Week 8 Thursday Night Showdown on Draftkings
Buccaneers vs Bills Draftkings Showdown
Showdown Captain mode is a DraftKings tournament where you have $50,000 to create a lineup using 6 players from a standalone single game. One of those players will be your captain. The captain costs 1.5 times their salary and will accumulate 1.5 times the points. As with every slate, GAME THEORY IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. Even more so in Showdown, you want your lineup to tell a story of how the game will go. There are a lot of options based on how you see the game going but ALWAYS make sure there’s correlation between your players.
More: Fantasy Football Trades You Need To Make Before Week 8
Buccaneers @ Bills
Spread: BUF -8.5
Over/Under: 43
Injuries to Monitor
Baker Mayfield is dealing with a knee injury and has been a limited participant in practice.
Chris Godwin has a neck injury but has been practicing on a limited basis. He’s listed as questionable.
Dawson Knox will have surgery on his wrist and will be out for this game.
Breakdown
The Buccaneers just lost a close one to the Falcons. They’ve only managed to score 19 points combined in their last two games. Mayfield has only thrown one TD and two interceptions over that span. They are bottom ten in passing yards and have the 2nd least rushing yards so far this season.
Defensively they’re middle of the pack in passing yards allowed. They’ve allowed the 3rd most yards through the air since coming out of their bye week. They’ve been better against the run and are top 7 in yards allowed on the ground.
The Bills look like a shell of themselves after losing two of their last three games. Even in the win against the Giants they did not look good. Josh Allen has thrown a pick in each of those games.
From weeks 2-4 they averaged 41 points per game. They’ve averaged 19.7 points. It will be interesting to see if they can turn it around at home on a short week.
I’m guessing they can and I will build most of my lineups with a Bills blowout in mind. Allen, Diggs and Evans are the preferred captain options and I will certainly use them. I also like Davis. In a Bills blowout scenario I think you could pair both Bills RBs and maybe the defense.
The Bills haven’t looked good lately and it makes sense to build as if this will be a closer game. Baker with Evans, Godwin or both are certainly in play. You can pair him with White or Otten as well. I also think the Tampa defense is in play with how aggressive Allen can be at times. One of the cheaper receivers will likely be a good play but it’s very difficult to predict who. I’ll sprinkle them across lineups.
Captain/Flex
Josh Allen $17,700/$11,800
Allen has had problems playing the New York teams but has still been himself scoring no less than 23 DraftKings points in each of his other five games. He’s thrown multiple TDs in five games and leads QBs in points scored this season. Tampa has allowed the 5th most passing yards per game this season
Stefon Diggs $17,100/$11,400
Diggs has the 2nd most targets, receptions and receiving TDs this season. He has at least 100 yards in five games. He has at least 11 targets in all but two games and has a 34% target share. Tampa is allowing 13.7 yards per reception.
Mike Evans $15,000/$10,000
Evans has been great this year and seems to have a great rapport with Baker. He has a 25% target share. He’s averaging 15.6 yards per reception and has an ADOT of 12.9 yards. Evans also has nearly 40% of the Bucs air yards this season. He’s a big play threat with a great chance at scoring a TD. He also has a high floor due to the target volume. It’s a great combination for a Captain option.
Gabe Davis $10,200/$6,800
Davis is coming off of back to back duds but had 100 yards and a TD just three weeks ago. He’s essentially Evans lite when it comes to the big play upside. He’s averaged 15.8 yards per reception and has an ADOT of 14.5 yards. It’s a nice salary savings as a captain option
More: Fantasy Notebook: Snaps, Targets, Air Yards, & Routes Data From Week 7
The Rest
Chris Godwin $7,800
Godwin hasn’t really had an explosion game but has been fairly consistent. He has at least six catches in each of his last three games. He’s averaged 86 yards per game over that span. He has a 25% target share. Evans likely has more upside and will be the preferred captain option but Godwin could pay off there in a one game sample.
Baker Mayfield $9,200
Baker has been serviceable. He has three games with at least 17 DraftKings points. The Bills just allowed 272 yards and two TDs to Mac Jones. The Bills strength recently has been getting pressure but this offensive line has done a great job protecting Baker. He’s only been sacked eight times which is 3rd least in the league.
James Cook $8,600
Cook inexplicably only had eight touches in London but otherwise has at least 13 touches in every game. He’s had at least three catches in four games. He’s averaging 4.8 yards per carry. The usage provides a safe floor but his lack of TD upside keeps him from captain consideration.
Rachaad White $8,000
White hasn’t been incredible but still gets a ton of work. He’s averaging 17.5 touches per game and has the 6th most receptions among RBs. The Bills have allowed the 3rd most rushing yards over the last three weeks.
Dalton Kincaid $5,000
Kincaid is coming off his best career game with eight receptions and 75 yards. He has the 2nd most receptions on the team. With Knox getting surgery, Kincaid should have a more than adequate target share at a very affordable price.
Latavius Murray $4,800
Murray isn’t flashy at this point in his career. Bottom line in this one he’s cheap and will get enough work with a chance at a TD to warrant a play. Also as heavy favorites at home he should get more opportunities.
From this point it gets ugly. These guys are very volatile.
Cade Otten $3,000
Otten had six targets last week. It’s the 2nd time this year he’s had six receptions and over 40 yards. There’s not much upside but he’s probably a safer bet for targets than a lot of the WRs down here.
Chase Edmonds $200
Edmonds has been designated to return from IR. If he plays in this game he should get some work at min price.
Trey Palmer $4,200
Khalil Shakir $3,200
Deven Thompkins $1,600
Deonte Harty $1,000
Trent Sherfield $400
I hate lumping them all together but good luck figuring out which one will be the best of the bunch. I’ve listed them in the order I prefer them. None of them are seeing significant route or target share percentage. They’re likely to get anywhere from 0-4 catches and you’d be ecstatic with a TD. Palmer and Shakir likely have to most upside hence the higher salary.
Ke Shawn Vaughn $600
Vaughn hasn’t been heavily involved but will at least see a few carries. That’s about it.
RANKINGS | DYNASTY | WEEKLY |
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