled a bit in a game they should have scored at will. The position that helped us the most was nabbing the inexpensive Dolphins defense that had a monstrous performance beating up Jared Goff and the Rams offense. Overall, we whiffed on some players, listed below. Time to get re-focused for week number nine.

Who Made Us Look Brilliant?

• Aaron Rodgers – 291 Yards Passing, 9 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
• Davante Adams – 53 Yards Passing, 3 Total TDs
• Travis Kelce – 108 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
• Miami Dolphins DST – 17 Points Allowed, 2 INT, 2 FR, 1 Total TD

Who Made Us Look Foolish?

• Clyde Edwards-Helaire – 21 Yards Rushing, 10 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
• Cole Beasley – 24 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD

NFL Week 8

STAR OF THE WEEK:

There are some seriously juicy players that are poised for massive production so there are a bunch of guys you’re going to have to debate between, or play a lot of contests. Even just at the QB position you’ve got Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, and Matthew Stafford. Last week’s hero Dalvin Cook is also set up for another nice game as is DeAndre Hopkins. Even though we missed a bit with our Star of the Week in Kareem Hunt, we’re not taking the easy route with one of the guys listed above, we’re going to take a bit of a swing with someone not as obvious that is in line for some work. The Steelers James Conner is quietly having a really good season despite the fact we faded him last week against the Ravens. He didn’t put up a lot of fantasy points against Baltimore, however he still had nearly 20 touches. This week’s matchup is with the team that just flat out cannot stop anyone, on the ground or in the air. Conner should have plenty of success against the Cowboys, and assuming the Steelers can build a lead, get a lot of totes. He’ll probably lose some second-half work to his mates in the backfield, but overall he is set up for a successful game.

Normally the key to DFS is really to find the right sleepers, but this weekend is probably going to play out a little differently. You’ll really need to try to decipher where you want to spend your money, again, particularly at the QB position. Here are the players that’ll end up on our rosters:

PLAYERS WE’RE TARGETING:

Quarterbacks:

Russell Wilson – $7,600 vs. Bills
Deshaun Watson – $7,100 vs. Jaguars

Running Backs:

Dalvin Cook – $8,200 vs. Lions
James Conner – $6,900 vs. Cowboys

Wide Receivers:

Stefon Diggs – $7,400 vs. Seahawks
Julio Jones – $7,200 vs. Broncos

Tight Ends:

T.J. Hockenson – $5,100 vs. Vikings
Noah Fant – $4,600 vs. Falcons

Defense / Special Teams:

Washington Football Team – $3,400 vs. Giants

Quarterbacks:

Justin Herbert – $6,800 vs. Raiders
Matt Ryan – $6,400 vs. Broncos

Running Backs:

Clyde Edwards-Helaire – $6,100 vs. Panthers
David Johnson – $5,600 vs. Jaguars

Wide Receivers:

Justin Jefferson – $6,100 vs. Lions
Chase Claypool – $5,700 vs. Cowboys

Tight Ends:

Darren Fells – $4,200 vs. Jaguars
Hayden Hurst – $4,100 vs. Falcons

Defense / Special Teams:

Arizona Cardinals – $2,900 vs. Dolphins

Quarterbacks:

Derek Carr – $5,700 vs. Chargers
Nick Foles – $5,500 – Titans

Running Backs:

D’Andre Swift – $5,000 vs. Vikings
Justin Jackson – $4,900 vs. Raiders

Wide Receivers:

Marvin Jones, Jr. – $5,100 vs. Vikings
Laviska Shenault, Jr. – $4,200 vs. Texans

Tight Ends:

Jimmy Graham – $3,800 vs. Titans
Greg Olsen – $3,100 vs. Bills

Defense / Special Teams:

Atlanta Falcons – $2,500 vs. Broncos

If you play Daily Fantasy Football, we love talking sports and we’d love to hear your take and who you like each week. Find us on Twitter @TheBetCrushers and let us know. Good luck and enjoy the weekend!