Who Should I Draft With the 11th Pick in Fantasy Football?

You’ve been dealt the 11th pick in your fantasy football draft. Your dreams of drafting Christian McCaffrey or Tyreek Hill are over. However, a championship-caliber squad can still be assembled with such a late selection. Let’s examine the 11th pick in the draft and highlight which players to target based on league format. We’ll also highlight some late-round targets to consider.

Our Perfect Draft series covers multiple draft spots in various scoring formats and league sizes using Draft Hero software. Find your perfect draft today!

Here are the current Perfect Drafts from the 11th spot:

• Perfect Draft: 11th in a 12-Team Yahoo Half-PPR League
• Perfect Draft: 11th in a 12-Team ESPN PPR League​

Standard League: Saquon Barkley, RB (PHI)

Our Multi-Site ADP tool has Barkley going as the 12th pick on average in drafts. With standard scoring, he’s my target for the 11th pick. During his tenure with the Giants, they couldn’t seem to build even a competent offensive line. It’s one of the main reasons why Barkley averaged 3.7 yards per carry or fewer in two of the last three seasons. The Giants have also had bad wide receivers, which has resulted in defenses really focusing on slowing down Barkley. Simply put, the deck was often stacked against him when he stepped onto the field.

Despite everything working against him last year, Barkley had 962 rushing yards and six rushing downs across 14 games. He also chipped in 41 receptions for 280 yards and four touchdowns. Outside of the 2020 season in which he played in just two games, Barkley has totaled at least 41 receptions in each of his other five seasons in the league.

Barkley now goes from playing with a terrible offensive line and a bad group of wide receivers to an Eagles squad that is loaded up front and has two excellent pass-catching options in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Jalen Hurts is going to take some touchdowns away from Barkley when the Eagles get in close, but expect Barkley to be a more efficient runner this season, and still get more opportunities to reach the end zone than he did with the Giants.

An interesting option if Barkley is already off the board is Derrick Henry. He has scored at least 10 touchdowns in each of the last six seasons and might now be in the best offense that he has ever been a part of during his career with the Ravens. Lamar Jackson is an excellent running quarterback, but Gus Edwards still scored 13 rushing touchdowns for the Ravens last season. It would not be a surprise to see Henry approach, if not exceed, 15 rushing touchdowns.

Best Alternative Pick: Derrick Henry, RB (BAL)

PPR Scoring: Garrett Wilson, WR (NYJ)

Wilson has an ADP of 11 and he’s the player to target if he’s still available at pick 11 in your league. He has finished with at least 83 receptions and 1,042 receiving yards in both seasons of his career, despite the Jets being a mess at quarterback. Last year, he was targeted 168 times over 17 games. The Jets figure to be much better at quarterback this year if Aaron Rodgers can stay healthy. Wilson could have similar upside to what we saw with Davante Adams, who had three seasons with the Packers in which he finished with at least 111 receptions, 1,374 receiving yards, and 11 touchdowns.

If Wilson is already off the board, then Barkley would be my top choice here. The next-best wide receivers in terms of ADP are Puka Nacua (ADP 13), Marvin Harrison Jr. (ADP 15), and Adams (ADP 18). One of them should be available at pick 2.02, so there’s no need to reach for one of them now and risk that Barkley doesn’t make it back in the second round.

Best Alternative Pick: Saquon Barkley, RB (PHI)

Half-PPR Scoring: Saquon Barkley, RB (PHI)

Barkley is again my choice for pick 11 in this scoring format. De’Andre Swift is a talented running back, but he’s not on the same level as Barkley. Still, he averaged 4.6 yards per carry while rushing for 1,049 yards with the Eagles last year. While Hurts receives plenty of rushing opportunities when the Eagles get in close, Swift did receive 38 carries inside the red zone, 14 of which came from within five yards of the end zone.

An interesting alternative in this format is Kyren Williams. He only played in 12 games for the Rams last season, but he ran for 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also totaled 32 receptions for 206 yards and three touchdowns on 48 targets. If he were to remain on that pace for the entire season, he would have approached 70 targets. The addition of third-round rookie running back Blake Corum does muddy the waters a bit, but Williams should still be in line for a hefty workload.

Best Alternative Pick: Kyren Williams, RB (LAR)

Superflex: C.J. Stroud, QB (HOU)

Quarterback is the way to go at pick 11 in a superflex league. The sky is the limit for Stroud this season. He stood out during his rookie year, throwing for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was picked off just five times, showing excellent decision making. The Texans already had two great wide receivers in Nico Collins and Tank Dell, but they gave Stroud another weapon in Stefon Diggs. This could be Stroud’s first season with at least 30 passing touchdowns.

If Stroud is already off the board, then Kyler Murray is someone to strongly consider selecting. The Cardinals also upgraded his receiving options, drafting Harrison in the first round. Combine him with tight end Trey McBride and Murray has no shortage of weapons. Murray can also do damage on the ground. Despite being limited to eight games last season, he still ran for 244 yards and three touchdowns. He has never rushed for fewer than 418 yards and three touchdowns in each season that he has played in at least 11 games.

Best Alternative Pick: Kyler Murray, QB (ARI)

Top Late-Round Targets

I like the depth better at wide receiver than running back, so I’m usually targeting wide receivers in the late rounds. In my Fantasy Football Sleepers to Target After Pick 150 article, four of my five targets were wide receivers. If you loaded up on wide receivers and running back early, a quarterback to target in the later rounds is Jayden Daniels (ADP 95). He is currently the 12th quarterback being selected in drafts, so he just makes the cut as a starter in 12-team leagues. However, his rushing ability gives him top-eight upside. He ran for 2,019 yards and 21 touchdowns over his last two seasons in college. The Commanders are also expected to have an underwhelming defense, which might not afford their offense to take on many conservative approaches to their game plan.

In terms of overall strategy in a 12-team league, take your defense/special teams and kicker in the last two rounds. Don’t draft a backup at either position. I also usually tend to draft just one tight end. The preference is to take just one quarterback, especially if you select one of the options in the first couple of tiers at the position. However, if you decide to wait until outside of the top 100 to select a quarterback, it’s ok to take two of them and stream them based on who has the best matchup each week.

Here is a realistic 16-round draft with the 11th overall pick in a 12-team half-PPR league. Each player is listed with the corresponding round that they would be selected in.