“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Wild Card Weekend 2024 Cash Games

January 11, 2025 Leave a comment

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 2024 Wild Card Weekend! Yes, it doesn’t always work out, but we’ve cashed 16 out of 18 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 Wild Card Weekend!

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 Wild Card Weekend 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 Wild Card Weekend is to get value at WR while trying to get at least one anchor stud at RB and/or QB.
The “Free Square of the Week”™ is Jaleel McLaughlin. The Broncos have a tough matchup against the Bills this weekend, so they’ll have to find creative ways to win. One way may be with McLaughlin, who’s taken over the primary RB duties for Denver of the last 4 weeks, averaging 13.75 touches per game. Importantly, he’s had 9 targets over that stretch and may have the opportunity for more with the Bills allowing the most receiving yards (750) and 2nd most receiving TDs (6) to opposing RBs this season. He’s priced down across industry and makes for a solid cap saver.
The Washington Commanders @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers game has the highest over/under of the main slate (50.5), so there’s also plenty of opportunity here. Essentially every Buc hit paydirt in Week 17 and Week 18, and I expect more of the same in Wild Card Weekend. The Commanders give up the 3rd most rush yards per game (137.5) and the 11th most rushing TDs to opposing offenses, which means Bucky Irving is once again in a smash spot. And although the Commanders pass defense is better, I’m still in on both Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan, who will need to keep rolling for the Bucs to match Washington’s high powered offense. Mike Evans is commanding the most targets, but McMillan scored 7 times over the last 5 games and is cheaper. Absolutely feel free to play more than one Buc this week. 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 Buccaneers allow the 4th least rush yards (97.8) to opposing offenses, so I’d prefer to focus on the passing attack including Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Olamide Zaccheaus and Zach Ertz.
The Minnesota Vikings @ Los Angeles Rams game is tied for the 2nd highest over/under of the main slate (47.5), so there’s also plenty of opportunity here. The Rams allow the 5th most passing TDs (29) and the 10th best passer rating (95.9) to opposing offenses, so I’m in on all the Vikings passing attack, including Sam Darnold, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Don’t let the down game against the Lions in Week 18 fool you, the Vikings have been prolific on offense with the 6th most passing yards per game (237.8) and the 5th most passing TDs (35) this season. The Vikings allow the 2nd least rush yards per game (93.4), but the 5th most passing yards per game (242.0), so I’m OK playing the Rams pass offense, but prefer to rely on Puka Nacua, who’s remained productive through the end of the season.
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 Steelers defense which has allowed the 8th most passing yards (228.0) per game. If you can afford him, play him.
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 Packers allow the 3rd most receiving yards to opposing RBs (686) this season, so there’s some bigtime upside for Barkley, who might be leaned on a little more after being rested in Week 18, particularly with Jalen Hurts likely not 100%.
Ladd McConkey has been on a heater to end the regular season averaging 6.4 receptions on 8.3 targets for 93.9 yards and 3 total TDs over his last 7 games. If the Chargers want to outpace the Texans, they’ll need to make sure McConkey stays hot, so I’m on board with slotting him in.
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 Chargers.