4 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 9

One of the crucial aspects of daily fantasy football is unearthing cheap production.

Our projections can help you do just that by allowing you to sort players by their point-per-dollar value. A lot of times, the top value plays come as a result of injury situations, meaning it's imperative to see inactives on Sunday morning before setting your lineups.

When looking for a salary-saving option, check out one of these main-slate players this week.

Week 8 of the NFL is here! We have a loaded 11-game slate, and there are plenty of options across the board. Let's take a look at some value plays to help you afford the top stars on the main slate.

Justin Jackson, RB, Los Angeles Chargers ($5,900)

The Los Angeles Chargers come in with an implied team total of 27.50, are up against the Las Vegas Raiders, and in a great spot for fantasy production.

While the Chargers' defense isn't trustworthy in fantasy, we can look towards their skill players for consistency and fantasy points. This week, looking at running back Justin Jackson should lead us to plenty of fantasy points, since his matchup is so juicy. The Raiders come into this game allowing 26.2 FanDuel points per game to opposing running backs, which is the fifth-worst in the league.

While the backfield for the Chargers has been in flux since Austin Ekeler went on injured reserve, Jackson has led all running backs in snap percentage in two of their last three games. In Week 7, Jackson played on 38% of the offensive snaps and didn't lead the team. Running back Joshua Kelley was the one who led the team in snaps, but he was only up at 47%, not to mention Jackson had more fantasy points than Kelly on fewer snaps.

The over/under is set at 53.5 for this game, and we are looking at a great game environment for fantasy production on both sides.

Marvin Jones Jr., WR, Detroit Lions ($6,100)

Detroit Lions' wide receiver Marvin Jones isn't a normal value play, but we need to talk about him this week. Sitting at $6.1K, he is a bit more expensive than what I normally aim for in values, but there are a few things going on here.

First off, the Lions' top receiver, Kenny Golladay, is out this week due to a hip injury. This shouldn't be a surprise -- when a top receiver is out, we target the other options on that team.

Next, the Lions are on the road to take on the Minnesota Vikings, who are allowing 39.1 FanDuel points per game to opposing wide receivers, the second-most in the league.

This is a legitimately fantastic spot for Jones, so you'd be looking to target him here anyway. Now, we get the extra targets and upside with Golladay out, making him a bit of a value play. Jones has the second-most targets (39) on the Lions this season, along with the most red zone targets (12) and the second-most touchdowns (3).

The over/under is set at 52.0, while the Vikings are only favored by four points, which should give us a great fantasy environment for scoring.

Evan Engram, TE, New York Giants ($5,500)

Can you trust Evan Engram this week against the Washington Football Team?

Are we turning the corner with Engram and his fantasy production? I certainly hope so, as the first half of the season was a big disappointment for the New York Giants' starting tight end. Over the last two weeks, Engram has 19 targets, which are the most he has in any two-game stretch this season. Those 19 targets pushed him to 58 total targets on the season, which is the highest on the Giants. He also leads the Giants in red zone targets (9) on the season, along with leading them over the last two weeks (5).

Despite being this involved in the passing game, Engram has zero touchdowns this season. It's amazing that a player can be this involved with the offense and not have scored yet. This should scream positive touchdown regression is on the way and hopefully it comes this week. The Washington Football Team is allowing 12.5 FanDuel points per game to opposing tight ends, which is the ninth-worst in the league. They have also allowed five touchdowns to tight ends, which is tied for the fourth-most in the league.

DaeSean Hamilton, WR, Denver Broncos ($4,600)

With a favorable matchup versus the Atlanta Falcons, are the Denver Broncos' receivers in play this week?

If you've been watching the NFL this season, you should know this by now but in case you don't, here it is. The Falcons' defense is bad. Like, really bad. They are allowing 28 real points per game to opposing offenses, allowed the second-most receiving yards to opposing wide receivers, and are allowing 36.3 FanDuel points per game to opposing wide receivers. They have been a team to attack all season, and it's not stopping now.

Last week, wide receiver Tim Patrick was out due to a hamstring injury. This led to DaeSean Hamilton seeing 5 targets, which he turned into 4 receptions, 82 yards, and a touchdown for a total of 16.2 FanDuel points. Hamilton played on 94% of the offensive snaps last week and is only $4.6K. Considering hamstring injuries are notoriously tough to come back from, Patrick could be out another week. This would make Hamilton one of the better value plays on the slate and in a fantastic spot.