We’re diving into the outlooks for Tank Dell and DJ Moore in fantasy football for Week 11. Who is the better player to start this week?
Should You Start Tank Dell or DJ Moore This Week?
The Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer says that Dell is the player to start. His projected 9.8 points include 4.9 receptions, 58.3 yards, and 0.2 TDs. That doesn’t seem like a big stat line, but it outperforms the consensus projection for Moore (9.4 points).
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However, when you isolate my rankings, I see Moore outperforming Dell because of the impending returns of Justin Fields to Chicago and Nico Collins to Houston and the changes that will bring the offenses.
Before Fields’ injury, Moore was the WR7 and WR1 in his final two weeks. Fields’ thumb injury attaches a certain degree of concern for Moore due to re-injury risk, but the receiver has elite upside.
Dell is viewed as a lock to be elite, but in the one week with the top four Texans WRs healthy, Dell saw under half the snaps. He should be more involved in this instance, but there’s still an element of risk.
Tank Dell’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
In the last two weeks, Dell has been WR1 and WR11 in fantasy. He’s been playing at such a high level that he’s hard to bench. There are a few red flags to worry about in Week 11, though. Playing time breakdown is one concern. Game script is another big issue to worry about.
We’ll start by discussing Dell’s potential opportunity. While Week 1 is a long, long, time ago, Dell was the WR4 on the Texans that week. Why does that matter, you might ask? The only week Nico Collins, Robert Woods, Noah Brown, and Tank Dell all played together was in that season-opening contest.
Early on, at least, Brown was the slot WR and has been on a heater recently, too. Woods played the flanker spot for the majority of the games. That left Dell and Collins splitting snaps as the X WR. With others missing, those roles have fluctuated, but all four WRs may play enough Sunday that it zaps some of Dell’s ceiling.
The other concern is the game script. Look, Arizona’s offense appeared to be improved in Kyler’s return. He and the rest of the unit may be able to go punch-for-punch with the Texans. But it’s also possible that the Cardinals can’t keep pace. After all, the Bengals look to be fully back and struggled to keep pace with Houston last week.
If Arizona does fall behind, it’s possible that Devin Singletary will get a ton of carries again. This would be a big issue, as the Cardinals allow the seventh-most fantasy points to the RB position.
It could easily turn into limited production for the passing options. There’s also the risk the points flow to other WRs and TE Dalton Schultz. Dell is a fine WR2 option this week.
DJ Moore’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
As discussed above, Moore and Fields finally seemed to find a rhythm before the quarterback’s injury. After throwing a single TD in each of the first three games, Fields threw four apiece in Weeks 4 and 5 before the Week 6 injury.
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Moore was a big reason and beneficiary of this production, seeing 19 targets in those games and catching 16 passes for 361 and four TDs. He’s the top option and a lock to play close to 95% of the snaps in the game. His ceiling is elite, and while the last few weeks have been tough, he’s got to be in lineups.
After a quiet Week 1, Moore averaged nearly 23.5 half-PPR points per game in Weeks 2-6. For context, Dell is averaging about 12.75 PPG. Moore’s scoring would put him right there with Tyreek Hill for WR1 overall on the season if he continued at that pace.
This week, he gets the Lions, a team that ranks in the bottom eight in terms of fantasy points allowed to the WR position. It’s not a bad matchup for Moore to post another elite game this week.
Just last week, Keenan Allen was the WR1 on the week against the Lions as the only strong pass catcher on his team. Fire Moore up as a borderline WR1 with WR1 overall upside.
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