For the fantasy football player, success in daily fantasy formats comes down to your ability to find value, to identify players who are faced with great matchups, and to maximize the relationships among the players on your roster (otherwise known as correlation). In other words, what are this week's best buys on the fantasy football schedule?
Each week, I'll go through each offensive position and give you a few players I'm considering for my head-to-head lineups, as well as some of the better team defenses for you to select in order to round out those fantasy rosters. These are usually players who are getting as much volume as possible, while also coming in at value prices. I'll also include some players I'm considering for my tournament pool play. And while things may change between this posting and game time, I'll do whatever I can to keep people updated on my various social media channels all the way up until kickoff on Sunday.
With all of that in mind, here are my favorite plays for Week 11.
Quarterbacks
Josh Allen ($8,500 DraftKings, $9,200 FanDuel), Buffalo Bills vs. Cleveland Browns: As we get closer and closer to Sunday, it will be extremely important to monitor the weather situation in Buffalo. A major blizzard could hit the Buffalo area during the game. Assuming there's no weather impact, the Browns allow a touchdown on 4.7% of passes, the seventh-highest rate in the league. Cleveland has also allowed a run of 15-plus yards in seven straight games. Allen has the highest ceiling of any quarterback on this slate and has accounted for multiple touchdowns in all of Buffalo's wins this season -- including three games with four-plus touchdowns.
Dak Prescott ($6,600 DraftKings, $7,500 FanDuel), Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings: The Cowboys play a lot faster with Prescott under center than they did in the games with Cooper Rush at quarterback. That makes sense, since Prescott is a far more talented quarterback than Rush. Minnesota is allowing the second-most yards per passing attempt in the NFL, on top of being the fifth-worst defense in terms of generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks when blitzing. Prescott should find comfort in a clean pocket to pick apart the Vikings defense in one of the higher-total games of the week.
Lamar Jackson ($8,400 DraftKings, $8,400 FanDuel), Baltimore Ravens vs. Carolina Panthers: Jackson has really struggled (in terms of fantasy) due to his having lost his two best options in the passing game. The price on both sides is extremely expensive, which leads us to a fantastic "pay up to be contrarian" option here at quarterback. The Panthers defense is on the field for a league-high 66.7 plays per game and, when the Ravens call design runs, Jackson's efficiency has improved greatly from last year. He's averaging 9.0 yards per carry on those plays, versus only 5.0 yards last season.
Running backs
Saquon Barkley ($8,900 DraftKings, $9,700 FanDuel), New York Giants vs. Detroit Lions: Barkley is the best "pay up" RB option once again this week. The matchup against the Lions is prime, as Detroit allows 30.1 rushing attempts per game. They are also one of the worst third-down defenses in the league. Barkley has either reached the 100-yard bonus on DraftKings or scored a rushing touchdown in seven straight games thanks to heavy volume that includes 20-plus carries in four consecutive contests.
Josh Jacobs ($7,500 DraftKings, $8,500 FanDuel), Las Vegas Raiders at Denver Broncos: Denver did a fantastic job shutting down Derrick Henry last week, but I'm going to go right back to the well with Jacobs. For the season, Denver is allowing 4.8 RB yards per carry and Jacobs is averaging 5.2 yards per carry. With multiple catches in seven straight games and 20-plus touches in five of his last six, Jacobs is once again lined up for success -- in spite of the Raiders having lost a ton of games in 2022.
Joe Mixon ($7,400 DraftKings, $9000 FanDuel), Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers: The Bengals may get Ja'Marr Chase back in Week 12, which means that their identity as a running football team will continue for at least one more Sunday. Mixon was already getting a heavy dose of the Cincinnati workload, seeing 80.8% of Cincinnati's RB touches -- the fourthhighest rate in the league behind only Barkley, Jacobs and Henry.
Also interested in
Rhamondre Stevenson ($6,700 DraftKings, $8,100 FanDuel), New England Patriots vs. New York Jets: Since taking over the lead job in New England, Stevenson has seen 18-plus touches in six straight games -- including five-plus targets in four straight games and six of his last seven.
David Montgomery ($6,100 DraftKings, $6,200 FanDuel), Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons: Montgomery finds himself in a higher volume role on one of the league's most predominantly running football teams after the injury to Khalil Herbert. Montgomery was priced for this week as though he was in his normal timeshare (handling roughly 55% of RB snaps and touches), but he now finds himself in a situation where he is very likely to see 85% (or more) of both. This gives us a tremendous opportunity for value as he is underpriced on both sites.
Wide receivers
Amon-Ra St. Brown ($7,200 DraftKings, $7,800 FanDuel), Detroit Lions at New York Giants: St. Brown didn't really need a reason for the Lions to give him more targets but, since the trade of T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings, he has gotten just that with an average of 10 targets over the last three games. The Giants allow 3.8 red zone drives per game -- tied for the third-most in the league -- and St. Brown will still be a core cash-game play with a solid tournament ceiling in Week 11.
CeeDee Lamb ($7,500 DraftKings, $8,100 FanDuel), Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings: This game is one of my favorite stacking opportunities on the slat and Lamb correlates extremely well with Prescott. There have been four top-notch fantasy wide receivers who have eclipsed 125 receiving yards against Minnesota this season: Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, DeAndre Hopkins, and Stefon Diggs. As Prescott has worked himself back into elite game shape, Lamb has seen his catches, targets, yards and fantasy points all increase in consecutive weeks.
Also interested in
Garrett Wilson ($4,900 DraftKings, $6,200 FanDuel), New York Jets at New England Patriots: Over his last two games, Wilson has had 14 catches, 16 targets and 207 yards. This includes a 6-115-0 effort against these very Patriots, where Wilson was the only Jets receiver with more than two catches.
Nico Collins ($4,100 DraftKings, $5,900 FanDuel), Houston Texans vs. Washington Commanders: Houston has played from behind for a league-high 88.6% of snaps, which should correlate with a higher dropback percentage and more opportunity in the passing game for Collins. We have been starved for WR value on DraftKings all season long, so I will take this price tag on Collins as a gift.
Tight ends
Dalton Schultz ($4,300 DraftKings, $5,900 FanDuel), Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings: With so many of the ultra-premium tight ends either injured or off the slate, Schultz slides into the position's top tier for Week 11. The Vikings are the second-worst red zone defense in the league, allowing a score on 72% of red zone drives. Schultz should be heavily active between the 20s as this game features two of the fastest-paced teams in the NFL.
Tyler Higbee ($4,000 DraftKings, $6,200 FanDuel), Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints: Higbee's performance over the first half of the season was, in my opinion, tied to the absence of Van Jefferson. So, when Jefferson came back from his injury, I was ready to hop off the Higbee bandwagon. However, with Cooper Kupp headed to IR, Higbee gets vaulted right back into the mix of highest-targeted tight ends. Last week, Higbee caught all eight of the targets sent his way, marking his fourth game this season with seven-plus catches.
Also interested in
Hayden Hurst ($3,500 DraftKings, $5,200 FanDuel), Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers: Hurst has had five games this season with a target share north of 15% and a less-than-full-strength Chase keeps that rate very much obtainable in Week 11. Also, Pittsburgh is allowing a league-high 12.5 yards per completion this season.
Kyle Pitts ($4,400 DraftKings, $5,500 FanDuel), Atlanta Falcons vs. Chicago Bears: Chicago is allowing the fourth-most YAC per reception (5.8) and Pitts is embracing his hybrid role as a "field-stretching wide receiver." Over the last two games, Pitts has posted 337 air yards (only Justin Jefferson has more) and the Bears allow the fifth-highest deep completion percentage (56%).
Defenses
New Orleans Saints ($3,000 DraftKings, $4,100 FanDuel), vs. Rams
Pittsburgh Steelers ($2,300 DraftKings, $3,800 FanDuel), vs. Bengals
Disclaimer: Al Zeidenfeld (Username: Al_Smizzle) plays on his personal account in games for which he offers advice. He may also deploy different players/strategies than what he advises.