Staff Thursday Cash Plays - Week 11

We’re in the last week of NFL byes for teams, which means next week will give us the entire spectrum of players in the league. Of course, that’s assuming nobody manages to snap an ACL this weekend.

Which I probably just jinxed.

While we wait for the other shoe to drop, the Footballguys staff has put in their lineups for another week at FanDuel. I’ve put together some thoughts on what they did this week.

You can see all the staff picks here.

Staff Trends

Charcandrick West

West has played well and scored touchdowns for three straight weeks. As Chad Parsons wrote in this week’s FanDuel Value Article, “The Chargers are one of the best matchups for opposing running backs. At a medium-tier price, West is an ideal RB2 for Week 11 lineups.” West isn’t going to cost you much at $7100, and he could produce far beyond his value.

Raider Nation

Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree both got plenty of love this week and could both be productive against Detroit. Cooper is supposed to see a lot of Glover Quin, and while we expect good production from him anyway, the Raiders have tended to feed Crabtree when Cooper is challenged. So both guys have a ton of value this week.

Variety of Tight Ends

Almost every staff member went with a different tight end and all save two were high end choices—Delanie Walker and Jacob Tamme. Gronkowski, Graham, Olsen and Gates all got rostered. So the staff isn’t shying away from the more expensive players at the position and are willing to go a little cheaper elsewhere to allow for it. The tight end pool is shallow – once you get past the top, there is little depth. Walker has been productive, as has Ben Watson while Tamme is a risky pick. Overall though, if you aren’t paying for the top guys, you’re increasing your risk factor.

Glaring Omissions

After being heavily played for most of the year, Devonta Freeman is getting faded coming off his bye week. There’s also not much Julio Jones. Both guys are there on rosters, but in much lighter numbers than the past. Same with DeAndre Hopkins (likely because his quarterback is T.J. Yates and he’s facing Darrelle Revis). The most “high end” receiver most often rostered is Larry Fitzgerald, who is on a whopping three rosters.

Diamonds in the Rough

Aside from Charcandrick West, Darren McFadden ($6800) is getting a lot of play, though he is also getting too pricey for “Diamond” status. Stevie Johnson ($5600) ended up on a lot of rosters, and he should be a huge portion of the gameplan for the Chargers this week, along with Antonio Gates.  It’s a tough matchup though, so sheer volume of targets is what we’re looking for there. Finally, Alex Smith ($6200) is a guy with a very high floor facing a shaky Chargers defense. His ceiling isn’t incredible but he won’t leave you hanging, which is the main thing when looking for value.