A cratered Week 15 NFL DFS main slate this Sunday will complicate matters in DraftKings cash games. The television execs got this right by finding solo spots for games involving the Chargers and Chiefs (Thursday), Eagles and Rams (Sunday night), and Saints and Panthers (Monday). However, various bankable floors with crazy ceilings are now off the board for your lineup picks.
Last week's lineup hit 144.22 DK points to keep our season average hovering right at 150, per the cash game log. Fading the $4K fill-in receivers and instead paying up at WRs1-3 — while running Curtis Samuel in the flex — set us up well for most cash game scenarios. For double-ups, you may potentially be dancing right at the cash line this particular week, though overall a decent showing.
Week 15 Rankings:
Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | D/ST | Kicker
NFL Week 15 DraftKings Cash Lineup
For DraftKings' NFL Week 15 Sunday featured slate featuring 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET games.
QB Marcus Mariota, Titans @ Giants ($5,100). We're punting at QB and still landing a player who topped 22 DK points in four straight (full) games before last Thursday's rout of the visiting Jags. Now the Titans are Vegas road dogs and likely dodge that kind of massive positive game script, securing more pass and run volume for Mariota than last Thursday.
RB Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys @ Colts ($9,000). This slate basically makes you choose between Saquon Barkley or Zeke in cash. The $1,500 drop to Leonard Fournette means there's no real second tier, and there are no sub-$4K gimmes last week — no sub-$6K gimmes either as of Monday. We'll take Zeke's league-leading 69 touches since Week 13.
RB Joe Mixon, Bengals vs. Raiders ($6,100): I couldn't stomach going any cheaper at RB2 on this slate, and we'll eventually pay for it with the tight pricing in Week 15. Will get Mixon at mid-tier cost since he ranks fourth on slate in RB touches over the past two weeks and gets a bottom-half DK matchup for RBs, with Cincy hosting as favorites.
WEEK 15 DFS CASH LINEUPS: Yahoo | FanDuel
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, Steleers @ Raiders ($8,000). JuJu sees a $200 price reduction despite pacing the league in targets since Week 11. Bill Belchick famously stifles your top weapon, but entire receiving groups have found enough success for the Pats to rank bottom 10 in DK points allowed to WR and JuJu hit New England for over 20 DK points last year.
WR Sterling Shepard, Giants vs. Titans ($4,400). The lack of second-tier or viable fill-in RBs on this slate made pricing a challenge, and prices we couldn't pass on JuJu and Eric Ebron basically required us to spend way down on ancillary receivers. Whether or not OBJ plays, three consecutive games with six targets make Shepard bearable here at WR2.
WEEK 15 DFS GPP LINEUPS: Yahoo | FanDuel | DraftKings
WR Dante Pettis, 49ers vs. Seahawks ($4,400). Pettis kept his work in Marquise Goodwin's return, and the rookie leads all Niners receivers by distance with 20 targets over the past three games. Nick Mullens threw 48 times two weeks ago against Seattle, and the dog Niners are unlikely to see massive positive game script like they did this past Sunday.
TE Eric Ebron, Colts vs. Cowboys ($5,900). It's really hard to play this slate without paying up to $6Kish with George Kittle, Rob Gronkowski, Jared Cook or Ebron — after that you're basically swinging in the dark at tight end. Ebron leads all tight ends in targets since Week 12 and gets the home domer.
MORE WEEK 15 DFS: Values | Stacks | Lineup Builder
FLEX Jordy Nelson, Raiders @ Bengals ($4,200). The Raiders infamously traded Amari Cooper after letting Crabtree walk, and now there are all these targets that become somewhat valuable when Derek Carr isn't imploding. We're bargain-binning here with Jordy's 17 targets and 16 catches over the past two weeks, the latter good for fourth among receivers per Pro Football Focus data.
D/ST Falcons vs. Cardinals ($2,700). The weekly cash strategy of scanning for Nathan Peterman types made Josh Johnson and Washington jump out, but we'll save $700 off the enigmatic Jags and run another home favorite facing an anemic offense.