CFB DFS DraftKings Main Slate Breakdown: Week 11

by Jordan Vanek (vanekjordan)

Created Nov 12, 2026

Last Updated 2026-11-12 21:46:24 Premium Content Part of the product CFB Premium

Using his experience as a former scout and staff member at Central Florida under Josh Heupel, Jordan Vanek takes an in-depth look at the upcoming CFB DFS main slate on DraftKings for Week 11. Winner of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association’s 2025 College Sports Writer of the Year award, Jordan’s deep dive into the best stacks, running backs, and wide receivers is a must-read before you start building your lineups.

This is a slate where we need to pay close attention to the injury news, as several situations could swing ownership and create value. There are roles we still need to figure out once the injury situations become clearer, and one in particular is the Cincinnati WR room. With JV Gibson out, there’s a massive target share up for grabs in a smash matchup against an Iowa State defense that hasn’t been very good.

Then you have several teams trending in the wrong direction that desperately need a bounce-back performance this weekend. Ohio State is in a must-win situation, USC at Indiana could essentially be a playoff matchup at this point, and several other teams can’t afford another slip-up. The playoffs are right around the corner, and the committee hasn’t done many favors for teams outside the SEC. A lot of these teams won’t be looking to simply win this weekend – they’ll be looking to put up big numbers and prove they deserve a spot in the College Football Playoff.

As always, our CFB DFS projections will be updated throughout Saturday’s slate with any news that comes out. Our projections team will also be posting real-time updates in the RotoGrinders Discord, letting you know what news came in and how it impacted the projections.

CFB DFS DraftKings Picks: Top Stacks, RBs, & WRs for Week 11

UCF’s man-coverage rates have only continued to increase as the season has gone on. Their matchup with Arizona State is fascinating because Arizona State has trimmed its WR room down to three players, and all three have promising metrics against man coverage. There are several other teams playing man coverage at high rates, including Michigan, Ole Miss, BYU, SMU, Miami, Vanderbilt, and Iowa State.

The zone-heavy teams are mostly sticking to their principles. Baylor is the only team that has started playing significantly more man coverage lately, which coincides with the firing of Dave Aranda. Indiana, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, and Tennessee haven’t really changed their defensive philosophies as the season has progressed. USC is the one noteworthy team that has shifted toward playing a lot more zone coverage than man in recent weeks.

SMU continues to run Cover 3 as its primary coverage, and it’s the coverage you’ll see the most on this slate. Recently though, they’ve become more aggressive with their blitzing and have mixed in some Cover 0. Miami has been playing a lot of single-high coverage, mixing Cover 1 and Cover 3, while Missouri has continued to play a ton of Cover 3, as always. There’s not much else to add with them.

Northwestern’s two-high usage has decreased in recent weeks, while Cincinnati’s has only continued to grow. Vanderbilt has also started playing more two-high coverage, moving closer to Indiana on the graph. However, a lot of Vanderbilt’s two-high looks come with heavy doses of pressure, including blitzes with five or more defenders. Alabama will need to be prepared for Vanderbilt to send plenty of pressure throughout this matchup.

Game Stacks

Gio Lopez ($7,500, QB, Wake Forrest)

Carlos Hernandez ($8,200, WR, Wake Forest)

Kevin Jennings ($9,000, QB, SMU)

Yannick Smith ($5,600, WR, SMU)

Randy Pittman ($3,700, WR, SMU)

SMU has yet to face a QB of Lopez’s caliber this season. The closest comparisons would probably be Lincoln Kienholz back in Week 3 or Ashton Daniels in Week 1. Lopez sat out last week’s game to get a little healthier for this matchup, and he’s scored over 30 DK points in 3 of his last 4 games. He’s been a threat as a runner and an extremely efficient passer, which makes him one of my favorite QBs on this slate.

The primary receiver to target here is Hernandez. He’s been one of the best WRs in the country and is an excellent route runner who can move all around the formation. Looking at SMU’s game logs, they have yet to allow a 100-yard receiver this season, but I think Hernandez has a real chance to change that. Against Cover 3, Hernandez has commanded a high target share and averaged 2.79 yards per route run, which sets up well against SMU’s primary coverage. I’d have more interest in Jack Foley ($6,600, WR) if he ran more routes, but with his current role, I think the price tag is a little too high.

Over the last month, Wake Forest has dominated every team they’ve played, but this is the best opponent they’ve faced since Week 4. In that game, Kienholz threw for 300 yards and ran for 2 touchdowns, putting together a huge performance. The week before, Darian Mensah was having an excellent game before injuries and offensive-line struggles caused things to fall apart in the 2nd half. Outside of those matchups, Wake Forest hasn’t really faced many quality opponents.

Jennings has been really good at diagnosing zone coverage and finding the open spots to throw the football. There are three primary receiving options in this offense, with Smith slightly leading the way. I like Yamir Knight ($6,900, WR) and Jalen Cooper ($4,700, WR) as well, but Smith stands out because he’s a full-time WR in this offense, and his combination of size and speed gives him the ability to beat Wake Forest over the top.

The reason I’m interested in Pittman is that Wake Forest has struggled against TEs near the red zone. Jaleel Skinner had one of his best games against this defense, Mason Mini had a good performance, and Elija Lofton put together a big game by his standards. Wake Forest has allowed numerous touchdowns to the TE position, and Pittman gives us a way to attack that weakness while making the overall stack more affordable.

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