I play around 60% of my action each week in “cash games.” Cash games refer to any contest in which roughly 50% of the field gets paid out, such as head-to-head, double up or 50/50. I try to get as much head-to-head action as I can every week and then supplement that with other cash games. I make one cash lineup for DraftKings and one for FanDuel.
Each week, I’ll review my cash-game lineups in this space. Sometimes I’ll lose, but hopefully I’ll win more often. Either way, I’ll post it here and give you my thought process.
Note: If you are playing DFS cash, we recommend three things. First, our projections. Second, our DFS Top Plays. Both of those are part of our In-Season product.
And lastly, the optimizer add-on through The Solver.
Week 1 is normally a very straightforward, “easy” slate for cash. That’s because the stale pricing typically creates a fistful absolute stone-cold locks. However, this Week 1 was messy due to the Christian McCaffrey (calf) situation and very few slam dunks.
Note: Unless stated otherwise, the discussion below is about DraftKings.
MY MUST PLAYS
* Emeka Egbuka was one of season-long’s biggest risers, thanks to the Chris Godwin (ankle) and Jalen McMillan (neck) injuries. The 19th overall pick was the star of Bucs camp, and was ticketed for an every-down role in a dome against the pass-rush devoid Falcons. At just $4600 on DK and $5000 on FD, Egbuka was the lock of the slate on both sites.
* I thought Drake London was a very good play, a “want.” And then Darnell Mooney (shoulder) was ruled out, leaving London with an outrageous target projection against the Bucs. That made London a must, especially on full-PPR DraftKings. He finished as our top salary-adjusted value in projection on DK, and only behind Egbuka on FD.
MY WANT PLAYS
* On FanDuel, Trey McBride ($6200) was seriously mispriced relative to his volume projection and matchup at New Orleans. But on DraftKings, the situation was murkier. I looked at teams with David Njoku, Tucker Kraft, and Brenton Strange. If I needed the money, I would’ve been fine with one of the cheaper options. Especially with Harold Fannin generating so much buzz in camp. But in the end, I wanted Njoku as we were projecting a ton of Joe Flacco pass attempts against one of the league’s least-talented defenses. I did not want two Browns, so I was fine going Njoku over Jerry Jeudy.
* Other DraftKings WRs I considered were Ja’Marr Chase, Brian Thomas Jr., Jerry Jeudy, Tetairoa McMillan and Ricky Pearsall. Given my desire to spend at RB and jam London, Chase wasn’t going to work. I didn’t want two Browns, so Jeudy was out. The WR that fit was McMillan, who I was more than happy to click. With Adam Thielen gone and Jalen Coker hurt, McMillan was needed as Bryce Young’s alpha immediately. We don’t often get a chance to play extremely talented WR1s against the Jaguars at $5200.
* The RB position was the most important on the slate, as usual. I knew I needed to pick the right three of Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs, Chase Brown, Alvin Kamara, James Conner, De’Von Achane.
If there were no questions about CMC’s health, he would’ve been a lock. Even with injury docks on in projection, we had CMC as the third-best salary-adjusted RB play on the slate. I would’ve been fine playing him, but the RB position was so deep I didn’t think even a 5-10% risk of aggravation was worth taking on.
I also wanted one Bengal in this good weather spot against the Browns, so I prioritized Brown. And I preferred Achane on full-PPR DraftKings thanks to his reception ceiling with Tua Tagovailoa. And then Jonathan Taylor was one of my favorite plays on the entire slate thanks to his lack of backups and the matchup.
Note that on FanDuel, Ashton Jeanty’s price was just too cheap to ignore. Sometimes you just have to take the value, even if you don’t love the spot. Note that Jeanty was a +4.2 value for us on FD, but a -0.5 on DK. Price matters, a lot.
* The QBs I considered on DraftKings were Jayden Daniels, Trevor Lawrence, or Daniel Jones. Daniels was a stone lock on FanDuel, where I am typically looking to spend on elite QB. That made it easier to go cheap on DK. We had Danny Dimes and Lawrence as the two best salary-adjusted values on the slate. Given I had Jonathan Taylor already, I leaned toward Lawrence in a pristine matchup against the Panthers.
* I thought Steelers D/ST ($3300) was clearly the best defense on the slate, given Justin Fields’ sack rate and mistake-prone style. That said, we know in cash that paying as little as possible for D/ST is often right. The ceilings aren’t high, and every unit has the same floor. I would’ve also been fine with the underrated Seahawks ($2500) or the elite pass rush of the Giants ($2300). On FanDuel, saving money with the Rams against the Texans’ hapless OL an easy click. Our Brandon Thorn had Steelers>Jets as his No. 1 OL/DL mismatch, and Rams>Texans was No. 2.
Week 1 Results
I got too locked onto an expensive D/ST on DraftKings, something I almost never do in DK cash. I also played a mid-range tight end with a questionable range of outcomes, also something I almost never do in DK cash. And I paid the price, running into the worst of the three QB picks. And that was the difference in the week on DK.
As for FanDuel, I think this was roughly the right team. Perhaps I should’ve gone with Christian McCaffrey over Jonathan Taylor there, as CMC was actually cheaper and would’ve allowed me an upgrade on Brian Thomas. But I’m OK with not wanting to take on the CMC risk in cash, regardless of results.
YEAR-TO-DATE RESULTS
Week 1 DraftKings: 111.32 points, won 37.0% of head-to-heads
Week 1 FanDuel: 114.22 points, won 92.3% of head-to-heads
* Note: Win percentages do not include ties.
