Good morning and welcome back to the Heater Dynasty Podcast! I’m your host, Eric Heater, your one-stop shop for all your fantasy football and DFS needs. Today, I’m diving into the Week 11 main slate, and let me tell you… this one is shaping up to be a doozy. I know I’ve said that a lot recently, but this slate really is one of the trickiest and most interesting we’ve seen all season.

My goal is to walk you through the top games, the best positional plays, and how I’m navigating both cash and GPP (tournament) builds this week. Let’s break this thing down.

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🔥 Top Games to Target in Week 11

Before I build any lineups, I always start with the games that offer the best fantasy environments. Here are the five matchups I’m most focused on:

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1. Steelers vs Bengals (49.5 O/U, PIT -5.5)

This is the game of the slate, and it has everything DFS players want: pace, scoring, and condensed usage.

What makes it fun (and hilarious) is that the key DFS pieces are being driven by two “geriatric,” immobile quarterbacks — Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers — and yet both are viable this week.

Key Plays:

• Joe Flacco (Top QB in cash)
• Chase Brown & Jaylen Warren (Two most popular RBs on the slate)
• Jamar Chase (Absolute lock for me)
• Tee Higgins
• Steelers TEs: Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith, Darnell Washington

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2. Rams vs Seahawks (48.5 O/U, LAR -2.5)

This is a coaching chess match: Sean McVay vs Mike Macdonald. Offense vs defense. Strength vs strength.

Both offenses are good enough to push this game into a shootout.

Key Plays:

• Matthew Stafford (contrarian)
• Sam Darnold (also contrarian)
• Puka Nacua
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Puka vs JSN is the storyline here)

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3. 49ers vs Cardinals (48.5 O/U, SF -3)

We finally get Brock Purdy back, and the Cardinals roll out Jacoby Brissett, who has honestly looked better than Kyler Murray this season.

But the real story?

No Marvin Harrison Jr.

Which means…

Key Plays:

• Trey McBride (LOCK OF THE SLATE)
• Greg Dortch (my preferred punt)
• Michael Wilson (will be more popular but less appealing)
• Christian McCaffrey (always viable but expensive at 9K)

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4. Vikings vs Bears (48 O/U, MIN -3)

Another divisional matchup, and this one plays inside a dome.

The big question:
Can JJ McCarthy get it done?

Key Plays:

• Justin Jefferson
• Jordan Addison
• T.J. Hockenson (cheap sleeper TE)
• Aaron Jones (increased usage with JJ at QB)
• DeAndre Swift (excellent leverage play)

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5. Bills vs Buccaneers (BUF -5.5)

Both teams are missing major weapons. The Bills don’t have Dalton Kincaid. The Bucs don’t have Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, or Bucky Irving.

This game brings value purely through necessity.

Key Plays:

• Josh Allen (elite spend-up QB)
• Khalil Shakir (de facto WR1)
• Emeka Egbuka
• Tez Johnson
• Cade Otton

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🔥 Quick Offer: Fantasy Slate Templates

1. Available on Patreon
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2. Also Available on Etsy

The DFS Lineup Builder: A Game-Changing Tool

Eric’s DFS lineup builder tool—available on Patreon and Etsy—is designed to simplify roster construction. Features like automatic salary recalculations, late-swap flexibility, and custom player pools make optimizing lineups faster and smarter.

This tool empowers users to test multiple builds instantly, making it easier to pivot between cash game safety and GPP risk/reward profiles. Now onto the NFL Week 11 Top Draftkings DFS plays:

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🔥 Position-by-Position Breakdown

Now that the slate context is set, let’s get into my top plays by position.

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🏈 Quarterbacks (Cash & GPP)

1. Joe Flacco — CASH LOCK

He’s priced well, in the best game environment, and stacks naturally with Jamar Chase and Chase Brown.

2. Josh Allen

Great for cash or GPP.
If he has no one to throw to? He’ll run.
If he does throw? You might not need to stack him.

Low projected roster % = tournament gold.

3. Jacoby Brissett

Pair him with McBride and you’re cooking.

4. JJ McCarthy

Ugly but viable. He’s cheap ($5200) and gives you rushing upside that the other value QBs don’t.

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💥 Running Backs

Top Cash RBs

• Chase Brown
• Jaylen Warren
• Aaron Jones

All three are underpriced and open the door for stars at WR.

Christian McCaffrey (GPP or spend-up cash)

He’s $9,000.
Can he crush? Absolutely.
Do you need him? Maybe not.

With Purdy back and more weapons healthy, I’m tempering expectations slightly — but he still projects as RB1 on the slate.

Top Leverage RBs

These guys will be underowned, making them great pivots off the popular cheap RB builds:

• James Cook — My favorite leverage play
• Josh Jacobs
• DeAndre Swift

Deep Dart Throw

• Kenneth Gainwell — quietly getting more work and only $4100.

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🔥 Wide Receivers

1. Jamar Chase — LOCK

He’s the cheapest of the elite WRs ($8500) and my top projected WR.

2. JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba)

Could easily outscore Puka in a fast-paced divisional game.

3. Parker Washington ($5100)

Great target share + salary relief.

4. Greg Dortch ($3300)

The best punt WR on the slate for me.

5. Puka Nacua

Expensive — more of a tournament play — but always capable of 30+.

6. Nico Collins

Monster target share without CJ Stroud + fantastic matchup vs TEN.

Other viable WRs:

• Lad McConkey
• Justin Jefferson
• Troy Franklin
• Khalil Shakir
• Quentin Johnston (tournament dart with real upside)

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🔥 Tight Ends

1. Trey McBride — ABSOLUTE LOCK

He had 30 points last week and now gets even more volume with MHJ out.

Play him at TE or FLEX.

2. George Kittle

Purdy’s return boosts his ceiling significantly.

3. Oronde Gadsden

Explosive rookie and solid tournament piece.

4. Steelers Value TEs (for 2-TE builds)

• Jonnu Smith (my favorite at $2900)
• Pat Freiermuth
• Darnell Washington

Jonnu + McBride is a beautiful salary-saving combo.

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🛡️ Defenses

It’s gross, so don’t overthink it.

Cash: Tennessee Titans

They’re cheap, they’ll be chalk, and it lets you access studs everywhere else.

Other options:

• Texans
• Chargers
• Broncos
• Packers

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🎯 Final Thoughts & Slate Strategy

Week 11 is all about:

1. Cheap RBs → Expensive WRs + McBride

or

2. Pay up for McCaffrey → One elite WR → Value WRs

Whatever build path you take, make sure your lineup correlates, your ceiling pieces aren’t duplicated too heavily in GPP builds, and you’re balancing chalk with at least one strong leverage play (James Cook, DeAndre Swift, Nico Collins, etc.).

This slate is tough, but it’s beatable — and I’ll be flipping plenty of builds between cash and GPP to get different while still staying in optimal structures.

Let’s smash Week 11!