Borg’s DFS Cash Lineup Review for Week 13 (Fantasy Football)

Every week is a completely different game in DFS.

• Week 12- Highest scoring slate we’ve seen in years
• Week 13- The lowest of the season and one of the lowest that I can remember

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 13 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 13 DFS Best Plays (which comes out on Saturdays for DFS Pass subscribers only), I shared the pool of players I considered.
• This slate was not straight forward by any means. I only had De’Von Achane and Breece Hall as locks in my lineup early in the week. Oronde Gadsden was also locked in my lineup early in the week as I am #1 a sucker for Chargers and #2 I got lazy and never considered another option.
• Because of the uncertainty of the slate and the busyness of Thanksgiving week, I played an incredibly small amount of H2Hs and Double-Ups this week.

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.

• I assumed the 3RB build would be the preferred strategy by the field making Kenneth Walker III the main guy I stared at for a while. I did like this spot for Bijan Robinson and James Cook III and decided to make sure I was overweight in tournaments. (That worked out ok 🙂
• However, the issue with this slate was the middle range plays were projecting the best while all the expensive RBs (JTT & CMC) were not going to be played by the field to do perceived tough matchups. It left a lot of salary to play with when the punt WRs (Jets and Texans guy) were beginning to become the preferred route.
• I knew I was going to be playing 1-2 sub $4K WRs. I was decided between Jets (Adonai Mitchell and John Metchie III) and Texans (Jayden Higgins and Christian Kirk). I sided with target-earning ability of Metchie and decidely poked fun at Betz for choosing a WR we’ve repeatedly dunked on in the NFL. (Another ominous mistake)

• Honestly, I joked on Friday’s podcast that “the Jets would be the key to the slate” but apparently I should’ve been listening to myself. With Hall and Metchie, I did worry about going overboard despite the fact TYROD WAS MY QB1 in Best Plays. I wrote: “We don’t mind playing both Tyrod and Breece together in cash BUT if you want to avoid the systemic risk known as the J-E-T-S, it makes sense to not play them together.” I tried to avoid the risk and instead I ran into a steaming pile of poo.
• But to keep with the theme, the Jets were my favorite DST throughout the week. Paying down for what I thought would be an ugly game in the rain against the Falcons was my thought process. (Spoiler: the game went off!) Outscoring the other punt DST was actually a win on the slate.
• Stroud had his chances against the Colts (40+ drop backs!) but it just didn’t end up working out. At $5K, you needed 15 points and he said, “Nah, I’ll stop at 10”
• Playing Jaylen Waddle > Nico Collins was a “follow the crowd” move instead of what I really felt in my gut. I had Collins ranked as my WR2 on the slate and swapped those two at the very end. Whoops.
• My final decisions came down to a simple 2v2: Nico Collins + Kenneth Walker III or JSN + Jayden Higgins. I sided with JSN’s raw projection over Walker for fear of Seattle splitting the backfield duties.

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.

• Paying up for JSN knowing there could be competitiveness issues in that game seemed like an oversight. While looking at his production and insane floor over the first 12 weeks is part of the process, paying $9,500 for any player without considering the downside was poor judgment on my part.
• Gadsden also is a weekly roulette. While I loved the spot for the Chargers passing attack, paying down a bit more at the position for guys with a safer floor perhaps was a better angle. He hasn’t finished inside the top-15 at TE since Week 8.

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.

A low volume and yet massive loss week. The returns in cash haven’t been great for me in 2025.