Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games – Thanksgiving 2019 Special Edition!

November 27, 2019

By Ha Kung Wong

Sure, Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for what you have. But why not make what you have even more by winning some DFS cash?

In the second half of 2018, we were over 80% for cash lineups, and we cleaned house last week in Week 13 winning cash in 6 of 7 lineups! So now we’re back with more Daily Fantasy Football advice for Cash Games for Thanksgiving Day!

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 on Thanksgiving!

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 Thanksgiving 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:

My favorite games of Thanksgiving for DFS is the New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons. There’s an estimated total of 48.5 points, which is the second highest this weekend with the Saints favored by 7. This should be a shootout between division rivals between a bad Falcons defense (28th) and mediocre Saints defense (8th) that was actually exposed by the Panthers in Week 12. So that means I like the following Saints in this order (based on value and upside): Drew Brees, Michael Thomas (who has the MOST receptions (104) from the MOST targets (124) for the MOST receiving yards (1242) of any player in the NFL), Jared Cook (who has a TD in 4 of his last 5 games in which he averaged 4.2 receptions on 5.8 targets for 56.8 yards) and Alvin Kamara. As for the Falcons, I like them in this order (based on value and upside, particularly with Austin Hooper ruled out): Julio Jones (unless he’s ruled out with his shoulder injury, which would essentially make Ridley and Gage must-plays), Calvin Ridley (who’s averaged 5.25 receptions on 8.5 targets for 81.5 yards and 2 total TDs over the last 4 games) and Russell Gage (who’s averaged 5.25 receptions on 7 targets over the last 4 games).
Ezekiel Elliott has been in on 58.1% of the Cowboys’ offensive snaps and averages 19.5 carries per game, which are both 3rd most among all RBs in the NFL. I like him as much as I like Kamara on a short slate.
David Montgomery has been inefficient, but has seen 13+ carries in all of his last 5 games. The Lions have struggled against the run this season (ranked 24th) and the Bears are sure to continue to keep it on the ground, particularly when they should be playing from ahead against the Lions who are starting David Blough, a 3rd string QB that’s never taken an snap yet in the NFL.
Gosh it feels weird recommending so many Bears, but Taylor Gabriel is out with injury, leaving Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller to line up against the Lions pass defense that’s ranked 3rd to last in the NFL.
I prefer the cheaper of the the Chicago Bears Defense against the Detroit Lions or Buffalo Bills Defense against the Dallas Cowboys. I prefer the Bears as they’re facing a Lions offense headed by the inexperienced David Blough. It might be time for Marlon Mack to get back into the national headlines. With regard to the Bills defense, the Cowboys are one of the best offenses in the league, but the Bills allow the 3rd least yards per game (184.3) and have the 7th most sacks (33) in the NFL. I’m willing to gamble on those numbers if I get the lower price.