NFL DFS Building Blocks Week 11

Quarterback
J.J. McCarthy is picking up a lot of ownership. It’s a nice matchup, and they will want to get Justin Jefferson going, but I’d still rather go down to Jacoby Brissett for a little cheaper and honestly a little more proven – especially over the last few weeks.

But what I would really like to do is pay up to Justin Herbert, who’s coming in at much, much lower ownership. He’s just inside the top ten, sitting around names like Davis Mills, Michael Penix, and Jameis Winston. Herbert has a great matchup against Jacksonville and two cheap stacking partners.

Running Back
As expected:

Chase Brown – popular
Jaylen Warren – popular
Rico Dowdle – popular
Josh Jacobs – most popular expensive RB

I’m on board with Jacobs and will probably play him in most lineups.

I don’t love McCaffrey as much this week with all the weapons returning. They’ll be able to spread it around, and I don’t think he gets to that 4x salary range.

Travis Etienne is relatively high-owned for his value price. I like him as a bring-back on Herbert stacks … but I’m just as likely to play Herbert and not bring anyone back.

R.J. Harvey is gaining popularity with J.K. Dobbins going out – good play for his price. Same with Woody Marks coming in just inside the top 20. Rachaad White is solid; I expect the Bucs to be playing from behind and leaning on him in the passing game.

James Cook is actually sneaky just inside the top 10. The Bucs traditionally have a good rushing defense, but they’ve given up big plays.

Aaron Jones is one of my favorite leverage plays. At only $5,500 on DK, if you’re not going McCarthy + Jefferson/Addison, he’s a perfect pivot.

Wide Receiver
Ja’Marr Chase is the clear No. 1 in ownership, followed by Nico Collins and Justin Jefferson. I don’t want to play Collins – and honestly, I’m more likely to go all the way down to Tennessee DEF against him. We’ve seen big Davis Mills games and we’ve also seen him come crashing down with turnovers. I’m leaning into the latter.

As expected, Jefferson, JSN, and Puka are all high. Quentin Johnston doesn’t show up until outside the top 15, which makes him a great play with Herbert.

I don’t love any of the Bears as bring-backs on Minnesota stacks. If you’re going Aaron Jones, you could even run Minnesota DEF behind that play.

Greg Dortch at $3,300 is one of my favorite cheap WRs this week – extremely low-owned with Trey McBride soaking up all the attention.

If you are going to a Herbert stack, don’t overlook Jakobi Meyers or Brian Thomas. Both are way down the ownership list with everyone focused on Etienne. They make perfect sense as lower-owned bring-backs.

Tight End
Trey McBride, with Marvin Harrison Jr. out, is one of the top-owned players on the slate. Hockenson is surprisingly high because he’s so cheap – he’s fine leverage off Jefferson, but I still prefer going to Aaron Jones if I’m playing leverage in that game.

I’m genuinely surprised Jonnu Smith is higher owned than Pat Freiermuth for only $300 cheaper.

Elijah Higgins at $2,500 is a good salary-saver. Brissett + Higgins + Dortch basically unlocks anything you want.

Darnell Washington is coming in way lower than the other two cheap TEs and is just as good in tournaments.

Defense
I like:

Tennessee – sneaky minimum-priced defense
Chargers
Vikings
49ers (doesn’t make sense on paper, but I kind of like them)
Rams (Seahawks/Rams game is projected high but Rams could surprise)
Steelers – one of my favorite low-owned defenses for the ultimate leverage play in lineups where you aren’t playing Ja’Marr Chase or Chase Brown.

Lineup Construction Thoughts
As I get into lineup building, I’m finding myself going two directions: Jacoby Brissett stacks or Justin Herbert stacks.

Herbert Stacks
Herbert is my preferred pure play. I like pairing him with:

Quentin Johnston
Gadsden at tight end

I’ve also played around with double-TE lineups using a cheap Steelers TE (Jonnu or Darnell Washington) with either McBride or Gadsden.

Brissett Salary-Saver Stacks
When I want to jam multiple WR ceilings in, Brissett is the guy. With him, I’m trying to go cheap everywhere else and fit:

JSN
Puka Nacua
Ja’Marr Chase

Bring it back with Darnell Washington, cut salary at RB, and suddenly you have a construction very few lineups can match.

I’ll also play around with this and Steelers D, fading Chase.

J.J. McCarthy Lineups
I’ve played some McCarthy + Jefferson + Addison stacks and some Jefferson-only. These give you exposure to Jefferson without playing into the chalkiest builds.

Sneaky Leverage Build
One of my favorite sneaky angles this week is simply playing the Steelers defense against the two most popular plays in that game – Ja’Marr Chase and Chase Brown. If that game fails to meet expectations and Pittsburgh’s defense steps up, you get massive leverage on the field while most lineups lose two spots at once.