DFS

The most dominant running back in the NFL today, Derrick Henry is No. 1 since 2018 with 3,262 total rushing yards. So far in 2020, Henry averages 28 carries and 117 rushing yards per game on the road. Coupled with Cincinnati’s inability to stop the run, ranking No. 28 and allowing 113 yards per game, Henry is a smash on Sunday.

In 2020, Russell Wilson has surpassed 310 passing yards in four games. Though in 16 career games against San Francisco, Wilson has never thrown for over 260 yards. Wilson will again be asked to “cook” against a battered 49ers defense. While PlayerProfiler’s No. 2-ranked cornerback Jason Verrett takes on D.K. Metcalf, Jamar Taylor is manning the slot and is ranked No. 110 among cornerbacks. Expect the Tyler Lockett connection to stay hot on Sunday. 

Marquise Brown last appeared in this article series entering Week 5. He proceeded to post his best game of the season, catching six passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. Hollywood’s success is highly contingent on Lamar Jackson connecting with him on the deep ball. He’s a boom and bust wide receiver that will look to catch a couple of deep balls against a Steelers defense that just got shredded by A.J. Brown.

Someone get Darnell Mooney a quarterback! The precocious rookie wide receiver is No. 7 among all qualified wide receiver in Unrealized Air Yards. He has just missed several big plays in the receiving game, including a would-be 96 yard touchdown last week. With Allen Robinson looking unlikely to play, Mooney will be the de facto WR1 for Chicago in Week 8 against the Saints. With even more opportunity likely headed his way, Mooney should finally realize some Air Yards.

Brandon Aiyuk has a 97.5-percent (No. 15 among qualified wide receivers) Route Participation rate and has drawn six (No. 18) Red Zone Targets. He has displayed impressive ability as a runner on jet sweeps and in Yards After Catch, where he ranks No. 24 at his position. He draws a dream matchup in Week 8 against a Seattle team that has been historically bad against the pass and has surrendered the most fantasy points to wide receivers. Fire him up at a reasonable $5,800 on DraftKings.

The top two receivers for the Jets, Breshad Perriman and Jamison Crowder, are likely to miss Week 8, so Denzel Mims will operate as the WR1 against the Chiefs. He will be peppered with garbage time targets with the Jets being massive underdogs in this one. With 4.38 speed, he is capable of beating a defense for a big play, a key trait in a good tournament play. This pick can easily go south, but at $3,200 it would be a mistake to not get Mims into some Week 8 lineups.

Coming off a bye and carrying the fourth-highest Weekly Volatility score (14.1), Justin Jefferson offers a massive ceiling at low projected rostership. In a divisional showdown against the Packers with the chance for fireworks given the 51.5 over/under, it’s a potential smash spot for the rookie. His $6,500 salary on DraftKings doesn’t reflect his potential for another blowup game, and his rostership projects to be lower than 10-percent.

Henry Ruggs faces a Browns secondary that hemorrhages fantasy points to wide receivers. Cleveland allows +13.63 fantasy points above the mean to the position, the second-highest mark in the league. Ruggs’ boom-bust volatility hasn’t peaked yet, evidenced by his modest 7.8 (No. 30 among qualified wide receivers) Weekly Volatility score. Still, gamers won’t want to miss out when he hits for 6-150-2 and melts faces on his way to winning tournaments.

It seems as though Carlos Hyde will approach a workhorse role with Carson’s injury sidelining him for the next couple of games. Hyde also has an injury designation, so his status should be monitored. If he sits, he can be swapped with DeeJay Dallas, the next man up in Seattle. The Seahawks running back du jour, whoever it is, will be the free square play of the week and should only be faded if ownership gets too high.

Maybe not all fantasy gamers have noticed yet, but Myles Gaskin has been a revelation this year in Miami. He averages 87.0 total yards per game and has seen nearly all of the passing down work in Miami. With the QB switch to Tua Tagovailoa, his floor is lower now with a greater degree of uncertainty, but the ceiling has busted through the roof. Play Gaskin with confidence this week especially in GPP formats.

Phillip Lindsay exited Week 7 with a concussion and hasn’t returned to practice yet. This sets up Melvin Gordon for another week of all the work. He’s been underrated as the bell-cow for Denver, averaging 16.7 DK fantasy points in games that Lindsay has either missed or left early. That average means he would easily 3x his $5600 salary, making him cash viable on this slate.

The Rams are most vulnerable on the ground, ranking No. 18 in Defensive Rushing DVOA. We haven’t seen much action from Tua Tagovailoa, so we should expect the Dolphins to skew run-heavy and take advantage of LA’s weakness. Even if Miami falls behind early, Myles Gaskin has the ideal passing-down role for a comeback effort. A three-down workhorse priced at $5200, Gaskin offers leverage off the higher-owned stud RBs and allows us to afford elite TEs or mid-priced WRs.

Russell Wilson has been a top 5 QB in four of his six games played and never outside the top ten. PlayerProfiler’s No. 2-ranked cornerback Jason Verrett is set to line up against D.K. Metcalf. Seahawks-49ers features a high point total (53) in what should be a game to stack. Banking on fantasy gamers being hesitant to chase the points from last week, Lockett should be relatively lower owned than his solid projection and lower price would naturally indicate.

Facing a barrage of sacks and pressures from his offensive line, Joe Burrow continues to look downfield, where his 347.3 Air Yards per Game rank No. 3 in the league. Those Air Yards are why Tee Higgins continues to be a strong play week in and week out. His 10 (No. 12) Deep Targets demonstrate his valuable role in the Bengals offense. Given the game state, feel free to go with a heavy game stack playing both Higgins and Tyler Boyd, running it back with one or two Titans players as well.

Michael Thomas is out again in Week 7, this time with a hamstring injury. Carolina has given up 47 receptions to running backs through six weeks, a 7.8 per-game average and last in the league. With Thomas out over the last month, Alvin Kamara is the target and receptions leader in New Orleans by over 10. With three games over eight receptions, expect the Saints superstar to feast again.

Tampa has arguably the best cornerback duo in the NFL, and the Raiders’ best weapon that isn’t exclusively a deep threat is Darren Waller, who is coming off a much-needed bye week to recover from knee soreness. Expect the Raiders to lean on Waller, who has five-plus receptions in four of five games and leads Las Vegas in targets, receptions, and yards.

Despite a pretty solid game against James Bradberry and the Giants, DraftKings added only $100 to Terry McLaurin’s salary. He remains modestly priced heading into a matchup against a terrible Cowboys defense. McLaurin is the only wide receiver of relevance in Washington’s passing game, amassing a 44.2-percent (No. 2 among qualified wide receivers) Air Yards Share. While he has yet to convert this opportunity into consistent WR1 production, he is set to explode in Week 7.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling is the clear number two option in the Packers passing game behind Davante Adams. However, he has seen more Air Yards in the two full games the receivers have played together thus far this season. With an 18.9 (No. 2) Average Target Distance mark and 12 (No. 5) Deep Targets, Valdes-Scantling is the go-to receiver for the bulk of Aaron Rodgers’ downfield bombs. He is bound to find the ball in his hands at some point, and he will win someone a GPP when he does.

Nothing James Robinson has done should have those playing him concerned. He is the team’s primary back and takes the majority of the receiving and goal line work. He has already shown that he can provide boom weeks when everything falls into place. Robinson should be in consideration every week as long as he is priced below the league’s other featured backs.

The Buffalo offense has looked much more stoppable against the Chiefs and Titans over the last two weeks. If they can return to their early season form, Devin Singletary will be a smash value. An easy matchup against a Jets team that barely plays football is exactly what they need. Singletary is in a great spot to return value in cash at only $6,200.