Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games – 2019 Week 5

October 5, 2019

By Ha Kung Wong

In the second half of 2018, we were over 80% for cash lineups and so far we’re 70% in 2019! And we’re back with more Daily Fantasy Football advice for Cash Games for Week 4!

As usual, before we get to winning you bragging rights (and DFS cash), remember, the point of this article is not just to give you one or two lineups for each site, it’s to give you examples of a few 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!

Let’s get to winning you some CASH in Week 5 of the 2019 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.

And this year, I’m trying something different. I’m going to provide you with a few sample lineups on each site and give you a few notes to consider. You’re welcome. 🙂

So, without further to do, here are my suggestions for the Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games for Week 5 contests, along with they’re prices on Fan Duel (“FD”), Draft Kings (“DK”) and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy (“Y!”).

FanDuel

Draft Kings

Yahoo! DFS

Game Notes:

One of my favorite games of the week for DFS is the Atlanta Falcons @ the Houston Texans. There’s an estimated total of 50.0 points, which is highest this weekend (other than the Sunday night game) with the Texans favored by 4. That means this is essentially a coin flip between two middling defenses. The Texans allow the 7th highest QB completion percentage (70.5) and have the 4th lowest interception percentage (0.6) while the Falcons allow the 11th highest QB completion percentage (67.2) and have the 10th lowest interception percentage (1.6) in the NFL. So that means, I like the usual Houston options in Deshaun Watson, Deandre Hopkins and Will Fuller, but from a value perspective, I really like Matt Ryan and love the idea of paying up for target hog Julio Jones. I also don’t mind Calvin Ridley in hopes he finds some way to catch a few targets in what looks to be a shootout and Austin Hooper who should get plenty of redzone looks.
Injuries are always a big deal for finding value, and this week is no exception. Wayne Gallman remains on the list with a high snap share with no Saquon Barkley, making him an excellent RB value play. At WR, you have plenty of options, with Auden Tate becoming the WR2 in Cincinnati priced essentially at the minimum with both AJ Green and John Ross out, and over in Green Bay, with Davante Adams out, both Marques Valdes-Scantling and Geronimo Allison are great value options in a great passing offense, but temper expectations against a tough Cowboys defense.
Christian McCaffrey has the most touches (111), most yards from scrimmage (629), 4th most rushing TDs (4) of any player in the NFL. So if you’re going to pay up for any player, pay up for Run CMC.
Why Le’Veon Bell? Opportunity and value. He’s been in on 96.3% of the Jets offensive snaps so far this season and is priced like a mid-tier RB. Only Christian McCaffery has been in on more plays than Bell.
Keenan Allen has the most receiving yards per game (113.0) of any player in the NFL so far, and also has 3 total TDs. Plus, Denver defense is only 28th against the pass, so lock and load.
The Los Angeles Chargers are only 30th against the pass. The do have Casey Hayward, so there’s always the possibility that someone gets shutdown, but I think that someone is Courtland Sutton, leaving Emmanuel Sanders to do some damage at a very reasonable price, and Phillip Lindsay, who has significant involvement in the passing game as well and is particularly cheap on Draft Kings.
I know that Teddy Bridgewater isn’t Drew Brees, but the discounted price for Michael Thomas seems silly, particularly since his target share is through the roof and he currently has the 2nd most receptions (34) in the NFL.
On the other side of the ball, New Orleans is only 26th against the pass per DVOA, so I like the Tampa Bay passing attack as well, including Jameis Winston, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and OJ Howard.
With Christian Kirk ruled out, Larry Fitzgerald should be a decent play against a Cincinnati defense that’s second worst in the NFL against the pass per DVOA. KeeSean Johnson is also viable if you’re looking for a punt play at WR.
Believe it or not, the Jets aren’t that bad on defense, being ranked 12th per DVOA. That being said, the Eagles are coming off a big win against the Packers, and Carson Wentz looked like Carson Wentz again. He currently has the 6th highest QBR in the league (72.8) and I don’t see why he doesn’t have continued success this week.
At TE, although he has a tough matchup against the Bears, Darren Waller is getting ridiculous usage and has the 4th most receptions (33) of any player in the NFL so far. That’s right, I said 4th most of ANY player in the NFL. This is a huge advantage in full PPR sites. And I also like Mark Andrews, who already has 3 TDs this season and now faces the 19th ranked Steelers pass defense. And if you’re looking to save money on TE, Greg Olsen has seen a resurgence of late with 29 total targets and 2 TDs, and the Jaguars are actually only 18th defending the pass.
On defense, the New England Defense vs. the Redskins is a great bet, but they’re also the most expensive option on most sites. The Chicago Defense also a good bet against the Raiders across the pond, and so is the Philadelphia Defense against a Jets team helmed by Luke Falk. If you want to save money on defense, I don’t mind going with the Tennessee Defense against the Bills, even with Josh Allen playing, as they have the 6th most sacks (13) in the NFL and already have 6 takeaways this season.