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FanDuel Daily Fantasy Football Helper: Week 8

Between Kareem Hunt's growing role in the passing game and his high red-zone volume, he could be in for another big game in Week 8.

Is this the week that Todd Gurley's ownership finally takes a hit? Even at a gigantic $10,200 price tag in Week 7, Gurley was still 89.3% owned in cash games, and 60.6% owned in the Sunday Millionaire, both the highest marks on the slate. No question the emergence of Nick Chubb as a value play following the Carlos Hyde trade factored into this, but Gurley's rising salary clearly hasn't put much of a dent in his weekly popularity.

But Gurley has now hit the $11,000 mark, and as of this writing there's no obvious "free square" type play like Chubb was last week. Obviously, we still want the premier player in fantasy if we can fit him in -- he still hasn't fallen below 22 FanDuel points in game this season -- but with plenty of other backs in plus spots this week, this may be the slate Gurley is no longer a must in cash games.

We'll dig into that and more in our weekly FanDuel primer, where we give you an overview of the Sunday main slate to help you get started on your research. As always, we recommend checking out all of numberFire's premium tools at your disposal. In particular, the heat map is a great way to get a general overview of the slate's implied totals, and every team's strengths and weaknesses. You also have access to numberFire's weekly projections, which can assist you in nailing down who might be the slate's top scorers and best values.

Be sure to also pay attention to inactives prior to Sunday's games, which can often completely change the makeup of a given slate. After all, injuries can have a huge impact on playing time, where an otherwise low-priced backup can suddenly find his way into a feature role and become an excellent play.

Now, let's run through some of this week's top plays on the FanDuel main slate.

Quarterbacks

Patrick Mahomes ($9,200 on FanDuel): After a two-week hiatus while playing in primetime, Patrick Mahomes is back on the main slate, and while his salary hasn't reached Gurley status, he's still the second-most expensive player on the board. That likely eliminates him from serious cash game consideration, but like Gurley, he's been virtually unstoppable, averaging 28 FanDuel points per game. His only score below 22 points came in Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars (17.82). Mahomes didn't throw any touchdowns in that game, and the only other time he hasn't thrown for multiple scores came on the road against the Denver Broncos in Week 4 (although he rushed for a touchdown in both contests). Denver just so happens to be this week's opponent, and while they're no cupcake matchup -- ranking third against the pass in terms of Adjusted Defensive Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per play -- this time Mahomes will enjoy the confines of home, where he and the Kansas City Chiefs have the slate's second-highest implied total (32.25). Leading the league in passing touchdowns (22) and throwing for over 300 yards in six straight games, Mahomes remains a high-upside play regardless of the opponent.

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