“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Week 12 2020 Cash Games

November 28, 2020

By Ha Kung Wong

In 2019, we were over 70% for cash lineups and we’re back with more Daily Fantasy Football advice for Cash Games for Week 12 of the 2020 season! We’re 68.0% on lineups so far this year, but we’re looking to win even more in 2020!

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 12 of the 2020 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.

As per usual, 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 12 contests, along with they’re prices on FanDuel (“FD”), Draft Kings (“DK”) and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy (“Y!”).

FanDuel

Draft Kings

Yahoo! DFS

Game Notes:

For those new to this column, note that I never advocate against you paying up at any particular position. We all know that the likes of Patrick Mahomes is probably going to have the most consistent upside in terms of potential fantasy points from week to week. But remember that DFS is a salary cap game. You can feel free to sprinkle high priced players into your lineups, but you can’t pay up at every position because there’s simply not enough salary to go around. I try my best each week to provide my thoughts on how you might want to balance your cash lineups in terms of points potential and salary.
The “Free Squares of the Week”™ are Brian Hill and Nyheim Hines. The Raiders have allowed the 7th most points per game (27.6) and the 9th most total yards per game (385.8) this season. Todd Gurley is out with a knee injury and Julio Jones is very questionable, so Hill is likely to get most of the snaps in the backfield and a near minimum cost across industry. Hines is in a similar situation, as Jordan Taylor was placed on COVID list and is out, some Hines and Jordan Wilkins will get all the touches they can handle for the Colts against the Titans. That being said, I prefer Hines because of his pass catching role, but feel free to sprinkle in Wilkins.
- If you’re wondering what you should do with all that saved money, how about paying up for Calvin Ridley? Typically, I don’t like rostering a RB and WR from the same team, but I suspect this game will be a shootout with the 2nd highest over/under of the weekend (53.5), so I don’t mind it. And in addition, I really like Derek Carr on the other side of the ball, who just came off a 275 yard / 3 TD performance against the Chiefs. He’s a great value at his inexplicably low price across industry, particularly against a Falcons defense that allows the 2nd most passing yards per game (300.3). That means I also like his top target in Darren Waller, if you’d like to pay up at TE.
- And on the other side of the Colts, I’m putting money on Derek Henry, who has the most rush yards this season (1,079). The Colts have a tough defense, but I see the Titans leaning on King Henry to win time of possession and wear out the defense.
Justin Herbert has been a revelation as a rookie. He now has the 3rd most passing yards per game(299.9) and the 4th most TDs per game (2.44) this season. And this week he’s facing a Bills defense that allows the 11th highest passer rating (96.5) to opposing QBs in a game with the 3rd highest over/under of the weekend (52.5). Mix that up, bake at 400 degrees and serve directly into your cash lineup. Feel free to also play Hunter Henry as another solid pay-up TE option.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have the WORST defense in the NFL per DVOA, really opening up every skill player on the Cleveland Browns. That being said, the Browns have been relatively hit or miss this season. I’m in on the potential production anyway, and particularly love Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Chubb looks 100% healthy now and has averaged the 3rd most rush yards per game (95.8) and almost a rushing TD per game. Hunt will also be in the mix, but I like Chubb’s opportunity more.
Clearly, if you can play Dalvin Cook, you do it. He’s incredibly high priced across industry, but he does have the most rush yards per game (118.8) and the most total rushing TDs (13) this season. The Vikings haven’t been great, but the Panthers defense doesn’t scare me, as they allow an average of 102 rushing yards and a total of 10 rushing touchdowns. And on through the air, with Adam Thielen out, Justin Jefferson is pretty interesting to me for the price, and Kyle Rudolph is a steal with Irv Smith Jr. out. Rudolph should get at least between 4 and 6 targets with Thielen and Smith out, plus he has a 15.6% red-zone target share, behind only the aforementioned Thielen and Smith.
The Kansas City Chiefs @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers game has a highest over/under of of the weekend (56.5). I’m fan of all of the Chiefs, including Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce and Clyde Edwards-Hilaire. I like to have some exposure to the Chiefs in all my lineups, and for the most part, have focused on Hill since there’s so much value at other positions. As far as the Bucs are concerned, I’m not sure where the production will be coming from, so although I’m sure some Buc will blow up, I’m fading them this week.
At defense, I usually just take value, and there are a couple good choices this week depending on the site. As you can see, I like paying up for the New York Giants defense against a Bengals team missing both their starting QB in Joe Burrow and starting RB in Joe Mixon, or paying down to essentially minimum salary to take the Denver Broncos defense against the Taysom Hill led New Orleans Saints. Even if the Broncos let the Saints score (which they will), I can see them generating a few sacks and perhaps get a turnover from a still relatively inexperienced Hill.
UPDATE – Kendall Hinton is a WR that will play QB for the Broncos. He’s sure to be terrible, but he’s essentially free, so I don’t mind sprinkling him in at WR or Flex. Also, Ryan Fitzpatrick is back against the lowly Jets. I love paying down here for QB value, so add him to your lineups!