Borg’s DFS Cash Lineup Review for Week 9 (Fantasy Football)

My favorite Monday Punday of the week was Kyle Cowabungai and boy did the Bears RB show out this week.

He was played by 85+ % of the field so his salary savings invited us to pay up at other spots. Hopefully you survived in cash this 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 9 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 9 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.
• I noted that a 3 RB build would be my preferred route this week. “Kyle Monangai is the cash lock of the century and we could certainly see 3 RBs if you want to add in CMC + a cheap TreVeyon Henderson.” I couldn’t fathom not playing CMC + Monangai but certainly understand if you wavered on Hendo.
• I never really wavered from Jaxson Dart. His rushing floor is unmatched especially when you factor in how cheap ($5200) DraftKings continues to keep him. Since becoming the Giants starting QB in Week 4, he has scored the 3rd most total fantasy points. Caleb Williams was in contention but as my QB2 in Best Plays, I chose to lean into Caleb stacks in tournaments instead.

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.

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• I honestly never really looked towards Tyrone Tracy Jr. as an option, which might be wild considering he was the 3rd most popular cash game RB. I feared there was a certain point where way too many Giants were being considered: Dart, Tracy, Wan’Dale, Theo Johnson, and NYG DST. I mentioned on the podcast that I wanted to max my Giants exposure to “2”.
• With Henderson, maybe it was my stubbornness and a chance to push back on any naysayers who use. I wrote in Best Plays: “But a talented sub-$5K RB at home is not something I wanted to overthink. The NE beat reporters I trust are saying exactly what we should be thinking: “sets up a big opportunity for Henderson“. The Falcons’ rush defense is allowing the 3rd highest rush success rate (54.6%) and 6th lowest stuff rate (40%) in the NFL. Henderson should see close to 15 touches as a home favorite. Hendo + Monangai, let’s ride!“
• With the cheap RBs in play, I knew I could spend up at WR. I was seeing cash lineups with 2 of Chase/Puka/Rice as the most common build. It felt indefensible to NOT have at least one of those this week in cash. The scariest part was picking between those three. Rice was the cheapest and a Betz favorite so I leaned in there.
• Puka vs Chase was a coinflip that I actually switched at the very last second. I had Puka in the entire time but Chase + Flacco and the game environment versus the Bears was more appealing to me. Puka easily could’ve gone for 30+ so his injury made this a fortunate outcome.
• At WR, I knew that beyond the two studs I was going to have issues trying to nail down my other option. I’ve always had a soft spot for Parker Washington and I noted in  Best Plays: “The punt option is podcast favorite Parker Washington aka PWash aka former Penn State great. ” He ended up being the difference-maker for this squad.
• I chose my DST at the very end and it almost cost me. The pool was wide (LAR, DEN, HOU, ATL) and Denver’s league-leading pressure rate and C.J. Stroud‘s splits against pressure ultimately is what allowed me to land on the Broncos.
• The internal struggle was what to do at TE. Theo Johnson was circled early in the week thanks to his snaps share (98%) and opportunities with so many pass-catching options out for the Giants including TE Daniel Bellinger. However, I must share that Tyler Warren and the Colts offense loomed large in my mind. Notice that not a single Colts player was considered in my lineup anywhere and I talked them up a ton on the podcast and in Tournament Takes. This goes back to the conversation we had last week in my Week 8 Cash Lineup Review. I am starting to treat cash formats a bit differently picking my spots where I can differentiate myself if I feel stuck in the chalkiness of the slate. Call it a commitment to contrarianess or a stubbornness but I have such a hard time following what I know everyone else is doing.
• I did notice that if I was going to play Warren, I likely would have to sacrifice at one of my stud WR positions (Puka/Chase/Rice). That decision loomed much larger than missing out on a potential huge game from Warren knowing I was going to play him and Bowers in tournaments. I settled on Theo Johnson as an easy NYG stack in cash knowing how popular the pairing would be.

• In other words, I was not afraid of being buried my Warren in cash formats because I assumed not many people would pay up. I guessed correctly as Warren was played by just 11% of the field. My fear was him going off an not reaping the rewards BUT I knew the risk outweighed it based on how the field would play him. Theo Johnson dudding would’ve not ruined my lineup but paying up for Warren AND not having one of Chase/Puka/Rice would’ve certainly nosedived this lineup.

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.

• Another week where DST almost cost me the cash line. I hate that the position really does end up swinging week-to-week.
• The rest of my cash lineup was fairly level-headed.

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 $25 Double-Up from DraftKings.

A solid showing this week that came down to playing Parker Washington and TreVeyon Henderson over Tyrone Tracy Jr. and other punt options.