“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Week 12 2024 Cash Games

November 22, 2024

By Ha Kung Wong

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 12 of the 2024 season! Yes, I know that Chris Olave’s injury last week derailed a lot of our lineups, but even with that we managed to cash in FanDuel, so that means we’ve still cashed every week this 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 12 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 for Week 12 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 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 12 is to pay up for at least one premium RB and one premium WR, then go value at QB as well as at the FLEX.
The “Free Squares of the Week”™ are Hunter Henry and Kareem Hunt.
- Henry has averaged 7.2 targets per game over his last 5 games with Drake Maye. The Dolphins have allowed an average of 72.8 yards per game to opposing TEs and just got destroyed by Brock Bowers in Week 11 for 132 yards and 2 TDs. Henry is priced near the bottom for TEs across industry, so I’m a fan of the savings.
- With Isaiah Pacheco ruled out, Kareem Hunt gets the Chiefs backfield to himself again while being priced as part of a RB by committee. The Carolina Panthers have allowed the most yards to opposing RBs this season (160.1 per game). Chances are the Chiefs will be killing time in this one with a lead, so I really like Hunt at his depressed pricing.
The Detroit Lions @ Indianapolis Colts game has the highest over/under of the main slate (50.5), so there’s plenty of opportunity here.
- Everyone is in play for the Lions, as the Colts allow the 5th most yards per game (374.5) and the 11th most passing TDs (16) to opposing offenses. I’d prioritize the pass catchers Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta. That being said, don’t let me stop you from sprinkling in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.
- As for the Colts, I’m in on the passing offense as well. The Lions actually allow the 6th most passing yards per game to opposing offenses, and Anthony Richardson was terrific after being reinstated as the starter in Week 11, completing 20 of 30 passes for 272 yards and a a passing TD, plus 32 rush yards and 2 rushing TDs. And Josh Downs appears to be his top target, so feel free to use him too.
The Arizona Cardinals @ Seattle Seahawks game has the 2nd highest over/under of the main slate (47.5), so there’s also plenty of opportunity here.
- The Seahawks have allowed the 11th most yards per game to opposing offenses, but their much more vulnerable on the ground allowing the 6th most rushing yards per game (138.6). I like playing James Connor but also like playing Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride as I can see this being a shootout.
- The Cardinals are only slightly better on defense allowing the 12th most yards to opposing offenses. Assuming a shootout, I’m looking for DK Metcalf to be heavily involved since he leads the Seahawks in target rate and air yards share. I don’t mine sprinkling in some Jaxson Smith-Njigba, but he’s not much cheaper than Metcalf and in fact is pricier on some sites, like on Yahoo.
Baker Mayfield is in a great spot with Mike Evans finally back from injury and facing a Giants team that’s essentially given up on the season after ditching their starting QB. The Giants defense has allowed the second highest passer rating to opposing QBs (104.7) and rank 24th against the pass in DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average). Mayfield has thrown for multiple TDs in 6 of the last 7 games and I don’t see him slowing down in Week 12.
De’Von Achane has been terrific since Tua Tagovailoa’s return at QB. He had over 100 yards rushing plus receiving last week against the Raiders and has reached that number in 4 of the 6 games with Tua this season, not to mention averaging 6.2 receptions per game. Opposing RBs have scored 11 TDs in 11 games against the Patriots while averaging 116.6 rushing yards and 25.8 receiving yards per game. Achane is pricey, but I like paying up for him this week.
Brian Robinson has exceeded 60 rush yards in 3 straight games and scored at least one TD in 6 of 8 games. The Dallas Cowboys have allowed the 7th most rushing yards per game (111.1) and the 2nd most rushing TDs (13) to running backs this season. For his mid-tier pricing, Robinson is a strong choice at RB this weekend.
If you’re looking for a cheap play, Rome Odunze appears to be trending in the right direction. With Thomas Brown as offensive coordinator, Caleb Williams sped up his delivery and had his fastest time to throw this season. Odunze was one of the primary benefactors with a team-leading 32% target share, resulting in 10 targets, 6 catches and 65 yards. And even before the change, Odunze was averaging just over 6 targets a game. The Vikings have allowed the 5th most receiving yards per game (258.9) and 10th most receptions (233) to opposing receivers resulting in allowing the 3rd most fantasy points. Odunze is priced pretty low across industry and has some serious PPR upside, so he’s a really high-end punt that let’s you pay up elsewhere.
As for defense, you know I love paying down and getting value to spend more of the cap space elsewhere, and this week we got some decent cheap options with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the New York Giants, the Miami Dolphins Defense against the New England Patriots and the Chicago Bears against the Minnesota Vikings.