DraftKings College Football: Week 8 picks

DraftKings Main Slate: Week 8

We've got a bit of a jumbled slate that's light on high implied totals and heavy on defense, so this week is tricky. Fortunately, the pricing at several spots is rather friendly, so there are paths to making strong lineups. In a general sense, there's a very soft cap this week if you pick your spots at receiver and quarterback especially, which also allows you to get premium options at running back or at one of your other receiver spots.

Quarterback Strategy

I'm inclined to fade the top tier of quarterbacks this week, not because I'm a Tua doubter or a Kyler naysayer, but because there's so much value to be had even under the $9,000 price tag. Aside from the quarterbacks I'll mention below, you have to like what Trace McSorley, Jordan Ta'amu, and even Shea Patterson (Michigan State is bad against the pass, look at the table above) can do with their matchups this weekend. There are also established quarterbacks with discount price tags like Steven Montez against Washington. Either way, you can get away with saving at quarterback in order to load up elsewhere.

Texas Tech Two Step

Coach Kliff Kingsbury is mum on the quarterback situation in Lubbock heading into Saturday, and DraftKings has priced the Red Raider signal callers as though any of them could start. As of press time, Jett Duffey seems to be the odds-on favorite to start given his health and experience. Alan Bowman still seems to be a little ways away from returning to full-contact football activities as he recovers from a collapsed lung. If Duffey ends up getting the start, he'd definitely be worth consideration considering the home matchup against Kansas.

Listed below we have our tools as well as a cheat sheet and our position-by-position picks. As always, you can ask any specific questions in the comments.

Lineup Optimizer
Weekly Rankings by Position
Targets
Team Trends, odds
Defense vs. Position

Quarterback

Brady White, QB, Memphis ($6,600) at Missouri

Road underdog playing on the road against an SEC school...yikes what am I thinking? Well Memphis isn't your run of the mill Group of Five team and Missouri isn't your classic SEC program. This game also has the highest implied total of the weekend, checking in at 73.0. Also, Missouri lets up the most passing yards per game of any team on this slate at 300.7. Yes, that's more than Mississippi and Texas Tech. White, meanwhile, is no slouch. He averages 9.5 yards per attempt, completes 67.6 percent of his passes, and has tossed 15 touchdowns through seven games. Whether he's your QB or your Superflex, White should be a strong consideration for your lineup.

Superflex Darts Du Jour

Alex Hornibrook, Wisconsin ($4,600) vs. Illinois

I'm holding my nose as I write this, but at $4,600 it's time to put my (extremely justified) biases behind me and look at the facts. Hornibrook needs 150 yards and a touchdown to hit 10 points and thus 2x value. That seems doable against an Illinois defense that gave up 267 passing yards to Rutgers. No, Hornibrook isn't going to light it up, but by virtue of playing quarterback he should be able to outperform the skill position players in his price range.

Peyton Ramsey, Indiana ($6,100) vs. Penn State

The Nittany Lions are going to be in a foul mood after last week, but Ramsey has been steady all season, even against tough competition. He hung 27 DK points on Ohio State, 19.4 DK points on Iowa, and even 20.18 DK points against Michigan State. To bolster his floor, Ramsey has at least 10 rushing attempts in each of his last four games and has found the end zone in two of those outings. There are much, much worse plays to go with in Ramsey's price range.

Peyton Bender, Kansas ($5,700) at Texas Tech

*ducks*

Running Back

Larry Rountree III, RB, Missouri ($5,200)

Going back to the well in Columbia, where Missouri's offensive line should be able to manhandle a Memphis front that got trampled by the likes of Tulane last month. Rountree has seen over 40 percent of Missouri's carries in two of the last four games and has seen at least double-digit carries in three of the last four. He's shown an ability to take advantage of soft matchups before, as evidenced by his 168-yard thrashing of Purdue earlier in the season. And with Missouri missing several of its top pass catchers, the Tigers might skew towards the run more than usual Saturday.

Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin ($9,700) vs. Illinois

Gotta spend your money at some point, right? As much as I like Travis Etienne in general, Taylor draws the much more favorable matchup at home and the soft cap this week makes rostering Taylor extremely manageable. There's not much I need to enlighten you on with Taylor here. He's going against an Illinois defense that gives up just under 200.0 rushing yards per game. Taylor has already crossed that mark in a single game twice this season, and I'd wager both of those times came against defense that were somehow better than what he'll face Saturday. If you're going top shelf at running back Saturday, go Taylor.

Wide Receiver

Anthony Schwartz, Auburn ($4,600) at Mississippi

Schwartz can run a 100-meter dash in 10.07 seconds. He also happens to play receiver at Auburn. Also, he's going against one of the worst defenses in the nation with a trip to Ole Miss on tap. Auburn's offense has been searching for an offensive identity all season, but Schwartz has been one of the lone bright spots. On 14 targets, Schwartz has 10 catches for 246 yards (17.57 YPT) and two scores. On 12 carries, Schwartz has 122 yards and two touchdowns. A reeling Auburn team desperate for a win is going to do everything it can to get the ball in his hands, and Ole Miss won't be able to stop him once he has the rock.

KD Nixon, Colorado ($4,700) at Washington

Using a receiver against Washington always carries some risk. Using a Colorado receiver not named Laviska Shenault is usually pretty risky, too. That said, Shenault is dinged up with a toe injury that could hinder him or keep him out all together Saturday. That would open the target floodgates for Nixon, who has been the Buffs' second-best receiver this year. He owns a 22 percent target share to begin with and averages a respectable 7.76 YPT. With upwards of double-digit targets up for grabs in a PPR format, Nixon becomes a strong value play with upside to boot.

Jerry Jeudy, Alabama ($8,100) at Tennessee

This is a game where Alabama's starters may be forced to play more than three quarters. Or maybe Auburn really is that bad. Either way, Jeudy at $8,100 is a quality price point for a player of his talent. The volume can be on the low side, which hurts in this format, but his per-target efficiency is unlike anything I've ever seen. His 19.58 YPT is tops among FBS players with at least 20 targets and it's not particularly close. He's also scoring a touchdown on 34 percent of his receptions. And, if the game is at least semi-competitive, Jeudy could challenge for a new season-high in targets on Saturday. Combine all those factors and Jeudy is a strong play among the top-tier receivers Saturday.

Jalen Knox, WR, Missouri ($4,500) vs. Memphis

With Emanuel Hall still nursing an injury that'll keep him out another week, Knox stands to be a featured part of the Missouri passing attack once again. Knox has gotten 30 and 23 percent of the targets in his two games since taking on a starting role for the Tigers, catching five passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Earlier in the season, he caught five of seven passes for 110 yards and a score, too. Knox is not quite Emanuel Hall-level when he gets the ball in his hands but he's the best downfield threat Missouri has right now, and at $4,500 in a soft matchup, that's more than enough.