Drafting from the eighth spot in fantasy drafts this summer means you won't be able to get your hands on superstars like Justin Jefferson or Christian McCaffrey, but don't fret! The eighth pick in the draft is fantastic place to be for the 2023 season.

Follow along with our outline here and you'll set yourself up for success in your leagues this season.

Fantasy Football 8th Pick Strategy

Rounds 1 and 2

Drafting from the eighth overall spot means you'll essentially have your pick of the litter when it comes to the NFL's best running backs. At least one of Saquon Barkley, Nick Chubb, and rookie Bijan Robinson will likely still be on the board when your pick rolls around, and each of those three backs rank inside the top-six players in the entire league in numberFire's FireFactor metric, which factors in a player's projected fantasy points weighted against the value of a replacement player for that position. To quote the site itself, "the score itself indicates the value this player has on your roster."

Those top backs create fantasy points like few other players in the league can even dream of doing, and picking eighth overall gives you a pretty solid chance of locking in not just one, but two of those top backs with your first two picks of the draft. After signing one of Barkley, Robinson or Chubb to your squad, you can then target stars like Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs and Jonathan Taylor when the draft comes back around to you in Round 2.

When the early rounds of fantasy drafts are dominated by elite wide receivers (like this year's draft), it's hard to win your weekly matchups by just taking the next-best receiver in hopes of beating your receiver-heavy opponents at their own game. In most cases, if you're drafting past the first few picks of the draft, your team's WR1 is not likely to beat Justin Jefferson in head-to-head fantasy points. You aren't getting a leg up on anyone in your league by getting the seventh-most productive WR in fantasy when they have the first- through sixth-most productive receivers. So pivot, and make sure that your running backs are producing way more fantasy points than theirs.

Lock in running backs with three-down workloads or elite skillsets like the names listed above in the first two rounds of the draft, and then prepare for Rounds 3 and 4.

Rounds 3 and 4

If you're in a standard 12-team league, drafting eighth means your third- and fourth-round picks will come at 32nd and 41st overall. Let's take a look at the players in those ADP range real quick.

A quick glance at those ADPs can reveal quite a few secrets about your leaguemates. For example, take a look at those running backs. The depth at the position seriously dries up outside of the first two rounds, meaning a good chunk of your opponents will be banking on the running backs you see in the chart above to be their teams' weekly RB1s. If you already have a duo of Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry in your lineups, you'll be blowing those opponents out of the water at the RB position week in and week out.

In the third and fourth rounds, you can start considering elite quarterbacks. Lamar Jackson is set up for success in the Baltimore Ravens's new-look offense and is even tied for the sixth-strongest NFL MVP odds to win the award at +1600 odds. He's an excellent option at quarterback, and so is Joe Burrow a few picks later. Given the ADPs in the chart above, taking Tee Higgins in Round 3 gives you a chance to stack him with Burrow in Round 4, helping you to score fantasy points efficiently at both the quarterback and wide receiver position.

If that option isn't available to you, try pairing Jackson with one of the wide receivers in this range. Each of D.K. Metcalf, Deebo Samuel, and Calvin Ridley have been top-tier fantasy wideouts in the past and are quite discounted at their current ADPs.

Rounds 5 and 6

At this point, the focus should be on finding wide receivers with projectable weekly volume. By now, you'll have already locked in elite players as your RB1, RB2, and QB with, hopefully, another top-15-ish wide receiver signed. If you can hit on the right wide receivers in this range and end up with three top-24 producers at the position, you'll be coasting your way to the playoffs come December.

And look at that! Ask and ye shall receive. Based on the ADP above, you should have a handful of potential top wideouts to choose from in this area of the draft. Or, if you're feeling spicy, you could even splurge on an upside tight end like Dallas Goedert or Kyle Pitts.

Focusing in on the receivers in this area, though, there are a few standouts. Jerry Jeudy (whose ascension could be coming) and Drake London are two potential breakout receivers for the upcoming season that could become their respective teams' alpha receivers. This could be the last chance we as fantasy managers get to draft those guys this late in fantasy football, so don't hesitate to take the chance on them here.

At the other end of this range, Chris Godwin is an easy decision to take in the sixth round at an ADP of 65th overall. Even as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take a massive downgrade at quarterback from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield, Godwin is a quarterback's best friend. His ability to churn out production with short area targets has helped him become a target-hog in the NFL, and you won't regret taking him in any fantasy formats that award fantasy points for receptions.

Takeaways

Picking from the eighth spot gives you the chance to draft a pair of the game's elite running backs in the first two rounds of your fantasy drafts. Once lock in production from two of the game's best, you can then turn your attention to the other positions you'll need to fill in your lineups on NFL Sundays. Don't hesitate if you get the chance to sign an elite QB like Lamar Jackson or Joe Burrow, and make sure to take chances at wide receivers with strong projectable target shares in the fifth and sixth rounds -- and beyond.

While you wait for Week 1's daily fantasy football slates to lock, you can get in on some best-ball fantasy football drafts on FanDuel. Just draft your team and watch the points pile up throughout the season.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.