Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games – Week 13

By Ha Kung Wong  Daily Fantasy Football

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

Hope you followed my DFS advice this year, because if so, you’re cashing at over a 75% rate!  But since we’re only happy when you’re happy, we’re back for the Week 13 NFL games and even MORE DFS CASH!

We all know that DFS is a great way to prove you have serious football IQ and earn you bragging rights among your friends (and if you’re like me, among your family as well!).  And heck, if you win cash, that’s just gravy, right?  (No need to answer that question, it was totally rhetorical. I know you all like cash. And gravy.)

So before we get to winning you bragging rights (and 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!

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

FanDuel

To provide you with a little diversity, I have two sample lineups for FanDuel this week.

There are actually a few possible QB plays this week as there promises to be quite a few competitive games, but I’m happy paying up at QB this week since there’s plenty of value elsewhere.  So I picked Carson Wentz and Philip Rivers.

I know that Wentz is facing a daunting Seahawks 9th ranked pass defense, but they’re no longer at 100% without Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor.  Plus Earl Thomas pooped up with a midweek heel injury that may not keep him out if the game, but may mean he’s also not 100%.  Wentz and the Eagles have been on a roll, and Wentz has had multiple passing TDs in all but 2 games this season.  In fact, he has the most passing TDs of any QB this season (28), plus keeps his floor high by also having the 8th most rushing yards of any QB this season (253).  Does Wentz have a ton of upside?  Probably not, but this game has the 3rd highest over/under of the weekend (47) with the Eagles favored by just 5 and promises to be a close game requiring Wentz to keep throwing the ball.

Since rediscovering Keenan Allen, Rivers has also been on a roll.  He’s had three consecutive weeks of multiple passing TDs and is coming off his best performance of the season with 434 passing yards and 3 TDs against the Cowboys.  He now has the 7th most passing yards (2,948) and the 6th most passing TDs (20) of any QB in the league this season, and now gets to face the Browns 27th ranked pass defense.  The Chargers are 10 point favorites, so the only danger is if this game gets out of hand too quickly, making the Chargers turn to clock killing measures on the ground.  But with Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman back for the Browns, I think they’ll at least be competitive, keeping Rivers engaged for at least a majority of the game.

At RB, I like Jordan Howard, Leonard Fournette and Todd Gurley.

Howard is essentially the only weapon the Bears have, and he gets to square off against the 22nd ranked 49ers run defense that has allowed the 3rd most rushing yards per game to opposing RBs (129.5) and tied for allowing the 4th most total rushing TDs (10) this season.  Howard has the 3rd most carries (199) for the 4th most rushing yards (847) and 5th most rushing TDs (5) of any RB in the league this season, so I suspect we’ll see a lot more of that.

Leonard had a dud last week, but he was coming off an injury and has been solid while on the field, with the 3rd most carries (20.8), 4th most yards (85) and 4th most rushing TDs (0.7) per game of any RB in the NFL.  Now fully healthy, I think he gets back on track with a matchup against a Colts defense that has allowed the 3rd most rushing TDs of any team this season (11), in addition to the fact the Jags are likely to be ahead and looking at running the clock out late.

Gurley is having a renaissance season.  He’s got the 3rd most rush yards (865), most rush TDs (8), 3rd most receiving yards (479) and 4th most receiving TDs (3) of any RB in the league.  The Cardinals have a solid run defense, but have also tied for allowing the 3rd most rushing TDs this season (11), plus Gurley has been mostly matchup proof, as he’s used both on the ground and through the air.

As for WRs, I like Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins, Jarvis Landry and Dede Westbrook.

I like Allen for the same reasons I like Rivers, plus his recent two week resurgence where he’s had back-to-back games of 150+ yards and at least 1 TD.

Hopkins is a target monster regardless of who’s behind center, with the 2nd most targets (125) for the 4th most receiving yards (1,004) and most receiving TDs (9) of any WR this season.  A matchup against the Titans 24th ranked pass defense doesn’t scare me.

Landry is clearly the favorite target in Miami, with the 3rd most targets (117) and 2nd most receptions (75) of any WR in the NFL this season.  Regardless of production, the receptions keep his floor high, which makes him a safe pick for the  depressed price.  Plus he gets to face a Broncos defense that won’t have Aquib Talib this week.

Dede Westbrook is mostly a value play, as since Westbrook has returned form injury and Allen Hurns has been out, he’s caught 9 of 16 total targets.  He’s clearly involved with the offense, Hurn remains out this week, plus he faces the Colts 28th ranked pass defense that is 23rd defending WR2s.

At TE, I went with Jared Cook.  You could certainly pay up for someone else, but with the Raiders having essentially zero starting WRs with Michael Crabtree suspended and Amari Cooper ruled out due to injury, Cook remains one of the only reliable targets for Derek Carr.  Plus, the Giants defense is in a tailspin allowing the 4th most receiving yards per game (268.6) and 3rd most receiving TDs per game this year (22) , and they’re particularly bad defending opposing TEs.

On defense, I went with the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Indianapolis Colts.  The Jaguars defense allows the least amount of yards (281.8) and points per game (15.3) of any defense in the NFL this season.  They also have the second most total takeaways (25) and have the most sacks (41.0) this season.  The Colts, on the other hand, are tied for the 6th most giveaways (13) and have allowed the most sacks this season (47.0).  Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is as close to a no-brainer as you can get.  Don’t overthink it, just pay up and take the Jags.

Draft Kings 

On Draft Kings, I also liked Josh McCown, Jamaal Williams, Dion Lewis, Larry Fitzgerald, Seth Roberts and the Los Angeles Chargers Defense.

Alright, here a few quick hits as to why I like these guys:

  • McCown has looked nothing like his previous season self this year.  He’s had multiple TDs in 6 of his last 6 games, with 16 total TDs to just 5 INTs.  He’s found serious rapport with Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, plus the Jets are scared to throw it down field.  He gets to face the struggling Chiefs this weekend and their 20th ranked pass defense, that’s allowed the 5th most passing yards per game (246) to opposing QBs.  Plus, McCown is dirt cheap on Draft Kings and Yahoo.
  • Williams is completely a volume based value play.  He’s cheap and should get all the carries now that Ty Montgomery has been sent to IR.  Aaron Jones might come back this week, and if that happens, I’d be less bullish on Williams, but he should be able to return value regardless.  Keep an eye on Jones and, if he plays, feel free to swap Williams out.

UPDATE – Aaron Jones looks to return, so temper expectations on Williams.  And feel free to avoid Williams if you’d like, but he should maintain value for this week as Jones gets up to speed.

  • Lewis is the lead back in New England…just barely.  He’s averaging 13.4 carries and just under 2 targets per game over his last 5.  And he’s coming off back-to-back-to-back solid weeks with at least a TD or 100 yards.  Plus, the Bills 27th ranked run defense is not imposing in the least.

  • Fitzgerald is just a high floor safe play.  He has the 7th most targets (9.6) and 3rd most receptions (6.5) per game of any WR in the NFL.  Blaine Gabbert is actually looking solid and has been looking consistently for Fitzgerald.  He had a down week against the Jags, but should fine more success against the Rams.
  • I like Seth Roberts for all the reasons I like Jared Cook above.  He’s the de facto WR1 this week without Crabtree or Cooper in the game, and he’s dirt cheap.
  • The Chargers Defense has killed it over the last two weeks, and they currently have the 3rd most interceptions (14) and the 4th most sacks (32) in the NFL.  The Browns have the most giveaways in the NFL (28).

Yahoo! DFS

With Yahoo, I also like Antonio Brown and Carlos Hyde.

  • For Brown, it turns out that there’s enough value elsewhere to get him in the line up.  And Brown is always money in the bank if you can fit him in.

UPDATE – There’s concern that Brown will NOT play this week since he did NOT practice on Friday or Saturday. At this point, I’d take Brown out and consider other options.  I’d also consider using JuJu Smith-Schuster and Martavis Bryant if Brown sits.

  • Hyde has been quietly effective with double digit fantasy points in all but two games this year. Plus he garners the 3rd most targets (73) and 5th most receptions (49) of any RB in the league this season.

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 to the above, here are few other suggestions for players to use:

  • QB Tom Brady
  • QB Russell Wilson
  • QB Marcus Mariota
  • RB Le’Veon Bell
  • RB Mark Ingram
  • RB Melvin Gordon
  • RB Christian McCaffrey 
  • WR Corey Davis
  • WR Cooper Kupp
  • TE Rob Gronkowski
  • TE Delanie Walker
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