DraftKings Cash Game Lineup: Week 9

DraftKings Cash Game

Welcome to 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.

Week Eight Recap

I said all along this week came down to the QB positions, as we had so many options. I unfortunately landed on one of the worst, as Caleb Williams took a massive step back, only scoring 10.34 points. The key to winning this week was getting on to Bo Nix at just $5,800 against a Panthers defense that has allowed massive games to opposing QBs all season long. I was hesitant to put faith in Nix last week, and it cost me. 

Here are my results so far:

• Week 1: Won 21.3% of head-to-heads
• Week 2: Won 35.71% of head-to-heads
• Week 3: Won 21.3% of head-to-heads
• Week 4: Won 0% of head-to-heads
• Week 5: Won 85.71% of head-to-heads
• Week 6: Won 71.43% of head-to-heads
• Week 7: Won 57.1% of head-to-heads
• Week 8: Won 35.7% of head-to-heads
• Season Win Percentage: 41.1%

Now, let’s dive into Week 9.

Quarterback

There are a few QBs down the board who project as good values, but I feel much more comfortable with a lineup construction that features Josh Allen ($7,700). He’s priced about right, but it’s his matchup that’s intriguing. The Bills feature the highest team total of the week at 28, Vegas’s way of telling you this offense is ready to explode. Allen has been more consistent as of late, scoring between 20 and 25 points in his last three games, but he still has that elite upside that makes him a threat to win you the week. 

Running Back

DraftKings (DK) often errs on the side of caution when adjusting salaries according to performance, making De’Von Achane ($6,700) an insane value again. Achane picked up right where he left off playing with Tua Tagovailoa, scoring 26.7 points in Tua’s return. Most importantly, he was featured heavily in the pass game, leading to a 19% target share, in line with the passing work he received earlier in the season before Tua got injured. He has a good game environment this week as well, with the total for the Bills-Dolphins game sitting at 49, the second highest figure on the slate. 

D’Andre Swift ($6,400) continued to produce in Week 8, even when the offense as a whole was struggling, scoring 21.9 points, and yet his salary is only $200 higher, making him a cash lock. His offense as a whole has a good get-right spot against a terrible Cardinals defense who’s allowed the sixth-most points to RBs this season. 

Wide Receiver

Yes, he was disappointing, but DraftKings should not have lowered Drake London’s ($6,700) salary by $500. London was a discount at $7,200 last week, making him an even better play at $6,700. I understand why DraftKings lowered his salary, but dud games are a part of everyone’s range of outcomes. There’s no concern over London’s outlook after just one bad week. I’m firing him up confidently this week, especially against Dallas’ 25th ranked defense against the pass in EPA/play. 

I was shocked to see where DraftKings priced Chris Olave ($6,100) this week. He’s struggled since Spencer Rattler took over, but then righted the ship, scoring 21.7 points last week on 14 targets. Derek Carr is likely to return to play this week, a great help for Olave. He’s priced almost $700 too low, according to my salary model, further demonstrating how great of a play he is this week. 

Another example of DK being slow to react to role and performance changes is Cedric Tillman ($4,300). In the two games that Jameis Winston has appeared in, Tillman has posted scores of 18.1 and 28.9 on 21 combined targets. Not only is he outperforming his salary, he’s outperforming some of the league’s best talent. In his last two games, he’s outperformed every other fantasy WR over their last two games, besides CeeDee Lamb, Chris Godwin, and Nico Collins. Tillman is already in elite company (albeit in a small sample size), cementing his place as the best play of the week at the salary of many teams’ WR3. 

Tight End

While the RB and WR positions seemed pretty easy to identify, TE is a bit trickier. I considered playing Brock Bowers ($6,000) or Trey McBride ($5,800), but that meant I had to sacrifice at QB, playing someone like Kirk Cousins ($6,300) or Geno Smith ($5,800). Thus, I decided it was right to scroll down the board at TE, which left me with a decision between Mike Gesicki ($3,100) and Will Dissly ($3,100). I think this 1v1 is really, really close, but in the end, Gesicki projects slightly better, does not have an injury designation, and plays on the more pass-happy team, giving him the slight edge over Dissly in this lineup. 

FLEX

Despite his age and durability concerns, James Conner ($6,600) continues to produce in fantasy football, averaging 15.4 DK ppg. He has a highly favorable matchup this week against the Chicago Bears, who are a prolific run funnel, since their secondary has been excellent, while their run defense has been about league average. 

DST

I’m going back to my roots and using as little salary as possible on my DST by playing the Giants DST ($2,300). They face an uphill battle against Jayden Daniels and the Commanders, but I’ll take the NFL’s 10th highest-scoring defense at the stone minimum salary. 

Summary

This week was similar to last, where most of the RB/WR values were pretty obvious. However, unlike last week, TE was not obvious, leading me to consider a number of team constructions. Ultimately, I felt most comfortable by sacrificing at TE in order to get an elite QB and a solid RB. 

Here is the final lineup: