Week 8 FanDuel NFL DFS: Josh Allen in the Contrarian Stack
DFS

Week 8 FanDuel NFL DFS: Josh Allen in the Contrarian Stack

Geoff Ulrich offers the Week 8 FanDuel NFL DFS Picks, highlighting players to target like Josh Allen, Derrick Henry, Jake Ferguson and more.

With TNF over, it’s time to focus on the Sunday DFS slate for Week 8 and take a shot at some of the monster prize pools available across the DFS industry.

What are we looking at today?

Week 8 NFL Picks for FanDuel GPPs and the Sunday Million

FanDuel awards bonuses now at 100+ yards (3 points passing/receiving/rushing), but their 0.5 PPR setting does make TDs more valuable and receptions less so—something to keep in mind.

The plays and salaries listed here will be specific to FanDuel and their salary cap contests.

However, since we’re also relying on the FantasyLife+ projections, tools and advice, the specific game matchups and correlations (aka–game stacks) are things you can apply to lineup building across the DFS industry.And if you'd like to get FantasyLife+ FREE for a year, all you have to do is download Comet.

If you'd like my favorite plays and GPP targets that are specific to DraftKings, you can also find them here.

Let’s get started. Week 8 FanDuel picks are here.

Week 8 FanDuel GPP Contrarian Stack

Josh Allen (9000), with Khalil Shakir (6000) / Keon Coleman (5500)

The Bills are set as -7.0 favorites, but may have a tougher time with Carolina than people realize. The Panthers have been running the ball well with Rico Dowdle, who managed 4.6 YPC on 17 carries last week and vastly outproduced Chuba Hubbard (14 carries, 2.2 YPC). We should see tons of Dowdle again, who will face off against a Bills rush defense that ranks just 30th in EPA per rush on defense.

If the Panthers gain traction on the ground, that should also pave the way for more dropbacks by Josh Allen, who is likely to be far less rostered than many other top QBs on this slate. At $9,000, he’s not cheap but faces a Panthers defense that has done well at limiting big plays to opposing RBs (first in success rate vs the run). It’s a spot where we could see Allen drop back 40+ times and potentially pace to a ceiling game if the Panthers and Dowdle make inroads on offense.

Stacking-wise, this is also a great time to look to the Bills' passing game in GPPs, as the targets should be condensed this week due to injuries. Curtis Samuel and Dalton Kincaid are both questionable, and Josh Palmer has already been ruled out. Khalil Shakir, who has averaged 6.33 targets over the last three games, should have a great shot at outperforming, and I also like this as a spot for Keon Coleman to find a big play or two. George Pickens, another bigger outside receiver, took this secondary apart for 168 yards and a TD two weeks ago, and Coleman, while not as consistent, has shown what he can do with more targets already, when he posted 112 yards and a TD in Week 1 vs Baltimore.

Week 8 FanDuel “Big-Brain” Value Stack

C.J. Stroud (7000) and Jaylin Noel (4500), Woody Marks (6100)

It’s certainly risky, but if you’re looking for a cheap QB-WR for Week 8, the Texans' pair of C.J. Stroud and Jaylin Noel has potential to return some great value. The 49ers' secondary is limited from a talent perspective and has now allowed 7.9 yards per attempt to opposing QBs the last three weeks, and ranks just 23rd in EPA per dropback.

Noel may act as the primary target for Stroud this week, with their top two WRs in Christian Kirk (hamstring) and Nico Collins (concussion) already ruled out for this week. The rookie had a breakout game vs the Seahawks in Week 7, and his speed and ability to separate give him something the Texans clearly have been lacking with Tank Dell (knee) still out.

Woody Marks posted 5 targets, 4 receptions, 20 yards and a TD as a receiver in Week 7, and may also be asked to play a larger role again in Week 8. He’d make for a great contrarian way to stack Stroud and give you a shot at cornering the market on all the Texans' scores. The Texans’ offense didn’t look great last week, but the 49ers did allow an average of 26.33 points against between Weeks 4-6, so there is some underrated DFS potential with this offense in Week 8.

Week 8 FanDuel Core Targets

  1. Jake Ferguson (7000)

He’s not cheap by any means, but Ferguson has every shot at outperforming again this Sunday. Denver’s pass rush and elite corners should push lots of dump-offs to Ferguson, who has gone for 7+ receptions in four of his last five games. Both Daniel Bellinger and Theo Johnson went for 60+ yards vs Denver last week on just 3 catches.

On the other side of this game, Dallas has also allowed a league-worst 12 TDs to the position and has been typically terrible vs opposing teams' WR1s. Tetairoa McMillan (2 TDs), Garrett Wilson (TD) and Romeo Doubs (3 TDs) all acted as their team's primary targets vs the Cowboys and put up monster fantasy days, making this an equally great spot for Courtland Sutton, who has seen 10 targets in two of Denver’s last three games.

      2. Derrick Henry (8000)

Henry exploded for 122 yards on the ground in his last start and will face a Bears defense that has gotten back some reinforcements of late, but is still just 23rd in success rate vs the rush. With Henry’s price still low and the 0.5 PPR scoring on FanDuel being in his favor, building GPP lineups around him (and potentially fading a popular Lamar Jackson) has a lot of appeal this week.

I also love this spot to deploy Colston Loveland as a comeback play with Henry. He played 91% of the snaps last week when Cole Kmet left the game and the Ravens have been vulnerable all season vs TEs, allowing the eighth-most FP per game to the position.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Josh Allen
    JoshAllenQ
    QBBUFBUF
    PPG
    17.29
  2. Derrick Henry
    DerrickHenry
    RBBALBAL
    PPG
    10.03
  3. C.J. Stroud
    C.J.Stroud
    QBHOUHOU
    PPG
    11.00
  4. Rico Dowdle
    RicoDowdle
    RBCARCAR
    PPG
    6.37