Welcome to the bar! The Week 6 DFS Cocktail Hour is here to satisfy your thirst for DFS football strategies. We’ll be looking at useful ingredients that you can use as part of your weekly DFS plays. Additionally, we’ll mix up my cocktail from this week’s Operation: Domination program.
A reminder that we’re looking at cash games on the DraftKings Classic mode, using the Sunday through Monday games. All player scores mentioned use DraftKings scoring as displayed by FantasyData.com.
Week 6 DFS Cocktail Hour: Base Spirits
This week’s base spirit enters the weekend with the highest over/under on the slate. The Detroit Lions are underdogs by less than a field goal as they invade Arrowhead to play the Chiefs. Vegas sees big things in this game, and so do I. The Chiefs and Lions both rank in the top 12 in the league in multiple offensive categories, including points, yards passing, and total yards. This has the feel of a game everyone should want a piece of. We’re grabbing several pieces, starting with Chiefs’ Quarterback Patrick Mahomes ($6,500). Mahomes is the QB3 for the week by ECR, but is just the fifth-highest paid passer on DraftKings. On the season, he’s QB2 in both total fantasy points and fantasy points per game. Mahomes is coming off a game where he threw for over 300 yards and had his best rushing output of the year, with 60 yards and a score on six carries.
That last part is key in this matchup. The Lions have been middle-of-the-pack against opposing fantasy quarterbacks this season. But Detroit is coming off a game where they allowed Jake Browning to lead the Bengals in rushing. Mahomes is in the midst of what could be his best rushing season ever. He’s on pace to set career highs in rush attempts, yards, yards per carry, and touchdowns. Plus, there’s that Mahomes magic passing on the run. With the game expected to be high-scoring and close, look for the Chiefs to be aggressive all game. Pay up and get Mahomes.
A Complementary Second Ingredient
The Chiefs are anxiously awaiting the return of Rashee Rice. In the meantime, Xavier Worthy ($6,000) is their unquestioned top wide receiver. Over the past three weeks, only seven wide receivers in the league have seen more targets. Mahomes has been pushing the ball downfield effectively this season. Detroit can be had in the pass game, giving up the sixth-most points to wideouts. Look for the Chiefs to take some shots with Worthy (and Tyquan Thornton, especially deep). Worthy is a top-12 play by ECR, but his salary ranks just 15th. We’ll partake in the Week 6 DFS Cocktail.
Souring Agent
It stands to reason that if the Chiefs are throwing haymakers, the Lions will have to swing back. Last week, Brian Thomas, Jr., Travis Hunter, and Brenton Strange all averaged over 20 yards per reception on eight total catches (ten targets). You can beat the Chiefs deep. I think Jameson Williams is a bargain at $4,700. He’s averaging 20.3 yards per reception on 11 catches this season.
Sweetener
Our sweetener this week has a sweet opportunity against the Tennessee Titans. Ashton Jeanty ($6,900) broke out in a big way in Week 4, ranking RB1 after three borderline unusable games to open the season. Jeanty followed that up last week with an RB16 game that included his best receiving performance to date. Now he’ll get a Titans’ defense giving up the third-most points to opposing running backs. In the past three weeks, Jeanty has averaged 5.9 yards per rush. Tennessee is surrendering an average of 5.0 yards per carry this season, the fifth-worst mark in the league. With Brock Bowers ruled out for Sunday, look for Jeanty to provide some points in the short pass game as well.
Garnishes
As always, how you dress up the rest of your lineup is up to you. The money we’re saving on Jameson Williams should allow you to spend up elsewhere. If you’re looking for some affordable options, check out GOYAADI’s DFS Cheapskate plays.
Week 6 DFS Cocktail: The RedZone
The Week 6 DFS cocktail is, like me, from Wisconsin. We like to drink up here. One of Wisconsin’s lesser-known (but oh-so-good) contributions to the alcoholic arts is the Pink Squirrel. It’s a drink made originally with ice cream, and gets its name from the pink hue provided by a bright-red ingredient- Crème de Noyaux. The RedZone is a sort of Pink Squirrel with bite, thanks to a bit of lime juice.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz. Heavy Cream.
- 1.5 oz. Crème de Noyaux
- 1.5 oz Crème de Cacao (White)
- .75 oz. Lime Juice
- Ice
- Ground Nutmeg
Directions:
Pour heavy cream, Crème de Noyaux, Crème de Cacao, and lime juice into a shaker filled with ice. Shake until well-chilled (there should be condensation on the outside of the shaker). Strain into a pre-chilled coupe glass and garnish with a sprinkle of ground nutmeg. Slàinte mhath!
A few notes:
- If you pre-chill the glass, it’ll help the drink stay colder longer. You want this to feel a bit like a milkshake with a bit of bite.
- You can, in a pinch, substitute amaretto for the Crème de Noyaux, but you’ll lose out on the fun pink color of the drink. The easiest brand to find may be Bols.
- Another word on the pink color: you have to use white (clear) Crème de Cacao, or you’ll cover up the pink.
- The nutmeg will combine with the lime juice to give a slight peppery complexity to an otherwise very sweet drink. Be careful. With nutmeg, a little goes a long way.
Check out Dan Mader and Chase Thornton‘s Week 6 Sit & Start & DFS Cocktail Hour video on the FSAN YouTube Channel on this week’s Operation Domination.