Who To Start, Sit, And Scoop Up For Your Week 11 Fantasy Football Lineup

The final three games of the fantasy football regular season are upon us. You’re probably scraping and clawing towards the playoffs as parity hits your league hard, so dig down deep, play your studs, hold your nose when it comes to the Browns and try your damndest to make it to Week 14, because the fantasy playoffs are magical, and anything can happen.

This week’s byes: Atlanta, Denver, NY Jets, San Diego

Start of the Week

Tom Brady: The Patriots just lost for the first time this year with Brady under center, now he’s going to take it out on the 49ers. Yes, San Francisco, who gives up the 7th-most points to opposing QBs. Brady may be down Gronk, and he may not play in the second half, but you can expect him to put a bruising on the Niners in a way that only the Patriots and a scorned Belichick can. There’s no way Brady finds his 0 TD, 1 INT game against Seattle acceptable. He probably can’t sleep at night.

You don’t play the Patriots when they’re angry, you only survive them.

https://twitter.com/TomFornelli/status/797980936952369152

Start/Sit

QUARTERBACK STARTS

Marcus Mariota: It’s time to run him back out there again. The Titans are playing their “exotic smashmouth football” to perfection and they’re tearing up weak defenses. Now they’re traveling to Indianapolis to face one of the worst defenses in the league, so it’s a lock that Mariota continues his high-scoring ways. He’s also surprisingly cheap in DFS.

Kirk Cousins: The Packers are now an enticing matchup for all opposing QBs, and Kirk Cousins has proved time and time again that he can be a consistent top 12 QB. He’s kept the turnovers down, and put an efficient 22/262/2 line against Minnesota. You’re only missing Matt Ryan and Philip Rivers this week, but Cousins should still be top 8 at worst. Now it’s time for the only sports cliché more tired than the phrase “dumpster fire.”

Jameis Winston: Cam Newton’s play against KC shows that QBs can run and pass on them, just not to their TEs. Winston should get back on track against the 20th-ranked pass D, you just have to be patient. The best part: Winston is only $5900 on DraftKings. With Ryan and Rivers out, Winston is a top ten option.

QUARTERBACK SITS

Joe Flacco: The Ravens passing offense has been up and down all year, and game flow could either keep the Ravens with their unpredictable, sloppy offense off the field for long stretches of time, or they could be forced into rushing, making mistakes. There’s real potential for a top 15 finish for Flacco here, Dallas isn’t forcing turnovers and they’re ranked in the bottom third of the league against the pass, but there are so many better options than Flacco if you’re in a 14-team league or less. Don’t look at Dallas’ pass D and get cute.

Carson Palmer: I’m going to tell you not to respect the Minnesota defense in a few short paragraphs (see Johnson, David), but that may not apply to the turnover and sack-prone Palmer. Even with 376 yards passing and a TD against San Francisco in Week 10, Palmer still finished outside the top 16. Dumpoffs to David Johnson are nice to the DJ owner, but a healthy QB score they do not make. There are better options considering the byes are almost finished.

Derek Carr: This is a real hipster call, but Carr has to come down to reality sometime so why not against a defense ranked in the top ten of fantasy QB defense? The Raiders will be at home, but unless you’re in a 14+ team league, chances are you don’t have Carr as your only QB. Prescott against the Ravens, Mariota against the Colts, and even Kaepernick against the Patriots could be a safer play.

WIDE RECEIVER STARTS

DeAndre Hopkins: He’s back! Hopkins accounted for just under 50 percent of the Texans’ team passing yards and… Oh, Hopkins had 5/48. Brock Osweiler only threw for 99 yards. My god.

Still, you should give Hopkins one last chance on a week where he has legitimate high WR2 potential. You can never really trust him again, but the Raiders still rank in the bottom 5 of points allowed to opposing WRs. Yes, the Raiders have improved in recent weeks, but if Will Fuller is out, Hopkins should see another 13 or so targets and hopefully get in the end zone.

Stefon Diggs: For once the man was once injured, but now he has seen 42 targets in the last three games. He’ll be playing against Patrick Peterson, but who knows how much. Peterson might not shadow Diggs on his shorter routes, and the Cardinals are in the bottom third of the league to number two receivers. Diggs is the best offensive player on the Vikings right now, and they need to give him the ball, so they probably will. A lot.

Now here’s a random stat about Mr. Diggs:

Terrell Pryor Sr: Surprisingly, the Steelers are a top 7 defense against WRs, but last week Dez Bryant carved them up for 6 catches and 116 yards. I think the Browns are simply going to have to throw, and Pryor will get an Allen Robinson Special™ of garbage time points. Pryor is a relatively cheap DFS option, and he still saw 9 targets in Week 10 despite having Corey Coleman back.

WIDE RECEIVER SITS

Cameron Meredith: Alshon Jeffery is out for the next 4 games after a performance-enhancing drug violation now the Meredith-Cutler connection may truly blossom in earnest. Maybe. Who knows? I have to see it to believe it, and Eddie Royal or Zach Miller could be the ones who benefit from this. Of course, there are limited options on the Bears offense if Jordan Howard is out with an injury, but defenses will actually have to pay attention to Meredith now. And Jay Cutler. No one likes him. No one. He’s bad.

Sammie Coates: Unless his benching was just for a single game, avoid Coates like the plague. He’s in the doghouse. He did have 1 target on his 2 whole routes, but this isn’t reassuring:

The timing couldn’t be worse with the Steelers playing Cleveland, but there are other weapons on the Steelers that could pay big (see the TE section for more).

J.J. Nelson: All good will was flushed down the drain when he fumbled a ball early then dropped a pass that resulted in an interception. Nelson was supposed to bring balance to the dark side of the Cardinals passing offense. Bruce Arians made the speedy Nelson the chosen one. Now Michael Floyd might be back as the no. 2 WR and no one knows what to do or what to expect. How could you, J.J.???

RUNNING BACK STARTS

Ryan Matthews: After sitting out the last two games leaving the fantasy world to consider Mathews done or part of a 4-headed Eagles RB monster (or Sproles’ backup), then Mathews gets 21 touches on 26 snaps. That’s weird and won’t happen again. That said, Mathews could see 10-15 touches against a Seattle run D that’s given up 5 rushing TDs in the last 2 games. This is reactionary as hell, and one fumble could send him back to the bench, but for now, roll with him. If you’re without Devonta Freeman or any number of decent backs this week he could be an RB2 (now that his tooth is healed).

LeGarrette Blount: Let’s run the big guy out here two weeks in a row. Even with Gronk out with a punctured lung, the Patriots will have no problem pummeling the 49ers into a soft goo, then letting Blount stomp all over what’s left over until the clock strikes 0:00. If Blount can have 3 TDs against Seattle and 12 TDs this season, we need to all just accept the fact that Blount is going to get his every week now.

And you know Belichick had to change his sweater after watching this:

This matchup between the Patriots and 49ers can also be looked at as some sort of political metaphor, with Trump-supporting Brady and Belichick crushing one of the most liberal cities on the west coast. Hmm.

David Johnson: This is a reminder to not respect the Minnesota run D anymore. They went from one of the top run defenses in the league to giving up 116.5 yards per game on the ground over the last 4 weeks. That’s solidly in the back-half of the league. Johnson is also a lock for 5 catches and should score a TD, so spend the money in DFS because Johnson is still a top 5 option. We don’t need a reminder of his greatness, but just in case:

https://twitter.com/AZCardinals/status/797940202585006080

RUNNING BACK SITS

TJ Yeldon/Chris Ivory: They’re splitting carries right down the middle still, and they’re getting basically the same touches through the air. They can both be penciled in for 8-10 rushes each, and 2 catches each. Ivory may or may not be the red zone back, and this is just a reminder that there have to be better options out there for you (Rob Kelley or even the Minnesota backs). They could have RB3 or RB4 potential in PPR leagues?

Here’s this.

Ty Montgomery: So, James Starks is back and that’s basically killed that fun little ride we had for a few weeks. Montgomery only saw 5 total touches: 3 rushes and 2 catches while the Packers were in catchup mode against the Titans. Maybe some of it was gameflow, maybe the entire receiving corps is healthier and thus he’s needed less, but Montgomery is too risky to play now. He was only in on 22 snaps.

C.J. Prosise: All signs point to Thomas Rawls making his glorious return Week 11, which leaves C.J. Prosise as a flash in the pan, fun for one week waiver wire pickup relegated to third-down duty at best. Maybe he can carve out a little role for himself after he caught 7 passes against the Patriots, but he should be avoided in standard leagues.

TIGHT END STARTS

Ladarius Green/Jesse James: This is for the desperate Gronk owner, like me, that is hoping Big Ben doesn’t throw 40 percent of his targets at Antonio Brown this week in Cleveland and spreads the love a bit. Green is making his way back to playing after sitting out the first 9 games, and a lot of the preseason, with concussion issues. He was dynamic in his first 4 years on the Chargers, and with Markus Wheaton and Sammie Coates underwhelming and Darrius Heyward-Bey out for the season, maybe the TEs finally get some nice work. Keep in mind that James played 52 of the snaps on Sunday to Green’s 12, but both have an opportunity to score against the Browns.

Everyone has an opportunity to score against the Browns.

Martellus Bennett: Let’s watch the hit that possibly punctured Gronk’s lung and broke the hearts of millions of patient Gronk owners:

https://twitter.com/TheInsideZoneUK/status/798181137466200064

So it looks like Gronk is going to miss the juicy matchup against the 49ers, which leaves Marty Bennett ready and available to chew up some yards against his brother’s division rivals (that matters to a Bennett brother and you know it).Bennett had 7 targets and 102 yards against Seattle. Yeah, playing opposite Gronk helps with the coverage, but playing the 49ers is like playing against 9 men on D.

Tyler Eifert: So what if the vast majority of his points came on a single play? We know Eifert is the real deal and the 2nd option on the Bengals. Buffalo gives up over 14 YPC against the TE and in Eifert’s second “real” game back he saw 12 targets. He saw far less against the Giants Monday night (ohhhhHHHHHHH Monday Night), but he’s a default top 8 TE every week now. Once again — don’t get cute.

TIGHT END SITS

Cameron Brate: I now officially believe in Cameron Brate. He played pretty damn well against the Bears going 7/84/1, but that’s the Bears, and now he’s going against Kansas City who has a top 3 defense against the TE. The Chiefs have only given up 361 yards against the TE in their first 9 games, so this is a real thing.

Kyle Rudolph: The Arizona Cardinals are the absolute best in the league when it comes to defending against the TE. You’re basically missing Ebron, Gates and Gronk this week, so there are plenty of options out there, especially with new the new offensive coordinator only giving Rudolph 14 targets in the last few games. I still believe in Zach Miller. Rudolph is just too unpredictable right now, even after getting 8 targets against Washington.

Zach Ertz: He’s been looking good with 15 targets in his last two games, but now he’s playing a Seattle D with Kam Chancellor. A Seattle D that will destroy Gronk with a single hit and leave most mortal teams reeling. The Eagles don’t have the weapons of the Patriots or even the Bills, and so I expect Ertz to be shut down.

Waiver Wire

It’s a slow week for the waiver wire, but there are some options out there.

CHI RB Jeremy Langford: If you have Jordan Howard, be aware that he might be hurt (you simply don’t know with the Bears). He sat out the second half of last week’s game seemingly with an ankle injury, but he said after the game that he was fine. That doesn’t add up. There’s potential he misses time, which brings Langford back into the fold, but it could be ugly.

NYJ RB Bilal Powell: Week after week he seems to get it done in PPR leagues, and with 43 percent ownership, it’s time to scoop him up. Forte is proving to be an iron man of sorts, but all handcuffs must be grabbed now… Just in case.

BAL RB Kenneth Dixon: I’ve been banging this drum for the last few weeks, but it’s getting more and more clear that the Ravens are moving towards a time-share trending towards Dixon taking over the lead RB duties in one of those classic late-season fantasy tales of legend. Terrance West got a huge amount of the carries compared to Dixon, 21-6, but West had 65 yards rushing, Dixon had 38. Dixon is the better RB. It’s only a matter of time.

GB RB James Starks: Do you really not have him? You should’ve had Starks last week, now you’re going to see a massive uptick in ownership after the clear display of trust from the Packers. Montgomery doesn’t look like he should be worried about, and this is Starks’ job for as long as he stays healthy. Game flow dictated a 10-touch game against the Titans, but the Packers should be in more “normal” games going forward, which should bump up Starks’ touches by at least 5. Dude’s 28 percent ownership rate makes no sense.

ARI WR Michael Floyd: It’s okay if you just threw up in your mouth a little, but a speculative add on the once-hyped Arizona receiver could be beneficial down the stretch. We know Floyd is obsessed with his contract, we know he’s played poorly over the first half of the season, but maybe, just maybe, he can return to relevance and deliver you glory. After J.J. Nelson fumbled and dropped a pass on Sunday, he tallied a 5/101 line. What if? He’s seen 13 targets in his last 2 games.

BUF WR Robert Woods: Sammy Watkins could be coming back soon, but for now, Woods is the no. 1 passing option in Buffalo and is delivering some solid PPR numbers, getting 50 targets in the 6 games since Watkins went on the PUP list. Seemingly healthy, he should be busy against Cincinnati.

Here’s Mike Patton singing Italian songs in case you’re on the outside looking in, and need a pick-me-up.