4 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 8

Identifying key value plays are of paramount importance when it comes to daily fantasy football. Luckily for you, our NFL projections are ready to roll, and our value category is brimming with potential slate-winning targets. If you need a salary saving option, consider plugging in one of these options into your lineup.

Gardner Minshew, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars ($6,900)

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a decent 23.5 point implied team total as they host the visiting New York Jets in Week 8. While that is nothing special for the healthy 12-game main slate, Gardner Minshew is a good quarterback with a solid floor and ceiling combination at his current price tag.

In fact, in seven starts at quarterback this season, Minshew has scored 16.12 or more FanDuel points in all but one start. That is pretty solid for a sixth-round quarterback out of Washington State. In the last three weeks, he's shown off his tournament upside by scoring 21.16 and 21.00 FanDuel points in two of the three games. However, his one bad game was also his worst performance of the year. He was stymied by the New Orleans Saints defense in Week 6 as the Jaguars were handed a 13-6 loss, and Minshew scored just 5.62 FanDuel points.

While his floor clearly can ruin your day, at just $6,900, Gardner can also win you a tournament. He also is a viable stacking option in Week 8 because we can roll out former Heisman Trophy candidate, Dede Westbrook, with Gardner and potentially even run it back with someone like Robby Anderson in a healthy 3-man stack.

Latavius Murray, RB, New Orleans Saints ($6,200)

While it is not a sure thing that Latavius Murray will start this football game, it is abundantly clear that Alvin Kamara is still hurting from his high-ankle sprain that he suffered back in Week 6. In fact, as of Thursday morning, Kamara had not practiced on Wednesday and was not even seen doing anything light on the sideline. Let's proceed as if Murray is starting -- as it is trending in that direction -- albeit with the knowledge that if Kamara is playing, Murray should be taken out of lineups.

The New Orleans Saints are substantial 10.5 point favorites as they host the visiting Arizona Cardinals. The Saints also have a strong 29.50 point implied team total, which means there is a game script here that greatly favors Latavius running the football with plenty of opportunities to score touchdowns. Game theory would suggest that Murray would have the opportunity to hammer the ball down the middle of the Cardinals defense as the Saints are holding onto a lead in the second half of the football game. With the Saints having a bye in Week 9, Latavius and friends would have plenty of time to rest and turn over the reigns to Kamara and potentially even Drew Brees at that point.

While Chase Edmonds is a pretty strong value at just $6,100 if David Johnson misses this game, he is in a very unfavorable game script as a road underdog of 10.5 points against a very good Saints rush defense. Advantage Latavius Murray.

Calvin Ridley, WR, Atlanta Falcons ($5,400)

The Atlanta Falcons were absolutely embarrassed in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams, and to make things worse, Matt Ryan left the game with a leg injury. As of Thursday morning, Matt Ryan had also not practiced. While there is a chance that it is only precautionary, the Falcons have some strong value that has opened up at wide receiver in Week 8. Meaning, if Ryan returns, there is potential for fruitful game stacks by targeting the Falcons and Seattle Seahawks game.

Currently, there is a healthy 53.5 point total with the Falcons being +5.5 point home underdogs. This means we will likely see them throwing the ball in a come-from-behind type game script. With Mohamed Sanu out of town and playing for the New England Patriots and Tom Brady's beautiful face (how's that for data-driven analysis?), there are an average of six targets per game that are left behind.

This is where Calvin Ridley comes to into play. Ridley is just $5,400 on FanDuel, and is a fantastic value due to the greater importance on touchdowns using the FanDuel scoring format. Ridley has scored a touchdown in 6 out of his last 9 games, and while he had just 4 receptions for 30 yards last game, there is a much better ceiling waiting to be tapped into. We have seen him score 12.80 or more FanDuel points in 5-of-9 games dating back to Week 16 of the 2018 NFL season.

Greg Olsen, TE, Carolina Panthers ($5,500)

The Carolina Panthers are coming off their Week 7 bye. That means that their players are likely a bit fresher than their opponent, the San Francisco 49ers. Listen, I might be trying to pull any positive spin into this player pick as I can due to the 49ers elite defense scaring me a bit. However, hear me out.

Greg Olsen started off the year healthy and fresh. He also scored very well to start the season. We saw him score 14.00 and 22.50 FanDuel points in Week 2 and Week 3 of this season. He then started to trail off, and received just 6 total targets over his next 2 games. Not good, Greg. However, in Week 6, as the Panthers went into the bye, they fed Greg 7 targets, which he turned into 4 receptions for 52 yards.

If Olsen comes back fresh after the week off, and gets another 6-8 targets -- we have seen him targeted 7 or more times in 4-of-6 games -- he could be a very nice touchdown dependent value at the mid-5k price range for an extremely volatile position.

Mitch Carl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mitch Carl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username fcurev. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.