This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.
This week, I will look at teams' pace of play and time of possession (through 10 weeks), guess at the highest owned players of the week and provide some picks for Week 11.
Pace of Play and Time of Possession
Fantasy Football is a numbers game. You try to select a team that will accumulate more fantasy points than your competitors through gaining yards and scoring touchdowns. Your players cannot score fantasy points unless their team's offense is on the field. The more plays for your player, the more opportunity to score fantasy points. The chart below looks at each team's offensive and defensive plays per game, offensive time of possession, time a team's defense is on the field and the average time per play for each offense through the first 10 weeks of the season. This should not be your only metric when targeting opposing defenses. You should also look at how the defenses perform against the pass and/or run, but this is a great starting point. Teams with a lot of orange and red make very intriguing targets. I also included the amount of yards and points the team is conceding per game for a little extra information.
As expected, the Eagles are running plays at a staggering pace; almost four seconds faster than the next fast-paced team (Patriots). Also, the Eagles are allowing the second most plays to opposing offenses. Philadelphia is my No. 1 team to target, based on their pace and time of possession. Teams with terrible offenses are also ranked high, such as the Jags, Raiders and Bucs. These teams just can't posses the ball and maintain drives, so the opposing offense has an opportunity to run a ton of plays. The Lions are last on my list. Detroit is running plays at the sixth slowest clip and they have the fourth highest time of possession on offense. Do not target players against the Lions.
Week 11 Projected Highest Owned Players
QB – Mark Sanchez ($6,900) - Quarterbacks look to be very evenly distributed this week.
RB – Jeremy Hill ($6,500), Alfred Morris ($7,300)
WR – Jordan Matthews ($5,500)*Highest Owned in Week 11, Kelvin Benjamin ($6,600), Martavis Bryant ($7,000)
TE – Rob Gronkowski ($8,100)
K – Nick Novak ($4,500)
D – Denver Broncos ($5,200)
Week 11 GPP Plays – Low Ownership Players
QB – Matthew Stafford ($8,600)
RB – Eddie Lacy ($8200), LeSean McCoy ($7,700)
WR – Keenan Allen ($6,400), Alshon Jeffery ($7,900), Calvin Johnson ($9,000)
TE – Travis Kelce ($5,900)
K – Robbie Gould ($4,600)
D – Houston Texans ($5,100)
Week 11 Value Play of the Week
Shaun Hill, QB, St. Louis ($5,000) – Hill is not a good football player, but he is dirt cheap. The Rams should be down big against the high-powered Broncos. If Hill can get a garbage-time touchdown or two, he can provide great value and really free up a ton of salary for a few stud players. Also, it looks like he will be very lightly owned, so not many people will have lineups composed with a $5,000 quarterback and expensive players in the other positions. It could be a great way to differentiate your lineup, if you want to roll with the heart attack trigger called Shaun Hill.
Week 11 Stud of the Week
Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay ($8,900) – Nelson has been awesome most of the year, and he has a very favorable matchup against the Eagles, who are my No. 1 team to target against for pace and possession. Nelson and the rest of the Packers should be on the field for a ton of plays this week. A 200-yard, two-touchdown performance is very realistic for Nelson in Week 11. Load up on players in this game; it could be the highest scoring game of the season.
