The Best XFL DFS Picks for DraftKings Week 9 4/15/23

Another week in the books and another week in the green for me. Not quite as good as weeks past, but if you’ve played DFS long enough, just being in the green is always a good thing. XFL has spoiled me into thinking this DFS thing is easy, I can’t wait to get smacked in the face when the NFL rolls around. But I digress. Below is my cash lineup for last week:

Quarterback

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Luis Perez (ARL) @ DC $8,600

I’ve played this hand for most of the year so I’m not going to stop this week despite how bad the Arlington offense has been this season — play quarterbacks and wide receivers against the Defenders. With that said, Perez is a tournament play only as the Renegades are the lowest-scoring team in the league, but Perez was acquired in a trade shortly before last week’s game and despite the quick turnaround to start, he wasn’t terrible. In fact, he led them to a victory, despite not throwing a touchdown. Against this terrible pass defense, and another week under his belt in this offense, I like Perez to put up decent enough points to pay off his salary.

Brandon Silvers (HOU) vs. VGS $8,700

A distant second to DC in inept pass defense, but still terrible in their own right, is the Vegas Vipers. They give up over 220 passing yards per game, and only the Defenders have given up more passing touchdowns. Silvers had a “meh” return to the lineup in Week 8 after missing Week 7, but he should be able to move the ball through the air easily against this defense.

Ben DiNucci (SEA) $12,200 @ STL

Yes, he’s expensive. And yes, it’s a tough matchup. But the fact remains, he will likely be the highest-owned QB and therefore I have to at least mention him. He dropped 21.64 on this team in Week 2, take that how you will.

Running Back

Phillip Lindsay (SEA) @ STL $7,500

As expected, Lindsay stepped into a prominent role immediately after signing with the team and scored a touchdown in his first game. The Battlehawks, Linsay’s matchup this week, is the exact opposite of the Defenders — they are the best pass defense but the worst run defense. They give up a whopping 132 yards per game on the ground, allowing a league-worst 4.65 yards per carry, and have given up more first-down runs than any other team.

Max Borghi (HOU) vs. VGS $8,600

A close second to the Battlehawks’ terrible run defense is the slightly less terrible, but still pretty bad, Vegas Vipers. They allow 117 yards per game. Borghi is also game-script proof as we saw last week when he struggled to run the ball (7 car 10 yds), but caught four passes for 49 yards to save his fantasy day.

Jacques Patrick (SA) @ ORL $7,700

Huge workload versus a bad defense, relatively cheap price.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

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Deontay Burnett (HOU) vs. VGS $9,700

Burnett’s week was saved in Week 8 by scoring a TD, but only twice in eight games has Burnett not scored a TD. Only the Defenders’ pass defense is worse than the Vipers’ defense.

Tyler Vaughns (ARL) @ DC $4,500

If I’m going to tell you to play Luis Perez at QB, he has to have someone to throw to and Vaughs seemed to be his go-to man last week, catching 4 passes for 52 yards, and it’s hard to ignore that price tag.

Eli Rogers (ORL) @ SA $5,300

I was so upset last week when I saw Rogers go bonkers because I seriously considered putting him in some of my lineups, and I even started to write him up in my column before changing my mind about him. I’m probably overcompensating and chasing the points with him this week, but at $5,300, I couldn’t not put him here.

Cedric Byrd (HOU) vs. VGS $6,600

In the opposite vein than Rogers, I wished I had changed my mind on Byrd as he dropped a whopping 2.3 fantasy points. Luckily he was so highly owned that it didn’t hurt my lineups. Everyone will be chasing Eli Rogers points (as am I), but they might overlook Byrd, who up until last week had been playing great.

Travell Harris (HOU) vs. VGS $7,400

Let’s just go all in on Houston. I think this is the fourth player for Houston I’ve written up in this column, so I envision a few stacks of this game making it into my tournament lineups. I don’t like him as much as I like Byrd, but that Vegas defense isn’t good. I feel like I’ve said that a few times in this column.

Defense

Orlando Guardians @ SA $3,800

For the second week in a row, the Guardians play the worst offense in the league. Last week it was the Renegades, but Arlington did just enough on offense to move into the second-worst offense, pushing the Brahmas into last, who average only 214.5 yards per game and only have one more offensive touchdown than the league’s lowest-scoring team, the Renegades. Using the Guardians paid off nicely for me last week scoring 11 points as the cheapest defense, so I’m going to try it again.

San Antonio Brahmas vs. ORL $4,100

This game is going to be absolutely trash. Both offenses average a whopping 12 points per game. If we could play two defenses, I’d take both defenses from this game.

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