Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games – Week 14

By Ha Kung Wong  Daily Fantasy Football

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

Hey all!  I’m back for another week of DFS cash!  But before we get to the lineups, let make sure I stress that just like with any “investment” diversity is the key.  The point of this article is not just to give you one line up for each site, it’s to give you an example of one POSSIBLE lineup.  Getting exposure to a few different lineups is always a good idea, so don’t forget to mix and match additional lineups from my suggestions below.  Trust me, it’s a lot more fun that way AND you’ll improve your chances of cashing!

So without further to do, here are my favorite cash lineups for FanDuel, Draft Kings, and Yahoo! DFS, plus a few others suggestions you might consider for your lineups.

Let’s get to winning you some CASH in Week 14 of the 2016 NFL season!

Daily Fantasy Football

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 for Week 14 contests, along with they’re prices on Fan Duel (“FD”), Draft Kings (“DK”) and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy (“Y!”).

FanDuel

revised-fanduel-week-14-lineup

 

UPDATED – You’ll note that in my sample FanDuel lineup, I now use Taylor Gabriel with the news that Sanu is out and Jones either will not play or will be used primarily as a decoy.  That, along with going with the Denver Broncos defense, opened up some space for me to switch Jimmy Graham and his sweet matchup.  Feel free to stick with the original lineup, I still like both.

Your first question is probably “Who in the world is Robby Anderson?”  Well, I’ll tell you who.  He’s Bryce Petty’s favorite target and Petty is the new starting QB for the New York Jets.  Ordinarily, this wouldn’t matter for DFS, but sometimes you need that cheap upside play to allow you fit in a few studs.  And Anderson is that guy.  He reeled in 4 receptions for 61 yards and a TD in Week 13, all of which came from Petty when he took over for Ryan Fitzpatrick.  In fact, Petty targeted Anderson a whopping 12 times in less than half a game and has now led the Jets in receiving in each of Petty’s appearances this year.  The 49ers are only middle of the road against WRs, so there’s going to be some room to throw, and for the bargain basement price, I like the cap space it opens up.

And why did I need that cap space?  Well, to slot in the two best RBs in the league, David Johnson and Ezekiel Elliott.  David Johnson is my favorite RB once again this week.  He has the 3rd most rushing yards (1005), 3rd most rushing TDs (11) and most receiving yards (704) of any RB in the NFL this year.  Plus the Dolphins have the 3rd worst run defense in the league.  Ezekiel Elliott has a tougher matchup against a stout Giants run defense, but still has the MOST rushing yards (1285) and 2nd most rushing TDs (12) of any RB in the NFL.  Both RBs are basically money in the bank offering a very secure floor for cash lineups.

As you can probably tell, I’m a fan of both Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck this week at QB.  I swear, Wilson HAS to breakout sometime and Packers defense that’s more vulnerable over the air than on the ground.  Wilson hit a high point in the 3 weeks prior to Week 12 averaging just over 300 yards and 2 TDs per game.  And although not optimal, Wilson still put up 277 yards and TD in Week 13.  According to Football Outsiders, the Packers have the 22nd ranked pass defense by DVOA, plus they’ve allowed a crazy 14 passing TDs in the last 5 games.

Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson

In fact, the Packers are the worst team at defending WR1s by DVOA, meaning Doug Baldwin is also in play (and is actually part of my sample Draft Kings lineup).

Aaron Rodgers has the 2nd most passing TDs in the league (29) and has over 300 yards in 3 of his last 4 games.  He has a tough matchup against the Seahawks at home, but star safety Earl Thomas is out with a broken leg, giving Rodgers quite a bit more breathing room.

Andrew Luck came back from a missed week to completely light up the Jets to the tune of 278 yards and 4 TDs.  He has a top 5 Texans pass defense to contend with, but he’s firing on all cylinders and is looking sharper than he has all season.  Plus, the Colts are under a lot of pressure to keep winning if they want a shot at the playoffs.  Interestingly, although the Texans have a solid pass defense, they’re only ranked 22nd by DVOA against WR1s, which is why I like T.Y. Hilton.  He’s being targeted a ton and has the 3rd most receiving yards per game (90.7) of any WR in the NFL.

Dontrelle Inman is averaging a healthy 7 targets and 66 yards per game over his last 6, and has TDs in each of the last 2 weeks.  And he’s facing the Panthers 3rd worst pass defense.  I like the solid floor and decent upside for the price.

Delanie Walker has the most TDs (6) and 4th most receiving yards (657) of any TE in the NFL this season.  The Broncos has one the top pass defenses in the league, but Walker is Mariota’s top target (tied with Rishard Mathews for the team lead over the last 8 games with 53 targets), and Mariota may need to use the short outlet pass frequently to avoid Von Miller and the pass rush.  Plus, past TEs (like Travis Kelce’s 8 for 101 yards) have had success against the Broncos.

Delanie Walker

Delanie Walker

I like two defenses this week — the Cincinnati Bengals against the Cleveland Browns, the Denver Broncos against the Tennessee Titans.  The Bengals are a mediocre defense, but the Browns are horrific, and now are likely to start RGIII behind center.  The Broncos have a tougher matchup against the Titans, but have been just consistently dominant all year.  So take your pick, whichever you’re more comfortable with seeing as how both a priced similarly on FanDuel.  But on Draft Kings and Yahoo, Cincinnati is way cheaper, so I’d just go with them.

Draft Kings

draft-kings-week-14-lineup

On Draft Kings, you’ll note that I took Jeremy Hill over David Johnson.  The reason is simply price plus a great matchup, as the Browns have the 2nd worst run defense in the league.  In fact, the Browns have allowed a rushing TD in 9 of 12 games and over 100 rush yards in 10 of 12 games.  Once the Bengals get ahead in this game, I’d expect a lot of Hill killing clock.

You’ll also note that I used Frank Gore on Draft Kings.  I think he’s a solid value with a high usage rate, plus the Texans have a vulnerable run defense, ranked 17th against the run by DVOA.

I also used Dez Bryant because he’s priced more competitively on Draft Kings and Yahoo than FanDuel.  The Giants have an exploitable bottom 10 pass defense, and Bryant has had at least a TD in 5 of his last 7 games.

Yahoo! DFS

revised-yahoo-week-14-lineup

 

UPDATED – You’ll note that in my sample Yahoo lineup, I ALSO now use Taylor Gabriel with the news of increased opportunity.  That allowed me to upgrade my flex to Carlos Hyde in a strong matchup.  Again, feel free to stick with the original lineup, I still like both here as well.

Jordan Howard has been one of my favorite RB options for DFS, and he really paid off in Week 13 with 3 TDs.  He probably won’t get that this week, but he’s essentially all the Bears have on offense, so regardless of the score, Howard is going to get all the run he could handle.

Ladarius Green broke out in a big way in Week 13, and I already detailed why I liked him in my weekly Fantasy Football waiver pickup column.  All those reasons apply here, as Green looks to be one of the top 3 options in a prolific Steelers offense.  His price on Yahoo is particularly attractive.

Dallas has been solid against the run, but they’re only ranked 21st by DVOA against RB receptions, and Rashad Jennings has had 6 targets in 3 of his last 4 games, including catching all 6 of his targets in Week 13 for 34 receiving yards and a TD.

Alternative Options

Feel free to use any of the players that I’ve selected on one site in any other site if you have cap space.

In addition, you’re welcome to use:

  • QB Jameis Winston vs. NO (FD: $8200 / DK: $6700 / Y!: $31)

Even Jared Goff managed to throw 3 TDs against the Saints secondary, and Winston is a lot better than Goff.

  • QB Philip Rivers @ CAR (FD: $8000 / DK: $6600 / Y!: $34)
  • RB Le’Veon Bell vs. BUF (FD: $9000 / DK: $9000 / Y!: $40)
  • WR Mike Evans vs. NO (FD: $8900 / DK: $8900 / Y!: $40)

Mike Evans doesn’t always go off for game-breaking point totals, but he does have the most targets (138), 3rd most receptions (76), 3rd most receiving yards (1058), and 2nd most receiving TDs (10) of any WR in the league.  Plus, the Saints have the 2nd worst pass defense in the NFL, so there should plenty of production for Evans.  The only problem is the price.

UPDATE – I like Evans and Brate even more now that Adam Humphries has been ruled out (and Cecil Shorts likely to be on IR).

  • WR Golden Tate vs. CHI (FD: $6300 / DK: $6600 / Y!: $24)
  • TE Jimmy Graham @ GB (FD: $6600 / DK: $5500 / Y!: $24)

The Packers have given up the 2nd most yards to opposing TEs (851) this year.  Plus Graham is back to stud status and has been incredibly consistent.

  • TE Cameron Brate vs. NO (FD: $5600 / DK: $4100 / Y!: $18)

I just can’t get enough of how bad the Saints pass defense is.  And as I said above, Brate should get some additional targets with Shorts and Humphries out.

  • TE CJ Fiedorowicz @ IND (FD: $5100 / DK: $3900 / Y!: $15)

I particularly like Fiedorowicz on DK because of the full PPR, since he’s had the most targets (25) of any receiving option in Houston over the last 3 weeks.

UPDATE – With Mohamed Sanu ruled out with a groin injury, and Julio Jones on the doubtful side of a gametime decision, I now like Taylor Gabriel (FD: $5400 / DK: $4300 / Y!: $18) as a decent value cash play at WR or Flex.  You’ll note that I revised my sample lineups to account for this.

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