“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for 2023 Super Wild Card Weekend Cash Games

January 12, 2024

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 2023 Super Wild Card Weekend!

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 2023 Super Wild Card Weekend 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 Super Wild Card Weekend 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 Super Wild Card Weekend is to pay up for a at least one high end RB and at least one high end WR to anchor your team and fill up on value for the rest. I’m generally taking high/mid-range QBs in good matchups and no significant weather issues.
“Free Square of the Week”™ is Demarcus Robinson. You don’t have to play him, but he’s the cheapest of the Rams WRs that gets regular snaps and had caught 6 of 10 targets for 91 yards against the Giants at the end of December after catching a TD in the 4 previous games. Stafford is looking for him and he’s getting plenty of opportunities for a cheap price in a good matchup.
The Los Angeles Rams @ Detroit Lions game has the highest over/under of the weekend slate (51.5) and a spread of just -3, not to mention that this game is being played in a dome so no weather to worry about, so I’m in on skill players on both sides. The Rams have the 20th ranked pass defense this season, so I see big time opportunity all over the Lions skill players, including Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs and Josh Reynolds, in that order. Sam LaPorta is questionable, and if he plays, he’s likely to be limited, plus Kalif Raymond has already been ruled out and Jameson Williams is coming off an injury, so I like the potential for Jaymyr Gibbs and Josh Reynolds to get more looks in the passing game in what should be a shootout. I don’t have to sell St. Brown, who has the 3rd most receiving yards (1,515) and 4th most receiving TDs (10) on the 2nd most receptions (119) in the league. Plus, there’s the #Revenge narrative where Goff will likely be motivated to show his old team that they made a mistake trading him away. The Lions have a strong run defense, ranked 2nd, but an even worse pass defense than the Rams, ranked 27th. So, you can be sure the Rams will funnel their offense through the air, which means I like Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Demarcus Robinson (as noted above) and Tyler Higbee. Nacua has set all sorts of rookie WR records including for receptions and yards, and he’s now got the 4th most receiving yards (1,486) on the 6th most targets (160) in the league. Kupp hasn’t been as good this year due to injury, but he’s sure to be back on the radar for the playoffs having caught a TD in 4 of the last 5 games he played. Just keep an eye on Higbee as he’s still yet to be confirmed back from a shoulder injury.
- Update – Sam LaPorta is trending towards playing, but is still to risky to roster for the price. That being said, it does make me feel better about Goff.
The Green Bay Packers @ Dallas Cowboys game has the 2nd highest over/under of the weekend (50.5) and a spread of -10 in favor of the Cowboys. The Cowboys have been long criticized for not being able to win games in the playoffs so you can be sure they’ll keep their foot on the pedal against the Packers, particularly at home where their notably more productive on offense and defense. The Packers defense is actually 9th against pass but only 28th against the run, so I don’t mind slotting in Tony Pollard who might finally get that breakout performance he was supposed to have all season. That being said, I’m not shying away from CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott and Jake Ferguson, in that order, as they should all be in the mix moving the offense. In particular, Lamb has had the 2nd most receiving yards (1,749) and the 3rd most receiving TDs (12) on the most targets (181) and most receptions (135) this season of any WR. If you can afford him, slot him in. As for the Packers, they face the Cowboys and their 5th ranked pass defense, but vulnerable 16th ranked run defense, so I prefer Aaron Jones among the skill players. That being said, Tucker Kraft is also a solid punt at TE for essentially minimum price, even with Luke Musgrave back. He’s averaged almost 6 targets a game over the last 6, and it’s clear that Jordan Love trusts him.
Isiah Pacheco is my favorite play for the Chiefs since there’s going to be single digit temperatures in Kansas City along with 29 mph gusts of wind. The Dolphins defense has been mediocre and they’re suffering from serious injuries with Bradley Chubb and Xavian Howard out among multiple safeties being questionable. That being said, the gusts of wind scare me from a passing scenario for any deep shots, so I’m banking on lots of work for Pacheco. He’s had at least 89 total yards in 4 of his last 5 games played and has 5 TDs over that span. I also don’t mind sprinkling in some Travis Kelce even though he’s been unspectacular of late as he tends to play well in the playoffs, plus the wind will likely push Patrick Mahomes to target shorter routes. I’m avoiding the Dolphins as they’re 0-10 in games where the weather is less than 40 degrees, plus Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Mostert are all not 100%.
Rachaad White has been incredibly solid in the rushing and receiving game during the second half of the season. Prior to Week 17, White had at least 77 total yards and a TD in 4 straight weeks, and he managed to put up 93 total yards in Week 18. The Eagles defense has been reeling this year and they’re now the 2nd worst pass defense in the league, so I also like Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Cade Otton as well for the Buccaneers.
You probably noticed that I avoided the Bills and Steelers game. I’m worried about the weather as Bills stadium is already snowed in. I don’t see the need to pay up for anyone in that game with the potential weather impact.
- Update – Winds are still gusting at around 22 mph with the new start time of the game on Monday, so I’m still staying away. I don’t mind playing James Cook or Najee Harris on main slates though in light of the low temperatures.
Update – With AJ Brown ruled out, I don’t mind sprinkling in DeVonta Smith, who’s practicing in full and sure to see plenty of targets.
On defense, I love taking value and paying down, which means I like the Houston Texans Defense at a very discounted price across industry facing Joe Flacco, who loves to throw INTs.