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 (High-Priced Heroes), the average-priced contributors (He’s so “Mid”), and the guys very questionable players at the bottom of the cost charts (Bargain Basement). Yes, for our longtime readers, we did change the titles of our tiers. 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 7 Recap
You can accurately describe week seven as a throwback spot for DFS in a lot of ways, at least when you look at the big winners. Guys like Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce carried teams in a way they haven’t done this season, but have done plenty of times throughout their careers. We had some of these guys pegged in our article, so hopefully you mixed and matched the right selections, as we honestly did not. We were loaded up on Geno Smith, and despite a somewhat fast start, he ended up with a pretty mediocre day, all things considered. Our Star of the Week, Brian Robinson, Jr. didn’t do a whole lot to help the cause, although he did punch in a touchdown to at least have his own average performance, rather than a complete dud. After a fast start to the DFS year, we’ve sputtered the last two weekends a bit. Can’t win them all, although we’re gonna keep trying.
These Players Made Us Look Good:
Patrick Mahomes – 424 Yards Passing, 29 Yards Rushing, 4 Total TDs
Mark Andrews – 63 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
Kenneth Walker III – 105 Yards Rushing, 3 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
Stefon Diggs – 65 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Kareem Hunt – 36 Yards Rushing, 2 Total TDs
These Players Made Us Look Foolish:
Cooper Kupp – 29 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
Cole Kmet – 0 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
Sam Howell – 249 Yards Receiving, 15 Yards Rushing, 0 Total TD
Tyler Lockett – 38 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
NFL Week 8 Preview
Plenty of options at every position with a full card of games for Sunday afternoon. This feels like a week where you’re going to need to pay up for the quarterback position, unless you have faith and want to take a shot with some of the guys at the bottom of the salary. If you spend at QB, it’s going to be really tricky to maneuver a lineup without taking a lot of shots at sleepers at the other positions. Truthfully, it’s a difficult week with the middle of the pack and lower end players in a lot of cases. Since you can’t roster all elite talent, that’s going to make for a lot of different lineups across contests. We do have one middle salaried player we’ll have in any lineup we play though, and he’s listed as our star.
Before we highlight our three levels of talent, let’s look at our projected star of the week:
STAR OF THE WEEK:
As mentioned above, the Chiefs had an old school Kansas City performance that saw Patrick Mahomes sling it all over Arrowhead Stadium. Mahomes and the offense will be licking their chops when they face the Denver Broncos on Sunday, a team that was on a historically bad defensive pace through the first third of the season. Sure, Mahomes could duplicate his performance again, and will likely have another nice game, but we’re looking at the running back in this game. Isaiah Pacheco has settled in nicely as the featured running back in the offense, as he’s averaged 15 carries since week two, with the lowest being a dozen in that week two contest. He’s also seen an increase in his targets in the passing game as the Chiefs still look for some help in the receiving game. This week he’ll take aim at the defense that ranks dead last against opposing running backs in fantasy football, and a team the Chiefs have owned in recent years. At a salary of $6,100 he seems like the perfect piece to start constructing a roster with. For players who aren’t truly the best of the best, you don’t want to set expectations too high, but we’re swinging big with Pacheco this week. If he doesn’t go for 100 yards, and score at least one touchdown, if not two, it would feel like a disappointing game. Can Pacheco be a 20+ point performer this week, you better believe it.
Quarterbacks:
Lamar Jackson – $8,100 vs. Cardinals
Tua Tagovailoa – $7,700 vs. Patriots
Running Backs:
Christian McCaffrey – $9,200 vs. Bengals
Travis Etienne, Jr. – $7,200 vs. Steelers
Wide Receivers:
Tyreek Hill – $9,500 vs. Patriots
A.J. Brown – $8,000 vs. Commanders
Tight Ends:
Travis Kelce – $8,400 vs. Broncos
Darren Waller – $5,200 vs. Jets
Defense / Special Teams:
Philadelphia Eagles – $4,300 vs. Commanders
Quarterbacks:
Dak Prescott – $6,100 vs. Rams
Brock Purdy – $5,600 vs. Bengals
Running Backs:
Isaiah Pacheco – $6,100 vs. Broncos
Breece Hall – $5,900 vs. Giants
Wide Receivers:
Christian Kirk – $5,900 vs. Steelers
Nico Collings – $5,500 vs. Panthers
Tight Ends:
Jake Ferguson- $3,600 vs. Rams
Tyler Higbee – $3,300 vs. Cowboys
Defense / Special Teams:
Seattle Seahawks – $3,400 vs. Browns
Quarterbacks:
Sam Howell – $5,200 vs. Eagles
Kenny Pickett – $4,900 – vs. Jaguars
Running Backs:
Dameon Pierce – $5,300 vs. Panthers
Cam Akers – $4,800 vs. Packers
Wide Receivers:
Kendrick Bourne – $4,700 vs. Dolphins
Curtis Samuel – $4,200 vs. Eagles
Tight Ends:
Hayden Hurst – $2,900 vs. Texans
Tre McBride – $2,700 vs. Ravens
Defense / Special Teams:
Jacksonville Jaguars – $2,800 vs. Steelers
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! 
