DraftKings NFL Picks, Week 8: Best bargains in DFS play
By Drew DeLuca
Running Backs
Marlon Mack (IND vs. DEN, $6,100): The Colts should handle the Broncos, allowing them to chew clock with Mack to the tune of 20 to 25 touches. Mack has 19 or more touches in every game except one in which he was forced out due to injury. The South Florida product should retain his status as one of the NFL’s ten leading rushers against a mediocre Broncos run defense.
Austin Ekeler (LAC at CHI, $5,900): Keenan Allen did not practice on Thursday or Friday, putting his playing status very much in question. In addition to his usual heavy load, Ekeler should see a fair share of vacated targets in the event Allen is a scratch. Ekeler is averaging seven targets per game, and he’s catching over 92 percent of them.
Royce Freeman (DEN at IND, $5,500): Just when I thought I could quit Freeman, he extended his streak of games in which he out-snapped Phillip Lindsay to four games. He’s also seen 10 targets over the past two weeks, compared to only four for Lindsay. Only two players saw more looks in the passing game last week, and one (Emmanuel Sanders) is no longer with the team. It sure seems as though Freeman has assumed lead back duties, as some in the fantasy football community have foreseen:
Kinda saw it coming with the passing game usage quietly sliding to Freeman. Lindsay has had 3 or fewer targets in 3 of the last 4 weeks. In that same span Freeman has 15 receptions on 18 targets
— Randal Kennedy (@FF_Terminator) October 18, 2019
Ty Johnson (DET vs. NYG, $4,900): The prize of the Week 8 Waiver Wire sits in a “smash spot,” given what Chase Edmonds did to the Giants last week (150 total yards, three touchdowns). He’s a competent pass catcher, and for the price, he’s a must-start.
Darrell Henderson (LAR vs. CIN, $4,500) leads the list of honorable mentions for those on a tighter budget. His snap count increased from 17 to 26 last week, and he showed flashes of the explosiveness that grants him the ability to break off a long run at a moment’s notice. Mark Walton (MIA at PIT, $3,300) is a phenomenal value for the price as an apparent lead back, albeit in Miami.