Daily fantasy football is a completely different beast than season-long. Succeeding in single-game DFS is even more of a challenge. We have an interesting “Monday Night Football” game between the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers. Here are my top DFS picks for Week 8 MNF.
Week 8 Monday Night DFS Showdown Picks
- CPT: Najee Harris ($13,800)
- FLEX: George Pickens ($9,800)
- FLEX: Pat Freiermuth ($6,200)
- FLEX: Calvin Austin III ($3,000)
- FLEX: Daniel Jones ($9,400)
- FLEX: Wan’Dale Robinson ($7,800)
Week 8 DFS Pick: Captain Najee Harris
It can be risky to not play a quarterback or the clear best player in the matchup in the captain slot. However, in a one-game slate, we have to try and be different.
The Steelers are touchdown home favorites against the Giants. They rank fifth in the league with a 51% neutral game script run rate and fourth with a 66% positive game script run rate (leading by 7+).
Winning in DFS entails predicting how you think the game will go and building a lineup accordingly. The story here is the Steelers maintain a lead and run the ball.
Harris has seen his snap share dip below 50% in each of the past two games. That has coincided with Jaylen Warren’s return from injury. But even though Harris has been on the field less, he’s been touching the ball just as much.
Najee Harris is one of 3 RBs who have forced 30 or more missed tackles this season, per PFF
1. James Conner – 35
2. Jordan Mason – 32
3. Najee Harris – 30The wild part is 15 of the 30 missed tackles Najee has forced have come in the last two weeks.
— Daniel Valente (@StatsGuyDaniel) October 25, 2024
Harris carried the ball 21 and 14 times in his last two games. He’s run for over 100 yards in two straight. The Giants rank middle of the pack (18th) in fantasy points per game allowed to running backs. We probably need him to score twice, but that is very doable in this matchup.
Week 8 DFS Pick: George Pickens
Even though the narrative here is a run-heavy Steelers game, Pickens still makes sense because of his ability to do damage on limited volume. The Steelers may run the ball a lot, but they have to call some pass plays.
In Russell Wilson’s first start, he was not afraid to give Pickens multiple chances to win in single-coverage and contested situations. Pickens caught six passes for 85 yards and a touchdown with a long of 40 yards.
The Giants’ defense has played reasonably well this year, but they have struggled to defend the deep ball. No team is allowing a higher completion percentage on downfield attempts than the Giants’ 60%.
Week 8 DFS Picks: Pat Freiermuth and Calvin Austin III
These two offenses don’t exactly have a plethora of exciting fantasy options to choose from. Sometimes, it’s as simple as going with what makes the lineup work.
Freiermuth and Austin get us exactly at the salary cap. Freiermuth totaled 51 yards in Wilson’s first start. Meanwhile, Austin is a pure burner and will probably get a chance at a downfield target or two. Hopefully, this is another one of those weeks where he catches a long touchdown.
JUSTIN FIELDS TO CALVIN AUSTIN III. 55-YARD TD.
📺: #LACvsPIT on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/IyvXrXm1pU— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
Week 8 DFS Picks: Daniel Jones and Wan’Dale Robinson
We close out our lineup with two guys on the Giants’ side of things. The main move here is fading Malik Nabers against a Steelers defense allowing the 10th-fewest fantasy points per game to wide receivers.
The gamble here is that Jones will utilize his legs a bunch, supporting his own fantasy value. He’s averaging 26.3 rushing yards per game this season.
We do want to stack Jones with a pass-catcher. Robinson is the contrarian play to Nabers. Obviously, if Nabers smashes, this lineup is going to lose, but Nabers will be a very popular pick. If the Steelers’ pass rush can get pressure on Jones, that could lead to two things that benefit us: Jones scrambling and him getting the ball out quickly, which is where Robinson is most effective.