The NFL season won't slow down, as Week 11 closed out, and Week 12 quickly approached as it started on Thanksgiving Thursday this week. At this point in the season, it's not hard to tell which teams are contenders, and which teams are pretenders. From a fantasy standpoint though, there's plenty of value everywhere. Now that we are more than halfway through the season, we can figure out who can consistently produce in terms of fantasy football.
Just because select players let you down all season, doesn't mean that they can't have a good week here and there. We're going to dive into Week 11 and find the find the best value plays that will give you a bang for your buck. After all, you don't want to just pay for a name. So, while you're setting your early game slates for Sunday, keep in mind that everybody is playing. You want to be different and find the guy who will go off on your team, but not anybody else's.
That's what we're going to break down here. We will go over some of the best bargain plays, that issue high-upside for cheap. And I will also throw in some obvious cash plays for you grinders out there that need to know who is undoubtedly going to go off this weekend.
So, for those of you who are new to DraftKings, or maybe you even need a refresher, let's go over the rules real quick.
The Rules of The Game
DraftKings is pretty simple and straightforward. Although there are many different games, you can play, and slates you can get involved in, we are going to stick with the classic slate for Sunday, November 24th, 2018. Here is the full outlook slate that we will be going over.
- Jacksonville Jaguars @ Buffalo Bills
- Cleveland Browns @ Cincinnati Bengals
- New England Patriots @ New York Jets
- New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles
- San Francisco 49ers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Seattle Seahawks @ Carolina Panthers
- Oakland Raiders @ Baltimore Ravens
- Arizona Cardinals @ Los Angeles Chargers
- Pittsburgh Steelers @ Denver Broncos
- Miami Dolphins @ Indianapolis Colts
- Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings
Just like any Daily Fantasy platform, you are issued a salary for each individual contest. Each lineup will have $50k available. Every player will have a price tag on them based on their value each week. For this slate, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley is the most expensive, while the New York Jets defense is the cheapest. You cannot exceed the $50k salary, but you also don't have to use it all up.
While I suggest using up the majority of the $50k salary, you don't have to if it isn't necessary. In GPP games, the idea is to find the cheapest players with low ownership percentage and high ceilings. If you figure that out, then you most likely won't go over the limit. Don't make that second-guess your picks. Just because you still have money available, doesn't mean it needs to be spent. If you love your lineup, roll with it.
Okay, enough chit-chat, let's get into this.
Quarterbacks
As always, there's a ton of value with quarterbacks during the Sunday slate. With so many games throughout the afternoon, there will be more than a few quarterbacks who have the opportunity to score well over 20 points. When it comes to the QB, it's probably best to not pay up for the most prominent name. There's value elsewhere that's much more important.
This week, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the priciest. Playing against a weak New York Jets defense makes him an intriguing play, but there is much better value elsewhere on the slate. Here are our top two rated quarterbacks for Week 12, along with an optimal lineup containing our top play for the week.
Cam Newton - $6,200
Surprisingly, Cam Newton isn't the priciest quarterback this week, which is great. Newton and the Panthers will take on the Seattle Seahawks. While the Seahawks have been a fairly decent team, despite being out of the playoff picture, they are ranked 25th when it comes to giving up fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Newton might've slowed down his production a bit recently, but he's still set up for success this week, with a bargain price of $6.2k.
Carson Wentz - $5,900
Last week, Carson Wentz had perhaps the worst game of his career against the New Orleans Saints. The reigning Super Bowl Champions are playing at their weakest level, and Wentz hasn't been much better than anyone else on the team recently. While many Daily Fantasy players will steer clear of Wentz this week, he could be somebody with low-percentage ownership with a lot of upside. Statistically, his best game from the season came against the New York Giants. As the Eagles added another weapon recently with Golden Tate, they should have no problem scoring points on the Giants once again for their rematch at home.
The Lineup
QB - Cam Newton $6.2K
RB - James Conner $7.8K
RB - Nick Chubb $6.3K
WR - Mike Evans $7.7K
WR - Sterling Shepard $5.3K
WR - Alshon Jeffery $5.8K
TE - David Njoku $3.8K
FLEX - Alex Collins $4.5K
DST - 49ers $2.3K
Running Backs
How tough is it to predict running backs for fantasy in this day and age? With all of the running back committee's forming, it's difficult to figure who is going to be the runner that finds the endzone on a consistent basis. Sometimes, you have to decide if you want the guy with all of the yards and touches with no scores. Or if you want the guy with hardly any touches and yards, with one or potentially two scores.
For Week 12, I'd say go with the guy who is going to get a significant workload in both areas of the game. On the ground, and through the air. You seriously cannot go wrong with that. The more opportunity for points, the better off you'll be. There are some really great, sure thing backs on the early slate this week. Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott, James Conner. All of those guys look like they are worth playing. But then again, you see the price tag and realize it may not be worth it in the end, because you'll lack scoring elsewhere. Let me help you out.
Leonard Fournette - $6,700
Leonard Fournette is making up for a lot of lost time. Earlier in the year, he was fighting a hamstring injury that had him out for half of the season. Now, the desperate Jacksonville Jaguars are using Fournette as their only elite weapon on the offense, and it's working well for his fantasy value. As Fournette goes against the Buffalo Bills this week, he should continue to see a trend of receiving at least 25 carries out of the backfield, which is more than enough work to pile on the points.
Phillip Lindsay - $5,600
Denver Broncos' running back Phillip Lindsay has been an unexpected breakout candidate for the 2018 NFL season. While everybody assumed that Royce Freeman was going to be the go-to back for the Broncos, Lindsay ended up turning heads early on. As the Broncos utilize Lindsay quite often in the offense, he gets plenty of opportunities to add points to his fantasy total in both the ground game and in the air. Coming off of a two-touchdown game last week, Lindsay is proving to be a productive back once again.
The Lineup
QB - Cam Newton $6.2K
RB - Leonard Fournette $6.7K
RB - Phillip Lindsay $5.6K
WR - T.Y. Hilton $6.5K
WR - Tyler Lockett $5.2K
WR - Jarvis Landry $5.9K
TE - Rob Gronkowski $5.1K
FLEX - Larry Fitzgerald $5.0K
DST - Chargers $3.4K
Wide Receivers
Similar to the backfield situation, this week has a lot of favorable matchups between wideouts and defense's, but it's not going to come cheap. If you want to pay up for one big name and utilize two under the radar guys, then go for it. Some of these matchups for the big names are almost too good to pass up anyway.
Odell Beckham Jr. - $8,800
Odell Beckham's price tag never screams out bargain since he's always very pricey. But this week the matchup is so good that even $8.8K looks cheap. As Beckham and Eli Manning have found somewhat of a late-season connection, Beckham's second matchup against the Eagles this week looks great on paper. With Philly having what is pretty much a practice squad secondary out there, Beckham could realistically have his best Sunday of the season.
Alshon Jeffery - $5,800
The Eagles vs. Giants matchup features two of the weakest teams in their division that are trying to fight for their season every week from here on out. Alshon Jeffery hasn't had a big game in a few weeks now, but he seems to have the Giants number. The last time Jeffery faced off against the Giants, he caught eight passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns. After having three disappointing games in a row, Jeffery is due for a monster outing this week.
Tyler Lockett - $5,200
Tyler Lockett has been consistently average this season, but the Seahawks are facing some injury trouble this weekend. As Russell Wilson's number one target Doug Baldwin is dealing with some injury concerns once again, Lockett automatically becomes the favorite target on the field for Seattle. Just last week, Lockett finished with five receptions for 71 yards. He didn't score last week, but he does have a touchdown in seven of the last 10 games.
The Lineup
QB - Lamar Jackson $5.7K
RB - Kenyan Drake $4.7K
RB - Nick Chubb $6.3K
WR - Odell Beckham $8.8K
WR - Alshon Jeffery $5.8K
WR - Tyler Lockett $5.2K
TE - David Njoku $3.8K
FLEX - T.Y. Hilton $6.5K
DST - Patriots 3.1K
Tight Ends
Tight Ends are becoming like kickers nowadays. While the good ones can get you 10-15 points on a consistent basis, the rest of them are like a dime-a-dozen that can get you 8-10 points. Don't go crazy for tight ends not named Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Rob Gronkowski, or even Zach Ertz.
Find someone who is reliable, and is likely to get some red zone targets. Like I said, unless you want to pay up for a tight end, who happens to be just another wide receiver, then you shouldn't expect too much out of these guys on a weekly basis. Find somebody cheap, who can get over ten points and you're solid.
Rob Gronkowski - $5,100
Since Rob Gronkowski is having what many would call a down season, his price tag is relatively reasonable. Many DFS players may avoid Gronk since he's technically still questionable to play, but the Patriots' tight end made it clear that he was good to go against the New York Jets on Sunday. As the Jets are pretty much lost right now, this would be a great week to take advantage of Gronkowski's cheap price tag.
Cameron Brate - $3,600
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a ton of problems going on offensively. As they cannot figure out which quarterback they want to use permanently, the entire offense is a question mark. Last week, Buccaneers first-string tight end O.J. Howard suffered an injury that placed him on the Injured Reserve, leaving Cameron Brate as the guy next in line. Brate has served well as a backup, but with Howard out means he will see a hefty increase in targets and usage. Seeing as though he's super cheap this week, you will get more than enough value out of Brate.
The Lineup
QB - Cam Newton $6.2K
RB - Phillip Lindsay $5.6K
RB - Melvin Gordon $8.6K
WR - Josh Gordon $6.4K
WR - Tyler Lockett $5.2K
WR - Sterling Shepard $5.3K
TE - Cameron Brate $3.6K
FLEX - Leonard Fournette $6.7K
DST - 49ers $2.3K
DraftKings NFL Picks: Optimal Lineups & Picks for Week 12