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What Week 8 performances tells us about Week 9 quarterback DFS salaries

Steve Buchanan looks at the matchups for a red-hot Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson ahead of Week 9.

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford drops back to pass the ball during the fourth quarter against the New York Giants at Ford Field. Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Week 8 was loaded with high-scoring quarterbacks, headlined by Daniel Jones with 32.1 DKFP. Unfortunately, the Giants will be partaking in the Monday night game this week, so he’ll be off the slate. However, that still leaves us with a couple of guys to look at how they performed and what Week 9 will bring. All salaries courtesy of DraftKings.

Matthew Stafford ($6,800) vs. Raiders

Stafford receives a huge $700 bump in salary after another big performance in Week 8. Throwing the ball 32 times against the Giants, he completed 25 of those attempts for 342 yards, three touchdowns and 27.38 DKFP. It’s a surprise to know this wasn’t his highest or second-highest fantasy output of the season, as he’s come away with 32.5 and 31.6 this year as well. Stafford has now thrown for at least 340 yards and three touchdowns in back-to-back starts and has a ton of momentum coming into his Week 9 start against the Raiders.

The Raiders have been a very generous team to opposing quarterbacks. On the year, they’ve allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and 19 touchdowns passes, which is the second-most in the league. Opposing QB’s are averaging 298 passing yards and 25.1 DKFP through seven games. In fact, over the last four weeks, we’ve seen Jacoby Brissett, Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson throw at least three touchdowns while Chase Daniel had two of his own. With the way Stafford is playing, I have no doubt he can do the same. The Raiders secondary does not pose much of a threat against the Lions’ receivers and the 9.9 YPT is the fourth-highest mark in the league. So while the salary bump is a big one, Stafford is in a prime spot once again.

Russell Wilson ($7,100) vs. Buccaneers

Wilson was the most expensive quarterback in Week 8 and once again takes those honors in Week 9 when he faces the Bucs. If you paid up for him last week, you came away disappointed as he only scored 15.6 DKFP. Not exactly the type of fantasy production you’re expecting when you’re paying top dollar at a position. Wilson was 14-for-20 on his pass attempts for 182 yards and two touchdowns. He did nothing on the ground, rushing the ball four times for four years. This was a run-heavy game for the Seahawks, who did so 28 times between Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny. While that could have been somewhat expected with Matt Ryan out of this game, I don’t think we gave the Falcons much of a chance, who ended up keeping this to a one-score game after all.

Wilson gets a $100 decrease in salary ahead of Week 9 and I have a funny feeling we’ll be going back to the well here. This is a Bucs defense that’s allowing an average of 300 passing yards, 23.4 DKFP and a total of 14 passing touchdowns. Even with facing some average at best quarterbacks in Kyle Allen and Ryan Tannehill over the last two weeks, they combined for five touchdowns and 210 passing yards. Just like the Raiders, the Bucs secondary simply has too many holes to not think Wilson won’t come away with a much better performance in Week 9. Sure, the worry is that they could get up to a big lead and be comfortable with running Carson the rest of the way but the Bucs do have the offensive weapons to hopefully keep this game close, as we saw with the Falcons last week. I have no qualms about going back to Wilson here.

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Steveazors) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.