“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Week 16 2023 Cash Games

December 23, 2023

By Ha Kung Wong

In 2022, we were over 70% for cash lineups again and we’re back with more Daily Fantasy Football advice for Cash Games for Week 16 of the 2023 season!

You’re welcome.

As usual, before we get to winning you more 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!

And as we did last year, we’re also adding our top two player prop picks to help you win even MORE money!

Let’s get to winning you some CASH in Week 16 of the 2023 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 and player props for Week 16 contests, along with they’re prices.

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 for DFS. We all know that the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Christian McCaffrey are 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.
My approach to DFS in Week 16 is to pay up for high/mid RBs and at least one WR to anchor your team, and fill up on value at QB, WR, TE and DEF.
No “Free Square of the Week”™ in Week 16, but I’m a fan of Aaron Jones who is making his way back from injury and mostly priced down across industry. AJ Dillion is out due to injury and the Packers face the Carolina Panthers defense which is ranked just 20th against the run and has given up the 4th most DFS points to opposing RBs, so I like his floor and upside for the price.
The Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game has the 4th highest over/under of the weekend slate (42.0) and a spread of -1.5 so I’m in on particular skill players on both sides. The Jaguars have the 27th overall ranked defense this season, so I see big time opportunity all over the Buccaneers skill players, including Baker Mayfield, Rachaad White, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, in that order. The Buccaneers defense is 9th against the run, but 31st against the pass, so there’s some potential there for Calvin Ridley and Evan Engram, but with Trevor Lawrence questionable, I’m probably fading them.
- Baker Mayfield went Buc-wild last week against the Packers at Lambeau Field, completing 22-of-28 passes for 381 yards and four TDs. Now he gets to face a porous Jaguars secondary that has surrendered the second-most DK points and third-most FD points to QBs this season. We also don’t have to worry much about weather in Tampa, a huge plus at this time of year. Put the Baker on your nice list and root for him to cook up another big day.
- Rachaad White has been one of the best running backs in the NFL over the past four weeks, as he’s totaled 375 rush yards on 81 carries in that span, that’s 93.8 rush yards per game. He’s also had 20+ carries in 5 of the past 7 games and a TD in 6 of the last 7 games, indicating the Bucs are treating like a true bell cow back. You can bet that the Bucs, who need another win to pace the NFC South, will lean on that this weekend against an underwhelming Panthers defense.
The Seattle Seahawks vs. Tennessee Titans game has an over/under of the weekend slate (41.5) and a spread of -3.5 so I’m also in on particular skill players here. The Titans have just the 19th ranked defense, and Geno Smith is fully healthy, so I like Smith, Kenneth Walker, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, in that order. The Seahawks haven’t been any better with the 28th ranked defense but Will Levis is questionable and most of the Titans have underperformed of late (I’m looking at you Derrick Henry), so I’m likely fading them. I suppose I’ll sprinkle in DeAndre Hopkins and Derrick Henry, but I don’t feel great about it for the price.
- The Titans’ defense is bad, as noted above, plus they provide the 8th most DFS points to opposing WRs this season, which is why I like Metcalf, Lockett and Smith-Njigba. In particular, rookie Smith-Njigba has turned into a solid WR3 or flex this season. Everyone remembers the spectacular game-winning TD on Monday Night Football against the Eagles in Week 15, and he’s averaging 5 receptions per game over the past 3 weeks.
Believe it or not, DJ Moore is quietly having a really good season. He’s already got 1,123 receiving yards and 7 receiving TDs, good for 8th best in the NFL this season. The Cardinals have just the 25th ranked defense in the NFL, so I like the upside this week.
Amazingly, Justin Jefferson returning and Nick Mullens under center was huge for Jordan Addison, as he caught all 6 of his targets for 111 yards and 2 TDs in Week 15. Now Addison gets to face a Detroit defense that has allowed 231.5 passing yards per game since Week 10. With Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson also distracting the defense, Addison has some nice upside here.
It’s pretty scary playing Drake London, but perhaps there’s a pattern here. In his past 5 games at home, London has more than double the DFS points than he’s had on the road. Coincidence? Maybe, but it’s a pretty strong correlation, nonetheless. On top of that, the Colts have allowed opposing WR1’s to score at least 14.4 DFS points in 4 of their past 5 games. The price is right, so I’m mixing him in.
David Njoku caught 6 of 8 targets for 91 yards and 2 TDs in Week 14, then caught in 10 of 14 targets for 101 yards and a TD in Week 15. Apparently, Joe Flacco is the answer to “what makes Njoku a top 5 TE in the NFL”. The Texans defense allows the 8th most fantasy points to opposing TEs, so this looks to be a perfect time to lock him in.
On defense, I love taking value and paying down, which means I like the Washington Commanders Defense on Yahoo at essentially minimum price facing the offensively challenged Jets starting Trevor Siemien under center, the Seattle Seahawks Defense on FanDuel at essentially minimum price facing the Tennessee Titans likely without Will Levis, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Defense on Draft Kings at essentially minimum price who will face the Jacksonville Jaguars and a limited (if not absent) Trevor Lawrence.