Week 2 was a wild one and depending on how you approached it in DFS, you might have a different choice word to describe 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 about DFS Cash Game Strategy and creating Player Pools. I also published older articles on DFS Strategy for Beginners and another entitled: How to Approach Each Position in DFS & Gain an Edge.
Week 2 Cash Lineup
Draft % and cash lines each week will be from DraftKings’ $10 Single-Entry Double-Up with roughly 4,600 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 2 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.
- CMC was a lock. You already knew that and yes you played him too.
- I honestly didn’t waver from earlier in the week regarding Lamar. I likely should’ve entertained other combinations and while the end result (26.3 DK points) certainly looks nice, it did pigeon-hole my lineup.
- I wrote up Chase Brown in Best Plays based on the following logic: “He saw 100% of the RB rush attempts and a whopping 52% of the team’s total rush attempts and targets in Week 1. That is an insane number and honestly something we should be paying $8K or more for if I just took away the name and replaced it with a workload figure. I want Bengals in my cash lineup and Brown might be the best when factoring in salary between the big-3 options.“
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.
- At TE, I struggled with Harold Fannin Jr. and my dude Juwan Johnson. I knew the field would likely side with Fannin as a cheaper option and in my head, I figured 50+ % of the field would play him. Conceding that position seemed like the best option. You move on and focus on other positions that will make-or-break your lineups.
- I went back and forth about Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Tee Higgins all weekend. (I chose wrong.) The targets were obviously on JSN’s side but I wanted to build in some ceiling outcomes in my lineup. The implied total for the Bengals loomed large in my mind and I went from having only Chase Brown in my lineup to “what if I had multiple Bengals?” Ja’Marr Chase was my #1 ranked WR in our rankings but I simply couldn’t find the salary at other positions to get up there.
- Hollywood Brown’s role made him one of the easier cash decisions this week. He also (as you will see later in my thinking) was in the afternoon window giving me ample opportunity to pivot off him if need be if my lineup decisions were behind earlier.
- It was tough finding cheap WRs in Week 2. The $4,900 guys (Olave & Ridley) were popping up as value plays but I still have worries about the Titans offense and I have a soft spot for Chris Olave. Siding with Fannin Jr. > Juwan also led me down this path. Beyond them, the only other cheap WR I toyed around with was Cedric Tillman. However, with Harold Fannin Jr. in my lineup, I did not want to roster two Browns.
- Finalizing the FLEX was definitely where I struggled this week. I liked De’Von Achane and James Conner among the RBs while briefly flirting with Kyren Williams. I also looked at Brian Thomas Jr. as a mid-range WR who I could pair with my Bengals.
- DST was my final decision and hey, I did something right! LAR was in my lineup for most of the week but I found that their road matchup didn’t make them an absolute slam dunk.
- After compiling my lineup together, I liked my late swap options. I even messaged Betz with a list before lock just to vocalize the names running through my head.
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.
- Welp, as you can see, I didn’t take my own advice for late swap! I was once again at the ballpark with my kids and by the time I got home, it was too late to swap. On the drive home, I told myself “great when I get home I’ll have time to assess my lineup and I know I have some late swap options I outlined earlier. I’ll be totally fine!” Nope! I completely forgot by the time I got home and after I turned on the games, it was past the 4:00 lock window. Getting off of Hollywood Brown would’ve been the move and knowing me, I would’ve gone with some combination of Tetairoa McMillan, or DeVonta Smith, and/or Trey McBride.
- In hindsight, I should’ve played around with more combinations using both high (Lamar) and low-end QBs (Maye) as well as high (Puka & Chase) to pair with the middle tier guys I landed with.
- Trying to correct last week’s mistake (I played Chase last week) by zigging this week did not work.
- BIG POINT: If you have ever played DFS and you run into multiple weeks of making the wrong decisions on 1v2 or 2v2s, join the club! It feels humiliating and humbling to look back at a lineup and see where it went wrong. Heck, writing this article after having another week of missing the cash line stinks. I looked back at last year’s final Cash Review article and I only went this low in back-to-back weeks once!
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.
| Week | Cash Line | DK Pts | H2H Win% | Note |
| 1 | 115.38 | 105.42 | 5% | Chase Pay Up Flop |
| 2 | 136.26 | 126.50 | 45% |
Late Swap Forgetfulness
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Yep, despite missing the cash line by 10 points I at least salvaged some of the day in Head-to-Heads.
Stay tuned in for the First Look article for next week which comes out on Tuesday and previews the Week 3 main slate.
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