Daily Fantasy Football Picks for Week 8 - Draftster

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We have our general picks for Week 7.

This piece will examine some Draftster-specific value as this site tends to quickly adjust prices quickly and severely. This is great news for you as identifying players who are priced as punts is a money-making venture for you. Here we go.
 

Quarterbacks

Joe Flacco - $6300
Our system loves the dollar value on Flacco in a week when separating strong quarterback play from the prices is relatively difficult. He isn’t necessarily a boom or bust guy, though he did boom in a big way last two weeks ago against the Bucs. That won’t happen often/ ever again, but he does offer fairly consistent production and this week faces off against a Bengal team allowing more than 270 yards per game through the air to opposing quarterbacks. The Bengals are struggling and though the Ravens have found some consistency in their run game (see below) I’m still buying Flacco priced well into the second tier.

Ryan Tannehill - $7400
Very much falls into the same category for me as Flacco. He’s a guy who won’t necessarily hit the stratosphere in terms of his production, but his week-to-week consistency is just turning into a real thing. Averaging about 240 yards per week through the air along with just a hair under 2 TDs per contest, Tannehill faces a Jags team that shows no real interest in defending the pass. Or even pretending to. It’s sad. Jacksonville allows more the 270 yards per game passing and if you are looking for a quarterback to exceed his season average to date, this might just be the guy.

Obviously consider Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers if you can save enough in other spots.
 

Running Backs

Justin Forsett - $6700
Forsett is an odd pick for me. On the one hand, the fact that he gets a majority of the touches out of the Ravens’ backfield should mean he’s rather safe at this price. On the other hand, it doesn’t feel as if his ceiling is as high as other running backs in the same range simply because the red zone and goal line carries aren’t there as long as Bernard Pierce is in the picture. Forsett faces off against a Bengal defense getting absolutely shredded by the run. They’ve allowed close to 150 yards/ game on the ground and show no real willingness to tackle opposing running backs. That bodes well for the Raven ground attack in general and especially Forsett. But as long as he’s off the field when Baltimore gets close to the end zone, I’m always going to be a little worried about his top end value.

Tre Mason - $3200
This is mostly if you believe he will see anywhere close to his usage from last week. If the answer is yes then you almost need to start him this time around. He’s coming at the minimum for a dude who saw 18/85 against one of the better run defenses in the league. Seattle had been allowing only 80 yards a game total to opposing teams. Mason picked up chunks of yards against them and this time around he faces a Chief team ranked below average against the run. Jeff Fisher’s quotes vis-a-vis Zack Stacy aren’t encouraging, but I don’t necessarily buy into it. The idea of Stacy getting more than 20 carries this week after Mason’s success seem delusional at best and a fireable offense at worst. Monitor it leading into game time, but at the minimum salary this is looking like a fantastic punt play.

Consider Andre Ellington

Wide Receivers

Reggie Wayne - $3100
If he’s playing this price is a complete mistake. Look, gone are the days of Reggie Wayne as a certified WR1, but he’s priced at the basement for a guy still seeing plenty of looks from Andrew Luck’s deep, smoky, captivating eyes. There is a bit of injury concern coming out of last week, but he’s averaging about nine targets a game in one of the league’s most potent offenses. He simply can’t be a minimum salary guy. Playing him helps you get slightly worse pts/$ from a top end receiver like Jordy Nelson or Julio Jones. Those two guys aren’t players I’m looking to squeeze into lineups per se, but if I can get exceptional value on Reggie Wayne-types then I’m more than happy overspending in other areas.

Andrew Hawkins - $4000
I gave you Hawkins last week in our Draftster picks as a near minimum guy who stood to see enough targets to reasonably pay off his price. He was coming off a game in which he saw zero after being the Browns’ most targeted WR by a large margin leading into that game. He came back and more than paid, seeing nine targets and reestablishing himself as WR1 in the Cleveland offense. Granted, they are a run heavy team so some excitement must be tempered, but at a $4000 price tag he’s a solid play in a cash format simply because his usage should outpace the salary. That he saw nine targets in a game with Jordan Cameron playing is super encouraging going forward.

Consider RileyCooper and Jordan Matthews

Tight Ends

Jimmy Graham - $5500
This pick comes with some obvious risk. His price is significantly deflated because he put up a zero in the Saints’ last game. He was a somewhat surprise start because of the injury and saw about half of the snaps in the game, mostly as a decoy. If that trend were to continue into this week, Graham at a reduced salary will still be a lead weight for your squad. On the flip side, no other player has a chance to outstrip his salary tag on Draftster more than Graham. If a reduced role and a lighter practice schedule has him at say, 80% going into this game then he is a must start at $5500. I’d monitor going into gametime, but if it looks like he gets more snaps then I’d play him and hold my breath.

Jason Witten - $3200
Jermaine Gresham - $3200
If I’m not rolling Jimmy G. out there then I’m almost definitely punting tight end on Draftster this week. Both of these guys offer that kind of opportunity. Witten sees just enough targets on a game-to-game basis (about five per) that he keeps his floor out of the basement. For the minimum I think you can live with that kind of production even if his role is dramatically reduced from the Witten on old.

Gresham on the other hand saw a huge bump in targets and receptions last week against the Colts. Part of this was Indy almost totally removing Sanu from the picture and those attempts has to go somewhere. Gresham was the benefactor and he paid his number and then some. This is dependent a bit on A.J. Green’s status leading into game time. If Green plays I’d pivot a bit off of Gresham, but if A.J. sits again (as I suspect he will) then getting a targeted TE for the minimum is an excellent proposition.