Borg’s Cash Lineup Review for Week 7 (Fantasy Football)

Every week I want to unpack part of the process in assembling my cash game lineup. The goal is neither to boast or wallow in “shoulda, woulda, couldas” but rather give a transparent look at my thought process for the week. Hopefully, this will help DFS Podcast listeners and DFS Pass subscribers get a deeper window into the ups and downs of playing DFS and help you in your selections each week.

For cash, I specifically play 50/50s, Double-Ups, and H2Hs on DraftKings. I’ll share my unfiltered gut reaction, my thought process behind this lineup construction, and at the bottom, I will post my weekly results including ROI and H2H record to stay accountable with you.

If you’re wanting to go back to the drawing board, we did an overview podcast before the season on Cash Game Strategy. I also published an article on How to Approach Each Position in DFS & Gain an Edge.

Week 7 Cash Lineup Review

Unfiltered Gut Reaction

• Coming out of the gate with a Rodgers + Adams TD. Straight cash homey.
• Damien Harris doing work… Queue Billy Madison: “I AM THE SMARTEST MAN ALIVE”
• Is Calvin Ridley still playing football?
• Go do your thing Bateman! Punt play executed!
• I am cruising… this is chump change. Ain’t nothing gonna stop this lineup. One hour later… Cooper Kupp is not obeying the laws of regression and I am paying for it.
• The Rams are not using Henderson and I hate it. This is the Lions!!!
• I miss the Giants DST. I miss them dearly.
• I’m gonna flush more money down the toilet. This is the worst. I hate DFS… KMET! A catch! I cashed!

The Thought Process

Instead of working through every individual player, I want to highlight my thought process and why I made these selections.

• At the beginning of the week, there were a couple of plays locked in my lineup: Darrell Henderson Jr., Davante Adams, Rashod Bateman, and the Giants DST. I stuck with 3-of-4 of those but the swap from the Giants DST to save a little cash ultimately cost me in some 50/50s.
• Henderson was one of the so-called optimal plays based on his salary, the matchup (DET), and a fairly barren RB landscape. I knew he was going to be the chalkiest but I was willing to eat it as it seemed 15+ points was his floor over the last month. To pair with Hendo, the only other RBs on my radar to start the week were J.D. McKissic, D’Andre Swift, and Chuba Hubbard. The latter were popping in points per dollar models and McKissic eventually moved out of the discussion once we knew Antonio Gibson would be playing.
• Rashod Bateman was pretty much the punt play I wanted to play all week. He did more than enough (3xing on his salary) and could’ve had an even bigger day with Baltimore chasing. Cole Kmet also was in the running all week at TE and when Jimmy Graham was placed on the COVID list, I had Kmet locked in my lineup. This take lock also led me to brushing off the Foster Moreau late swap news although Betz was pounding the table for me to consider. Kmet’s catch in the final 30 seconds of the game versus Tampa Bay is what put this lineup over the top in the majority of my 50/50s.
• QB was not an easy proposition this week. Early in the week, I toyed with a cheaper option like Ryan Tannehill but he was a much better GPP option. Paying up felt safer and I leaned into players with high implied totals. Patrick Mahomes was cost-prohibitive, I loved Brady but he also felt expensive. I settled in between Lamar Jackson and Aaron Rodgers. Although Rodgers offers very little on the ground in comparison, the stack with Davante Adams felt super comfortable. This was solidified Sunday morning when Washington’s CB William Jackson was ruled out. They combined for only 44 DK points despite the early TD. It felt like they could’ve had 60 but in the second half, Washington held the ball for an ungodly amount of time.
• Chris Godwin was someone Betz and I pointed out early in the week as one of our favorite cash game plays. He was in the mix even before Antonio Brown was out as a value. It was kinda a bummer because the field reacted heavily to the news thus making his 28+ DK points not as elite as it may seem.
• I eventually moved off Swift because I don’t love rostering two RBs in the same game and Dan Campbell’s comments on Saturday about getting Jamaal Williams more involved. However, on Tuesday’s podcast, I declared Swift my favorite RB play of the week… I probably should’ve listened back and taken my own advice.
• Damien Harris moved from a solid GPP play to ahead of Hubbard in my cash lineup once the news broke that Rhamondre Stevenson was inactive. The Jets are a pushover on the ground and the field did not react as much as I thought they would likely given Harris’ lack of PPR pedigree. It ended up being a great play and one that helped mold my lineup into cashing.
• The biggest regret of the week was moving off of A.J. Brown right before lock. Dropping down from Hubbard to Harris gave me $400 to work with. The news of Julio Jones being active was quite a surprise given his practice status for the entire week. That alone got me tilting and I moved to Ridley who was always on my radar the entire week. In hindsight, I should’ve stuck with the higher game total of KC-TEN. Calvin Ridley was always on my shortlist so “moving up” $300 felt like I was gaining a couple more points in my projections.

2021 Results

After the early games, it looked like I was good to go winning 100% of my H2Hs. But it’s a sober reminder that monster scores (Cooper Kupp, Mike Evans, Foster Moreau) can always bring you back to earth. I was fortunate actually to cash with Cole Kmet‘s final catch and weighing opportunity cost in late swap needs to be part of the process I clean up in the future. Stay with it folks! Heading into Week 8, this is about having a long-term view. Make sure you check in with me for the DFS First Look Pricing article that comes out Tuesday AM!