DraftKings Cash Game Tips
Hey gang, welcome back for another season of DraftKings DFS player picks. This year, I’ll be handling the Cash Game content and will do so in a way that helps you shape a core of players to build around with some peripheral players mentioned to mix in. I’m sure you’re just as excited as I am to get to it, so let’s get on with it.
Quick Links for NFL Week 1
- Players Projections: QB | RB | WR | TE
- Fantasy Football News
- NFL Lineup Optimizer
- DFS Stacking Page
Quarterback
At QB I pretty much have 1 game circled, which is the Arizona at Tennessee game. This is a game between two high-powered offensive systems with great players all around and neither side has a secondary capable of stopping their opponent from scoring. We can’t go wrong with either guy, however, we can save $1100 to spend elsewhere if we chose Ryan Tannehill ($6500) over Kyler Murray ($7600). Either is fine and I would also consider Patrick Mahomes ($8100) if you’ve found some extra salary laying around. Mahomes ranked 3rd in EPA per play versus Zone coverage last year. Cleveland ran Zone coverage at the 6th highest rate and they were not good at playing in that type of coverage. They did add two free agents from the Rams in safety John Johnson and CB Troy Hill, then drafted Greg Newsome in the 1st round so they are trying to get better there. But have a look at this graph that shows every QB’s EPA per play and their Completion Percentage Over Expectation in all Week 1 games since 2001. Mahomes is nearly off the page because of his dominance in both categories. If you feel the need to punt this position, Sam Darnold ($5000) is priced as the QB26 and has a revenge game against his former team that is changing schemes and has lost a few starters to injury during the preseason and training camp. Darnold is surrounded by weapons in a creative offense and should be able to hit a 4x score at his price.
Running Back
Two RBs stick out as the obvious plays to me, Alvin Kamara ($8600) and Dalvin Cook ($9100). The Saints don’t have a lot of weapons to work with and the Packers are coming off a season where they struggled to stop RBs. In fact, Mr. Kamara scored 38.9 points just in receiving production against the Packers early last season (14 targets, 13 catches, 139 receiving yards, and 2 receiving TDs). This is a big part of why the Packers allowed the 3rd most receiving points to RBs in 2020. Dalvin Cook is another guy taking on a defense that had a hard time stopping the run last year. Cook benefits from an offense that wants to feature him heavily and doesn’t have a lot of other weapons to steal touches. It’s basically Cook, Jefferson, and Thielen in that offense and Cook is going to get the majority of any of the RB points to be had. A couple of cheaper guys that should have a high floor are Najee Harris ($6300) and James Robinson ($6400). Both project to be the primary ball-handler out of their backfields and won’t face a defense that we should avoid for any reason. If we were to look for someone even lower down the price scale, Chase Edmonds ($4600) will be catching passes in that Cardinals/Titans game, and receiving is a good way to find a higher floor when taking a cheaper RB. The full-on punt at RB would be Kenneth Gainwell ($4000) who is a stone-minimum price and has the opportunity to take on a large passing down role for an Eagles team that ran a lot of RB screens during training camp.
Wide Receiver
Tyreek Hill ($8200) stands out to me as the top WR play of the week because of the Browns use of Zone coverage and their struggles with it. Andy Reid will have a game plan schemed up to get Hill open running through those zones for big plays. Davante Adams ($8300) is the other elite play of the slate, as he should see heavy volume as Aaron Rodger’s alpha-target. The Titans have a condensed offense and two bully WRs against a Cardinals secondary that features Byron Murphy as the #1 CB, and he’s pretty solid, but the other corner is Robert Alford – who hasn’t played for the last two years. The rest of the corners are rookies and a waiver claim from the Jaguars. This puts AJ Brown ($7100) and Julio Jones ($6800) in a really good spot. Brandin Cooks ($5300) is in a good spot as the only solid receiving option on a Texans team that could be playing from behind early against the Jaguars. Volume should be on his side to keep his floor raised. There are a bunch of really cheap WRs to help spare some salary for the expensive guys. Continuing with the Chiefs theme, Mecole Hardman ($4800) has been handed the WR2 job in Kansas City and he’s the second-fastest player on the team. Mahomes was force-feeding him during preseason trying to get him up to speed. He’s a bit risky as a cash game play but should see around 5 to 6 targets and comes at a fairly inexpensive price for a piece of the Chiefs offense. At $3000 (minimum price) we can choose from Elijah Moore, Rondale Moore, and Albert Wilson. For a few hundred more, there is AJ Green, Marvin Jones, Parris Campbell, and Zach Pascal. All of these guys have something to like for one reason or another, like the Colts who are taking on a secondary that has been shuffling their starters through and after final cuts.
Tight End
Travis Kelce ($8300) and George Kittle ($6300) top the TE group this week facing off against teams that didn’t do well against TEs last year and they are focal points in their offenses. If we’re looking to save some salary, Austin Hooper ($4000) faces a team that shut down WRs and allowed TEs to catch passes last year. Tyler Kroft ($2500) is a minimum-priced option that could find some floor against a Panthers defense that allowed 8.1 targets per game to the position, the second-most in the league last year.
Defense/Special Teams
There are only 2 DSTs I want to focus on this week in cash games. The Denver Broncos ($3300) are the most likely to pitch a shutout against a Giants defense that has OL issues, a QB who has fumbled more than any other QB last year and over the last two years combined, and injuries at WR and TE. When I can’t afford them, I’ll go all the way to the bottom of the salary list and take the Atlanta Falcons ($2000) who signed Dean Pees to run their defense this year. Philadelphia’s QB has ball security issues and clocked the highest time between taking the snap and getting rid of the ball last year at 3.11 seconds. Pees likes to blitz and will force Hurts into bad decisions or sacks if he hangs onto the ball like that again this year. The Eagles are also featuring a Head Coach calling plays who has never called plays before.
The Core
Just to be clear, the line-up below is not a suggested line-up, it is just an example of what you can build using this core group of players that we covered above. Best of luck to you this week and thanks for reading!
