By Sleepy J / Donnie Dyce
Week 8 Value Stack
Najee Harris ($7,500) / Pat Freiermuth ($3,600)
JuJu Smith-Schuster is on IR and this will continue to open up others to get added targets/receptions as the Pittsburgh Steelers come off their bye week. The Browns defense has been solid, but it has also allowed a few big point totals this season to KC, LAC and AZ, respecrtively. The Steelers offense isn’t in the same tier with those teams, but coming off a bye week look for Pittsburgh to be well prepared. Harris has been getting a ton of targets all year, and Freiermuth received a career high 7 in Week 6. In the Steelers' last game these two players combined for 14 targets and 13 catches. That’s not bad for a RB & TE combo who is likely to be low owned, especially with such a low over/under point total on deck for this AFC North divisional contest. The Steelers have never feared the Browns, so they will come in confident here. Most importantly though, this stack sets up your lineup for some really big playmakers to be included and provides salary relief for other positions. Freiermuth could be priced $1K higher next week alone.
WR Value Play
Laviska Shenault ($4,700)
Shenault hasn’t hit the end zone once this season, but before the Jaguars' bye week they targeted him 10 times and he turned that into 6 catches for 54 yards. With another week to prepare and get the second-year player more involved in the offense, Shenault could have a nice ceiling performance in store against one of the league's bottom five secondaries in Seattle. Likely to be low owned by the field and providing additional salary relief for your lineup, Shenault doesn't have to score a TD to give you the value you need at $4,700. His low ADOT can provide enough just with the 7 targets we have him projected for in Week 8.
Sneaky Defense
Washington Football Team ($2,100)
The Washington Football Team showed some life last week on the road against Green Bay, and this Denver Broncos offense has been sputtering over the last 4 games. Washington has also been thrown in the trash in the DFS world, so we can buy them somewhat low and get a team that has some upside and some low ownership for Week 8. With Teddy not 100% and Washington boasting a top 5 run defense, we're not so certain that Denver can take advantage of the Football Team through the air like other teams have as of late. This is certainly a candidate for high ownership at their dirt cheap price tag, but rostering a high-upside defense in a good matchup at $2,100 can really help us spend up at other positions, which is the theme of our value plays for Week 8. Washington's run defense is graded #8 overall by PFF as well as having the #5 overall tackling grade and #2 overall pass rush. That's a fine recipe for sacks and turnovers if these offenses open it up and we see extra dropbacks/pass attempts in this late afternoon. contest.