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

I won’t lie… this week was painful in DFS.

There were so many players who “went off” and because of the endless combinations, perhaps you felt the short side of things.

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 8 Cash Lineup

Draft % and cash lines each week will be from DraftKings’ $25 Single-Entry Double-Up with roughly 5,000 entries. This is a slightly elevated price point from the $1, $5, and $10 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 8 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.
• We talked all week that Tyreek Hill ($7000) was underpriced. Nearly 70% of the field played him as the only worry was his injury tag late in the week. If you came up short of the cash line, don’t blame Tyreek’s 6-for-72, although you certainly were hoping for more.
• I had Breece Hall ($7300) locked in my lineup. He was featured in Marvin Elequin’s Expectation Report and since the play calling shifted to Todd Downing over the last two weeks. The Jets somehow found a way to lose to the Patriots and two possessions on the goal-line ended with Aaron Rodgers throwing to the likes of Tyler Conklin and Xavier Gipson.
• I wanted a piece of the Broncos offense… a sentence I did not foresee typing in 2024 DFS. Javonte Williams ($6000) was going to be chalk but the matchup against Carolina and the team implied total made him one of the elite cash game plays on the slate, in my opinion.
• Imagine not playing Cade Otton ($3500)! I know I talk about him all the time but he almost cost my Falcons a victory. He was one of the most obvious plays on the slate given the injuries to the Buccaneers WRs and his pricing being set before Monday night.

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

• • At QB, I only really considered Jordan Love ($7100) or Bo Nix ($5600). They were the top-2 QBs in our ranks for the week but Love’s performances and my slight bias towards Nix (as a former SEC QB at Auburn) definitely weighed in. The upside Love possessed against the league’s worst defense was tantalizing all week long. I mostly tinkered with lineups with Love penciled in at QB failing to realize that Nix going off would ruin me.
  • I made my peace by trying to “create leverage” against the rookie QB, a wild assertion considering how cheap he was. In hindsight, the lack of roster percentage being attached to the Packers towards the end of the week should’ve been a tip that I was chasing phantom rosters. In other words, the Broncos were shaping up to be chalk city so going against them was a bold move. Love’s injury doomed this roster which is also part of the weekly variance game we play.
  • Beyond Breece Hall and Javonte Williams, I probably could’ve named 4-5 other RBs I liked this week. De’Von Achane ($6200) was a steal and I named him my slate breaker on the podcast. Joe Mixon ($7700) has been unbelievable in his 3 full games and the Colts were a pushover defense.
  • This is a huge point where I think conversing with Betz would’ve helped. I went out to brunch with my family and by the time I got back to my computer, it was time to finish build my GPP teams before the 1:00 lock. I preached 3 RB builds all week and then, inexplicably, I abandoned it all for the Bengals passing attack.
  • After Tyreek Hill, Cedric Tillman ($3300) was the only WR who felt like a near lock for most of the week. We highlighted him in our Salary Standouts on Tuesday’s podcast and roster constructions dictated that you needed to punt at one spot this week. He saw 12 targets the previous week and Jameis Winston was starting at QB. Before victory lapping, it is worth mentioning how his yardage changed from 100 to 99. Sorry for those of you that needed that 100+ yard bonus!
  • The Tee Higgins news definitely shifted a lot of my thinking this week. I hadn’t planned on paying up for Ja’Marr Chase ($8500) as he was the most expensive player on the slate. The fear of being buried by Chase weighed on me and Andrei Iosivas ($3600) being a value allowed for it to happen as well. Playing two CIN WRs didn’t really bother me too much; I was more perturbed by the fact the Cincy offense fell flat in the 2nd half despite playing from behind against Philly.
  • Man, I am noticing 3-4 mistakes just through processing through this week already:
    • Abandoning ideal roster construction? Check.
    • Playing two WR punts? Check.
    • Paying up for a DST? Check.
  • At DST, I toiled with a couple of different options: DEN ($3700), LAC ($3300), and CHI ($2700). They represented three different tiers and combinations I could play around with in my lineup. I almost always take the cheapest route but the news of Jayden Daniels potentially starting as well as Bryce Young starting for the Panthers messed with my emotions. If I wasn’t going to play Bo Nix, perhaps this is a way to gain leverage on him: the Broncos DST goes off at home and Nix never really has to throw…
  • Honestly, I had an awkward amount of money leftover that pushed me to either slightly pay up from someone like Iosivas or punt twice at WR. The Broncos DST was lights out all year and Young was an implosion waiting to happen.
  • Here were the two final lineups I was choosing between:

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.

• Locking onto Jordan Love was probably a bit too misguided as Bo Nix‘s price and popularity should’ve been something I leaned into.
• Paying up for a DST as leverage is something I normally never ever do. I paid for it.
• Abandoning my dude De’Von Achane after talking him up all week.

2024 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.

Ouch. This week stung. It was the worst I’ve played all year.