“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Divisional Round Playoff 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 2024 Divisional Round Playoffs!  Yes, it doesn’t always work out, but we’ve cashed 18 out of 20 weeks 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 the 2024 Divisional Round Playoffs!

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 2024 Divisional Round Playoff 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 Lamar Jackson and Saquon Barkley 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 the Divisional Round Playoffs is to get pay up at QB and RB and get value at WR and TE.
• There really isn’t a “Free Square of the Week”™, but if I’m trying to save cap space I’m playing Hollywood Brown and/or John Metchie.  In two games back from injury, Brown has 9 receptions on a whopping 15 targets.  There’s no primary WR in Kansas City, but I like Brown’s chances for reaching value with the Chiefs totally rested and an extra week for him to get integrated into the offense.  Metchie’s target share has also been growing rapidly as defenses tend to key on Nico Collins, and he’s totaled 11 of 20 targets over the last 3 weeks.  He’s also a good bet to reach value in a game where the Texans may be playing “keep up”.  Both are priced down across industry and make for a solid cap savers.
• The Washington Commanders @ Detroit Lions game has the highest over/under of the main slate (55.5), so there’s also plenty of opportunity here.  The Commanders give up the 3rd most rush yards per game (137.5) and the 11th most rushing TDs to opposing offenses, which means Jaymyr Gibbs is about as chalky as it gets, regardless of whether David Montgomery plays.  And although the Commanders pass defense is better, I’m still in on both Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, who will likely be busy in what looks to be a shoot out.  The Commanders have the 7th most total yards (369.6) the 5th most points (28.5) per game on offense, so they’re totally in play as well. That being said, the Lions allow the 5th least rush yards (98.4) to opposing offenses, so I’d prefer to focus on the passing attack including Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Dyami Brown and Olamide Zaccheaus.
• The Baltimore Ravens @ Buffalo Bills game has the 2nd highest over/under of the main slate (51.5), so there’s also plenty of opportunity here.  Do I really have to convince you to play Lamar Jackson?  He has the 10th most passing yards (245), 2nd most passing TDs (2.41) and most rushing yards (53.82) per game of any QB this season.  Add to that the fact that he hardly throws interceptions (only 4 this season) and faces a Bills defense which has allowed the 9th most passing yards (226.1) per game.  On top of that, I love saving money with Isaiah Likely as well, who’s been more active of late as a pass catcher and is dirt cheap across industry.  That being said, I’m also in on Josh Allen who has the 12th most passing yards (235), 6th most passing TDs (1.76) and 5th most rushing yards (33.94) per game of any QB this season.  Plus, he’s facing a Ravens defense that actually allowed the 2nd most passing yards this season per game (244.1) to opposing QBs.  I’m not as keen on the recieving options in Buffalo because there really are no standouts, but James Cook has had a mini-breakout with a whopping 7 TDs over his last 5 games and was only the 4th RB to exceed 100 rush yards against a tough Broncos defense this year.  In fact, Cook has the most rushing TDs per game of any RB in the NFL.
• Same as Jackson, do I really have to convince you to play Saquon Barkley?  He has the most rush yards (125) and 9th most rushing TDs (0.81) per game of any RB this season, plus has receiving upside with 43 targets.  The Commanders allow the 3rd most rush yards per game (137.5) this season, so there’s some bigtime upside for Barkley.
• 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 a decent cheap option with the Houston Texans Defense facing the Chiefs, which isn’t an ideal matchup, but just look at what they did last week against the Chargers and you get the idea of the upside they bring at minimal cost.