Finding Paydirt: Week 11

by Joe Cistaro (joeycis) Last Updated 2019-11-16 13:33:01

Touchdowns, while extremely variant, make or break daily fantasy success and swing thousands of dollars every Sunday. Every weekend, players wait anxiously for the players on their roster to find paydirt. The purpose of the contest is to provide an opportunity for the RotoGrinders community to come together and have fun as we spend much of our time during the week stressing over the construction of our weekly lineups. Did I mention there will be prizes? Let’s have some fun!

Happy Friday! Christian Kirk lit up the leaderboard for a handful of contestants in Week 11 with three touchdowns. With two weeks left in the contest, 1010mg holds the lead for a potential second victory. Will anyone be as productive as Kirk this week? Can somebody overtake 1010mg for this month? Can somebody inch closer to him in our seasonal standings? I know I have plenty of work to do with my, ahem… zero touchdowns thus far in this third month of the NFL season. Who is going to score this week? Let’s go!

First-time reader? Welcome! Read through Finding Paydirt: 2019 Contest Guidelines for information about the contest and prizes. Ready? Let’s play.

Alas, the time has come for some cuts.

The Cut List

Simply put, to compete in this contest you must pick a running back, wide receiver, and tight end to score a touchdown on Sunday. The player must be on the DraftKings Main Slate and cannot be any of the players below. These players are the top five at both RB and WR and the top three at TE — I nix them hoping to make the contest more interesting.

This feels like a pretty ho-hum week with many of the players we expect to be cut taken out of our player pool. Aaron Jones and Davante Adams are on a bye along while the Chiefs and Chargers duke it out on Monday Night Football. The tight end position continues to be a disaster with George Kittle likely out and Kelce off the slate. We will find slim pickings at that position.

With all of that said, the following are my picks for touchdowns in Week 11. Note: I am going off the board this week.

Tevin Coleman – RB – $6,100

I know what you are thinking. Tevin Coleman is just a chase after scoring three touchdowns against the Panthers a couple of weeks ago. Oh, and he plays against the Cardinals who just allowed a pretty big fantasy game to Ronald Jones. Well, yeah, you got me.

With Matt Breida on ice, one positive factor for Coleman is his involvement in the passing game. Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson do not figure to be very impactful in the passing game and Coleman should get his fair share of targets against a team that just allowed eight targets to be converted to Ronald Jones. Last I checked, Ronald Jones is not Christian McCaffrey.

Also, with George Kittle very likely out and the status of Emmanuel Sanders very cloudy, an already run-heavy attack might need to get a little run… heavier? Coleman will certainly share work with Mostert but figures to see a pile of opportunities as the 49ers try to win with defense and the running game. He boasts 57.10% of the San Francisco carries inside the ten and should probably add to that total this weekend. I can’t imagine people will jam him in for this contest with much juicier options available — ahem, Josh Jacobs. Coleman is going for two touchdowns.

Terry McLaurin – WR – $5,600

The Jets are tied with the Buccaneers and the Vikings (surprised face) with 15 touchdowns allowed to opposing wide receivers. Last weekend, Golden Tate weaved through a cavernous Jets secondary for two touchdowns. As a team that limits opposing rushing attacks — what the hell, Saquon? — the Jets unsurprisingly allowed 204 targets to wide receivers. Teams want to attack the Jets through the air, rightfully so.

Terry McLaurin is really one of the only names I recognize when looking at the RotoGrinders NFL Lineups page. Trey Quinn? Kelvin Harmon? McLaurin boasts 27% of the target share thus far. While quarterback play is questionable, Terry is the threat in Washington. McLaurin has five targets inside the ten-yard line and 53.8% of the Washington end zone targets.

While he won’t be picked much, this whole scenario is pretty simple to me. The Jets are going to give up catches. The Jets are going to give up big plays. The Jets are going to give up receiving touchdowns. Terry McLaurin is the only Redskin capable of doing all of those things. Book him as a sneaky play for a couple of touchdowns.

Eric Ebron – TE – $3,600

Rinse. Repeat. With Jack Doyle only limited in practice on Thursday and the entire receiving corps very questionable at best, Eric Ebron must be considered as one of the more likely touchdown threats on Sunday at the very thin tight end position. Ebron averages 1.1 red-zone targets per game on a list of players that don’t get many at all. As one of the primary weapons in the red zone for the Colts, Ebron figures to see some work.

With the dearth of options at this position, I am not even going to consider the defense of the Jaguars — good or bad. Their prowess on that side of the ball is not relevant. Somebody needs to have the ball thrown their way. If Doyle is out, Ebron is the guy. He owes me one from last week.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read through this week’s article. Be sure to tell me who you think will score a touchdown at each position in the comments section below. Also, give me a follow on Twitter to stay updated with the content I contribute to RotoGrinders throughout the football season. I will be back on Tuesday with a recap of Week 11 as well as a leaderboard update. Until then, good luck.

Image Credit: USA Today Sports Images