NFL DFS Bargain Bin: Week 8 Value Plays for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo

Juan Carlos Blanco analyzes optimal DFS value plays for the Week 8 of the 2021 NFL season. These players are worth considering on FanDuel, DraftKings, and Yahoo daily fantasy sports games.

Welcome to the Week 8 Sunday slates edition of RotoBaller's NFL DFS Bargain Bin, where the goal is to touch on some potentially mis-priced players across the industry that find themselves in favorable match-ups and/or suddenly expanded roles.

Before we go NFL DFS Bargain Bin hunting, a few particulars about format and content:

• The nature of the beast with value plays is at least a modest amount (and sometimes substantially more) of risk. Therefore, the Bargain Bin may prove to be a bit more of a roller-coaster ride on some slates than your typical “tout” article!
• Naturally, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an upside to be had. All of these selections are therefore suitable for GPPs and can also often serve as solid cash game plays, while often helping you accommodate multiple higher-priced studs into your lineup.
• Typically, I’ll suggest players that are value-priced across three major DFS sites (DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo). However, there are certainly occasions where one or more site prices a player significantly lower than others. Whenever possible, I’ll typically at least note those players as an “XYZ site special.”
• This article is by no means intended to serve as an exhaustive list of all value options for the week. Rather, it’s meant to take a deeper dive into those I feel offer some of the best combinations of savings and upside.
• The goal is to recommend truly affordable players, as opposed to, say, a player priced just $300-$400 away from the highest-priced option at his position. I don’t have set-in-stone price limits in mind for each site, but I do consider legitimate affordability very important criteria.

With those housekeeping items out of the way, I’ll give you my thoughts on where there may be some value spots to exploit on the Week 8 Sunday slates!

Quarterback DFS Value Plays

Carson Wentz, IND at TEN | DK: $5,700, FD: $7,200, Yahoo: $23

The Titans are allowing 273.6 passing yards per game, including 288.3 on the road, despite their highly impressive showing against Patrick Mahomes in Week 7. Wentz has multiple TD passes in four straight games and should have T.Y. Hilton (quadriceps) back in the fold after a one-week absence, and both the fact he's thrown just one INT all season and brings a welcome rushing component to the table makes him an appealing value at his current salaries.

Trevor Lawrence, JAC at SEA | DK: $5,500, FD: $6,700, Yahoo: $24

Lawrence has appeared to settle in nicely over the last couple of games after a so-so start to his highly anticipated career, throwing for 273 and 319 yards in his last two contests against the Titans and Dolphins before a Week 7 bye. Lawrence and his teammates should come back out of the gates refreshed and face a Seahawks team allowing 296 passing yards per game and an NFL-high 12.3 yards per completion at home, along with an 11:2 TD:INT and 27-129 line on the ground to QBs overall.

ALSO CONSIDER: Jameis Winston, NO vs. TB| DK: $6,000, FD: $7,400, Yahoo: $25

Running Back DFS Value Plays

Damien Harris, NE at LAC | DK: $6,100, FD: $6,900, Yahoo: $23

Harris faces a porous Chargers run defense that's given up an NFL-high 162.5 rushing yards per game, along with a league-high 5.3 RB yards per carry. Facing a similarly favorable situation against the Jets in Week 7, Harris rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries, his second straight 100-yard effort and third overall on the season. He's also now recorded multiple receptions in four games overall, adding to his appeal.

Khalil Herbert, CHI vs. SF| DK: $5,400, FD: $6,500, Yahoo: $19

The rookie may have snatched the reins of the backfield away from Damien Williams for the time being, as he took 18 carries for 100 yards against a notoriously tough Bucs defense last week even with Williams back in action. Herbert has a 55-272-1 line on the ground over the last three games overall, and the fact he also produced five receptions for 33 yards against Tampa Bay makes him all the more intriguing at his current salaries against a Niners defense allowing 120.3 rushing yards per road contest, along with a 34-228-1 line through the air to the RBs.

ALSO CONSIDER: Zack Moss, BUF vs. MIA| DK: $5,200, FD: $6,100, Yahoo: $18

Wide Receiver DFS Value Plays

DeVonta Smith, PHI at DET | DK: $5,500, FD: $6,200, Yahoo: $16

Smith's production naturally relies on the inconsistent Jalen Hurts, but the duo could be in a for a fruitful day Sunday against the Lions. Detroit comes in allowing 279.3 passing yards per game at home, while Smith has nine or 10 targets in three of his last four games, and at least six in all but one game this season. The speedster also is arguably overdue for a visit to the end zone after having just a Week 1 touchdown to his name, and the Lions have allowed the fourth-most receiving yards (1,346) to wideouts, along with seven TDs to the position, while conceding passer ratings well north of 100 in the deep left and deep middle passing windows.

Emmanuel Sanders, BUF vs. MIA | DK: $5,400, FD: $6,700, Yahoo: $20

The Dolphins are allowing an NFL-high 343.5 passing yards per road game, along with the third-most receiving yards (1,384) and third-most receiving TDs (10) to wide receivers overall. Sanders already has eight receptions of 20 yards or greater -- more than any season since 2018 -- and he's logged less than six targets only once thus far in Buffalo. Miami has also allowed three TDs overall and passer ratings of 138 and 142 in the deep middle and deep right passing windows of the field, furthering Sanders' chances for a big play.

Michael Pittman Jr., IND vs. TEN| DK: $5,300, FD: $6,600, Yahoo: $21

T.Y. Hilton (quadriceps) does have a chance of returning for Sunday's game, but Pittman still carries very reasonable salaries and checks in fresh off a 4-105-1 line against the 49ers last Sunday night, his second 100-yard effort of the season. The Titans' struggles against the pass were already outlined earlier in Wentz's entry, and it's also worth noting Tennessee is giving up a robust 10.7 yards per completion on the road while also conceding an NFL-high 115 receptions and 1,583 receiving yards to wideouts thus far.

ALSO CONSIDER: Jerry Jeudy, DEN vs. WAS | DK: $4,900, FD: $6,000, Yahoo: $20

Tight End DFS Value Plays

Tyler Higbee, PHI at LVR | DK: $4,500, FD: $5,300, Yahoo: $19

Higbee hasn't broken out for any big games yet this season in a real-world or fantasy sense, but he continues to log plenty of snaps and targets and draws a matchup Sunday that could well facilitate the long-awaited breakout. The Texans' Cover-2 defense has unsurprisingly given up production to tight ends all season, as Houston has conceded a 38-463-6 line to the position over seven games. Higbee has drawn five or more targets in five games and has run over 50 routes in each contest this season, keeping him firmly in play in this spot.

Pat Freiermuth, PIT at CLE | DK: $3,600, FD: $4,900, Yahoo: $11

Eric Ebron will miss Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, thrusting Freiermuth into a starting role. The rookie already saw an elevated workload in a Week 6 win over the Seahawks before the bye, catching all seven targets for 58 yards while running a career-high 46 routes. The Browns have allowed a modest 22-225-3 line to tight ends through seven games, but Ben Roethlisberger's frequent use of the short- and mid-range areas of the field and Freiermuth's own talent should keep the Penn State product involved Sunday.

ALSO CONSIDER: Hunter Henry, LAC vs. NE DK: $4,200, FD: $5,500, Yahoo: $19

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