Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games – Week 15

By Ha Kung Wong  Daily Fantasy Football

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

I hope you followed my advice last week for your cash games, because if you did, you won money.  But hey, I don’t judge, I’m giving you all another chance in Week 15!  And don’t forget, for those of you in seasonal leagues, you can still check out my Waiver Favors column for pickups help!

Cash Games, for those who don’t know, are essentially the lowest risk games.  They include “50/50” games, in which half the entrants win about 1.8x the entry fee, and “Double Ups”, in which slightly less than half the entrants win 2x the entry fee.

Since there’s so many different sites, and I can’t cover them all, I’ve decided to cover just the most popular sites, including Fan Duel, Draft Kings and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy.

First of all, as a general rule for 50/50 Cash Games, there’s a basic target of points per salary cap spent that you’d like to look for:

• For Fan Duel try to target at least 2 fantasy points per $1000 spent.
• For Draft Kings, try to target at least 2.5 fantasy points per $1000 spent.
• For Yahoo! Daily Fantasy, try to target at least 0.6-0.7 fantasy points per $1 spent.

Remember, this article is not focused on GPP (Tournament) Games, JUST Cash Games.  Feel free to use a few of these suggested players as a base when constructing a GPP lineup, but you’ll have to take some chances on a few low cost, upside players as well.

So, without further to do, here are my suggestions for the Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games in Week 14, along with they’re prices on Fan Duel (“FD”), Draft Kings (“DK”) and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy (“Y!”).

Quarterback

As I said last week, you’re welcome to pay up for a QB this week, but I think there are a good mid-tier / mid-cost options that I’d rather go with, including the three on this list.

Russell Wilson vs. CLE (FD: $8800 / DK: $7000 / Y!: $34)

• I mentioned this last week, and Russell Wilson did not disappoint.  He’s been crazy good over the last four weeks.  Not only has he led his team to four straight wins, but he’s set highs at QBR for the year (above 90 for four straight weeks), had at least 260 passing yards and 3 TDs each week, and thrown a grand total of 0 interceptions.  Cleveland may have had a little spark with Johnny Football behind center, but their defense has been atrocious.  Regardless of the matchup, Wilson is just too locked in not to play.

Mathew Stafford vs. NO (FD: $7800 / DK: $6100 / Y!: $33)

• Stafford has had a resurgence in the second half of the season.  And now he faces the New Orleans Saints defense, which has allowed 36 receiving TDs this year, good for most in the NFL.  In fact, that’s 7 MORE than the next worst team, the Philadelphia Eagles.  There’s a good chance Stafford remains hot in Week 15.

Alex Smith vs. BAL (FD: $7000 / DK: $5100 / Y!: $29)

• Kansas City has the 6th least passing yards in the NFL.  So why am I recommending Alex Smith?  Well, Baltimore has allowed the 6th most passing TDs (27) and the third highest passer rating to opposing QBs (101.3) in the NFL.  Kansas City is a “take what they give” type of offense, so if you need a cheaper option, Smith is worth a look this week.

Running Back

Generally speaking, there are again a lot of value plays at RB this week, so don’t pay up for the big names.  Try these instead.

Lamar Miller vs. SD (FD: $6700 / DK $6300 / Y!: $24)

• After firing OC Bill Lazor, the Dolphins have finally been able to focus on their ground game.  And Lamar Miller has finally had an opportunity to be Lamar Miller as he’s totaled 202 yards and 2 TDs in the last two games.  And now he faces San Diego, which has allowed the 6th most rushing yards to opposing RBs in the NFL (126.5).  His current price doesn’t reflect his current production, so add him while you can.

David Johnson vs. PHI (FD: $6500 / DK: $5700 / Y!: $22)

• Andre Ellington may be back from turf toe, but Johnson should continue to get the vast majority of the touches.  His price has come up, but Philly hasn’t been good on defense, a I wouldn’t be surprised to see Johnson get a short TD this week.

Charcandrick West vs. BAL (FD: $5900 / DK: $4800 / Y!: $21)

• Spencer Ware may be out this week, and if he is, West is a great value play.  He’ll get the majority of touches in the backfield and we’ve seen what can happen when that’s the case.

Wide Receivers

If you saved money on RBs as a suggested, you’ll have money to pay up for some WRs this week, so don’t hesitate to take more than one of these!

Calvin Johnson vs. NO (FD: $8000 / DK: $6900 / Y!: $33)

• The Saints give up the 3rd most receiving yards in the NFL.  And Calvin Johnson is awesome.  The usual suspects (OBJ and Antonio Brown) have tough matchup, so I like Megatron if you’re paying up for WR.

Allen Hurns vs. ATL (FD: $7000 / DK: $5600 / Y!: $18)

• Allen Robinson is also in play, but I like Hurns value better (and he did have over 10x more yards than Robinson in Week 14).  The Jaguars passing attack is locked in and Atlanta has been on a downward slide getting torched by Cam Newton in Week 14.

Jeremy Maclin vs. BAL (FD: $6700 / DK: $5500 / Y!: $24)

• I’m all in with Kansas City this week.  Mistake?  Perhaps. But over the last 3 games Maclin has totaled 24 receptions for 323 yards and 3 TDs.  I’m going to bet he continues to get looks.

Jarvis Landry vs. SD (FD: $7100 / DK: $6300 / Y!: $24)

• He’s Tannehill’s main target and sure to get plenty of receptions.  He had 11 for 99 yards last week, so even without putting up big yards, you’ll get plenty of PPR value.

Tight Ends

Greg Olsen vs. NYG (FD: $6800 / DK: $6900 / Y!: $25)

• As I mentioned previously, Olsen’s the number one receiver in Carolina, and Cam basically locks on to him for critical down and distance situations.  Plus, he’s a huge endzone target.  He had a minor injury, but looks good to go.  It’s like converting your TE position to a FLEX and adding a WR instead.

Jordan Reed vs. BUF (FD: $6300 / DK: $5900 / Y!: $19)

• Reed continues to get plenty of targets, and the Redskins will have to keep throwing the ball in light of their less-than-stellar ground game.  He had 120 yards and a TD in Week 14.  He may not get that much this week, but he has a high floor for the price.

Zach Miller vs. MIN (FD: $5500 / DK: $3600 / Y!: $13)

• Martellus Bennett is out for the season due to injury, leaving the resurgent Zach Miller as the TE1 in Chicago.  He didn’t disappoint in Week 14 with 85 yards and a TD.  His price is creeping up, but he’s still a great value.

Defenses

Seattle vs. CLE (FD: $5400 / DK: $4200 / Y!: $15)

• Johnny Football has been a upgrade to the offense, but for every couple great throws, there’s a boneheaded cross his body into the middle of the field pick. No better defense to take advantage of that than Seattle.  This is my favorite defense play this week.