It really stinks not having some of my favorite players on the main slate this weekend, as the Steelers, Titans, Cowboys, Eagles, Falcons, and Seahawks are not on it. That would seem to leave a rather limited player pool, but on the flip side, the four teams with byes this week are the Jets, Panthers, 49ers, and Colts. There are a lot of different ways that one could choose to go with their cash-game options in Week 11, but I’ve scraped every stat I could to find the best ones for you.
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If this is your first time visiting the cash-game article, you need to understand what it is and what it isn’t. It isn’t an article designed to win you a million dollars. Ok, let’s be clear, if it does, I believe you’d owe me some. But in all seriousness, this article isn’t aimed to take down a tournament, but rather to participate in double-ups, 50/50’s, and head-to-head matchups. These are known as “cash games” in the DFS world. You aren’t always going to play the players with the highest projections, because the players with the highest ceilings may also come with some of the lowest floors. In cash games, you want high-floor players who offer very little risk. I’ll attempt to give values at each price-point, which will allow you to create a combination that you like.
Quarterbacks
Tom Brady (at OAK) – $7,400
I’m not normally one to spend up at the quarterback position, but knowing how the pricing is for Week 11, you’ll have the cash to do so. Brady is obviously in a great spot to post video-game numbers against the Raiders who have allowed 27 points per game over their last five games which included games against the Ravens, Chargers, Chiefs, Bills, and Dolphins. Outside of the Chiefs, those are all underachievers. Both Alex Smith and Jay Cutler were able to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns against them, which should leave you salivating to roster Brady. The best part? They struggle to defend tight ends, Brady’s bread and butter. He costs a pretty penny, but he should be worth it against a Raiders offense that should at least be able to keep the game competitive.
Alex Smith (at NYG) – $6,700
Did you know that you’d have to go all the way back to Week 3 to find the last time the Giants didn’t allow a top-10 quarterback performance against them? They have now allowed 16 passing scores over the last six games, including four 300-yard games (and one 288-yard game). Andy Reid coached teams are 16-2 after the bye week, so they will be prepared, while the Giants defense has simply quit on Ben McAdoo. The only concern with Smith is that the Chiefs jump out to a lead, the Giants can’t score points, and the Chiefs just sit on the ball. Still, Smith’s fantasy floor should be at least 250 yards and two touchdowns.
Running Backs
Kareem Hunt (at NYG) – $8,000
There’s two ways that the Chiefs game against the Giants can go this weekend. One, Alex Smith can throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, leading to Hunt getting a bunch of carries in the second-half. Or two, those who play Smith are let down because Hunt went off in the first-half. Either way you slice it, Hunt is getting work in this game. Some are concerned about the lower snap count in their last game, but that came down to game-script with the Chiefs being forced into clear-cut passing situations, where they favor Charcandrick West. That shouldn’t be a concern against the Giants. The Giants have only allowed three top-12 performances on the year, but two of those came to running backs with more than 17 carries. Hunt has hit that mark in four of the last six games and is coming off his bye where he should feel re-energized and ready to rock. Knowing you have to spend your cash somewhere, Hunt seems like the safest play at the top of the board.
Chris Thompson (at NO) – $5,400
Once Rob Kelley was announced as out for the season, most immediately thought of Samaje Perine. While that’s right to do, don’t forget about what this does for Thompson. It provides an added level of safety to where he doesn’t necessarily “need” to hit that big play like he was in every game to start the season. When playing in cash, you want players to hit 2.5X value, so in Thompson’s case, his $5,400 salary would amount to 13.5 DK points. He’s actually hit 15.6 or more points in 6-of-9 games this year, including three 20-point games. The Saints have allowed the sixth-most receiving yardage to running backs this season and knowing how well the Saints have defended the tight end position and that Josh Doctson will see a lot of Marshon Lattimore, they need Thompson to step up. Add on his 8-12 carries he’s likely to get and he’s a safe play.
Dion Lewis (at OAK) – $4,200
This one is odd to me, as Lewis has been the Patriots 1-2 down running back for the last four weeks, totaling 29 carries over the last two weeks. Now he’s going to play against a team that has allowed a top-10 PPR running back in five straight weeks and six of the last seven? Think about that for a moment. Even better, they’ve allowed the RB1 in two of the last four games, as both LeSean McCoy and Melvin Gordon went for over 32 DK points. While Patriots running backs have been hard to predict in the past, Lewis has carved out a role and done nothing to lose it.
Bonus: Rex Burkhead (at OAK) – $3,600
Someone screwed up the pricing here. His snaps have gone up the last three weeks and James White’s have dipped every week since Week 4. If you play Burkhead, you need just 9.0 PPR points to hit value.
Wide Receivers
Mike Evans (at MIA) – $7,900
With Antonio Brown off the main slate, Evans was sitting there as my favorite wide receiver play. In fact, there’s no one else above $7,000 that I’d want to play in cash. If you watched the Dolphins secondary struggle against the Panthers on Monday night, you know why Evans is here. The only legitimate threats on the Panthers team in the passing game are Devin Funchess and Christian McCaffrey. Knowing that Funchess was the only wide receiver who could beat them, they still couldn’t contain him and allowed 92 yards and two touchdowns. I mean, they made Cam Newton look like one of the best passers in the NFL. Now put one of the most athletically-dominant wide receivers up against Xavien Howard, who allowed two of the touchdowns last week, and see what happens. Ryan Fitzpatrick should target him early and often, en route to a WR1 performance.
Brandin Cooks (at OAK) – $6,600
Most view Cooks as a boom or bust option, but he hasn’t been that this year. He’s actually been somewhat consistent, posting at least 65 yards in 6-of-9 games this season. The Raiders struggle with speedy wide receivers and the deep ball, allowing both Tyreek Hill and Mike Wallace to go for at least 125 yards. They also allowed multiple 20-yard touchdowns to Jermaine Kearse, though he’s not necessarily a speedster. It appears that Chris Hogan is likely to miss another week, meaning Cooks should continue to see increased volume (at least eight targets in each of the last two games and four of the last five). This could be one of those blow-up games we’ve been waiting on from Cooks, as the combination of Dexter McDonald and David Amerson have allowed six touchdowns on just 54 targets in coverage.
Jamison Crowder (at NO) – $4,300
There are so many good cheap plays at running back this week, most won’t go this cheap at wide receiver, but this is a spot where I feel you can exploit the pricing. Crowder has bounced back from his injuries early in the season and has now seen 24 targets over his last two games. That number would be good over three games for a slot receiver, but it just goes to show the trust that he’s earned back. On those targets, he’s accumulated 13 receptions for 199 yards, though he’s failed to score. The Saints are using converted-safety Kenny Vaccaro to cover the slot, which is a good thing for Crowder, as Vaccaro is still learning the position on the fly. The game-script should be working in Crowder’s favor, especially considering they don’t have a run game at the moment, so they should use him frequently to move the sticks. He’s one of my favorite plays of the weekend.
Bonus: Jeremy Maclin (at GB) – $4,500
He’s been underpriced quite a bit this year for someone who has seen at least five targets in each of the last six games he’s played in. On top of that, his matchup with Damarious Randall is one of the better ones on the slate. Pay attention to the weather in this one, though.
Tight Ends
Travis Kelce (at NYG) – $7,300
I mean, duh. If you’ve been paying attention to anything this football season, you know that the Giants have allowed a touchdown to every single tight end they have played. If you were here last week, you played Garrett Celek in your cash-game lineup, which likely won you some money. If Kelce doesn’t pan out, you cannot blame your process because if the Giants knew something was wrong, you know they would’ve tried to fix it by Week 11, right?
Tyler Kroft (at DEN) – $2,900
If you’d like to steer clear of the herd this week and pay-down at tight end, Kroft is a great play against the Broncos, who have actually allowed the most DK points per game to tight ends this season. Yep, more than the Giants. On the season, they have allowed 746 yards to the position, which is 84 more yards than the next closest team and 156 more yards than the Giants. Of the nine tight ends who have played the Broncos, five of them have totaled at least 73 yards and three others have scored touchdowns. Kroft has averaged a healthy 4.9 targets per game since taking over the starter, making him a great cheap option in cash games.
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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
