DraftKings

DraftKings Cash Game Lineup: Week 5

By Jacob White

Posted on October 7, 2022

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DraftKings Cash Game Picks

Welcome to the fifth installment of a weekly series where I provide you with what I think is the optimal cash game lineup. All prices, fantasy points, and analyses are based on DraftKings’ DFS platform. If you are unfamiliar with what cash games are, or if you are interested in my basic strategy, click here.

My cash lineup in Week 4 was an outright disaster. It scored just 125.36, not nearly enough for a week like we had. I figured with that score I would’ve done better than winning 15.4% of head-to-head contests, so maybe if you entered this lineup you did okay, but either way, it could’ve been a lot better. I thought about pivoting off of Lamar and Diggs on Sunday morning on account of the weather reports, but I decided to stay with them and I paid the price. The Richie James donut hurt as well, especially considering a lot of the other punt WRs (Raymond, Reynolds, Pickens, etc) did quite well.

So now, in the words of Bill Belichick, we’re on to Week 5.

Quarterback

I’m taking a different approach to QB in cash. Draftkings has (probably) caught up to the market with QB pricing, so you’re no longer getting a discount on the elite Konami code QBs. As a result of this, DK has lowered prices on underperforming QBs and some of these have gone too low. One of these is the legendary signal-caller, Tom Brady. Brady is priced at $6,000, making him cheaper than guys like Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff. Brady reminded us he can still play (when he’s not throwing to Walmart employees) by posting 29.4 DK points last week. He should be able to keep the 20+ point games coming as his WR corp continues to get healthier.

Running Back

I’m going back to playing three RBs this week, so I’ll get to the last one in the FLEX section of this article, and I’ll talk about the first two of them here.

Breece Hall has arrived, folks. We knew the former Iowa St standout had elite talent, we were just waiting for the elite usage to come, and boy did it come in Week 4. Hall completely flipped the script by earning a 58.6% rush share and an 18.2% target share. He turned these opportunities into a respectable 15.8 DK points, a number that could’ve been even larger had he been more efficient or found his way into the endzone. He’s a bargain this week at $5,400. I’m playing him, and you should too.

This is one of the great parts about DK posting prices before the completion of Monday Night Football. Jeff Wilson Jr. costs just $5,500 despite his absurd role that was showcased on MNF: namely, an 81.2% rush share. He’s still not receiving much work, but if he can keep this command on the backfield, even for just this week, he’ll be a great value play at his current salary.

Wide Receiver

New rule: When Cooper Kupp is less than $10,000 on the main slate, you play him in cash. He’s the safest bet for 20 points there is, and he has that 40-point ceiling too that you can’t find elsewhere. He’s not necessarily the best point-per-dollar player, but he’s the perfect cash play if you can afford him.

There are a ton of WRs I think are still mispriced and Tyler Lockett is probably chief among them. The veteran Seahawk is WR24 in DK points (despite having 0 TDs in 2022) and has a 26.4% target share, yet his salary is $5,600, placing him well outside of the top 24 WRs in price. If Lockett can keep his usage, he’s a value play at cost. If he can finally score, he’s a must-have. Either way, I’m more than happy to play him in cash this week.

DK has been increasing Chris Olave’s salary, but I think it’s still too low at $5,700. The star rookie WR still leads the league by a healthy margin in air yards at 577 and is top 20 in target share and yards per route run. Similar to Olave, he should be priced as a top 24 WR, yet he isn’t. He also faces Seattle’s secondary, which seems to think the goal of defense is to give up as many receiving yards as possible, as evidenced by their NFL-worst 0.336 EPA/dropback. This is a perfect spot for Olave to hit his ceiling and there’s no way he doesn’t provide a safe floor, especially with Michael Thomas out and Jarvis Landry and Alvin Kamara questionable.

Tight End

Dallas Goedert was fine last week, but in Week 5, we’re reverting back to our alpha days, and we are playing a stone min TE. This time, it’s Buccaneers rookie TE Cade Otton. Brady has historically loved to throw to TEs, but with dusty guys like Kyle Rudolph and Cameron Brate at the top of the depth chart, Brady was delivering his target elsewhere. Enter Cade Otton. Otton flashed what he could do when given opportunities on Sunday Night Football as he collected 4 targets, turning them into 2 catches for 24 yards. At the minimum of $2,500, I just need him to keep this role, and maybe expand upon it just a little.

FLEX

Devin Singletary has quietly grasped this Buffalo RB room firmly. While still lacking efficiency, Singletary is making up for it with volume, shown by a 14.2% target share, the most routes run by an RB, and a 68.1% snap share. Singletary flashed what he could deliver fantasy managers late last season when he was the clear-cut RB1 in Buffalo’s high-octane offense, and it appears we must see this once more. Singletary is a little on the pricey side at $6,100, but I’d argue his salary is still a bit low, given his role’s value.

DST

It appears we have discovered the cheat code for DST in DFS: play whoever is facing the Bears. Want proof? Here is the Bears’ opponent’s DST point finish by week: DST18, DST8, DST5, and DST2. The evidence is profound. You do have to pay up a bit for Minnesota ($3,600) but I think it’s worth it if you’re guaranteed 10+ points or so.

Summary

I’m mixing things up a bit this week. I paid down at QB and TE, which allowed me to play Cooper Kupp and a slew of underpriced mid-range WRs and RBs. I also paid up a DST to give myself some projectable points, given that Minnesota is playing the awful Bears offense. After a rough Week 4, I’m confident this lineup will perform much closer to my standards.

Here is the final lineup: