While we make it a point to exercise caution before targeting a player due to news, we are seeing so many injuries and changes at certain positions that it is unavoidable. More importantly, the salaries don’t always react fast enough to said news, and that leaves us in a position where we need to pounce.
Based on our expected Week 8 DFS game flow analysis and Week 8 DFS Overview published earlier, we can carry our thoughts into actual lineup positions. The long list of players that fit the requirements set forth by the projected flow of the game was cut dramatically by the requirements set forth by salaries.
Below are Sporfolio’s DFS Week 8 Plays:
Quarterback
Sam Ehlinger – We have had a ton of faith in the Colts over the past few seasons, but they have never been able to land on the right quarterback ever since Andrew Luck retired. We aren’t ready to anoint Sam Ehlinger as the “right” guy for the job yet, but it finally feels like the correct approach to go with an in-house draft pick instead of going out and acquiring a declining veteran. Ehlinger gets a pretty good situation for his first NFL start playing against a generally weak Commanders team. Washington may be coming off a victory against the Packers, but they have struggled all season long on both offense and defense which should allow Ehlinger plenty of possessions and chances to get comfortable in this game. While this may be his first regular season start, he did shine in this year’s preseason going 24 for 29 for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns. In looking back at Ehlinger’s college career we can see he is quite comfortable running the ball as well as he compiled 554 rush attempts for 1,903 rushing yards and 33 rushing touchdowns across 4 years at Texas. If he can provide any rushing floor, he should have no problem at all paying off his QB minimum $4,000 salary this week while allowing you to pay up across the rest of your lineup.
Kirk Cousins – It has become somewhat of a joke, but the numbers do support that Kirk Cousins usually plays his best at home in the early window of games on Sundays. That is absolutely not why we are targeting him here, but it is worth mentioning that he will be in a familiar setup where he has thrived in the past. The real reason that we are looking for Cousins to deliver on Sunday is that his matchup against the Arizona Cardinals’ defense is excellent, and he has had two weeks to prepare for it.