Below, you’ll find a list of players I have spotlighted for daily fantasy selections leading into Week 11 of the NFL season. I’m mostly looking for affordable options who will provide good value.
I use the following criteria to try and find players — NFL Vegas totals, NFL team stats, what the fantasy gurus are saying and my GUT.
Without further ado, let’s see who’s made my list of five players this week!
Eli Manning, QB Giants
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Yes, I know Eli Manning is on the down and out, and he’s having a lackluster season at best. However, I’m on the lookout for high risk, high reward players at times. I believe Manning could be a cheap option at quarterback who also scores a good amount of points.
The Buccaneers have given up the second-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks (24.1). Additionally, Vegas has put the Giants/Bucs game at a 53 point over/under. This means the game has been pegged to be high scoring.
With all these factors, Manning could be a cheap option at quarterback who gets better than average results.
Alex Collins, RB Ravens
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Alex Collins has put together a mediocre season thus far rushing for 393 yards, six touchdowns, and 3.7 yards per attempt.
However, this week could be a surprise week for Collins when the Ravens face a Bengals team who has been terrible against running backs. The Bengals have given up the second-most fantasy points per game to running backs (26.3).
The Bengals defense has also been in an awful slump as of late. In their last three games the Bengals defense has allowed 43.3 points per game. Yikes!
Alshon Jeffery, WR Eagles
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With Nelson Agholor questionable to play in this game, it could potentially mean more targets for Alshon Jeffery. However, even if Agholor plays I still believe Jeffery will have a good day.
The Saints give up an average of 34.4 fantasy points per game to wide receivers — the next highest team (Buccaneers - 29.2) is more than five points better than that!
The Saints are giving up a ton of yards to wide receivers, and I look for that trend to continue and for Jeffery to have a good game.
Peyton Barber, RB Buccaneers
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Remember earlier, when we mentioned the 53-point total for the Giants/Bucs game? When I was sifting through the Vegas over/unders there weren’t many games that were projected to score a lot of points. The three games with the highest over/unders were the Chiefs/Rams, Eagles/Saints, and Giants/Bucs.
All that said, since this is one of the games which is likely to have more points, I’ve chosen to focus on the Giants poor play against running backs. So far this year they have given up an average of 21.4 fantasy points per game to running backs — good for 10th worst in the NFL.
With the high point total and the Giants lackluster fantasy defense against running backs, I’ve pegged Peyton Barber as an affordable option who could provide value this week.
Amari Cooper, WR Cowboys
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I’ve seen a few articles here or there about Amari Cooper being the missing piece for the Cowboys offense. Now, whether or not there’s any truth to that the Falcons give up the third-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers.
If Cooper is indeed finding a niche in the Cowboys offense, it would be better to get ahead of the curve and pick him up for cheap before his production (if he does produce) causes his price to climb.
Last week, my Chiefs pick of the week was the D/ST, and to my credit, it was a pretty good pick. The Chiefs defense allowed just 14 points, forced five sacks and recorded two interceptions.
This week my Chiefs pick of the week is....
Tyreek Hill
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I haven’t picked Tyreek Hill for quite a while, but I feel like this will be a special game for Hill. In the biggest game of the year, in primetime, I think Hill will shine.
The reason I think Hill will shine is due to his history in primetime games — it always seems he scores a special teams touchdown or has some kind of ridiculous play resulting in a touchdown within the offense.
I also think Hill’s speed will cause problems for the Rams secondary. Seeing Marcus Peters face Hill should be a great matchup and I’m really looking forward to it on Monday night!