DL Streaming 101: Week 11
Professor IDP looks at the best DE and DT streaming options in your IDP fantasy football leagues for Week 11.
Welcome to the Week 11 edition of DL Streaming 101! Another four teams are on bye in Week 11, giving us plenty of more opportunities to stream! As usual, let’s take a look back at how we are doing before looking at where we are going in Week 11.
The 10-point-per-game average streak continues for an eighth week, although I had to sweat this one out a bit and it is still more top-heavy than I would like. Alim McNeil showed that he belonged in the very rare Ideal Tier, finishing the week as DT4 with over 30 fantasy points. Tuli Tuipulotu got his revenge motivated by my dropping him a tier last week finishing as DE8. As an aside, Tuipulotu joins an ever-growing list of players whom the market has caught up to since their debut in this article as he is now too highly rostered for future consideration.
In addition to these highlights, Week 11 also had a few lowlighs including Daniel Ekuale and Levi Onwuzurike failing to crack five fantasy points and Arnold Ebiketie failing to record a single point. Overall, the average across all 11 healthy plays last week was 12.17 which was down slightly from Week 9’s mark of 13.45 (reported incorrectly last week as 14.65 due to a formula error). Finally, the overall correlation between my streaming model and fantasy output was a respectable .327.
In the 2024 season, we were finally able to add data to the Ideal Tier grouping which leads all streaming categories in average points, average PFF run defense grade, and average snap share. The two Solid Tiers are relatively comparable in most respects so when you see two or three graduation caps below, use your discernment on which player you like more rather than the tier grouping. Overall, streamers are averaging 11.62 points per game just above the unofficial starter benchmark of 10.
On to Week 11 which features two Ideal Tier suggestions for the first time since Week 2!
DL Available in 75% of IDP Leagues
Alim McNeill, DT, DET (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
McNeill has the snaps (87% in Week 10), the talent (PFF’s fifth-highest-graded DI on the season), and a slightly advantageous matchup against the Jaguars in Week 11. While the Jags have stifled opposing DTs each of the last two weeks, they also have allowed some monster games to the position throughout the season. McNeill is projected to line up against G Blake Hance who has 65 snaps on the season and a dreadful 28.0 PFF grade in limited action in 2023.
Maliek Collins, DT, SF (🎓🎓🎓)
Another stalwart of DL Streaming 101, Collins has slowly worked his way up to a very respectable DT22 ranking for fantasy on the season. While he might not have the grades of Alim McNeill or other top DT, he is playing a great snap share (72% in Week 10) and has the most advantageous fantasy matchup for DTs this week. The Seahawks are averaging over 50 points allowed per game to opposing DT groups and let both Braden Fiske and Kobie Turner feast last week to 28+ fantasy points each.
Kenny Clark, DT, GB (🎓🎓)
Clark may be a name you know, but he seems to have fallen out of favor with the fantasy community (similar to Grady Jarrett at the start of the season). I’ll be the first to point out that Clark has had some stinkers this season scoring under 10 points in seven of nine games in 2024 with lower PFF grades than we have come to expect. The reason why he makes this list this week as a Solid (Deeper) play is opportunity-driven. Clark has played at least 61% of snaps in every game this season and faces the third most fantasy-friendly DT matchup this season against a Bears team that gave up three 25+ point performances to the Patriots last week.
Arden Key, DE, TEN (🎓🎓)
Key is putting together a very solid year with an overall PFF grade of 72.1 (41st out of 194 players graded at the position). From a fantasy perspective, he is DE29 on the season thus far but is still available in far too many IDP leagues. While last week was down from a snap share perspective (68%) we have seen his snap ceiling (87%) as well as two monster games in 2024. The Titans play the Vikings this week who don’t represent a particularly good or bad matchup so this is a play based on his combination of talent and production.
Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, MIA (🎓🎓)
Ogbah’s virtues include a PFF run defense grade over 70, snap shares in the 70s, and five games this season as a respectable to good fantasy starter. The case against Ogbah has been his sub-par PFF pass rush grade (49.3) and only 12 pressures on 350 snaps in 2024. Ogbah is still worth a look due to the features going his way as well as a great matchup against a Raiders team that is allowing the 3rd highest fantasy average to opposing DEs on the season.
Michael Hoecht, DE, LAR (🎓🎓)
Hoecht is a risky play this week given he is solidified as the third edge option in L.A. That role still netted him a 66% snap share in Week 10 and he has played well with his opportunities this season with PFF run and pass defense grades each over 63. Hoecht’s matchup in Week 11 is against a Patriots team that has a bimodal distribution of points allowed to opposing DEs with several teams feasting this season (49ers, Jets, Titans, and Texans all broke 40 as a position group) with others facing famine (Bears, Cowboys, Dolphins, Jaguars, and Jets all scored less than 25).
DL Available in 90% of IDP Leagues
Keeanu Benton, DT, PIT (🎓🎓🎓🎓)
Much of the deeper streamers this week are redemption stories for this article and Benton leads the way. He was a suggested streamer play in Week 8 and accumulated a paltry 5.25 fantasy points. Fast forward three weeks and he is making his return as a Tier 1 - Ideal play for Week 11. The Steelers finally unleashed Benton in Week 11, allowing him to play 86% of snaps. He responded with his fourth-best graded game of the season which included a sack, pass defended, and a tackle but was only credited with the sack by PFF (as of this writing). This means he is still under the radar and this is a great time to pick him up, play him, and hold him for future streaming opportunities should he continue to see this increased volume.
Travis Jones, DT, BAL (🎓🎓🎓)
I suggested Jones as a DL streaming option back in Week 7, after which he rewarded us with 1.75 fantasy points. What has changed? Primarily, his snap shares are back where we expected them to be in the high 60% range. Additionally, while teammate Nnamdi Madubuike deservedly gets his credit after his DT1 performance last week, Jones quietly generated a season-high five pressures in Week 10. Jones appears to be getting healthy and just in time for a matchup against the rival Steelers who have been a DT-fantasy-friendly opponent regardless of quarterback.
Chauncey Golston, DE, DAL (🎓🎓🎓)
I am once again nervous about recommending Golston but until he is more highly rostered (or lets us down), I am going to keep looking at him as a viable streaming option. The return of Micah Parsons ate into Golston’s snap share but did not touch Carl Lawson’s percentage. While Golston’s PFF numbers are better than Lawson's, we know from seasons ago that Lawson has talent making this a situation to monitor. If I am DE-needy in Week 11, Golston remains worth a look since he still played the most snaps of any Dallas edge last week and will likely draw the less difficult Tackle matchup avoiding superstar Laremy Tunsil.
Levi Onwuzurike, DT, DET (🎓🎓🎓)
Back to the guys who disappointed when their names were included in past versions of this article, a short scroll up will see that I suggested Onwuzurike last week only to see a 2.25-point showing. Still, when a defensive tackle is capable of playing an 85% snap share, I will not move away too quickly. For the season, Onwuzurike has a 66.6 PFF pass rush grade and has generated 27 pressures, ranking 11th among all interior defenders. As mentioned above, the Lions are facing a reeling Jaguars team with a backup QB and patchwork offensive line which are markers I like for opposing pass rushers…
Josh Paschal, DE, DET (🎓🎓)
…including edge rushers! I am not including Paschal in the redemption story since he was ruled out due to injury the one week he was included in this article, but it will be nice to see him put up some tape alongside new teammate Za’Darius Smith. While Smith’s snaps have to come from somewhere, the Lions kept Paschal on the field for 90% of plays in Week 10 and he responded by generating five QB pressures and a sack alongside three tackles.
Arnold Ebiketie, DE, ATL (🎓🎓)
Ebiketie burned readers of this article last week by putting up a 0 in Week 10 (his second 0 of the season). Still, a dive into last week’s metrics helps to reveal why he gets this opportunity for redemption in Week 11. Despite his worst graded game of the season (overall) according to PFF, he led the Falcons in both DE snaps and pass rush grade. On the season, Ebiketie has a modest 20 pressures but only one sack. Positive regression is coming if he keeps leading the Falcons in snaps and, facing Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix who leads the NFL with 29 pressures generated, this could well be the week Ebiketie gets home.
Good luck and if you have any questions about deep DL plays, my office is always open on Twitter (@ProfessorIDP). While this article is a freebie, please consider supporting me, the show, and the broader IDP community by adding your league(s) to the 2024 State of IDP Survey!
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