DFS guide: Week 11 in DraftKings tournaments

Welcome to our weekly look at the slate of games for DraftKings tournaments, picking out the best fantasy plays for DFS.

After watching Thursday this week, it appears my Week 10 love for the Steelers was a week early, as Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown hooked up for three touchdowns against the Titans. Hopefully Thursday’s game was a harbinger of what’s to come in Week 11. On paper, it looks like an exciting week to pursue with several games filled with a ton of terrific DFS options. Let’s get right to it.

(For the DraftKings cash game guide, click here)

Quarterback

Paying down at the position in cash and paying up in tournaments is something I typically do to differentiate my lineups. There are a lot of true “punt” possibilities to go at the quarterback position that offer salary relief, but they don’t really provide week-winning upside unless you hit on every single one of your other picks. I’ll be mixing in quarterbacks at various price points, but am not afraid to pay up for production here given some of the matchups the top quarterbacks have this week.

I went heavy on Tom Brady ($7,400) last week despite the tough matchup, and he didn’t disappoint at all. Three touchdowns and 22.6 fantasy points against Denver didn’t bury any lineups (it was the 50 percent exposure to Antonio Brown). I’m going back to the well once again with Brady, who is set up in a terrific matchup against the Raiders in Mexico. The Raiders have allowed the second-most top-12 weeks to opposing quarterbacks this year and seem to have taken a step back lately. They’ve allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks over the past four weeks. The Raiders are allowing a league-worst 110.4 passer rating in pass coverage. They can’t get to the quarterback at all, posting a pressure rate of just 5.5 percent (fourth-lowest). Brady on the other hand, is averaging 22.7 FPs per game, leading all quarterbacks on the main slate. He’s thrown for multiple passing touchdowns in six of his last eight games. Oakland is no stranger to 300-yard, 3 touchdown outings (three allowed so far), and I’m wagering Brady joins the list as the fourth quarterback to do so.

I have to give a tip of the hat to my podcast partner in crime, Scott Barrett, for turning me onto Alex Smith ($6,700) this week. I entered the week loving all of his weapons — Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelce — it makes total sense to target the guy giving them the ball as well. Smith has been playing on another level this year. He’s sporting a ridiculous 9.42 adjusted yards per attempt (career average 6.7), a healthy 69.6 completion percentage (62.3 percent), and a whopping 6.1 touchdown percentage (4.0). He’s averaging 21.44 fantasy points per game and has scored multiple touchdowns in six of his 10 games. Now he gets a dream matchup against this sieve of a defense that the Giants put out every week. They’re allowing the fifth-most passing yards and tied for the most passing touchdowns allowed. Don’t hesitate like I did. Smith is a very strong tournament option this week.