Top five fantasy football smash starts for NFL Week 8

Dan Johnson runs down his top five favorite fantasy football must-starts and smash starts for Week 8, including National Tight End Day’s own George Kittle.

Fridays are for Five Lists of Five here at DKNetwork, and it’s both Week 8 and National Tight Ends day! You know what that means: we’re going to try to fit at least one tight end per list, so long as I earnestly believe they belong there.

A reminder of the premise behind this specific series of lists: All I want is for you to be better than your friends. You’re going to be surrounded by them on Sunday, probably. How sweet would it be if you could be sure you’ve checked every box possible that might guarantee you a resounding victory this week? Some kick-your-feet-up insights? I’ve got some.

Again—I know my audience. The smoke-break audience. The quick-scan-of-the-phone-on-the-way-to-the-fridge audience. The give-me-as-much-info-as-possible-as-fast-as-possible audience. I’m a man of the people.

And so, once more: Five Lists of Five. Think of these as byte-sized, two-minutes-to-yourself lists to scan during your weekend as you foam at the mouth for any competitive fantasy edge. As much relevant analysis as I can fit into, like, 250 words per player.

Keeping things rolling this week with my five best smash starts for NFL Week 8.

Also available from my Week 8 Friday’s Five Lists of Five:

Smash ’em

George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers (vs. Dallas Cowboys)

The founder of National Tight End day! We all got a bit concerned after hearing Kittle emerged from Week 7’s game against the Chiefs with a sprained ankle. But he’s been practicing all week, albeit in a limited fashion.

This is a man who quite literally wears his disdain for Dallas on his chest. He’s also been an absolute steal at the tight end position in 2024; Kittle currently ranks as PPR fantasy’s TE2.

You don’t bet against George Kittle on his own holiday. You bet on him. Kittle Anytime TD at DraftKings Sportsbook to the moon.

Evan Engram, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. Green Bay Packers)

Did you know how bad the Packers are against tight ends this year? I certainly didn’t, seeing as I view them as one of the more impressive defensive units in the league. But, through seven weeks, they’re allowing just over seven catches and just under 55 yards per game to tight ends so far.

Engram is Trevor Lawrence’s binky, and this offense is leaning on Engram as a safety valve as it seeks to find its identity. Travis Etienne might see the field this week, and a full complement of weapons in the backfield will only make more space for Engram in the short-to-intermediate passing game.

15 targets over his first two games back from injury. He’ll see at least seven this week.

D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears (vs. Washington Commanders)

Those of you who roster Swift—what the heck, man? Only 69.7% of you, as of this writing, have him in your starting lineups. That’s way too low.

Over his last three weeks, Swift has cleared 100 scrimmage yards, with at least two receptions, and a touchdown in each game. It seems that no matter who’s at quarterback—Jayden Daniels or Marcus Mariota—this Kliff Kingsbury offense can hum. Which means that the Beras are going to have to score find the end zone at least thrice in this game, by my projections.

I doubt the Chicago Bears are coming off their bye thinking, “Boy, we should really make sure to keep Roschon Johnson lathered up for our second-half run!” It’s Swift. Launch him.

J.K. Dobbins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. New Orleans Saints)

The Chargers’ offensive line let the team down last week. It’s not as if they played terribly, but this Harbaugh-led team walks on the field each NFL Week believing that the unit protecting their quarterback is the best unit on the field. They were hardly that against the Cardinals on Monday.

In fairness, Justin Herbert missed a few throws, the pass-catching room is like a triage tent, and the J.K. Dobbins never got it going on the ground.

You were starting Dobbins anyways, probably. But this is just a reminder that the Saints defense is a unit on the ropes. I think this offensive line makes it up to their quarterback by absolutely bullying whatever pass rush the Saints send, and bowling over the opposition in the run game.

James Conner, RB, Arizona Cardinals (vs. Miami Dolphins)

It’s the same tired narrative with James Conner fantasy owners. He’s averaging 14.0 PPR FPTs per game from your RB2 slot (hopefully), hasn’t missed a game because of injury, but all we talk about are the two weeks he’s posted fewer than 7.0 FPTs.

The Dolphins get Tua back this week, which means they’re likely going to be back to firing on all cylinders. Arizona can’t beat Miami in a boatrace (can anyone?), so look for Jonathan Gannon to use his bruiser feature back to slow, slow, slow things down. Conner is going to be at the very center of a grind-it-out gameplan for this offense.

I’m expecting 15+ (hoping for 20+) FPTs out of Conner this Sunday.


Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].


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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is thegreatdansby9) 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 do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. 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

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