The NFL season just keeps moving along, as Week 10 closed out, and Week 11 quickly approached. 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 early classic slate. That means we will only have access to players that are involved in eight of the 1 pm EST. Games. Here is the full outlook slate that we will be going over.
- Dallas Cowboys @ Atlanta Falcons
- Carolina Panthers @ Detroit Lions
- Tennessee Titans @ Indianapolis Colts
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ New York Giants
- Houston Texans @ Washington Redskins
- Pittsburgh Steelers @ Jacksonville Jaguars
- Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens
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 Detroit Lions 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
This week's quarterback's slate has some excellent value in it. While there aren't many big names on for the early games, there's definitely a ton of upside in it. Personally, I wouldn't pay up for the biggest name, especially this week. Spend the money wisely elsewhere if you can. For this week's early slate, it looks like Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is going to be the priciest. Considering that he's listed as questionable, it's best to steer clear of him.
Looking for a matchup between quarterback versus a weaker defense isn't going to easy this week. Therefore, you want to pick a quarterback with a solid track record but isn't within a crazy price range. Normally, I'd suggest going for the dark horse candidate for the week, such as Ryan Fitzpatrick, but it's not worth the risk for Week 11. Here are my two highest rated quarterback's that are going to give you a bang for your buck this week.
Deshaun Watson - $5,700
Deshaun Watson had a slow start to the season. Once again, it seemed like the Houston Texans as a whole would be frauds. But over the last few weeks, they are proving us all wrong. Watson is proving to Houston why he was deserving of being the first-round pick. He may not be playing at an MVP level like he was last season before going down with an injury, but Watson is definitely trending up.
Watson has now gone three consecutive weeks without turning the ball over, which is quite impressive. Although he's playing a streaky defense in the Washington Redskins, they have been struggling more than they have been hot. Although the Redskins squeaked out a win last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the result of the game was more caused by the Buccaneers mistakes, rather than the Redskins doing well. You can count on Watson for well over 20 points this week, and you won't pay up for him too much.
Matt Ryan - $6,100
Speaking of streaky, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has been just that this season. One week, Ryan is getting called entirely overrated. The next week he's 'Matty Ice!' It's tough to predict how Ryan is going to play on Sunday's in 2018. This week, the Falcons will play against the Dallas Cowboys. While the Cowboys secondary has been exposed at times, they have a stellar defensive line that can issue a ton of pressure on the quarterback if the O-Line isn't on their A-Game.
Don't let that worry you. Ryan is going to be fine this week and could be the best play of the afternoon. The Dallas defense is 18th in the league against quarterbacks for fantasy football. In other words, they are quite average. As Calvin Ridley continues to soar with the Falcons, and Julio Jones is starting to find the end zone, Ryan could very well come out with a vengeance after last week's loss and go off against Dallas. The Cowboys defense couldn't stop him last year, so we'll see if that's the same case this season as well.
Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey
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.
DeAndre Hopkins - $7,900
If you want a big name receiver for this weekend, look no further than DeAndre Hopkins. He's going against a Washington secondary that can't seem to find their identity right now. Even a trade for Ha Ha Clinton-Dix didn't patch up this team's defensive struggles. And even if the Redskins defense were doing a stellar job this season, I'd probably still suggest playing Hopkins.
The Houston Texans wideout catches everything. It doesn't matter how covered he is, or how bad of a throw, he will find a way to come down with a catch. The only issue this week is that Hopkins is listed as questionable heading into the game. His foot injury doesn't seem to be serious, but it's definitely something to monitor.
Kenny Golladay - $5,800
Okay, let me get back into the bargain bag here. Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay is finally living up to the hype that carried over from his rookie season. The emergence of Golladay forced the Lions to trade away their veteran wideout, Golden Tate. During their first week without Tate, Golladay found himself earning a season-high of 13 targets.
Quite the difference that makes. Considering how much Matthew Stafford is looking to utilize Golladay, I'd say this bargain is too good to pass up on. Last week wasn't a fluke for Golladay. We saw that the talent was there beforehand, and with the absence of Tate, he is going to see a healthy amount of receptions on a weekly basis. Playing against a sub-par secondary in Carolina looks like a pretty good matchup on paper that's worth paying for.
JuJu Smith-Schuster - $6,800
Many ordinary daily fantasy players will look at JuJu Smith-Schuster's matchup strength this week, and run. The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. Big whoop. This secondary is lost in 2018, for the most part. Not to mention, the Steelers have more than just Smith-Schuster in the picture when it comes to offensive weapons.
Chances are, Jalen Ramsey is going to shadow Antonio Brown. That leaves plenty of opportunities for Smith-Schuster to have himself a day. He wasted no time finding the end zone last week, as the Steelers steamrolled their opponent, and the motivation came from Smith-Schuster's home-run score on the first play of the offensive series. Expect the Steelers to play air raid offense against the Jags this week. Pittsburgh is back in business.
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.
Evan Engram - $4,100
Evan Engram has been a massive disappointment in 2018 fantasy-wise, but it's not exactly his fault. Engram missed a large chunk of the season due to an injury. As he works his way back to normalizing his production, Week 11 could finally be his breakout game in 2018 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Currently, Engram sees a fair amount of targets. But with Odell Beckham Jr. in the picture this season, Engram is not the fantasy powerhouse at tight end like he was last season. The Buccaneers aren't faring well against tight ends this year. In fact, they gave up the third-most points to the position this season. Usually, I'd steer clear of Engram, but this matchup on paper is too good to pass up.
O.J. Howard - $4,900
O.J. Howard has a favorable matchup this week against the New York Giants. Unfortunately, Howard is the second-most expensive tight end on the early slate. Sure, there are other tight ends available for a lower price, but Howard offers a higher ceiling than most of the tight ends on the early slate.
If you have some money left over, then Howard is the number one tight end for this week, and you should pay up for him. If not, then I'd definitely say go with Engram on the other hand. However, you can't go wrong with either this week, since both defenses aren't exactly shutting down tight ends this season.
D/ST
Choosing a defense/special teams is pretty self-explanatory. The simple objective here is to find the good defense that is playing the bad offense. Simple enough, right? Of course, there's always that one week or two where you choose the good defense that plays a bad offense and boom, trap game ensues. But we can't play scared here. That's all a part of the game.
I don't suggest taking a ton of time choosing a defense, but understand that it can be very valuable to find that team that is going to force multiple turnovers. There are a few obvious plays all the time, but you really do not want to miss out on the big time points, as it could make or break your lineup if you choose the wrong one that gets you negative points.
New York Giants - $2,400
The New York Giants get to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. Typically, I'd say avoid playing the Giants. They are just not a good football team. Especially on defense where they had a fire sale before the trade deadline. But after coming away with a motivational win last week, they could surprisingly find themselves going on a small win streak.
Plus, have you seen the Buccaneers play lately? It's almost like they wanted to lose to the Redskins last week. There were so many errors made by the Buccaneers offense. Their quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for zero touchdowns, and two interceptions. Like I said, mistakes were coming at a premium, and the Giants have a cheap price tag. Pay up for a bargain.
Cincinnati Bengals - $2,400
The Cincinnati Bengals are another NFL team that became lost. They simply aren't trustworthy at this point, but fortunately, they have a much better matchup this week. They will go against the Baltimore Ravens, who are struggling as well. But that's not the most appealing part about them though. The Ravens are most likely going to be without their starting quarterback, Joe Flacco during Week 11.
For the sake of competition, the Ravens won't give the Bengals the edge. They are going to wait until closer to game time to announce who will start at quarterback. It could either be rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson, or veteran quarterback Robert Griffin. Two guys who could quickly become prone to making mistakes.
DraftKings NFL: Top Targets and Plays for Week 11