Quarterback Analysis: NFL Week 8

Elite Cash Game Play

I normally do not like playing quarterbacks on short weeks against tough defenses, but Brady is a special case. He is proving once again this season why he is on the short list for greatest of all time. He is second in the NFL in passing yards per game with 342 and first in touchdowns with 16. He's also added 2 rushing touchdowns this season as well. Like I mentioned earlier, the Dolphins are a tough matchup. Depending on the scoring of your fantasy site of choice, they are only allowing 15 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. They rank 14th in passing yards allowed per game with 241 and 15th in points allowed per game at 22.8. Despite the matchup, Brady should easily get close to his 26.2 fantasy point average.

Ownership Estimates

FanDuel

Cash: 15-20%

GPP: 10-20%

DraftKings

Cash: 15-20%

GPP: 10-20%

If you are only playing the Sunday slate, Rivers is by far your top choice. He leads the league in passing attempts by 24 and is averaging 44.42 attempts per game. Rivers is taking full advantage of those attempts, ranking 1st in passing yards per game with 350 and 2nd in touchdowns with 15. The Ravens are the best possible matchup for quarterbacks. They are giving up fantasy points to the position in bunches and have given up the most this season. They rank 26th in points allowed per game with 26.9 and have allowed 283 passing yards per game. Game flow should also be in Rivers favor as once again the Chargers should be playing from behind in the 4th quarter. All things are in line for another monster performance from Rivers in this game.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 20-25%

GPP: 15-20%

DraftKings

Cash: 20-25%

GPP: 15-20%

Value Cash Game Play

Stafford gets the London game this week in a great matchup against the Chiefs. The Chiefs have allowed the most fantasy points to wide receivers this year, which only benefits the man throwing them the ball. They are allowing 265 passing yards per game and have allowed the second most passing touchdowns this year. Stafford has really turned in on the past two games throwing for 6 scores and 661 yards. Stafford will have a new offensive coordinator this week, and we are not sure how much the offense will change, but it is worth noting the new coordinator was his position coach. He also has an injury that is worth monitoring. Despite those two question marks, I fully expect Stafford to continue his hot streak over seas.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 5-15%

GPP: 10-15%

DraftKings

Cash: 5-15%

GPP: 10-15%

Fitzmagic has gotten little to no love this season, but he's played great. He is averaging 245 yards a game and has thrown for 11 scores. He gets big bump if Chris Ivory is not able to play. The one game Ivory missed this season, the Jets had Fitz throw the ball 58 times. In that game, he had 283 yards passing and 2 scores. The Raiders are a great matchup as they rank last in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game with 304. All things are lining up in Fitz's favor to have his first 300 yard passing game of the season.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 5-10%

GPP: 5-10%

DraftKings

Cash: 5-10%

GPP: 5-10%

Elite GPP Plays

Matty Ice has not played well at all this season, but he's in a great spot to turn things around at home against the Bucs. Ryan has had only one game above 20 fantasy points or 300 passing yards this season and none with over 2 touchdowns. Ryan does, however, still rank 6th in the NFL in passing yards per game and leads a team that averages close to 28 points a game. Ryan has also traditionally played better at home. Tampa Bay does not give up many yards passing, only 220 per game, but give up a league worst 29.8 points per game. They have allowed the second most touchdown passes at 15 and fourth most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Expect Ryan to have a 20 point fantasy outing against the team that allowed Kirk Cousins to score the most fantasy points at the quarterback position last week.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 5-15%

GPP: 15-20%

DraftKings

Cash: 10-15%

GPP: 15-20%

I keep waiting for the old Dalton to emerge this season, but so far it has not happened. The Red Rifle has been on fire this season. He has averaged the second most fantasy points per game at the position behind only Mr. Brady. He is averaging 294 yards a game and has thrown for 14 touchdowns. The Steelers are only allowing 18.7 points a game but are giving up passing yards in bunches. They rank 27th in the league in passing yards allowed per game with 277 and have allowed 11 touchdown passes. Dalton is under priced if he is going to continue to play the way he has but I also am fully expecting bad Dalton to show up any week.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 10-20%

GPP: 10-20%

DraftKings

Cash: 10-20%

GPP: 10-20%

Value GPP Plays

Hoyer has been my favorite GPP play for a couple of weeks now, and he just continues to produce. He has three straight games over 20 fantasy points and no longer has to look over his shoulder with Ryan Mallett getting his pink slip. The Texans run the most plays per game and rank 4th in passing yards per game. Hoyer threw 49 passes last week and may be forced to throw that many times again this week with the loss of Arian Foster. The matchup is tough to predict as the Titans are only allowing 195 yards passing per game but have only had 163 passing attempts against them. They also are only giving up 23.2 points per game. I am still not sure if the Titans defense has improved that much from a team that allowed the 29th most points last year. I also do not know who on the Titans is going to be able to handle Hopkins who, despite having an off game, is still on pace for NFL receiving records.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 5-10%

GPP: 10-15%

DraftKings

Cash: 5-10%

GPP: 10-15%

Flacco is another one of the semi-elite quarterbacks who has struggled to start the season. Flacco has been up and down this season with some monster games and some duds. He has 9 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. Flacco is only averaging 16.1 fantasy points a game and 265 yards passing. What makes Flacco struggles even worse is he ranks 2nd in the NFL in passing attempts. He should be able to bounce back this week against the Chargers who have one of the worst defenses in the NFL. They allow 28.3 points a game and 363 yards. This game is setting up to be a shootout which will give Flacco plenty of chances to rack up yards and scores.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 5-15%

GPP: 10-20%

DraftKings

Cash: 5-15%

GPP: 10-20%