Borg’s DFS Cash Lineup Review for Week 11 (Fantasy Football)

I consider myself quite the planner. I like mapping things out in advance in most areas of my life.

However, for Week 11, I made a last minute pivot that… well, let’s just say it shipwrecked the week.

The goal of this article is neither to boast nor wallow in “shoulda, woulda, couldas” but rather give a transparent look at my thought process for the week. Hopefully, this will help DFS & Betting 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. On Tuesdays, Betz and I review our cash lineups, and this week we’ll give some common overreactions we see and hear.

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

If you want to go back to the drawing board, we did an overview podcast before the season on DFS Cash Game Strategy + Creating Player Pools. I also published an article on DFS Strategy for Beginners and another entitled: How to Approach Each Position in DFS & Gain an Edge.

Week 11 Cash Lineup

Draft % and cash lines each week will be from DraftKings’ $10 Single-Entry Double-Up with roughly 5,000 entries. This is a slightly elevated price point from the $1 and $5 double-ups and I think gives a solid idea each week of double-up roster percentages.

The Thought Process

Cash Locks (In My Opinion)

• In our Week 11 DFS Best Plays (which comes out on Saturdays for DFS Pass subscribers only), I shared the pool of players and this week was blatantly obvious who the top plays were.
• Ja’Marr Chase was locked-in from Day 1: “The volume with Joe Flacco is unreal averaging 15.5 targets per game over his last four with top-12 performances in all four of them.”
• Jaylen Warren also felt like a must-play opposite Chase. I loved the matchup against the Bengals and the coaching staff talked up Warren getting a major role. Instead, Warren had an ankle injury and didn’t return because the team wanted to be “smart”.
• Imagine not playing Trey McBride!
• Christian McCaffrey was my RB1 in our Best Plays. I couldn’t get away from the raw oppportunities and I commented on the podcast that he should be at least $1,000 more on DK.
• The Titans DST was also a lock given the price and the matchup against Davis Mills. I really wanted an upset for our Survivor Pool.

Gut-Wrenching Decisions

My goal in this section is to discuss the pool of players I considered for cash and how I arrived at my final lineup.

Unlock Exclusive Tools + Bonus Episode

Join the FootClan

• I did waffle back-and-forth about whether to have a 3RB build or run 12-personnel again with Trey McBride in the FLEX. Chase Brown and Aaron Jones Sr. were in consideration for my third RBs and I did look at putting a cheap Steelers TE in whether it was Jonnu Smith or Pat Freiermuth. After going back and forth, the guaranteed opportunities at RB won out.
• I usually never play RBs in the same in cash but made an exception because of the PIT/CIN game environment. No other RB was going to be competing with Brown for touches while Jones (in theory) could cede work to Jordan Mason. I also figured Brown would be a much more popular play.
• Punting at the WR position seemed inevitable this week. You needed the savings if you were going to pay up for CMC, Ja’Marr Chase, and Trey McBride. The problem was sifting through a number of options: the Cardinals WRs, Darnell Mooney, and the Bills’ Joshua Palmer. My build ended up needing two of those 0ptions as I sided with the 3RB build.
• When Keon Coleman was an inactive, I liked the fact Josh Palmer would be a near every-down player for Josh Allen with Dalton Kincaid being ruled out also shrinking the passing pie. I ruled out Darnell Mooney because of Falcons bias. I know that part of my process is not sound but I rarely ever rely on the Falcons in DFS because… they are the Falcons.
• I also 100% have a bias against Michael Wilson for a couple of reasons. He’s never earned targets in his career (13.5% TPRR) averaged just 31 receiving yards per game. As an outside WR, I normally dock players like him and boost PPR options like Greg Dortch. I also was plagued with the statistic of the 49ers allowing the most slot fantasy points above expectation to WRs in the NFL. Going Dortch > Wilson certainly sunk this lineup but the fact I went McCarthy over Brissett didn’t even allow me the opportunity.
• I had an uncomfortable amount of money ($600) left over when I was making my build. I didn’t really know where to spend the money and after staring at that for awhile, I started to get nervous.
• I commented on the podcast that I felt more comfortable with his floor and I made it quite clear how much JJM’s schtick of “Nine” drove me crazy. However, when I looked at projections, the Vikings implied total, and the fact I already had two Cardinals in my cash lineup, I decided to diversify.
• I had Jacoby Brissett in my lineup from Tuesday until Sunday at 12:50 PM EST. I can show you the timestamps below in my DMs with Betz.

• Narrator: But he chose wrong.
• Because of that decision I did not have the opportunity to swap onto Michael Wilson and instead Betz’s cash lineup left me in the dust.

What Did the Field Do

My goal in this section is to discuss the pool of players used the most in cash style contests. You can compare the roster percentage, DK outputs, and how much of their salary they X’ed this week.

Mistakes Were Made …

Every week I’ll highlight my biggest mistakes which range from not weighing low-end outcomes to assuming, to not thinking, and ultimately moving away from plays I started with. We’ve all been there… stay water. Don’t try to justify yourself or make things sound better than they were. You made a decision, now deal with it.

• Last minute pivots never really quite work.
• Not playing Michael Wilson was purely out of spite.
• This weekend was a complete disaster for DFS. I will not sugar coat anything: I lost a good amount of money.

2025 Results

Each week I’ll post my head-to-head (H2H) win percentage here to give you an idea of what type of week I had. Keep in mind there are varying price points, competition, and players who take my H2Hs in the lobby that have no rhyme or reason. The volume of my H2Hs differs each week due to my feeling of the slate and my weekend activities with my family. Every week I will also post the “cash line” from the $10 Double-Up from DraftKings.

Everything that I had won the last few weeks was lost after Week 11. Woof.