“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Week 5 2024 Cash Games

By Ha Kung Wong 

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

In 2023, we were over 70% for cash lineups again and we’re back with more Daily Fantasy Football advice for Cash Games for Week 5 of the 2024 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!

Let’s get to winning you some CASH in Week 5 of the 2024 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.

Also, starting this season, Fan Duel will be giving yards bonuses similar to Draft Kings.

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 5 contests.

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 (pre-injury of course) 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 5 is to pay up at QB and one RB, then go value for the remainder of the lineup, particularly at the FLEX.
• The “Free Square of the Week”™ is Trey Sermon. With Jonathan Taylor ruled out, Sermon looks to be the Colts’ top RB option heading into Week 5. Remember that the Sermon had 17 carries for 88 yards when Taylor was sidelined in Week 15 of last season.  The Jaguars have allowed the 3rd most yards to opposing offenses this season, and with Anthony Richardson likely out, Sermon should be handling essentially every run play in the game.  He’s basically minimum price across industry, so lock him in and enjoy the savings.
• The Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati Bengals game has the second highest over/under of the main slate (49), so I’m in on most of the skill players here, particularly Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson in that order for the Ravens and Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase in that order for the Bengals.  Derrick Henry broke records in Week 4, and I can see the Ravens relying on Henry and some play-action with Jackson to maintain time of possession, plus the Bengals have allowed the 8th most rushing yards per game (145.5) and is tied for allowing the 6th most rushing TDs (5) this season.  The Ravens, on the other hand, have allowed the 5th most passing yards per game (257.5) to opposing teams this season, paving the way for Burrow and company to light it up.  For those on Draft Kings, you can also play Bengals TE Erick All Jr. who’s caught all 4 targets each of the last 3 weeks, which is terrific for the Draft Kings PPR format at his extra cheap price.
• The Buffalo Bills @ Houston Texans game has a healthy over/under (47), and both teams had lack luster performances in Week 4, so I’m expecting a nice shootout in Week 5.  I’m in on Josh Allen and James Cook for the Bills and Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, Cam Akers and CJ Stroud for the Texans.  Josh Allen slipped up in Week 4, but we all know he can be a bracket buster all by himself with his rush yards and propensity to score both on the ground and through the air.  And Cook is involved with catching passes as well as on the ground, so I expect him to also bounce back.  Plus, the Texans are tied for allowing the 3rd most passing/receiving TDs this season to opposing offenses (8), so there’s definitely some TD upside for both Allen and Cook.  On the other side, did you know that the Bills have allowed the 3rd most rush yards per game (156.5) to opposing offenses this season?  Which means that Akers’ super cheap pricing subbing in for an injured Joe Mixon again is a pretty attractive choice.