DraftKings NFL Picks Week 8: Chalk, Pivots, and Punts
DraftKings NFL Picks Week 8
INITIAL THOUGHTS
We're just about half way through the year at this point and we're getting a clearer picture of who teams are and what players are good and will continue to be good, barring injury. That last word is where value opens on every slate: injury. In an example from last week, Aaron Jones tried to play through an injury even though it seemed he'd be ruled out, perhaps scaring away some Jamaal Williams rostership from those who were not nimble enough to adjust in time. This week we could be facing some of these decisions with the backfields in Minnesota, Cincy, and worst yet, the late game with Seattle. There are a handful of good WRs that could force pivots to other players if they can't play, i.e. Michael Thomas, Allen Robinson, Diontae Johnson, and Jamison Crowder. The injury landscape was the first place my head went when giving the slate a first look. My second look came from putting together the research that makes up my weekly DraftKings Workbook. One of the more important pieces of that workbook is the OL vs DL tab where we can see who will win the battle of time and space (time for QBs to throw and space for RBs to run). This week I added some notes to the bottom of that chart and the Time of Possession chart not only to help anyone reading them, but also to remind myself of what my initial opinion was before completing this article and moving on to reading thoughts from other analysts. With my initial "dummy build" loaded on DraftKings, it's time to dig into each game and find what players can become alternates for that build to get me to my typical 20 lineups for the week.
Below is the chart of which players I am considering as Good Chalk, Pivot plays, and salary saving Punts.
Jess Jones
NorCal native Jesse Jones has been obsessed with fantasy football since first joining and winning a league in 1994. Always looking for an edge, Jess has been ahead of the curve mining data and building customized spreadsheet rankings and projections while others showed up to draft day asking for a pencil and a cheat sheet. Avid DFS, Best Ball and Re-Draft player that dabbles lightly in Dynasty. When not geeking out on Fantasy Football, Jess can be found hiking, kayaking, swimming, playing tabletop games, cooking, trading equities, listening to good tunes and/or enjoying a craft brew or two.