Fantasy Football Tight Ends Week 11: Tucker Kraft Primed to Smash
We're into the latter half of the season, and Freedman is here with his top tight ends for Fantasy Football Week 11:
It's Week 11.
Just four weeks left in the typical fantasy regular season.
Are you 0-10? So what?! There's still time for you to go on a run so that you don't finish with the worst record in your league. You still have the opportunity to lose with dignity.
Are you 5-5? Great. With just four more wins, you'll almost certainly make the fantasy playoffs.
Are you 10-0. Perfect … but stay humble. Stay focused. Don't let up. In many leagues, you still have time to swing an opportunistic trade with a desperate team that can make your squad better.
Four weeks left.
Let's make the most of them.
As of Tuesday evening, here's an early look at my (preliminary) favorite Week 10 fantasy plays—the guys who (in some combination) …
- Might be high in my fantasy rankings relative to the industry consensus.
- Need to be started in most season-long leagues.
- Must be added if they are on waivers.
- Possess underappreciated upside.
- Have advantageous matchups.
- Should be considered in daily fantasy.
- Make for desirable dynasty acquisition targets.
- Are on teams with player-friendly betting odds.
- Stand out in our Fantasy Life Player Prop Tool.
Some customary notes.
Updates: After I submit this piece, any changing opinions I have will be reflected in my rankings and my projections (accessible with a FantasyLife+ subscription), which I will update throughout the week.
Scoring & Ordering: All fantasy points are half-PPR scoring unless otherwise stated. Players are ordered within position roughly (but probably not precisely) according to my rankings.
Abbreviations: Check out the end of the piece for abbreviations I might use.
Bye Week: This week, the Cardinals, Buccaneers, Giants, and Panthers are on bye.
Sports Betting Data: Odds are as of 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 11, and based on the consensus lines in our Fantasy Life Odds Page.
Freedman's Favorites: Although we publish this piece as four separate articles broken out by position, I think of it as one cohesive whole and write it as such. With that in mind, please be sure to check out the rest of my favorite Week 11 fantasy football plays in the other positional previews.
Freedman’s Favorite Week 11 TEs
Tucker Kraft (Packers) at Bears
- Packers: -6
- O/U: 41
- TT: 23.5
Coming out of the bye, QB Jordan Love (groin) should be close to full health, which is great for Tucker Kraft, who has 22-299-5 receiving on 31 targets (with four yards rushing and a two-point conversion) in six games since Week 4, when he took over for the injured Luke Musgrave (shoulder, IR) as the team's No. 1 TE.
For the Bears, SS Jaquan Brisker (concussion) has been out since Week 6, and he's yet to return to practice, so I'm skeptical we'll see him against the Packers.
In his absence, the Bears have allowed TEs collectively to put up 28-357-0 receiving on 39 targets in four games.
- Jaguars TEs (Week 6): 11-113-0 receiving | 12 targets
- Commanders TEs (Week 8): 8-97-0 receiving | 13 targets
- Cardinals TEs (Week 9): 5-69-0 receiving | 6 targets
- Patriots TEs (Week 6): 4-78-0 receiving | 8 targets
Under HC Matt LaFleur, the Packers have dominated the Bears in epic fashion.
- LaFleur ATS vs. Bears: 10-0 | 93.2% ROI | +8.15 Margin
- LaFleur ML vs. Bears: 10-0 | 57.5% ROI | +12.7 Margin
If the Packers take it to the Bears as they always have with LaFleur, that will likely mean an excess of offensive production, which could directly benefit Kraft.
The Hot Route
Taysom Hill (Saints -1.5, TT: 23) vs. Browns: Last week, Hill had a season-high 63% route rate without WRs Chris Olave (concussion), Rashid Shaheed (knee, IR), Bub Means (ankle, IR), and Cedrick Wilson (shoulder), and since returning in Week 8 from injury he has 8-98-0 receiving on 11 targets in three games. That's not a lot, but it's good enough when placed alongside the 13-53-1 rushing he's had in that same time period. And he should continue to see work as a runner without RBs Kendre Miller (hamstring, IR) and maybe Jamaal Williams (groin).
Mike Gesicki (Bengals +2, TT: 22.5) at Chargers: Once again the Bengals might be without Tee Higgins (quad), who last played in Week 7. In his five Bengals games without Higgins, Gesicki has 26-312-2 receiving on 36 targets. His performance last week was tremendously disappointing (30 yards), but his usage was highly encouraging (season-high 75% route rate and 9 targets).
Hunter Henry (Patriots +5, TT: 19.75) vs. Rams: Henry's coming off a disgusting scoreless 14-yard performance—but he still has a team-high 57 targets, 40 receptions, and 428 yards receiving. The Rams are without FS John Johnson (shoulder, IR).
Abbreviations
- Fantasy Points per Game (FPPG)
- Against the Spread (ATS)
- Over/Under (O/U)
- Team Total (TT)
- Moneyline (ML)
- Return on Investment (ROI)
- Adjusted Yards per Attempt (AY/A)
- Expected Points Added (EPA)
- Success Rate (SR)
- Completion Percentage Over Expected (CPOE)
- Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA)
- AirYAC (Air Yards + Yards After Catch)
- Weighted Opportunity Rating (WOPR)
- Average Depth of Target (aDOT)
- Short Down and Distance (SDD)
- Long Down and Distance (LDD)