I decided to focus my cash game attention on FanDuel again this week. I talked about it a bit on this Solo Pod, but the bottom line is I’ve merely wanted to change things up. The scoring system (half-PPR, no bonuses) and pricing structure ($60K cap vs. $50K cap) certainly necessitates a change in strategy.
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.
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.
I preferred the setup on FanDuel this week because there were more ways for my opponents to make mistakes. I thought overpaying at RB or D/ST on FanDuel would put too much pressure on rest of a lineup, and expected plenty of people to do just that.
MY MUST PLAYS
* The only QB I considered was Justin Fields. On TD-heavy FanDuel, the rushing QBs are typically worth paying up for. There’s also no 300-yard bonus like there is on DraftKings. Fields was in an incredible matchup, home against the Cardinals at $8300. With no Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, or Josh Allen on the slate… Fields was a lock.
* The Packers were in a strong spot at Carolina. And they were short-handed as Christian Watson (hamstring) and Jayden Reed (chest) were both sidelined. That left Dontayvion Wicks and Romeo Doubs as the top-2 WRs for Jordan Love, who has shown a serious ceiling of late. I actually think Wicks is a better player than Doubs, and Wicks provided some much-needed salary relief at just $5400.
* Speaking of wideouts with injuries around him, the Jaguars were without both Christian Kirk and Zay Jones. They were also facing one of the NFL’s biggest pass-funnels in the Bucs. Calvin Ridley’s wildly inconsistent season would’ve given me pause if he was $7500 or more. But at just $6800, I was never passing.
MY WANT PLAYS
* I am totally fine punting D/ST on DraftKings. It’s a smaller portion of our score (on average) and the savings go further. But on FanDuel, I’m typically looking to spend up for a really strong option.
However, on this slate, there simply wasn’t a strong enough expensive D/ST and not enough savings on the rest of the slate to pay up. I only considered Seahawks ($3500) against Ryan Tannehill or Commanders ($3800) against Trevor Siemian. If I had unlimited money, I would’ve played Browns ($4800) against Case Keenum or Jets ($5000) against Sam Howell.
* I only considered two tight ends: Evan Engram ($6300) or Trey McBride ($7000). Engram had the same setup as I described above regarding Calvin Ridley. McBride had a much tougher matchup, but has elite usage (even if he was a WR). I decided to let the rest of my lineup dictate which of these two tight ends I would play.
* The final 2v2 I looked at was CeeDee Lamb and Chuba Hubbard vs. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Bijan Robinson. I really thought it was extremely close. Chuba’s role was far more secure than Bijan’s, but the talent gap is massive. And as much as I love ARSB and his role against the Vikings’ blitz, Lamb has simply been one of the best receivers in one of the NFL’s most pass-happy offenses all year.
In the end I decided to simply go with our projections, which had the Lamb/Chuba side 2.05 points ahead.
* Running back was difficult on both sites. I considered all of Rachaad White, Aaron Jones, Bijan Robinson, Ty Chandler, Kenneth Walker, Chuba Hubbard, Devin Singletary. Note that Breece Hall and Jonathan Taylor were very strong on DraftKings, but very expensive on FanDuel.
The running back I liked most was Rachaad White. He has a CMC-esque role and the Jaguars are arguably the best possible matchup for his skillset. I didn’t consider White a must at $7700, but a very strong want.
After that I didn’t feel strongly. Everyone had warts. Instead of focusing on specific RBs, I thought it was right to think of the lineups as a whole. And saving the money with the uber-strong volume projections of Devin Singletary and Chuba Hubbard made the most sense. Because it got me off the shaky mid-range WRs like Garrett Wilson and DeAndre Hopkins.
Week 16 Results
Losing Dontayvion Wicks to a chest injury soon after his touchdown wasn’t ideal. But I ran hot on Evan Engram soundly beating Trey McBride and Seahawks D/ST beating Commanders D/ST.
Most of all though, I was happy I didn’t jam in the RBs I liked best as it would’ve forced me off of CeeDee Lamb and onto a weak WR like Garrett Wilson or DeAndre Hopkins. And I identified that it was fine to play both Evan Engram and Calvin Ridley in this spot. Good to get another strong week in the books after a frustrating start to the season.
Year-To-Date Results
Week 1: 132.7 points, won 51.5% of head-to-heads
Week 2: 126.34 points, won 63.6% of head-to-heads
Week 3: 166.98 points, won 59.8% of head-to-heads
Week 4: 169.12 points, won 75.2% of head-to-heads
Week 5: 107.62 points, won 5.5% of head-to-heads
Week 6: 140.22 points, won 49.1% of head-to-heads
Week 7: 124.98 points, won 51.2% of head-to-heads (FanDuel)
Week 8: 79.58 points, won 10.3% of head-to-heads (FanDuel)
Week 9: 113.88 points, won 56.3% of head-to-heads (FanDuel)
Week 10: 92.76 points (original team), won 8.2% of head-to-heads. 131.16 points (late swap), won 100% of head-to-heads (FanDuel)
Week 11: 107.96 points, won 31.0% of head-to-heads (FanDuel)
Week 12 Thanksgiving: 134.54 points, won 82.8% of head-to-heads (FanDuel)
Week 12 Main: 147.90 points, won 79.6% of head-to-heads (FanDuel)
Week 13: 169.36 points, won 95.8% of head-to-heads
Week 14: 134.32 points, won 40.4% of head-to-heads
Week 15 DK: 161.62 points, won 68.9% of head-to-heads
Week 15 FD: 157.16 points, won 93.4% of head-to-heads
Week 16: 136.0 points, won 94.3% of head-to-heads (FanDuel)
* Note: Win percentages do not include ties.
