It was another bloodbath in survivor pools last week and anxiety levels are high. Working with the best survivor pool strategy takes you close to the top of the mountain, but it’s not without a few pitfalls here and there. Last week it was the Miami Dolphins upending the Buffalo Bills and to crush everyone’s “sleeper pick” dreams, the New Orleans Saints took down the Carolina Panthers. If you’re still here reading, then, obviously, you’re still in the hunt and looking for the top NFL Week 11 survivor picks. Congratulations, at least for advancing to another week.

 Remember, the best survivor pool strategy isn’t simply about picking the biggest favorite each week; it’s about understanding matchups, managing risk, and planning several weeks ahead. Sometimes, though, the football gods have a different plan. You can do all the right things, make the best picks and still find yourself on the losing side of things, like what we just witnessed with the Bills or any time we’ve taken the Green Bay Packers, amirite? We’ll try and help you avoid that as best we can. Those who are still in it are ready to scratch and claw their way to the final weeks, so identifying the best survivor pool strategy can be the key to outlasting the competition and claiming the prize. In this week’s article we'll take you through our process to help you make the most sensible picks to advance to next week and beyond.

 

 

Best NFL Survivor Pool Strategy for 2025 NFL Week 11

Overall, our mindset hasn’t changed regarding the best survivor pool strategy at this point of the season. It still revolves around the "chalky" plays, if they are still available to you. We’re always looking ahead, but right now, we’re still looking at the reliable favorites with the biggest spreads and hopefully, not overexposed in most pools. We prefer to have a home team and, in a lot of cases, avoid divisional matchups and short weeks. We might have to make an exception on that this week, though with the New England Patriots as a 13-point home favorite on Thursday against the New York Jets. As a Jets fan, I can say that rooting against my team is fine when you have money on the line. It’s the Thursday part that has me a little twisted up inside.

For NFL Week 11, the premium examples are the aforementioned Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers who are a 5.5-point favorite over the Cincinnati Bengals and maybe the Atlanta Falcons as a 3.5-point home favorite over the Panthers. However, those last two might give you some pause, given the teams and the divisional matchup. But our friends over at Pool Genius point towards a few road teams who might be better choices given the lack of faith in both the Steelers and Falcons. They have the Packers as a seven-point road favorite over the New York Giants, the Houston Texans as a seven-point road favorite over the Tennessee Titans and even the Baltimore Ravens as an eight-point road favorite over the Cleveland Browns. The choices are as nerve-wracking as they are abundant here.

 

 

Dominate Your Survivor Pool with Pool Genius

Back in Week 3, you got a great introduction to Pool Genius and everything they have to offer. It doesn’t matter that it’s Week 11 – there is still an opportunity for you to join and still take advantage of everything they have to offer. If this is your first time hearing about them, please allow me to show you the way, because they have some exciting tools to help you make the right picks. What happens is, you load in all the information about your pool – how many total participants, cost per entry, specific rules to your pool regarding things like repeat picks or buybacks and since we are already here in Week 11, who you’ve taken so far. From there, they analyze all the data and make suggestions as to who to take, so it is a VERY personalized service.

To continue guiding you, I am using all the tools Pool Genius has to offer and making one of my picks based solely off their data and recommendations. The pick I had been tracking in this article series had Arizona in Week 5, so I am shifting gears. I have a few other picks in pool, so I am still using the tools here, but instead of trying to track another pick, I will simply discuss the top few recommended picks overall and from there, you can determine who you want to take each week.

The top Pool Genius recommendations are as follows:

  1. Green Bau Packers (at New York Giants, 8% popularity)
  2. New England Patriots (vs New York Jets, 42% popularity)
  3. Houston Texans (at Tennessee Titans, 17% popularity)
  4. Dallas Cowboys (at Las Vegas Raiders, 4% popularity)

According to Pool Genius the Patriots are expected to be the most popular pick this week and as a 13-point home favorite with a -800 money line, it’s pretty understandable. It is a divisional matchup and on Thursday night but I may have to look past the day of the week given how lopsided this one looks. The game that ranks second-highest in popularity is the Texans who who are a touchdown favorite over the Titans. Pool Genius lists them as their third-favorite this week, but we do need to hear if C.J. Stroud is cleared from concussion protocol. I’m not sure we can put our lives on the line with Davis Mills. Great game last week, but still….it’s Davis Mills.

Now before I get to my favorite picks to use, I do want to remind you that Pool Genius is a paid service, but for the Fantasy Alarm #Family, they have some discounts available to you. The data and service they provide has been fantastic thus far and I feel confident using their suggestions. 

Now let’s get to my three favorite options for NFL Week 11:

 

 

NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 11

New York Jets vs. New England Patriots: Pick New England Patriots

Our friends over at Pool Genius list this one as their second favorite this week, probably because Buffalo has a solid 1.1 Future Value. But the -800 money line, the 86-percent win probability and the fact that so many people have been crushed in their survivor pool, I think it might be best to use them now even in a divisional matchup on Thursday night. Drake Maye is the favorite win the NFL MVP, they just got a breakout performance from rookie TreVeyon Henderson and Stefon Diggs is doing yeoman’s work leading this receiving corps.

The Jets are still a bit of a hot mess and the trades they made that wiped out their defense should resonate with everyone. They also lost start wide receiver Garrett Wilson again, so outside of Breece Hall, the offense is pretty depleted as well. I’m not being a sad-sack Jets fan here dismissing the boys of Gang Green; I’m being a realist.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns: Pick Baltimore Ravens

While Pool Genius lists this game as their seventh-favorite on the slate, I’m actually going to list them as my No. 2. They do have a 2.1 Future Value, so there is promise down the road if you want to save them, but if not, they’re in a good spot. I’m not worried about the Browns run defense. Even if they can stop Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson has a variety of weapons at his disposal. We’ve also seen teams run on them on the outside, so even Keaton Mitchell becomes a factor

The key here is the Ravens defense. They’ve improved since coming back from the bye, so while Quinshon Judkins is always a strong option, we did see the Jets hold him in check last week. That would then put the ball in Dillon Gabriel’s hands and I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Despite it being a road game and a divisional matchup at that, I feel like the Ravens should win this one handily.

Houston Texans vs. Tennessee Titans: Pick Houston Texans

Road game? Divisional matchup? Waiting for Stroud to clear concussion protocol? Yeesh. Pretty nerve-wracking. The folks at Pool Genius have this game listed as their third favorite and the Texans are being given a 75-percent win probability. They do have a nice home matchup against the Raiders in Week 15, but I’m all about making it through this week without worrying about who I’m saving and for when. The Titans are bad, real bad. I’m not all that concerned here even on the road.

These are the picks in my order of preference this week. Best of luck to you all in your survivor pool contests.