With no international games or teams on bye weeks, Week 8 of the NFL season provides a rare mid-season opportunity with a massive 13-game Sunday afternoon slate. Nine games get the action off to a fast start when contests lock at 1:00 p.m. ET, followed by four games in the later wave. There are only four divisional matchups, including a few rematches from earlier this season.
With six more teams in play than last week and a total of 26 teams in the player pool, there are plenty of options to consider as you assemble your Week 8 NFL DFS squad. Of the 13 games, the highest total is the divisional matchup between the Dolphins and the Patriots. The Dolphins also edge out the Chiefs and Ravens for the highest implied team total.
Let’s take a look at a few players who stand out for Week 8, using the early projections in our NFL Player Models. Of course, these models update frequently.
Things will likely change between now and Sunday, but it’s still good to have a plan of attack.
If there’s news between now and lock — and there will be — the models will update to reflect that.
As always, they’re powered by Sean Koerner — the most accurate fantasy ranker in the industry from 2019-2021.
Finally, make sure to check out all the projections available for purchase (Chris Raybon’s come included with a FantasyLabs subscription) within the FantasyLabs Models. Subscribers now have the option to purchase Derek Carty’s THE BLITZ from our Marketplace. Projections from One Week Season and Establish the Run are available if you’re a subscriber to those specific sites (our optimizer is a separate add-on feature).
You can also combine them to create your own aggregate projections:
NFL DFS Quarterback Values
Brock Purdy ($5,600) San Francisco 49ers (-5.5) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (45 total)
Editor’s note: Purdy was placed in concussion protocol after this article was written.
After back-to-back road losses, the 49ers will hope coming home is exactly what they need to help them turn things around against the Bengals—the projections like Brock Purdy to lead the way with a strong bounce-back performance. Of the 26 quarterbacks expected to start on the main slate in Week 8, Purdy is tied for the highest Pts/Sal in all three of the main sets of projections used for this post–the FantasyLabs projections, Chris Raybon’s projections, and THE BLITZ projections. Using an evenly split three-way aggregate projection set, he has the highest projected Plus/Minus of any quarterback on Sunday’s slate.
Purdy has been at least a part of the problem for the 49ers the last two weeks, throwing three interceptions and just two touchdowns while falling below salary-based expectations. However, he looked much sharper in three straight home wins before the two road letdowns. In each of those three wins over the Giants, Cardinals, and Cowboys, Purdy exceeded salary-based expectations and threw for at least 250 yards. He had seven touchdowns and no interceptions in those three games, averaging 23.6 DraftKings points and a +4.4 Plus/Minus.
After managing just 152 yards against a tough Browns defense in Week 6, Purdy threw for 272 yards on Monday night in Minnesota. He also added 19 rushing yards, but he threw two costly interceptions, including one that stopped the potential game-winning drive.
He will be without Deebo Samuel (shoulder) for a second straight week this week, but he still has a strong group of pass-catchers with Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk all heavily involved and Jauan Jennings stepping up with a season-high 54 yards last week with Aiyuk out.
The Bengals have been a neutral matchup for opposing quarterbacks this season, but they did just give up 300+ yards to Geno Smith in their most recent matchup before their bye week.
Purdy and the 49ers have the fifth-highest implied team total of the week, and he ranks sixth in ceiling and median projections in the three-way aggregated projections. Getting him as the 13th-most expensive QB expected to play is a great way to start your lineup with some value while saving to spend in other spots.
NFL DFS Wide Receiver Values
Demario Douglas ($3,300) New England Patriots (+9.5) at Miami Dolphins (47 total)
The Patriots offense finally got on track last week as they knocked off the Bills, and that improvement coincided with the return of rookie receiver Demario Douglas, who missed the previous week in the NFL concussion protocol. Douglas looks to be a good value play again this week, ranking in the top three in Pts/Sal and Projected Plus/Minus in FantasyLabs and Raybon’s projections.
Douglas is barely over the minimum salary but brings big-play potential if he stays involved. The Patriots have lots of wide receiver options, but no one has emerged as a go-to option. In his return from injury, he tied Rhamondre Stevenson for second on the team in targets and hauled in 4-of-6 passes thrown his way for a career-high 54 yards while also adding 20 rushing yards on his one carry. He looked explosive in his opportunity and gave New England’s offense a much-needed spark. He brings upside that some of the other pass-catchers in New England have failed to deliver.
The Patriots snagged Douglas with a sixth-round pick out of Liberty in last year’s draft, but he has impressed the Patriots’ coaches throughout training camp. Now that he’s healthy, he should stay involved in a game where the Patriots will need all the offensive potential they can get to keep up with the Dolphins’ big-play offense in Miami.
There’s definitely risk in rolling with Douglas, especially if JuJu Smith-Schuster is able to return, but the rookie flashed enough potential to be worth a look according to the projections this week in a game where plenty of points should be scored, and the Patriots could end up having to throw the ball a lot.
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NFL DFS Running Back Values
Isiah Pacheco ($6,100) Kansas City Chiefs (-8) at Denver Broncos (46.5 total)
For the second time in the last three weeks, the Chiefs will take on their AFC West division foes, the Broncos. That sets up a great matchup for Isiah Pacheco, who has been growing into a bigger role in the Chiefs’ backfield. The matchup and his workload combine to give him the second-highest Pts/Sal and Projected Plus/Minus in the three-way blended projections.
Pacheco has double-digit carries in six straight games dating back to the first week of the season, and he has out-performed salary-based expectations in each of his last five games. On Sunday, he was limited on the ground by the Chargers, but he saved his fantasy day with the first receiving touchdown of his NFL career. He has hauled in 10-of-10 targets in the passing game in the past two weeks and brings added upside as he grows into more of a receiving option.
The Broncos have given up more DraftKings points to opposing running backs than any other team in the NFL. Pacheco had 62 rushing yards and 36 receiving yards against them on Thursday night in Week 6 to finish with 15.8 DraftKings points, even though he didn’t find the end zone. On the season, Denver has allowed 12 running back touchdowns in seven games.
As the 12th-most expensive running back on this week’s slate, Pacheco brings a high ceiling and should be able to post another big number in this favorable matchup.
NFL DFS Tight End Values
Trey McBride ($2,800) Arizona Cardinals (+8.5) vs. Baltimore Ravens (44 total)
The Cardinals have been relying heavily on veteran tight end Zach Ertz (quad) this season. Ertz had 39 targets in his first six games this season and averaged 4.0 catches per game. However, Ertz landed on IR due to a strained quad this week, which opens the door for much of that work to go to Trey McBride, who was already in a growing role and showing real breakout potential.
McBride actually played more snaps than Ertz in Week 6 and matched him with exactly 35 snaps played against Seattle. The second-year tight end out-performed salary-based expectations in each of those two contests, totaling seven catches on 11 targets for 91 yards.
With more work projected to come his way, McBride has the third-highest projected Plus/Minus of all tight ends this week and the second-highest Pts/Sal. Since Joshua Dobbs has been so reliant on his tight end as a check-down choice this year, McBride should be a strong value play under $3K this week against the Ravens.
