The Perfect Lineup: Week 8's Fantasy Score Team

Struggling to find players to start while your stars are on bye in your season long fantasy football league? Well, at FantasyScore.com, you don't have to fight the waiver wire to find value -- you just pick your favorite players every week while playing weekly fantasy football for cash prizes.

If you've never played before and aren't sure who to pick, our fancy algorithms have you covered for Week 7. Take a look at this week's FantasyScore Perfect Lineup.

Quarterback

Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets

Fitzpatrick's seen plus matchups over the last two weeks, and it's resulted in over 45 points scored. This week he'll face a Raiders' secondary that ranks 31st against the pass according to our schedule-adjusted Net Expected Points (NEP) metric, all while allowing the 10th most fantasy points to the position. That ranking would be far worse, too, if Peyton Manning hadn't posted a dud against them in Week 5 -- every other passer versus Oakland has ranked in the top 12 in a given week at the position.

Running Back

Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams

Gurley's had some great matchups, sure, but he's also been stellar regardless. And guess what? Week 8 brings another awesome matchup for the stud rookie -- who's now rushed for over 100 yards in three straight games -- as the Rams face off against the 49ers. So far this year, San Francsico has the 30th ranked rush defense when adjusted for strength of schedule. Yes, please.

Chris Johnson, Arizona Cardinals

Whether we want to believe it or not, Chris Johnson is the guy in the Cardinals' backfield. He now has double-digit carries in every game this season, and he's running really well, ranking fourth in the NFL among backs with 50 or more carries in Rushing NEP. The Cardinals get the Browns in Week 8, who have the worst rush defense in all the land according to our numbers. Johnson has everything going for him to have a great game.

Wide Receiver

Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons

Though Jones hasn't kept his pace from earlier in the year, he's still seen 10 or more targets in all but one game this year, which is ridiculous volume for a wide receiver. When you add in the fact that he'll face a Tampa Bay Buccaneers' secondary this weekend that not only ranks 25th against the pass according to our metrics, but also has been porous against team's top receivers, you have the perfect combination for a blowup game.

Eric Decker, New York Jets

Pairing Decker with Fitzpatrick gives you a decent stack for the week, so note that there's some variance with this particular lineup -- you don't always want to stack in a cash lineup. But Decker's in a really good spot, facing the aforementioned horrible Oakland secondary while being priced very reasonably on FantasyScore. He's now scored in all but one game this season, and in that game, he saw 12 targets from Fitzpatrick. Because he's not the top wideout on his team, Decker continues to be a good value.

John Brown, Arizona Cardinals

Another non-top wideout is John Brown, who continues to produce despite the Cardinals having so many weapons on offense. Brown's ranked in the top 20 at the wide receiver position in each of the last four weeks, all while seeing 34 targets. Larry Fitzgerald, for the record, has seen 31 targets over this time. In a good matchup against Cleveland at a nice price of $5,200, Brown should be a lock in your lineup.

Tight End

Crockett Gillmore, Baltimore Ravens

We need to find cap relief somewhere, and our algorithm thinks tight end is the spot to spend less. Gillmore's been fine this season thanks to the Ravens' offense having no receiving threat outside of Steve Smith, hauling in six or more targets in three of five games played this year. Given his tag of just $2,400, that kind of volume can go a long way.

Flex

Travis Benjamin, Cleveland Browns

Speaking of volume, Travis Benjamin has seen plenty of it. He now has double-digit targets in four of seven contests this year, and hasn't seen fewer than eight targets since Week 2. Though the matchup isn't ideal for him and the Browns' passing attack -- Arizona has the seventh-best secondary in the league according to our numbers -- the volume alone makes his $5,000 price tag worthwhile.

Defense

Atlanta Falcons D/ST

As a group, the Falcons have the 14th best defensive unit according to NEP. That's not bad, and it's even better when you consider their Week 8 opponent, Tampa Bay, an offense that ranks 22nd and loves to turn the ball over with rookie quarterback Jameis Winston. The Falcons are at home, are favorites, and should come through as a cheap defensive option.