“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Week 17 2023 Cash Games

December 29, 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 17 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 17 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 17 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 17 is to pay up for a high/mid-priced QB, high/mid-priced TE and at least one high/mid RB to anchor your team, and fill up on value at WR and DEF.
“Free Square of the Week”™ is Zamir White. Josh Jacobs is listed as doubtful and White has been more than competent, so I’d expect the Raiders offense to run through White this week against the Colts and their 28th ranked run defense. White had 69 rush yards on 17 carries and a rushing TD along with 3 receptions for 16 receiving yards in Week 15 followed up by 145 rush yards on 22 carries in Week 16, and I don’t see that changing this week. He’s priced down across industry, so lock him in and enjoy the extra cap space.
- UPDATE – Josh Jacobs now ruled OUT, so lock in White.
The San Francisco 49ers vs. Washington Commanders game has the highest over/under of the weekend slate (49.5) and a spread of -14 so I’m in on particular skill players on both sides. The Commanders have the WORST ranked defense this season, so I see big time opportunity all over the 49ers skill players looking to bounce back from a loss to the Ravens, including Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel, in that order. The Commanders have allowed the most fantasy points to QBs this season and they allow passing TDs at the highest rate in the NFL. Since trading Montez Sweat, Washington ranks 31st in pressure rate and have allowed at least 28 points in 6 straight games, so there’s plenty of opportunity for the 49ers passing offense. The 49ers defense is 3rd against the run, but 16th against the pass, so there’s some potential there for Terry McLaurin and Logan Thomas, but with Jacoby Brisset set to start and popping up with a hamstring injury midweek, I’m probably fading them unless Sam Howell starts.
- UPDATE – Jacoby Brisset ruled OUT, so Sam Howell will start. I’m OK with McLaurin and Thomas now.
Houston’s offense was on a roll before Stroud’s injury, being ranked as high as in the top-5 DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average). The Texans scored 20 or more points in 9 of their first 12 games and with CJ Stroud back, I have no reason to believe he won’t pick up where he left off. No Tank Dell doesn’t help, but Nico Collins is back, and Noah Brown and Dalton Schultz should also step up, particularly against a Titans team that’s ranked just 18th against the pass allowing the 5th highest passer rating to quarterbacks this season.
Matthew Stafford has been the 4th best QB in fantasy since Week 12 in terms of points per game (21.8). This week he faces a Giants defense that’s ranked just 20th against the pass having given up 17 or more fantasy points to 4 of the past 6 QBs it has faced. Worse yet, the Giants are just 29th against the run, which means that Kyren Williams is also one of my favorite plays of the week. Williams quietly has the most carries (18.9) for the most rush yards (96.09) and 5th most rushing TDs (0.81) per game in the league among all RBs.
The Eagles are at home and favored by 11 points, so there should be plenty of running plays for D’Andre Swift. Swift had 18 carries for 74 yards and 2 receptions for a yard against the Seahawks 26th ranked run defense in Week 15 and 20 carries for 92 yards and a TD against the Giants 28th ranked run defense in Week 16. The Cardinals defense is ranked LAST against the run, and they’ve allowed the most fantasy points to opposing RBs this season, so I don’t see any of this changing.
On the other side, you have to like Trey McBride, particularly with Marquise Brown ruled out, against the Eagles 27th ranked pass defense. McBride has been on a heater since Zach Ertz was injured back in late October, averaging 71.6 yards on 7.1 receptions from 9 targets per game since then.
Austin Ekeler is pretty cheap on FanDuel so I like rostering him against the 31st ranked Broncos run defense. With no Keenan Allen last week, Ekeler had 15 carries for 65 rush yards and 3 receptions for 21 receiving yards against the Bills 10th ranked run defense. Allen has been ruled out again and the Broncos should be an easier task, so he’s worth the discounted price.
Adam Thielen hasn’t been consistent with rookie QB Bryce Young, but he’s been effective. He’s averaging 6.33 receptions on 8.53 targets per game and had 6 receptions for 94 yards last weekend. The Jaguars defense is ranked just 29th against the pass and just allowed 86 yards and 2 TDs to Mike Evans and 78 yards to Chris Godwin in Week 16, so there’s plenty of opportunity for Thielen with the Panthers likely to be chasing points.
I also like both Saints WRs, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, this week against the Buccaneers LAST ranked pass defense allowing 284.4 yards to opposing receivers per game this season. Olave is coming off 9 receptions for 123 yards and Shaheed is coming off 5 receptions for 70 yards and a TD, so I like the momentum going into this matchup.
Note that I really like the Chiefs skill players this week against a Bengals defense that’s ranked just 31st overall. So, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice and whichever RB starts are worth playing. The problem is that Mahomes, Kelce and Rice are premium priced, and we don’t know if Isiah Pacheco or Clyde Edwards-Hillaire is going to start in the backfield as both are coming off injuries. If Edwards-Hillaire plays and Pacheco is out, I really like slotting him in for near minimum price across industry. If you can afford to sprinkle in the other Chiefs skill players, go for it, but it’s going to be tough to get more than one in a line up.
- UPDATE – Pacheco is active and it looks like Edwards-Hillaire will also play so I’m likely fading the Chiefs RBs today.
On defense, I love taking value and paying down, which means I like the Denver Broncos Defense at discounted price facing the offensively challenged Chargers starting Easton Stick under center without Keenan Allen or Josh Palmer.
UPDATE – With Raheem Mostert ruled OUT, I don’t mind sprinkling in De’Von Achane.