Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games – Week 15

December 17, 2016

By Ha Kung Wong Daily Fantasy Football

Hey all! I’m back for another week of DFS cash! Remember, the point of this article is not just to give you one lineup for each site, it’s to give you examples of one or two POSSIBLE lineups. 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 15 of the 2016 NFL season!

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

FanDuel

To drive home the point that you should diversify your lineups, I’m giving you two sample lineups for FanDuel this week, each with different approaches.

The first lineup focuses on the RB position by slotting in the top (and most expensive) RB choice in David Johnson and a solid RB2 in Jordan Howard.

David Johnson is my favorite RB once again this week. He has the 3rd most rushing yards (1085), 4th most rushing TDs (11) and most receiving yards (745) of any RB in the NFL this year. The Saints are more vulnerable over the air than on the ground, but Carson Palmer has been atrocious of late, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Johnson get even more run than usual this week. I like Jordan Howard because he’s essentially all the Bears have at this point and has a terrific floor averaging over 100 total yards per game. Perhaps the return of Alshon Jeffery might even loosen the box a bit for him to find a little more room to run. Plus, the Packers have allowed a whopping 4.78 yards per carry to opposing RBs over the last 7 games.

Jordan Howard

The second lineup focuses on the WR position by including 3 of the top 10 WRs in the game, Antonio Brown, Mike Evans and Jordy Nelson. Brown is the model of consistency, as he always manages to find a way to get fantasy points. He’s averaging the most receptions per game (7.2) from the second most targets per game (10.6) of any WR in the NFL, so far totaling 1,130 yards and 11 TDs. The Bengals are more vulnerable on the ground, but Brown is essentially matchup proof. Evans is facing a bottom 5 Cowboys pass defense and is Jameis Winston’s number 1 target. In fact, he has the most targets of any WR in the NFL this year (146). The Bears defense has been surprisingly effective in recent weeks, but Nelson is still Aaron Rodger’s favorite target, and he leads the league in receiving TDs (12). And the reason he leads the league in receiving TDs is that Jordy also leads the league in both red zone targets (26) and targets inside the ten-yard line (14). Plus, it’s become pretty clear that the Packers don’t have much on the ground, so Rodgers will have to keep passing to ensure a W.

Mike Evans

As you can probably tell, I’m a fan of Matt Ryan, Derek Carr and Tyrod Taylor at QB in Week 15. Before I say why, I’ll own the fact that Russell Wilson was not a great pick last week. But then again, if you also started Taylor Gabriel and Robby Anderson, you should have won money anyway, so you’re still welcome. Anyway, Ryan has been one of the best QBs in the NFL with the 2nd most passing yards (4050) and the 2nd most passing TDs (30) in the NFL, and he’s facing the hapless 49ers. Plus, the 49ers @ Falcons game has the highest over/under of any game this week (51.5). Carr also has a solid matchup against a bottom 10 Chargers pass defense, and certainly will look to bounce back from a poor performance in the cold in Week 14. Before that week, Carr had 260+ yards and multiple TDs in 4 of his last 5 games. And although Taylor has been regressing over the course of the season, he does have Sammy Watkins back, and he’s facing a Browns defense ranked worst overall in the NFL by DVOA on Football Outsiders.

Matt Ryan

The two value WRs I use include Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins. In the last 5 weeks, Hill has been a revelation, catching a whopping 34 of 40 targets for 313 total yards and 2 TDs. Essentially, if Alex Smith puts the ball up near Hill, he’ll catch it. Plus, he’ll be facing the Titans who have the 2nd worst pass defense in the NFL. Watkins on the other hand is a little more risky, but for the price, he’s an excellent value. Since coming back from injury 3 weeks ago, Watkins has caught 10 of 21 for 172 yards and TD, all on limited snap counts. And since he was almost on 100% of offensive snaps in Week 14, I have about the same if not more in Week 15. Of course, there’s always the possibility his foot injury takes him out of the game, but he’s played through it three weeks in a row and he’s already said he intends to play out the year. Plus he’s facing the lowly Browns defense at home.

The two value RBs I use are Kenneth Farrow and Kenneth Dixon. Farrow will be taking over as the starter due to Melvin Gordon’s hip injury, and looked decent in Week 14 with 16 carries for 55 rush yards and 6 receptions for 23 receiving yards. Ronnie Hillman may steal a few snaps, but the Raiders bottom 10 rush defense provide a good opportunity. Dixon managed to overtake Terrance West in the Ravens backfield share with 11 carries for 39 yards and 8 receptions for 42 yards and a TD. For the price, both are decent plays.

At tight end, you’re welcome to go high end, but I’ll take a middle of the road approach with Cameron Brate and Kyle Rudolph. According to Football Outsiders, the Cowboys are the second worst in the NFL by DVOA at defending against opposing TEs. And Cameron Brate is tied for the most receiving TDs (6) of any TE in the league this season. Oh, and by the way, guess who is tied for the most receiving TDs of any TE in the league this season? None other than Kyle Rudolph, who is facing the Colts who just so happen to be the third worst in the NFL by DVOA at defending against opposing TEs. Play both with confidence.

Kyle Rudolph

I like two defenses this week — the Houston Texans against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Buffalo Bills against the Cleveland Browns. The Texans have been solid most of the year and get to face the turnover machine known as the Jaguars offense in Week 15. The Jaguars have turned the ball over a whopping 25 times this season, good for 3rd most in the NFL. Plus, the Texans v. Jaguars game has the lowest over/under of any Sunday game this week (39). The Bills defense has been mediocre at best, and mostly inconsistent, but the Browns are horrific, and are likely to continue starting RGIII behind center. And we saw how well that went against Cincinnati last week. So take your pick, whichever you’re more comfortable with seeing as how both a priced similarly on FanDuel and Draft Kings. But on Yahoo, Houston is significantly cheaper, so I’d just go with them.

Draft Kings

On Draft Kings, you’ll note that I took LaGarrette Blount over David Johnson. The reason is price plus a strong matchup, as the Broncos defense, although the best in the league against the pass, they’re only 25th against the run by DVOA. And, believe it or not, Blount has the most the most rushing TDs in the NFL (14) and is averaging 19.1 carries per game, good for 5th most. Once the Pats take control of this game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Blount used to salt away the clock.

I also used Odell Beckham Jr. because he’s priced more competitively on Draft Kings and Yahoo than FanDuel. Plus, the Lions are 30th against the pass by DVOA.

Yahoo! DFS

For Yahoo, due to competitive pricing, I particularly like Jeremy Hill, Ty Montgomery and Demaryius Thomas. Hill has held court over the Bengals backfield since Giovanni Bernard went on IR, and managed 142 total yards and a TD against the Browns. He has a much tougher matchup against the Steelers, but his volume in a home game makes him a decent value. Plus, the Steelers have also allowed the third most receiving yards to RBs (707) in the NFL, meaning Hill will remain productive even if the Bengals fall behind and go into catch up mode. Montgomery is back to being the starting RB in Green Bay, playing over 50% of offensive snaps and totaling 86 yards and a TD in Week 14. The Bears are surprisingly solid defense, but are much more vulnerable on the ground. Plus, remember that the last time Montgomery faced the Bears, he parlayed 19 touches into 126 yards. The fact that Montgomery is usable as a WR on Yahoo is also a bonus. And Thomas is a great value seeing as how the Patriots are the 2nd best against the run, but is ranked 27th against the pass. Trevor Siemian isn’t good, but Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are, and both get a nice matchup against the Patriots, particularly in light of the fact that the Broncos will need to go to the air frequently to stay competitive.

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 Philip Rivers vs. OAK (FD: $7800 / DK: $6200 / Y!: $32)
RB Le’Veon Bell @ CIN (FD: $9400 / DK: $9800 / Y!: $39)
RB LeSean McCoy vs. CLE (FD: $9000 / DK: $8900 / Y!: $40)
RB Ezekiel Elliott vs. TB (FD: $8500 / DK: $8200 / Y!: $38)
RB Dwayne Washington @ NYG (FD: $5000 / DK: $3500 / Y!: $11)

With Theo Riddick listed as doubtful this week and Zack Zenner listed as questionable this week, Washington becomes an intriguing RB or Flex punt play. If both are ruled out, I’d lock him in. If only Riddick is out, I’d still consider him, but only as necessary for cap space.