I play roughly 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.
Each week, I’ll review my cash-game lineup 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.
Late news that completely changes a slate is typically reserved for NBA DFS. But we got a taste of it Sunday as Calvin Ridley (personal) and Jamaal Williams (quad) were both surprisingly scratched just 90 minutes before lock.
MY MUST PLAYS
* Last week, I said I didn’t know what DraftKings was thinking with Darrell Henderson’s Week 7 price. This week, they somehow left him at just $6500 despite a three-down plus goal-line role in the best possible matchup (HOU). The absolute ideal cash-game play.
* I had D’Andre Swift in my lineup before the Jamaal Williams (quad) inactive news. He has one of the best possible roles in fantasy — a 19% target share on a team forced to throw a ton plus he’s top-15 in carries from inside the 10-yard line. Swift wasn’t a must before the J-Will news because Jonathan Taylor, Joe Mixon, Darrell Henderson were such strong plays. But after the J-Will news, Swift was a must.
MY WANT PLAYS
* Tight end on DraftKings this week was one of the worst position sets I’ve ever seen. My goal in cash was simply to spend as little as possible and get something viable. If you listened to any of the shows this week, you know that I preferred Pat Freirmuth to Dan Arnold. They were the same price on FanDuel, but Freirmuth was $800 more on DraftKings. I did not think there was an $800 difference.
* Jalen Hurts has flashed a massive floor in every NFL start thanks to his dual-threat ability. Much of that was in garbage time, but this spot against the Lions projected to yield plenty of red-zone opportunities. And the spot against the Lions meant the in-game benching risk for Hurts was very small. The punt QB I would have played was Teddy Bridgewater ($5400), but I never really considered passing on the rushing upside of Hurts.
* Tee Higgins has actually held the biggest target share among Bengals WRs when all three starters have been healthy. Given that usage, Tee’s natural talent, and the spot against the Jets — $5200 was simply too cheap. I did prefer slightly Michael Pittman (more on that below), but I did not have the $100 in this lineup.
* I had a team I felt really good about all morning Sunday. It included Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman, and Chris Godwin. But when we found out both Calvin Ridley and Wayne Gallman were inactive, I thought playing Taylor over Cordarrelle Patterson for $1000 more wasn’t great. Patterson has been playing ahead of Mike Davis in the run game, and with Ridley out you could make a case C-Patt would be the No. 1 WR also.
Of course, I then had an extra $1000 to spend. The options were to stick with the original trio I had and fade C-Patt, go to Cooper Kupp/Van Jefferson, or go to Chris Godwin/Keenan Allen. I thought all three options were close, but when in doubt these days I go with the #breakfastnarrative and the slate breaker himself — Cooper Kupp. I knew this would leave me with three Rams which I didn’t love, but I was OK with it in a spot the Rams were so likely to lead the slate in TDs scored. Note that with DeSean Jackson (trade demand) inactive, Van Jefferson projected to play every snap at just $3900.
* As usual, I was simply trying to spend as little as possible at D/ST. Although Washington’s defense has struggled badly this season, they still have one of the NFL’s best pass rushes. In fact, this WFT DL vs. DEN OL was Thorn’s No. 4 biggest mismatch of the week. That’s good enough for me at $2100.
Week 8 Results
This was not my worst week, but it was my most frustrating result. Considering how much I liked my original team, perhaps I toverreacted to jam in Cordarrelle Patterson. I really, really did not want to come off of Chris Godwin and that cost me. It’s difficult to evaluate these things in hindsight because JT, Godwin, Pittman outscored Kupp, Van Jefferson, and C-Patt by 25.3 points. But given that Patterson only had a 50% rush share and 18% target share, my initial thought is that forcing him was a mistake.
Year-To-Date Results
Week 1: 124.86 points, won 70.5% of head-to-heads
Week 2: 92.88 points, won 5.7% of head-to-heads
Week 3: 151.52 points, won 63.8% of head-to-heads
Week 4: 104.92 points, won 8.1% of head-to-heads
Week 5: 187.08 points, won 82.7% of head-to-heads
Week 6: 147.98 points, won 82.3% of head-to-heads
Week 7: 163.38 points, won 88.1% of head-to-heads
Week 8: 135.62 points, won 37.0% of head-to-heads
