Welcome to the Week 8 DFS Cash Game breakdown and picks article! If you’re new to this article or DFS cash games, please check out my ’10 Rules to Live By’ article.
I’m going to change directions a bit for the article this week. First and foremost, as we get later into the season, you should start getting an idea of the “why” behind the picks contained in the article. Second, there are a lot more consensus plays between the sites. Therefore, I feel it will be more beneficial to give you a positional overview this week along with the plays themselves.
On to the Week 8 DFS cash game picks!
Week 8 DFS Cash Game Picks:
QUARTERBACK
Jalen Hurts
FanDuel: $9200
DraftKings $8200
If he is on the main slate, he is in the article. That is where we are at with Jalen Hurts. He has the highest projected points, and he is clearly the top play on both sites. There is not a lot else I can say about him at this point.
Rest of Quarterback position
In the same salary range as Hurts, you’ll also find Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. Considering his outstanding performance last week, I might lean toward Jackson. I don’t see a reason to choose Mahomes over Jackson or Hurts.
Another option on DraftKings is to go with Sam Darnold, priced at $4300. While he may not be an elite football player, he has a supporting cast of talented players.
Running Back
Tony Pollard, Breece Hall, Alvin Kamara, Isiah Pacheco
As it turns out, for the first time all year, I like the same running backs on both sites: Tony Pollard, Breece Hall, and Alvin Kamara are my top three. Isiah Pacheco is also in consideration due to his lower salary. It’s uncommon for running backs to grade similarly on both sites. Pollard has had a few down weeks, but his price tag has also slumped, making him a solid choice.
Tony Pollard Advanced Stats & Metrics 2023
Kamara has been performing exceptionally well since returning from his suspension, and his salary hasn’t caught up to his level of production yet. Hall is expected to improve each week as he continues his recovery from his ACL injury. He is my favorite running back in the league, so I will take any opportunity I get to start him. If you need to save some salary, it’s fine to go with Pacheco, but in terms of raw points, I prefer the other three.
WIDE RECEIVER
Zay Flowers
FanDuel: $6500
DraftKings: $5600
Going back to the well here with Zay Flowers. He again came through with a decent floor last week of 4-75-0. His price actually went down $100 on DraftKings. One of these weeks he is going to break free for a long touchdown or a multiple score game. In the meantime he keeps putting up a solid floor for his price tag.
Other Wide Receiver Options
Similar to running back, there is an additional consensus play between the sites this week. Ja’Marr Chase is the clear spend-up option at $8500 on FanDuel and $8100 on DraftKings. I would, of course, prefer Tyreek Hill in terms of raw points, but I’m not sure the additional $1000 in salary is justified here.
From there, I am looking to save salary as I would rather allocate my dollars to the trio at running back this week. You are likely going to have to select someone that you aren’t super comfortable with. On FanDuel, that could be Brandin Cooks at $5300. On DraftKings, it could be Tank Dell at $4900.
TIGHT END
T.J. Hockenson FanDuel Only: $6500
On FanDuel, T.J. Hockenson is underpriced for his role, especially now that Justin Jefferson is out. Last week, he had 12 targets that resulted in an 11-86-0 stat line. That volume should remain consistent over the next few weeks. If he finds the end zone, he will be an absolute smash play. If, for some reason, you absolutely want to save some money, you can look to the DraftKings play below. However, I will do everything I can to fit in Hockenson.
Trey McBride DraftKings Only: $2800
On DraftKings, Trey McBride is the clear play. Zach Ertz is on Injured Reserve, opening the door for McBride. Even prior to the injury, he was starting to get some more action. He has been a dynasty darling for the past two years now, so we will see if he was worth the wait in the coming weeks.
DEFENSE
Atlanta Falcons
FanDuel: $3900
DraftKings: $2900
The Titans have been dreadful on offense this year. To make matters worse for them, Ryan Tannehill has been announced out for this week. It will be either Will Levis or Malik Willis at quarterback this week. Cue up the Falcons defense.
They are also very affordable on both sites and should make for a strong play this week.
GPP Interlude
As mentioned in the intro, I had a nice tournament win this past week. The reason I want to highlight this is because it’s something any player could achieve. The total cost of my lineup entries was $8. I built the lineup by hand without the aid of an optimizer or projections.
GPP Winning Lineup Week 7
First, is the contest size. I usually play single-entry or three-max contests with under 3000 entries. I enter one smaller 100-man field, a 1000-person field, and one larger one with around 3,000 entries, all with the same lineup. In smaller fields, stacking is a stronger play. However, on FanDuel, I don’t stack as much as I do on DraftKings. On DraftKings, I like to use double stacks with at least one, if not two, run-back players. On FanDuel, I play more single receivers and, at most, one run-back player. The reason is that on DraftKings, with bonuses and full PPR scoring, it’s easier to accumulate the points you need without relying solely on touchdowns. On FanDuel, where touchdowns are highly important, I need to be more careful with the stacks.
Contest Selection for Week 7 GPP Win
In this case, the double stack worked well due to the receivers’ salaries. Rashee Rice was affordable enough that he didn’t need a monster day to pay off. Even though Travis Kelce was relatively expensive for a tight end, he wasn’t priced at $9700 like Cooper Kupp. Interestingly, my run back player, Keenan Allen, was the least productive in the lineup. This further reinforces the idea that on FanDuel, you don’t necessarily need extensive stacking.
Conculsion
The way this ties into cash games is that a great tournament strategy on FanDuel is to start with your cash game lineup as your base. From there, make two or three alterations where you move to lower ownership plays and use that in tournaments.
I find that incorporating my core plays from cash games into my lineups on FanDuel works the best. When you venture too far off the board, the odds are you will get burned.
Good luck this week!
