Daily Fantasy Football Week 11: Top Picks, Value Plays for DraftKings, FanDuel

Dalvin Cook has an opportunity to open up a gap on the NFL rushing yard leaderboard in Week 11.

Cook's matchup with the Dallas Cowboys is one of the most favorable on Sunday's schedule, and it could lead to another triple-digit performance out of the Minnesota Vikings player. If that occurs, Cook could gain a substantial lead over Derrick Henry, who faces the Baltimore Ravens. Cook leads Henry by eight yards.

Cook should be one of the first names selected for daily fantasy football lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Justin Herbert and T.J. Hockenson are among the other top plays for Sunday's slate with potentially advantageous matchups against the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, respectively.

Herbert is one of a few Chargers that should be valuable to DFS lineups. Kalen Ballage has emerged as the top running back in the Los Angeles offense and is one of the better value plays to support the stars of your weekly lineups.

Top Plays

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Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers (DraftKings: $6,800; FanDuel: $8,500)

Sunday could be the perfect bounce-back game for Herbert and the Chargers.

The rookie out of Oregon threw for 187 yards and two touchdowns in Los Angeles' third consecutive loss last time out.

Although that total may turn away some players from Herbert, he is worth the lineup spot based off what he did against the second-worst team in the NFL. Herbert torched the Jacksonville Jaguars for 347 yards and three scores in a Week 7 home win. He could produce similar totals against the Jets on home soil.

New York's defense has conceded 28 touchdowns in nine games and allowed the seventh-most total yards in the NFL.

Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota (DK: $9,000; FD: $10,500)

Cook is coming off a sluggish performance by his high standards, as it took him three quarters to get going against the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

The Vikings running back should not face much trouble eclipsing the 100-yard mark against the Cowboys at U.S. Bank Stadium. Cook owns four 100-yard performances in his past six games. In that span, he has eight rushing touchdowns and one more through the air.

On Sunday, he faces a Dallas defense that has let up the second-most rushing yards behind the Houston Texans. Cook will not come cheap as the running back with the highest salary, but he should be more than worth the play.

Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta (DK: $7,500; FD: $8,100)

In Julio Jones' past six games against the New Orleans Saints, he averaged 110.8 receiving yards.

The lowest single-game total in that span was 79 yards from his most recent appearance against the Atlanta Falcons' NFC South rival.

If Jones gets the best of a possible head-to-head showdown with Marshon Lattimore, he could add to his terrific run against the Saints. Were Atlanta to make advances against the New Orleans defense, the production would come through the air. The Saints held their past two opponents to a combined 57 rushing yards.

Jones may be utilized in a lineup stack with Matt Ryan, but a combination of him and Todd Gurley is not advised given New Orleans' interior strengths.

T.J. Hockenson, TE, Detroit (DK: $4,200; FD: $6,000)

Hockenson has the potential to be the top tight end in Week 11 because of his matchup with the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina has allowed the fourth-most receiving yards to tight ends, as well as five touchdown catches.

Although he does not have the best yardage totals from his past two games, he still found the end zone for the fifth time this season against Minnesota in Week 9. The Iowa product was targeted six or more times on four occasions and has more than 10 yards per reception in four appearances.

If Matthew Stafford targets him on a consistent basis, Hockenson should exploit the middle of the field and total a large amount of fantasy points.

Value Plays

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Jameis Winston, QB, New Orleans (DK: $5,900; FD: $7,200)

Given how poor Atlanta's passing defense has performed this season, Jameis Winston could be worth the start as a DFS value play.

The ideal situation to use Winston in DFS lineups is to surround him with top players, such as Cook, Jones, Travis Kelce and others to take advantage of the salary saved with the Saints quarterback.

Atlanta is one of five teams to allow 20 or more passing touchdowns. New Orleans is one of the four others, which suggests we could see high passing totals from both teams in that contest.

Since he moved within the NFC South from Tampa Bay to New Orleans, Winston should have familiarity with the Falcons' concepts and defensive personnel. In his two starts versus Atlanta in 2019, Winston totaled 514 passing yards and five touchdowns. However, he also had four interceptions.

If Winston cuts down on the turnovers and benefits from Atlanta's rough passing defense, he could emerge as one of the best value plays of Sunday's slate.

Kalen Ballage, RB, Los Angeles Chargers (DK: $5,600; FD: $5,800)

The Chargers' running back situation has been one of the hardest to figure out.

Instead of Joshua Kelley or Justin Jackson emerging as the favorite to take snaps in place of the injured Austin Ekeler, Ballage came into the team and took control of the situation. The former Miami Dolphins running back produced 137 rushing yards off 33 carries in the past two games.

If he outperforms the other Chargers running backs again, Ballage could be in for a big day against the winless Jets.

At his low salary, Ballage could be a good option to pair with Cook to avoid using a large chunk of your salary at one position.

Jakobi Meyers, WR, New England (DK: $4,900; FD: $6,000) 

Until Jakobi Meyers' salary rises in DFS contests, you have to keep starting him.

Meyers has been Cam Newton's top target in the past three weeks and he faces one of the league's worst defenses in Houston on Sunday.

Meyers had at least 58 receiving yards in each of his past four contests and threw a touchdown in the Week 10 win over Baltimore.

The NC State product needs to find the end zone more to be considered a top-tier fantasy option, but for now, his target rate makes him a quality mid-tier wide receiver.

Eric Ebron, TE, Pittsburgh (DK: $4,000; FD: $5,400)

It would be wise to start at least one Pittsburgh Steelers player against Jacksonville.

Eric Ebron caught a touchdown in two of his past three games and earned 17 targets in that span. With Chase Claypool's value rising and JuJu Smith-Schuster holding one of the top wide receiver salaries, Ebron may be the best value play in the Steelers passing game.

Starting Ebron at tight end allows you to use more salary on the top-tier running backs or wide receivers while benefiting from a matchup versus one of the worst teams in the NFL.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.

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