DraftKings: Indianapolis Colts Player Values For Week 8

Week 8 is here and the Colts are on the road facing the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football. Will anyone be worth starting in your DraftKings lineup?

DraftKings owners must have cringed for the first 30 minutes watching the Indianapolis Colts vs. New Orleans Saints in Week 7. As Colts fans, the outcome of Sunday’s game has to make you mad, but the performances by Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton at least made DraftKings fantasy owners happy in the end.

Hilton’s two touchdown catches came at the expense of his defender’s feet getting tangled with his – twice – so it’s hard to take a lot of positives away from his and Luck’s fantasy performances. Against the Carolina Panthers, you can expect Luck and company to have to work even harder, and they likely won’t catch as many breaks.

Now, Let’s take a look at Week 8’s DraftKings player values and some “analysis”.

QB – Andrew Luck ($7,400)

Luck finished with 29.02 fantasy points in DraftKings last week. But as we discussed earlier, most of those points came off of Hilton’s two touchdown catches that were more luck than skill. And having to go pass-heavy in the second half, again, helped his stats.

Against the Panthers, it will be hard for Luck to get his typical numbers. Going up against the seventh-ranked defense, and one that is allowing only 339.8 yards per game and 18.3 points per game doesn’t make a good case to play Luck. And if that’s not enough to sway you, the Panthers allow 14.85 fantasy points, on average, to opposing quarterbacks and have yet to give up 20 or more.

Luck – Sit’em.

RB – Frank Gore ($4,800) and Ahmad Bradshaw ($3,000)

For the first time since Week 1, Gore was held under 50 yards rushing. That had more to do with Pep Hamilton only giving him nine chances, than the New Orleans Saints defense. Gore still finished with 12.5 fantasy points thanks to his five receptions. Bradshaw, on the other hand, finished with 2.3 fantasy points, with one rush and one reception.

The Panthers run defense has been up and down this season. Three games they’ve held opposing RB1s under 10 points, one game they gave up 12.4 and the other two have been 20-plus fantasy points. Gore is at most a cheap Flex option this week as he is averaging 12.3 fantasy points.

Gore – Start’em Bradshaw – Sit’em

Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

WR – T.Y. Hilton ($6,900), Donte Moncrief ($5,500), and Andre Johnson ($4,000)

The three most expensive wide receivers in this game? That’s right, Hilton, Moncrief, and Johnson. Hilton exploded for 34.0 fantasy points against the Saints, his largest output of the season. Moncrief had 13.4 points – thanks to his touchdown – and Johnson finished with a measly 8.4 points.

Carolina has the fifth-ranked defense against wide receivers. With Luck’s injury and his questionable throws, playing Hilton or Moncrief become more “safe” options than anything else. You can’t rely on any of them to score 20-plus in a game – something these three have each done once this season – and especially against the Panthers defense.

Hilton – Start’em Moncrief – Start’em Johnson – Sit’em

TE – Coby Fleener ($2,800) and Dwayne Allen ($2,500)

Colts’ tight ends have done very little this season. Fleener had 7.7 points last week, and is only averaging 7.4 fantasy points and Allen had 2.0 fantasy points last week, and is averaging 4.2 fantasy points. Over the last two weeks, the Panthers defense has given up 25.0 and 11.3 points to TE1. If you’re created a complete boom or bust lineup then give Fleener a try, otherwise just stick with the consistent tight ends in the league.

Fleener – Sit’em Allen – Sit’em

DST – Colts ($2,100)

When it comes to defense, the Colts are not a great option. They’ve given up 400-plus yards in the last four games and have only scored 10-plus fantasy points once this season. Cam Newton has played great this season, even while missing his best wideout. Getting five or six points would be a victory for the Colts defense in DraftKings.

Colts D/ST – Sit’em

At the end of the day, there are three Colts players who are worth working into your lineup if you need flexibility. Gore, Hilton, and Moncrief are all terrific options at Flex and can easily bust out a big game. Playing them in the main spots is a bit risky, but they are viable options if you need a cheap, semi-reliable player.

So who are you going to play this week? Let us know in the comments below.

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