Fansided

FanDuel NFL 2018: Week 8 lineup

By Joe D'Aloisio

KANSAS CITY, MO - OCTOBER 21: Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (27) dives for the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter of a week 7 NFL game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs on October 21, 2018 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - OCTOBER 21: Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt (27) dives for the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter of a week 7 NFL game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs on October 21, 2018 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Week 8 of the NFL season is upon us and there are a ton of fantasy football matchups you will want to capitalize on. Who should be in your FanDuel lineup?

Last week’s lineup surpassed 100+ points, but a majority of those points only came from four spots. Todd Gurley continues to prove he is the top running back in the NFL and is one of the most consistent fantasy performers this season.

Gurley carried the ball 15 times for 63 yards and two scores. He also caught four passes for 23 yards and one touchdown. For the third consecutive week, Gurley scored 25+ fantasy points, his 28.6 total was third best at the position in Week 7.

However, the decision to pay top dollar for Gurley and Ezekiel Elliot backfired. Elliot and the Dallas Cowboys were defeated by the Washington Redskins, 20-17. Elliot rushed for a season low 33 yards on 15 carries. The third-year back entered the game averaging 110 rushing yards and nearly two touchdown against the Redskins. He finished the afternoon with only 5.2 fantasy points.

Elliot wasn’t the only guy that had a season low in fantasy points. Kenny Golladay, Dede Westbrook, Taylor Gabriel and Willie Snead all struggled last week. The four wideouts combined for 12 receptions and 103 yards. Westbrook led the way with his four receptions and Golladay had the most receiving yards, with 37. They totaled 17.6 fantasy points.

The Cleveland Browns stack of Baker Mayfield and David Njoku wasn’t very strong early on. Cleveland’s offense struggled and punted on their first six drives and only scored two points in the first half.

Mayfield opened the second half with a 15-yard touchdown strike to Njoku. His second touchdown pass came with less than three minutes to go in the game to Jarvis Landry to tie the score, 23-23. The rookie quarterback completed 23 of 34 passes for 215 yards and two scores. He finished the game with 20.9 fantasy points.

Meanwhile, Njoku ended the game with four catches for 52 yards and one strike; 13.2 fantasy points, sixth most at the position.

Finally, the decision to play the Indianapolis Colts’ defense against the struggling Buffalo Bills paid off big time. The Colts demolished the Bills 35-7. Their defense forced five total turnovers and sacked Derek Anderson two times. They finished the afternoon with 19 fantasy points, third most in Week 7.

My Week 8 lineup will only include players that are playing Sunday, minus the London matchup between the Eagles and Jaguars and the Sunday Night football game. Also, the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans are on their bye week. All fantasy points discussed are based on FanDuel’s scoring system.

Here were Week 7’s top performers at each position:

QB: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs- 33.82 (Sunday night)

RB: Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs- 34.6 (Sunday night) & Marlon Mack, Indianpolis Colts- 30.9

WR: Emmanuel Sanders, Denver Broncos- 24.32 (Thursday night); John Brown, Baltimore Ravens- 22.9 & Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings- 21.5

TE: Trey Burton, Chicago Bears- 23.1

FLEX: Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Chargers- 28.6 & James White, New England Patriots- 25.7

DEF: Denver Broncos- 32 (Thursday night)

Quarterback: Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers- $7,800

Last week the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hung on to defeat the Cleveland Browns, 26-23, in overtime. Winston didn’t play an ideal game and threw two interceptions. Despite not throwing a touchdown pass, Winston still compiled 22.1 fantasy points.

But one thing is certain, Tampa is letting him air out the ball. In two starts this season, Winston is averaging 46.5 pass attempts and 380 yards per game. He has also scored 22+ fantasy points in each of those contents.

In three games played, the signal caller has thrown for 905 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions.

This week Winston and company travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals, who have dropped their last two contests. Cincinnati fell to the Kansas City Chiefs last week, 45-10.

In Winston’s lone start on the road this season, he completed 73% of his passes, for 395 yards and four scores.

The Bengals have surrendered 2,176 yards to quarterbacks, third most in the league and have allowed 15 touchdowns, fourth most in the NFL. On average, quarterbacks are scoring 23.4 fantasy points against the Bengals.