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.
This was a much different slate than what we’ve played the first six weeks. That’s because the running back position was actually weak, opening up a lot of different viable builds.
Note: Unless stated otherwise, the discussion below is about DraftKings.
MY MUST PLAYS
* We’ve been eagerly awaiting Rashee Rice’s return all season. He’s a perfect fit for Patrick Mahomes, is an extremely strong target earner, and the Chiefs are the only team in the NFL which reliably skews pass-heavy. Oh, and Rice got to debut against a pass-funneling Raiders defense at Arrowhead. The $5600 tag on DK was laughable.
* On a different kind of slate, I wouldn’t have considered CeeDee Lamb a “must.” He sustained a severe ankle sprain one month ago, introducing a bit more health risk. But given how optimistic the Cowboys sounded about Lamb’s health, and this truly outlier (relative to slate) projected game environment, I needed the alpha at $7500. Lamb and Rice were our two best WR salary-adjusted values in projections by a wide margin.
MY WANT PLAYS
* I only considered two QBs for cash, and we only listed two in Top Plays: Jayden Daniels ($6900) and Patrick Mahomes ($7000). I knew I’d be showing up with one of them on both sites, both were in insane matchups. I preferred Daniels until we learned he’d be without his top-3 wideouts for this game. At that point I preferred Mahomes, but only by a hair. My DK team did not have the $100 to get to Mahomes, so that made it an easy choice. On FD, Mahomes was $700 cheaper than Daniels, making that an easy choice as well.
* I wouldn’t have blamed anyone for considering Quinshon Judkins a “must” at $6000 in this spot. The Dolphins are an elite matchup to attack, the Dolphins typically play poorly in cold weather, and Judkins has already proven he’s an extremely strong runner at the NFL level. I did not consider him a must because as we saw in Week 6, if the Browns got behind we’d see a ton of Jerome Ford/Dylan Sampson. I also thought this game could be very low-scoring. Anyway, all that is a long way of saying I liked Judkins, but wasn’t as confident as the market seemed to be.
* Justin Fields’ outrageous sack rate combined with Garrett Wilson’s absence made the Panthers D/ST an easy punt at just $2500. If I had more money I would’ve been fine with Patriots, Broncos, or Chiefs. But as usual, I try to spend as little as realistically viable at D/ST and Panthers were our second-best salary-adjusted value.
* I only thought five WRs were in play for DK cash. The two “musts” above, plus Chris Moore (no Deebo or McLaurin), Michael Pittman (no Josh Downs), and Chris Olave (too cheap relative to talent/volume combo, again).
Olave was easily my favorite, as the Bears came into this game dead last in yards per play allowed and Olave’s underlying metrics remained extremely strong. As noted on Last-Minute Livestream, any weather concerns were already baked into projections – and Olave was our No. 3 WR in salary-adjusted value.
* Both Brock Bowers (knee) and Jakobi Meyers (knee/toe) were out. So even though it was a horrific spot for the Raiders at Arrowhead, there were a lot of outcomes where Michael Mayer led the team in targets at just $3500. I preferred Mayer to other TE punts such as Mason Taylor and Harold Fannin.
* The last 2v2 I looked at was Breece Hall and Jacory Croskey-Merritt vs. Jonathan Taylor and Zach Ertz. I thought it was very close, we had it almost even in projection. I talked to Silva about it during Last-Minute Livestream, and he felt strongly about the floor for Zach Ertz given the Commanders pass-catching situation. I never like playing TE in flex, but the appeal of getting to the skill player with our biggest base, floor, and ceiling projection (Jonathan Taylor) gave me a push over the edge. In hindsight, both Breece (systemic Jets failure) and JCM (lack of pass-game role) had shaky floors.
Week 7 Results
Anytime you debate a 2v2 to the last second and one side wins by a zillion, you have to feel fortunate. That said, I was proud of myself for not being stubborn and x-ing out all the 2-TE lineups. Every slate is unique, and we have to be willing to take what it gives us. The only regret I have is not putting this team in tournaments, as #TeamPlayTheBestPlays continues to smash.
YEAR-TO-DATE RESULTS
Week 1 DraftKings: 111.32 points, won 37.0% of head-to-heads
Week 2 DraftKings: 145.40 points, won 76.5% of head-to-heads
Week 3 DraftKings: 168.68 points, won 70.6% of head-to-heads
Week 4 DraftKings: Did not play
Week 5 Draftkings: 192.22 points, won 87.5% of head-to-heads
Week 6 DraftKings: 153.92 points, won 56.8% of head-to-heads
Week 7 DraftKings: 186.04 points, won 94.9% of head-to-heads
Week 1 FanDuel: 114.22 points, won 92.3% of head-to-heads
Week 2 FanDuel: 119.00 points, won 95.2% of head-to-heads
Week 3 FanDuel: 149.42 points, won 82.6% of head-to-heads
Week 4 FanDuel: Did not play
Week 5 FanDuel: 177.7 points, won 89.4% of head-to-heads
Week 6 FanDuel: 149.62 points, won 90.1% of head-to-heads
Week 7 FanDuel: 160.44 points, won 66.7% of head-to-heads
* Note: Win percentages do not include ties.
