Daily Fantasy Football Picks and Helper: Week 11

There's an interesting mix of big spreads and tight spreads on the Week 11 main slate, so we've got an intriguing week to navigate upcoming.

Let's take a look at some of the best daily fantasy football plays at each position -- accounting for salary -- on the Week 11 FanDuel main slate.

Slate Overview

Here is a snapshot of each team's outlook, including opponent, implied team total, over/under, and spread based on FanDuel Sportsbook odds, and opponent defensive ranks for overall defense, pass defense, and rush defense, based on numberFire's Net Expected Points (NEP) model.

Quarterbacks

CJ Stroud, Houston Texans

FanDuel Salary: $8,000
Matchup: vs. Arizona Cardinals

The C.J. Stroud breakout continues. Last week without Nico Collins, Stroud went for 356 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a score, though rushing isn't quite his forte.

The Cardinals are 30th in CPOE, success rate, and pressure rate, and they're 32nd in yards per target allowed on downfield passes (10-plus air yards).

Stroud's 9.3-yard average target depth (aDOT) is a full 1.5 yards deeper than the NFL average. He has a great overall matchup and the ability to make the most of it.

Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

FanDuel Salary: $7,400
Matchup: at Detroit Lions

There are a good number of quarterbacks in play this week, but Justin Fields deserves a long look at a low salary.

He has averaged 228.6 passing yards and 2.2 touchdowns per game over his five completed contests. That's come despite bad efficiency and a lot of sacks.

However, the Lions are just an avearge pass defense more or less across the board.

Fields' 38.2 rushing yards per game on 7.8 attempts per game give him a path to a big ceiling in an indoor situation.

Others to Consider

Josh Allen ($9,000 vs. New York Jets) - Hasn't been on main slate in a while; 290.0 yards, 2.0 TDs per game in four matchups with top-13 pass D's. Pivot play.

Jared Goff ($7,900 vs. Chicago Bears) - Indoors; 343.0 yards and 2.0 TDs per game in only two starts vs. bottom-eight pass D's.

Kyler Murray ($7,600 at Houston Texans) - Ran 6 times for 33 yards and a TD in his debut; in another fantasy-friendly game.

Running Backs

Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers

FanDuel Salary: $8,800
Matchup: at Green Bay Packers

The salary for Austin Ekeler is very fair this week. It's not too high. It's not too low. It's fair.

The Packers rank at the league average in rushing yards over expectation (RYOE) per carry against running backs but are letting up a high rate of targets per route to RBs.

Ekeler has played on at least 62.3% of the Chargers' snaps in five games since returning and just set a season-high in snap rate (70.6%) in Week 10.

He's also averaged 15.2 rushes and 6.0 targets per game since returning. His red zone opportunity share (carries and targets out of total team plays in the red zone) is a really heavy 41.9%.

Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys

FanDuel Salary: $6,900
Matchup: at Carolina Panthers

At a certain point, a lack of efficiency will ruin a great role and matchup, but it's hard not to go back to Tony Pollard this week with a lot of RBs in imperfect spots, as well.

The Panthers rank 31st in RYOE per carry, 29th in rushing success rate, and 32nd in adjusted FanDuel points per carry allowed to running backs, and they're also 29th in adjusted fantasy points per target allowed to running backs.

Pollard's snap rate has been at least 65.1% in each of the last five games, and he's averaged 12.4 carries and 3.6 targets in that split. In such a good matchup, we can try this again.

Devin Singletary, Houston Texans

FanDuel Salary: $6,500
Matchup: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Devin Singletary has a 77.9% snap rate and 54.1% route rate in two games with Dameon Pierce out, and he's coming off of a 30-carry game while being in, perhaps, the best game of the week for daily fantasy purposes.

The Cardinals are one of the best overall RB matchups on the board, and assuming Pierce is out again, Singletary can serves as much-needed salary relief this week.

Others to Consider

Christian McCaffrey ($10,000 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - Didn't get his TD last week but still had 17.4 FanDuel points; TB's run D is stiffening up again.

De'Von Achane ($8,000 vs. Las Vegas Raiders) - Elite usage and efficiency when healthy; matchup could lead to ceiling game in return.

Josh Jacobs ($7,300 at Miami Dolphins) - Great receiving role that could come in play as a big underdog.

Brian Robinson ($7,200 vs. New York Giants) - Could slide into huge workload if Antonio Gibson sits.

Breece Hall ($7,100 at Buffalo Bills) - Blowout risk but 62.3% of snaps or better in four straight with a 50.8% route rate in that span.

Wide Receivers

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys

FanDuel Salary: $9,200
Matchup: at Carolina Panthers

CeeDee Lamb's recent production is now historic. He's the first receiver in NFL history with 10-plus catches and 150-plus yards in three straight games.

Interestingly, in two of those games, the Cowboys were favored by 7 and by 17.5, and they won those by 23 and by 32 points. So, it wasn't just a matter of playing in close games.

The Cowboys have a +1.6% pass rate over expectation when leading in the second half, as well.

Lamb's 27.6% target share is tied to a +15.2% catch rate over expectation, so some regression could hit. Still, the volume is elite, and the Panthers are just okay at defending WRs.

Lamb has 22 downfield targets (10-plus air yards) over the past three games.

Tank Dell, Houston Texans
Noah Brown, Houston Texans

Dell FanDuel Salary: $7,000
Brown FanDuel Salary: $6,100
Matchup: vs. Arizona Cardinals

The arrow remains up for Tank Dell.

Dell is coming off of a 14-target, 1-carry game and now has 25 targets over the past two games with Nico Collins missing Week 10 but playing in Week 9.

Dell now faces a Cardinals defense that is allowing a league-high CROE of +9.2% to opposing receivers. They've also let up 1.85 yards per route run to receivers, which is about the same efficiency as Chris Godwin.

Dell's too good to scale back even if Collins plays.

As for Noah Brown, the yardage upside has been immense recently. He's had 153 and 172 yards on 6 and 8 targets, respectively, over the past two games. That is, in part, because he's caught 13 of 14 targets in that span, including all 8 of his downfield targets for 261 yards and a touchdown. With that said, he's had 8 downfield targets over the past two weeks, which ranks him 10th among the position.

Notably, Dell has 17 of those the past two games.

Note: Noah Brown is ruled out for Week 11.

Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals
Rondale Moore, Arizona Cardinals

Wilson FanDuel Salary: $5,400
Moore FanDuel Salary: $4,900
Matchup: at Houston Texans

The Cardinals' offense is on the upswing with Kyler Murray back under center. In his return last week, we saw that Marquise Brown moved into a bit more of a committee with Michael Wilson and Rondale Moore.

Last week, tight end Trey McBride led the team with 9 targets (29.0%), followed by Moore (8; 25.8%), Wilson (6; 19.4%), and Brown (4; 12.9%).

The four of them each ran at least 73.5% of the routes with Wilson (91.2%) and Brown (100.0%) in their own tier.

Basically, we've got four viable options with low salaries in what could be a really good fantasy game.

Note: Michael Wilson is ruled out for Week 11.

Others to Consider

Amon-Ra St. Brown ($8,900 vs. Chicago Bears) - 31.2% target share and 102.6 yards per game with a pass funnel matchup.

Jaylen Waddle ($7,100 vs. Las Vegas Raiders) - 21.5% target share on the year; 25.7% since Week 5.

Christian Kirk ($6,900 vs. Tennessee Titans) - Team-high 23.7% target share; Titans are a great WR matchup.

D.J. Moore ($6,800 at Detroit Lions) - 24.1% target share with 106.2 yards per game in five starts by Fields.

Tight Ends

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

FanDuel Salary: $5,800
Matchup: vs. New York Jets

Dalton Kincaid has averaged 7.7 targets per game (24.2% target share) in three contests without Dawson Knox and has averaged 61.3 yards per game despite a weak aDOT of 4.8 yards.

Despite that low aDOT, he's still averaged 1.3 downfield targets per game in this split as well as a 25.0% red zone target share.

The Jets have been good against tight ends, but Kincaid's role and salary still keep him in core play territory.

Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals

FanDuel Salary: $5,900
Matchup: at Houston Texans

Trey McBride has competition for targets in the Kyler Murray-led Cardinals' offense. With that said, the Texans are letting up the second highest target-per-route rate to tight ends on the year -- plus a catch rate over expectation of +5.2%.

McBride had a team-high 9 targets last week (3 downfield) in Murray's debut and turned them into 131 yards.

Others to Consider

Cole Kmet ($5,600 at Detroit Lions) - 20.6% target share in five full games with Fields plus a 31.6% red zone share.

Sam LaPorta ($6,700 vs. Chicago Bears) - Bears are 30th in CROE allowed to TEs; 21.7% target share since Week 3 breakout.

Defenses

Pittsburgh Steelers

FanDuel Salary: $4,000
Matchup: at Cleveland Browns

With Deshaun Watson out for the season, Dorian Thompson-Robinson will start for the Browns.

Thompson-Robinson's efficiency has been bottom-tier in his limited 2023 sample. In his Week 4 start against a top-five pass defense, he threw for just 121 yards and 3 interceptions on 36 attempts.

The Steelers are fourth in CPOE allowed and should be able to stifle DTR and the Browns.

Others to Consider

San Francisco 49ers ($4,000 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Detroit Lions ($4,400 vs. Chicago Bears)

New York Giants ($3,500 vs. Washington Commanders)

Be sure to check out all of the Week 11 daily fantasy football contests on FanDuel.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.