Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games – Week 11

By Ha Kung Wong  Daily Fantasy Football

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

Wow.  Can you believe that’s it’s already Week 11?  Time sure flies!  Got lots of developments this week including Tony Romo’s teary eyed concession speech, Alshon Jeffery’s surprise suspension, the number 1 overall pick’s first NFL start, and the season’s first game in Mexico (thankfully before that “wall” goes up).

Don’t worry, I took that all into consideration and I’ll help you all win CASH in Week 11 of the 2016 NFL season!

Cash Games, for those who don’t know, are essentially the lowest risk games.  They include “50/50” games, in which half the entrants win about 1.8x the entry fee, and “Double Ups”, in which slightly less than half the entrants win 2x the entry fee.

Since there’s so many different sites, and I can’t cover them all, I’ve decided to cover just the most popular sites, including Fan Duel, Draft Kings and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy.

First of all, as a general rule for 50/50 Cash Games, there’s a basic target of points per salary cap spent that you’d like to look for:

• For Fan Duel try to target at least 2 fantasy points per $1000 spent.
• For Draft Kings, try to target at least 2.5 fantasy points per $1000 spent.
• For Yahoo! Daily Fantasy, try to target at least 0.6-0.7 fantasy points per $1 spent.

Remember, this article is not focused on GPP (Tournament) Games, JUST Cash Games.  Feel free to use a few of these suggested players as a base when constructing a GPP lineup, but you’ll have to take some chances on a few low cost, upside players as well.

So, without further to do, here are my suggestions for the Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games for Week 11 contests, along with they’re prices on Fan Duel (“FD”), Draft Kings (“DK”) and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy (“Y!”).

Quarterback

There’s plenty of QBs to pick from, but I don’t tend to take too many chances at QB for cash games because they’re so important for anchoring your team’s performance, so I’ll give you three relatively “safe” choices, then one is more of a gamble if you’d prefer to take chances on QB and spend money at the other positions.

Tom Brady vs. SF (FD: $9300 / DK: $7800 / Y!: $40)

• Tom Brady has the 4th most passing TDs per game (2.4) and the 2nd most passing yards per game (327) of any QB this year.  He’s playing against the 49ers in Week 11, who have one of the worst defenses in the NFL.  Since they’re last against the run, you’d think I’d favor LaGarrette Blount this week, but honestly, you just can’t avoid playing Brady against any defense.  Add in the fact that this game has the second highest over/under of any Week 11 Sunday game at 51, and you can add him to your lineup and simply walk away.

Ben Roethlisberger @ CLE (FD: $8400 / DK: $7500 / Y!: $39)

• Big Ben has had a few rough games this season, but really fired on all cylinders in Week 10 against the Cowboys for 408 yards and 3 TDs.  The Browns have a bottom 5 pass defense, but also have the 2nd worst run defense in the NFL.  In addition, the Steelers are favored by 8, meaning that WHEN they get up big, there’s potential for the Steelers to go into clock killing mode and just ride out Le’Veon Bell, which is why I like him a lot too this week.  But Bell also has the most targets (9.3) and receptions (7.5) per game of any RB in the NFL, so it’s not like Big Ben won’t get some credit from the ground game.  Either way, this is just too good of a matchup to avoid.

Marcus Mariota @ IND (FD: $8000 / DK: $6700 / Y!: $36)

• If you haven’t noticed, Marcus Mariota has been amazing.  Not only does he have the 4th most passing TDs (21) and the 3rd most rushing yards (235) of any QB this season, but has multiple TDs in all but 2 games, and at least 3 TDs in 4 of the last 6 games.  His rush yards keeps his floor is high and the TDs raises his ceiling.  This also has the highest over/under of any Week 11 Sunday game at 52.5 with the Colts favored by 3, meaning the Titans may have to pass to keep up.  Mariota is a great pick this week against the 2nd worst pass defense in the league.

Eli Manning vs. CHI (FD: $7700 / DK: $6300 / Y!: $29)

• We know how it goes.  The Giants get off to a rough start and then put it together in the second half of the season, make the playoffs and win the Super Bowl against the Patriots.  OK, maybe not all of that will happen, but Eli has look pretty good of late.  There was the blip in England against the Rams, where the Giants managed to win but Eli managed to do next to nothing during the game, but in 3 of his last 4, Eli has had at least 240 yards and 3 TDs.  That’s not too shabby, and he’ll be in play this week against a depleted Bears team at home, especially for the price on Yahoo.

Running Back

As usual, RB is a position where I want some “guaranteed” volume.  And by that, I mean we need 12+ touches to even be considered.

Le’Veon Bell @ CLE (FD: $9100 / DK: $8800 / Y!: $40)

• See Ben Roethlisberger above.  Bell is the top RB play of the week.

Spencer Ware vs. TB (FD: $7700 / DK: $6000 / Y!: $26)

• Ware hasn’t been great recently, but finds himself in a great spot against a bottom 10 Buccaneers run defense.

LeSean McCoy @ CIN (FD: $7500 / DK: $6900 / Y!: $33)

• Bengals bottom 10 run defense that let Rashad Jennings put up over 100 yards.  4th most rushing yards per game (85.4).

LeGarrette Blount @ SF (FD: $7300 / DK: $6400 / Y!: $30)

• See Tom Brady above.  Most TDs (12) and 3rd most carries per game (20.2) of any RB in the NFL.

Todd Gurley vs. MIA (FD: $6700 / DK: $5000 / Y!: $21)

• I know Gurley has been horrific this year.  But with Jared Goff getting the start, there will be conservative play calling against Miami’s top 10 pass defense, meaning plenty of opportunity to exploit Miami’s 3rd worst run defense in the NFL.  If the Rams want to have any chance of staying competitive, it will have to be on the ground with Gurley.  With his price around the lowest of the season on all three sites, this makes for a decent value play.

C.J. Prosise vs. PHI (FD: $4900 / DK: $4200 / Y!: $18)

• 66 rush yards and 7 receptions for 87 receiving yards against the Patriots. Christine Michael released. Thomas Rawls coming back from injury. Philadelphia much more vulnerable to the run.

Wide Receivers

Remember, in DFS, you not only want yards, you want receptions, though its more valuable in Draft Kings, which is a full PPR, than FanDuel, which is a half PPR.  So with that in mind, here’s my thoughts for WR plays.

Odell Beckham Jr. vs. CHI (FD: $9000 / DK: $8500 / Y!: $38)

• With the 7th most targets per game (10.1) and 4th most receiving TDs (6) — all of which have been in the last 5 games — OBJ is heating up just like Eli and now faces a vulnerable Bears defense at home.  Feel free to fire him up as an elite option, particularly on Draft Kings.

Antonio Brown vs. DAL (FD: $8600 / DK: $9500 / Y!: $38)

• Big Ben was shaky when he came back two weeks ago, and Brown still came away with 85 yards and a TD.  And when Ben improved in Week 10, so did Brown with 154 yards and a TD.  Everything I said about Big Ben in above for Week 11 applies to his favorite target, Brown.  Don’t overthink this and slot him in if you have the cap space.

T.Y. Hilton vs. TEN (FD: $7900 / DK: $7700 / Y!: $31)

• Coming off the bye and facing a bottom 10 pass defense, Hilton has a great chance to build on what he’s done so far, including having the 6th most receiving yards (791) in the NFL this year.

Stefon Diggs vs. AZ (FD: $6800 / DK: $7000 / Y!: $23)

• It’s a terrible matchup, but the Vikings have no ground game to speak of and will have to continue going to the air to stay competitive.  Diggs has had increasing targets in each of his last 3 games (13, 14 and 15).  And he has the 2nd most receptions per game (7.6) of any WR in the NFL.

Cameron Meredith @ NYG (FD: $5600 / DK: $4100 / Y!: $12)

• Sure, Meredith has only had 2 targets a week over the last 3, but now that Alshon Jeffery has been suspended for 4 weeks for PEDs, and Eddie Royal coming off injury, Meredith is the default WR1 in Chicago.  The Giants have a top 10 run defense, but a bottom 10 exploitable pass defense.  With the Giants favored by 7.5, Chicago is likely going to need throw to stay competitive and Meredith should be the primary beneficiary.  For the price, he’s basically a lock on Yahoo.  However, feel free to pivot to Eddie Royal (FD: $5200 / DK: $3400 / Y!: $13) as he’s sure to get a good share of targets as well, particularly for his price on Draft Kings.

Eli Rogers @ CLE (FD: $5500 / DK: $4300 / Y!: $15)

• With Markus Wheaton out with a shoulder injury and Sammie Coates playing through two broken fingers, Rogers has steadily seen targets catching 14 of 20 over the last three weeks for 180 yards and a TD.  If you want cheaper exposure to this matchup than Big Ben or Antonio Brown, Rogers is a decent play for the price.

Tyreek Hill vs. TB (FD: $5400 / DK: $4500 / Y!: $18)

• Hill was targeted a whopping 13 times in Week 10 with Jeremey Maclin out with a groin injury.  And Maclin looks to be out again in Week 11, leaving another great matchup for Hill against a bottom 10 Buccaneers pass defense.

Tight Ends

 

Delanie Walker @ IND (FD: $6400 / DK: $5700 / Y!: $22)

• He has the most TDs (5) and 3rd most yards (571) of any TE in the NFL.  Plus, as I mentioned above, the Colts have the worst pass defense in the NFL.  Walker is the top TE play this week in my book.

Martellus Bennett @ SF (FD: $5200 / DK: $3700 / Y!: $16)

• And if Walker is the top play, I’d think of Bennett is 1B.  The cost alone may make him a top play, as Rob Gronkowski wasn’t able to make the plane trip to San Francisco for the game and we all know how much upside there is as the primary Patriots TE.  Feel free to lock him in.

Defenses

New England Patriots @ SF (FD: $4900 / DK: $3600 / Y!: $19)

• This should look awfully familiar to you if you follow my column.  I don’t take chances on defense because the prices are so close, so just lock in the Patriots this week.  San Francisco isn’t good.  Analysis over.

Miami Dolphins @ LA (FD: $4800 / DK: $2900 / Y!: $18)

• As I mentioned, Jared Goff gets his first start against a relatively solid Dolphins defense, so I don’t expect much scoring.  Plus this game has the lowest over/under of the week at 40.  Feel free to plug in the Dolphins D, particularly for the price on Draft Kings.