Quarterback

Carson Wentz ($7700) stuck out like a sore thumb given he was $900 cheaper than Cam Newton ($8600) who I also liked at the high range. While we have yet to see a blow up game from him, Wentz has been consistent this season with only two games under 20 fantasy points since he re-joined the starting lineup in Week 3. I figured the Eagles would likely have to keep pace with the high-powered Saints offense and the New Orleans defense has been very generous to quarterbacks this season. Throw in a game total of 56.5 and Wentz seemed like an ideal cash game quarterback. Instead, we got a dud from the Eagles offense that included 156 passing yards, 3 interceptions and 3.84 fantasy points from Wentz at 50 percent ownership.

Paying down for Eli Manning ($6700) or Lamar Jackson ($7000) ended up being the best course of action even though Jackson’s price was shockingly high given he was making his first career start. Manning (27% owned) was a viable play against the woeful Bucs defense but I thought Wentz’s ceiling was higher with their floors being similar. I also wasn’t comfortable with Jackson’s ceiling given how bad he looked in the pass game during the pre-season. We knew his rushing ability would be a key ingredient but I certainly wasn’t expecting 27 rushing attempts.

Running Back

I knew I wanted to jam in three of the high volume running backs this week. Saquon Barkley ($8800), Melvin Gordon ($8700), Ezekiel Elliott ($8500) and David Johnson ($7900) all came with a 20-plus touch projection with Alvin Kamara ($8900) and his insane efficiency always in play. All five of these running backs had great matchups and could easily be the top scoring running back on the slate. Barkley seemed like the best bet given his dual role in the offense and game environment and he became a lock for me early in the week. Johnson came at a slight discount from Zeke and Gordon making him an attractive option against a Raiders team that’s looking forward to 2020 in Las Vegas.

Since Kamara’s touch projection was easily the lowest of this group I saved him for my tournament lineup and then proceeded to debate Gordon vs. Zeke. I had Zeke in this lineup but switched to Gordon on Sunday morning with Gordon playing at home as a 7-point favorite tipping the scales in his favor. While I loved the matchup against the Falcons, who have given points in bunches to running backs, the possibility of the Cowboys posting a dud on the road as 3.5 point underdogs seemed more likely than Gordon failing in his spot. Most folks in this $25 double-up sided with Zeke (64% owned) as Gordon was just 25% owned.

Wide Receiver

Running three high priced running backs meant savings would be needed at the wide receiver position. I briefly considered trying to fit in Michael Thomas ($8800), Julio Jones ($8700), DeAndre Hopkins ($8600) or Odell Beckham Jr. ($8500) but never got comfortable enough with my low-end wide receiver options to make it work. I opted for a balanced approach with Amari Cooper ($6600), Kenny Golladay ($6400) and Corey Davis ($6200) all secure in the No.1 wide receiver roles for their respective teams.

Golladay became a lock once Marvin Jones was ruled out meaning we could expected to see an extra couple targets his in a matchup against the Panthers that wasn’t ideal but certainly one he could win.

Even though I expected Dallas to attack the Falcons with Zeke, it was well within the range of outcomes for the Falcons to jump out to a lead forcing the Cowboys to throw more than they’d like. Cooper has quickly become the focal point in the passing game (18 targets his previous two games) and the Falcons ranked 5th in fantasy points allowed to the position.

I felt less comfortable about Davis who was coming off his second-best game of the season and had only scored double digit fantasy points twice in ten weeks. Still, a 6-70 line was a likely scenario which I was fine with as my No.3 receiver.

Tight End

The tight end dumpster fire is still burning. Zack Ertz ($7600) was an obvious play at the high end but most DFS players took the punt approach as Jaguars tight end James O’Shaughnessy ($4000) was 37.6% owned in this double-up. Jack Doyle ($5400), Jordan Reed ($5400) Ricky Seals-Jones ($5200) were other popular plays. O’Shaughnessy had target totals of 6-4-6 in his last three games making him a viable salary relief play in order to fit in your three high priced RBs.

Flex

David Johnson ($7900) was a 4.5 favorite at home and figured to get all the work he could handle against a struggling Raiders team. DJ had seen 20 and 28 touches in the two games since Byron Leftwich took over as offensive coordinator and had a high TD expectation with Johnson accounting for 57% of the team’s offensive scores heading into Week 11.

Defense

I went back to the well this week with the Redskins-D ($3600) who has played well this season including three weeks of double-digit fantasy points. Deshaun Watson likes to extend plays with his legs which can lead to sacks - a perfect scenario for a fantasy defense. The Cardinals ($4000) were a popular choice (39% owned) along with Saints ($3300) who I used in my tournament lineup. The Cardinals and their 4-point effort is another example of how difficult it is predict the position and is why it’s always a viable strategy to punt the position if you have viable options at the low end of the pay scale.

Results

Picking up 11 points by choosing Zeke over Gordon would’ve been nice but it wouldn’t have been enough to get me in the green. The real killer here was Wentz who posted what will likely be his worst fantasy game of season barring an injury. So, despite the poor results, I’m not losing sleep over this lineup as I did last week when failing to prioritize Tyreek Hill over Mike Evans cost me dearly. Given the way I approached lineup construction, I should’ve saved $1000 by coming off Wentz down to Eli and used that savings to jam in Gordon, Zeke and Barkley but I can’t really beat myself up over choosing the wrong side of a Wentz-Gordon vs. Eli–Zeke 2v2.

On to Week 12…