DFS Cash Game Plays: NFL Week 18
DFS Cash Game Plays: NFL Week 18
The NFL Week 18 DFS slate is ready for us to attack, but first, let's think about how to react to last week's DFS slate. With seventeen weeks of data under our belts, it's hard not to overreact to what we saw on the field, particularly as injuries and outlier performances pile up. Let other people chase the outcome stats, and we will instead focus on usage and opportunity.
We will go through each position at a variety of salary levels to see who are the best plays in cash games on DraftKings and FanDuel. For these purposes, a cash game is any contest that pays out more than one-third of the field. While these are also viable GPP options, we are primarily looking for a safe floor combined with high usage that can lead to ceiling games.
DFS Tools
Previous Week's Results
Results in select DraftKings contests:
- NFL MASSIVE $25 Double Up [Single Entry] - 2267/2298
- NFL GIANT $10 Double Up [Single Entry] - Awful
- NFL GIANT $5 Double Up [Single Entry] - More Awful
- NFL GIANT $5 Double Up [Single Entry] - Abysmal
- NFL GIANT $2 Double Up [Single Entry] - Horrific
- NFL GIANT $10 Double Up [Single Entry] - Cover-your-eyes bad
- NFL GIANT $10 Double Up [Single Entry] - At least my wife still loves me
Winning percentage in Single Entry contests - 0%
Cash line in DraftKings Massive $25 Double-Up contest - 120.38
This was my INITIAL cash game lineup for all contests in Week 17:
When contests locked at the beginning of Week 17, this was the lineup that I submitted.
This was based on one final decision I had to make on Sunday morning after I nailed down my pool of players. I posted about it online before I decided to pull the trigger on one side:
I chose the Purdy/Zeke side of this decision and that was the absolute wrong call to make. Tyrod Taylor (31% rostered) would score 22 points and pass for over 300 yards, Kyren Williams (also 31%) rushed for a hat trick of touchdowns and had 30 fantasy points, so I was dead in the water by the time the end of the first set of games came around.
Knowing that the three players I had left on the board were going to be ultra-chalky (Denver 43%, Everett 69%, and Rice 24%) I made a series of swaps in a last-ditch effort to save my lineup. This is where that swap landed me:
This swap did me no good, obviously, and even finished well behind my original lineup which finished with 105 DK points. Neither was close to the cash line in the end, and it was all thanks to one bad decision in a 2-v-2 that doomed me. I can't complain too much, because I have been on the right side of that variance for five straight weeks before this, but I learned one valuable lesson on Sunday. Do not ever, EVER, play two Patriots in cash games.
Be sure you're following me on X (@CableBoxScore) for any updates I make to my player pool as we get closer to lock. I will update that account every weekend with additional players as other news emerges.
Scoring Differences Between DraftKings and FanDuel
A quick primer on DraftKings versus FanDuel scoring for DFS if you are unfamiliar with their platforms.
- On DraftKings, you are selecting nine spots with a total of $50,000 to spend. FanDuel has nine spots with $60,000 to spend, so salaries are slightly higher.
- DraftKings is full PPR scoring, while FanDuel is half-PPR.
- DraftKings deducts one point for a fumble lost and an interception. FanDuel is minus two points for a lost fumble and minus one for an interception.
- DraftKings awards three-point bonuses for 300-yard passing games, 100-yard rushing games, and 100-yard receiving games. FanDuel does not award bonuses.
With those differences in mind, let's look at which players make good selections in Week 18.
Quarterback
Geno Smith (DK: $6,100, FD: $7,300) might be the upper end of what I pay up for at quarterback this week with the Seahawks in a must-win, facing the Arizona Cardinals, and with Smith sure a $2 million bonus if the Seahawks make the playoffs. There are still plenty of players worth spending up on this slate (particularly at wide receiver), but I'm very happy to have Geno against the team that allowed the third-most passing touchdowns and sixth-most rushing touchdowns to quarterbacks this season.
Ryan Kirksey
Ryan is a 20-year veteran of fantasy baseball, football, and basketball leagues. He has been writing about fantasy sports, sports betting, and DFS since 2018 and is a member of the FSWA and IBWAA. A native of Houston, he is a die-hard fan of the Astros, Rockets, and - reluctantly - the Texans. When he is not buried under sports analysis and TV show recaps, he works full-time in higher education and can be found pursuing his other passions: drinking coffee and writing about comic book investment and speculation.