FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 11

Welcome back to the FanDuel NFL Lineups column for the eleventh week of the regular NFL season.  We’re a Daily Fantasy Football column focused on top picks and best value for your weekly FanDuel NFL lineups.  We arm you with information for a big FanDuel NFL payday each week.

Last week, Russell Wilson was our top quarterback, and with 19.42 FanDuel NFL points, he was 19th overall among all players for the week.  That’s not a bad result, but week ten was an odd one.  C.J. Beathard has 26.02, Case Keenum had 26.02, and Deshon Kizer had 23.98 points.  Anyone who claims they had them in their lineups, made a mistake and got lucky.  And anyone providing recommendations didn’t offer them as great picks.

Still Wilson was a great pick, but boy did our fades backfire.  Cam Newton landed at 35.66 FanDuel NFL points in week ten, the best of all players.  And Kirk Cousins fourth overall with over 28 points.  Cousins played behind a very good Vikings pass defense, but managed to pile up points trying to catch up.  And while the Dolphins are still a good defense, Newton and his crew quickly dismantled their pass rush and pass defending.

Le’Veon Bell didn’t provide the explosive performance we were hoping for against the Colts.  But the Steelers, in general, struggled against the Colts in a surprisingly terrible performance.  Todd Gurley had a better performance with 16.6.  The best running back combo was Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara, who each trounced a solid Bills run defense.

But we did well with wide receivers.  Robert Woods was one of our favorite picks for the week, and he piled up over 33 points, the second best overall FanDuel NFL player.  Also, Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard each hovered near 20 points, for a great three-wide combination.  So we had some mild results in some of the positions, but did very well with receivers and had a good overall week.  We’ll take what we learned and move into week eleven.

Once again, FanDuel is offering several slate options.  We faded the Thursday game, and will only focus on Sunday through Monday,  covering all 13 games.  We’re going to focus our lineup options on all 13 games, and you can pick as you like, to build your top lineups for each slate.  Hopefully this helps you cover the slates you’re targeting this weekend.

Now, let’s get starting with the Quarterbacks…

FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 11 – Quarterbacks

Top Picks

Let’s get one top pick quickly out of the way.  Tom Brady ($8,600) is a weekly obvious choice.  Brady is an elite, future hall of fame, quarterback whose playing a week pass rush in Oakland.  Tom should have a solid day and is worth the salary.

Carson Wentz ($8,700) has become very expensive, but he’s proven why over the last five weeks.  Wentz is now averaging over 22 FanDuel NFL points-per-game, two more than Brady, and has two to four touchdowns in each of his last five games.  In three of the last five games, Carson threw four touchdowns.  His consistency is hard to ignore, he’s clearly a top three quarterback each week, right now.

PRO FOOTBALL FOCUS: The best in football stats just got better. Elite packages now on sale!

But while Wentz and Brady are the top two plays this week, Alex Smith ($7,900) provides the best value, along with a top five play.  All season, Smith has provided a steady dose of over FanDuel NFL points-per-game.  Alex had a few games in the teens, but they were each against a good defense.  This week, Smith and the Chiefs travel to New York to play a Giants defense who made Jared Goff look like Joe Montana last week.  Smith is a must-start in case games, and provides plenty of options in GPP.

Other Top Options

While the Seahawks have a tough passing match up against the Falcons this weekend, Russell Wilson ($8,400) has been on fire.  Some of that is due to the match ups.  Wilson smoked the Texans and Giants, and continued to do well against the Redskins and Cardinals.  He’s not a top pick this week, but Wilson is worth a consideration with Falcon corners like Desmond Trufant struggling this seasons.

Matthew Stafford ($8,000) struggled at time in the first month of the season, but he appears to be consistently delivering since his outing against the Panthers.  In each of the last four games, Stafford has landed around 20 FanDuel NFL points per game.  Two of those games were against a tough Steelers and Saints defense.

Matthew gashed the Packers in Green Bay, then threw three touchdowns against a surprisingly solid Browns backfield.  This week, Stafford gets the Bears in Chicago, who have been a probably for a lot of quarterbacks this season.  But Stafford will likely target Kyle Fuller on the left side, and Cre’Von Leblanc in the slot with his, now, healthy receivers.  For $8K, you’re likely getting another 20 points from Stafford this week.

Fades

Dak Prescott ($8,500) – He’s admittedly one of the best FanDuel NFL quarterbacks this season.  But I worry about Dak’s ability to maintain over 20 FanDuel NFL points-per-game this season, without Ezekiel Elliott on the field.  We saw an impact last week, reducing his total to only 13 points in Atlanta.  This week, the Cowboys face a typically soft passing defense, but the best run defense in the NFL right now, the Eagles.  Even worse, we’ve seen the Eagles passing defense get more aggressive, now that they know they can depend on the front line and linebackers to defend the run.  This seems like an awfully risky play for $8.5K.

Jared Goff ($7,900) – He threw seven touchdowns over the last two weeks to the Texans and Giants.  But they’re both one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL right now.  When facing a tough Jaguars and Seahawks defense, Goff couldn’t even crack ten points.  Against the Vikings, Goff seems very risky.

 FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 11 – Running Backs

Top Picks

In what might start to feel like a Chiefs stack, we love Kareem Hunt ($8,600) as the top running back for FanDuel NFL in week 11.  The Chiefs are traveling to New York, well really New Jersey, this week, and face not only the worst passing defense in the NFL, but the Giants have been getting absolutely burned on the run game this season.  Hunt is a must-play in all formats.

While Mark Ingram ($8,200) continues to provide the heavy run game points for Fantasy Football DFS players, Alvin Kamara ($7,500) is the safer pick each week.  When the Saints run game could struggle against a solid defense, like they may this week against the Redskins, Kamara is still very valuable in the passing game.  And since the departure of Adrian Peterson, Alvin is getting roughly 40% of the running snaps as well.  He’s still a great value at $7.5K.

Other Top Options

Lamar Miller ($6,500) continues to get a healthy does of the snaps for the Texans, and is getting 50-70 yards on the ground each game.  Miller is also seeing several targets, and has found the end zone twice this season.  Lamar is a very consistent 12 FanDuel NFL point pick, with a 20+ point upside each time he finds the end zone.  Against the Cardinals, Miller should have a good day, especially when they Texans are near the end zone.

Until last week, Tevin Coleman ($5,900) has been only an intriguing hand-cuff with Devonta Freeman.  But Freeman left the game last week with a concussion, and Coleman piled up 83 rushing yards on 20 carries, and a touchdown.  Tevin had a total of over 15 Fanduel NFL points.  This week, the Falcons are in Seattle, but the run game plan is centered around Coleman.  For only $5.9K, we’re likely getting over 20 FanDuel NFL points, with Freeman still off the field this week.

Fades

Leonard Fournette ($9,300) – I’ve faded Fournette several times this season for the same reason, injury prone.  Leonard is a tremendous talent when healthy, and on the field.  But Fournette popped up on the injury list this week with a familiar issue, his ankle.  And the Browns are quietly the 4th best run defense in the NFL.  It seems insane to pay this much for that among of risk.

Todd Gurley II ($8,700) – Sticking with the, fade the high-priced risk theme, we also do not like Gurley this week.  Todd has been on fire over the last four weeks, getting over 100 all-purpose yards each game, and three touchdowns.

Gurley is now averaging over 20 FanDuel NFL points per game, quite a feat for running backs these days.  However, his match up against the Vikings is terrible.  They’re the 3rd best run defense in the NFL, and Gurley has struggled when facing top 15 defenses, of which he’s only see two so far.  Also, the Vikings do not give up many rushing touchdowns.  Again, save your money for a better pick.

FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 11 – Wide Receivers

Top Picks

Doug Baldwin ($8,100) is seeing around ten targets per game since October 8th.  The Seahawks appear to have given up on their atrocious run game, thanks to poor blocking, and Wilson is throwing the team on his back, and target Baldwin as his top receiver.  Wilson and the Seahawks may struggle on offense against a tough Falcons defense, but Baldwin will continue to see a heavy dose of targets making him a very valuable play for NFL DFS.

With Richard Sherman on the shelf for the season, and Cam Chancellor potentially out, the Seahawks may have a problem guarding the Falcons this weekend.  That bodes well for the struggling, but uber talented Julio Jones ($7,700).

Julio is still getting around ten targets a game, and is hauling in around 70 to 120 yards per game over the last five weeks.  But Jones only has one touchdown this season.  That’s surprising considering his six to ten average with Ryan throwing the pigskin to him.  Jones is likely to pile on a few more touchdowns before the end of the season, and this is the type of match up we should see one.

Tyreek Hill ($7,600) has an odd pattern this season.  Since the start of the year, Hill has double-digit points every other game.  It’s mostly related to the match ups.  But while Tyreek had 14.3 FanDuel NFL points against the Cowboys last week, he’s has a better favorable match up this weekend against the Giants.  Against bottom five defenses this season, Hill had 23.3 points against the Patriots and 22.2 points against the Raiders.  This week, Tyreek likely eclipses the 20 point mark again.

Other Top Pick

There were questions about whether Alshon Jeffery ($7,000) was really the lead receiver for the Eagles, earlier in the season.  Given the high number of targets Jeffery sees each game, that was clearly a false assumption.  And over the last two games, Alshon has three touchdowns against two polar opposite defensive teams, the 49ers and Broncos.  Jeffery should get some shots down field from Wentz in Dallas this week too, with his developing chemistry with the second year quarterback.

At first, it’s difficult to play Robert Woods ($6,900) this week against the Vikings, in Minnesota.  In theory, Woods has a terrible match up.  But like Jeffery, Robert has needed some time to develop a connection with Goff and he appears to be emerging as a potential top receiver in the league.

Since early October, Woods has been getting seven to ten targets per game, five to eight receptions, and is averaging around 100 yards per game.  Also, Robert has four touchdowns in the last two games.  Even against a stellar Jags passing defense, Woods hauled in five receptions for 70 yards.

Fades

Mike Evans ($7,800) – Like the rest of this list, Evans is a tremendous talent in a bad situation.  But Evans situation is the worst.  Jameis Winston is suffering with a shoulder injury and is out this week.  Winston may also have a lingering off-field situation to deal with.  In the meantime, Evans is suffering with a low amount of targets without Jameis on the field.  Fade Mike until the Bucs figure out the QB situation in Tampa.

A.J. Green ($7,800) – He’s a great wide receiver, but buckles against great pass defenses.  As Elway said this week, the Broncos are playing soft lately, but we’re not expecting that to continue at home against the Bengals.  Green is going to struggle, so I’m not paying this much with so many better options on the WR list this week.

Michael Thomas ($8,600) – He is one of the most consistent FanDuel NFL wide receivers over the last four weeks.  But Thomas isn’t garnering more than 18 points this season, making his $8.6K price disappointing.  Drew Brees and the Saints like to spread the ball around, so Thomas isn’t a great play at this price.  But he’s still a solid fantasy football wide receiver.

FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 11 – Tight End / Kicker / Defense

There’s a plethora of consistent double-digit FanDuel NFL point talent on the tight end list this weekend.  But Gronk ($8,200), Zach Ertz ($8,000), and Travis Kelce ($7,500) are very pricey for this spot.  And while Evan Engram ($7,400) is emerging as another top tight end talent, he’s now also a little too expensive.

With Jordan Reed out this week, Vernon Davis ($5,200) becomes an immediate top value at the tight end position.  Over the last two weeks, Kirk Cousins has thrown Davis’ way 20 times, for 13 receptions, over 140 yards, but no touchdowns.  Still, he’s averaging double-digit points over the last two weeks while facing the Seahawks and Vikings.  Davis could have a great game in New Orleans, for a dirt cheap price.

Greg Zuerlein ($5,300) is kicking for the Rams, the highest scoring team in the NFL this season.  Over the last three weeks, Zuerlein has 17 points in each game.  Beside a four point game against the Seahawks and nine against the Redskins, earlier in the season, Greg has been a lock for around 15, or more, points each week.  Lock him in again this week in Minnesota.

Finally, we’ve harped on the Jacksonville Jaguars defense since the start of the season, and we’re going to continue to pick the Jags with such a great match up this week.  They’re traveling to Cleveland Sunday to play a Browns offense ranked near the bottom in every aspect of their offense.  The Jags will continue to dominate this week, and should have another ten to 15 points this week.

So after reviewing all the options, we put together our favorite lineup for the week.  Here’s a look at our Final FanDuel NFL Week 11 lineup:

QB – Smith (KC $7,900)

RB – Hunt (KC $8,600)

RB – Coleman (ATL $5,900)

WR – Hill (KC $7,600)

WR – Jeffery (PHI $7,000)

WR – Woods (LAR $6,900)

TE – Davis (WAS $5,200)

K –  Zuerlein (LAR ($5,300)

D –  Jacksonville Jaguars ($5,600)

This leaves us with $0 left, maximizing our picks using value in two receiver positions, defense, and kicker and loading up on some big point potential at quarterback, running back, and receiver.

Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for the week.  You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building FanDuel NFL lineups.  We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.

Next: DraftKings NFL GPP Picks Week 11

Good luck with your FanDuel NFL plays week 11, and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates!