DraftKings Top Week 8 Value Plays

Week 8 is upon us, there are 6 teams on bye, and I’m back to help us think through the best ways to save some dough in the DraftKings Sunday slate. Let’s dive into some players at the $5,000 salary or less to target to supplement the stars and try and win some cold hard cash!

Michael Penix Jr.

Michael Penix Jr. has quietly been a solid boom-bust fantasy QB this season. He has 2 games over 22 DraftKings points, 2 games between 13-15 points, and 2 games under 6 points. What’s important to note is that 3 of his 4 highest scoring games have come at home, which is where the Falcons face off against a dismal Dolphins defense this week. At $4900, Penix has the upside to help you spend up in other places this week if he can deliver 20 points in a plus matchup. (And if he happens to miss the game due to injury, Kirk Cousins at $4400 is arguably an even better play.)

Tyrod Taylor

I know it’s gross folks. I don’t recommend Taylor for more than 1 or 2 of your teams if you’re putting in volume. However, despite his lack of weapons and carrying an injury designation this week, he still faces the Bengals defense. Taylor can run somewhat still, and his lack of true healthy weapons can simply not matter if the Bengals don’t get stops. It’s a thin play for sure, but Tyrod could pretty easily get you 14-18 points with a bit of luck in this game, and the savings he affords you could well be worth it.

Tyler Allgeier

Did I mention how bad the Miami defense is? Especially against the run? Yeah, I think Bijan absolutely annihilates them in this game personally. If he does, there’s a solid chance that Allgeier gets more work late in the game, and I don’t think Miami can stop him all that effectively either. Even if that doesn’t happen, Allgeier is always live for TD vultures, and he’s one of the few RBs under $5k this week on DraftKings that have the upside to give you 15+ points if things bounce his way.

Kyle Monangai

Kyle Monangai broke out last week against New Orleans, and displayed the ability to truly be the David Montgomery in Ben Johnson’s offense. Now, he gets to go up against a putrid Baltimore Ravens defense. This game, to me, projects to be an offensive battle with Lamar Jackson most likely back under center. If that occurs, Monangai will have very high TD upside, and he will be incredibly contrarian with how many other stud RBs are available on this slate.

Kayshon Boutte

This play is admittedly chasing touchdowns a little bit, but Drake Maye has looked exceptional so far this season at QB, and he seems to be looking for and finding Kayshon Boutte at least once or twice a game for huge plays as of late. Boutte is not a huge target-earner, but he gets deep shots and is coming down with them at a high clip so far this season. There’s a decent chance that continues here against a beatable Cleveland secondary.

Jauan Jennings

Jauan Jennings may finally be healthy, or close to healthy, for the first time all season. Even though he had a poor showing for fantasy last week, he still had 7 targets in the game. He is clearly better than Kendrick Bourne as a receiver, and Ricky Pearsall is likely to miss yet again. At $4600 on DraftKings, I like taking the shot here on a receiver who can earn targets, and has a 50 point game in his back pocket as proof of his ceiling.

Alec Pierce

This may come as a surprise with how well the Colts have been playing on offense this season, but Alec Pierce hasn’t caught a TD yet this year. Despite that, he’s given you 3 out of 5 games of more than 10 DraftKings points, with receptions over 25 yards in 4 of his 5 played games. He faces the Titans this week, and it’s pretty conceivable that this is the week he catches his first TD from Daniel Jones. To me, it feels quite feasible that Pierce gives you 15-20 points if he can connect on a long bomb TD.

Elic Ayomanor

There is truly no one left in Tennessee to catch passes from Cam Ward besides Elic Ayomanor. Tyler Lockett was released, Calvin Ridley is still banged up, and the tight ends have been nothing but average. Ayomanor has a very solid target floor as a rookie, and for him it will simply come down to if he gets a TD or not to pay off. The Colts’ secondary is still incredibly banged up, so despite how bad the Titans are on offense, they still get to face off against practice squad level defenders. We can only hope that the number 1 overall pick would be able to do some damage against a bad secondary.

Cade Otton

We have reached that time of the year once again folks. The Buccaneers are down their top bazillion options, and the last man standing is Cade Otton. He will now inexplicably turn into Cade Gronkowski until either Bucky or Chris Godwin is back, and at $3400, I will happily take that production in my DraftKings lineups. He has scored 10 or more points in his last 3 games, and the Saints are easily the worst defense he’s faced since that run began. Don’t be surprised if Otton is one of the top scoring TE’s of the slate this week.

Colston Loveland

Cole Kmet has not practiced all week with a back injury, which may finally pave the way for 1st round pick Colston Loveland to start and be the primary TE for this Bears offense. Loveland is yet to receive the majority of snaps at TE this season, and we only have small sample sizes of what he’s capable of to project forward. However, we know his draft pedigree, we know how athletic and talented he was in college, and we know that we want to be invested in pieces of this Chicago offense on a weekly basis, especially against a bad defense. Loveland is perhaps my favorite play on DraftKings this week.