What a glorious week of football. Touchdowns were scored all over the place, 13 teams scored over 25 points. Some weird games as well. The Jets made multiple trades at the deadline, only completed 6 passes and still managed to beat the Browns. The Dolphins offense finally showed up as they put a beating on the Bills while running for over 200 yards. Last but not least, Jonathan Taylor officially cemented his place in the MVP running. He now has over 1,100 yards rushing and 17 TDs on the year with still 7 games left in the season. What a year it has been. Now let’s set those lineups for a crucial Week 11 matchup.
Starts
QB – Sam Darnold Seattle Seahawks (@LAR)
If you happened to tune in to watch the Seahawks and Cardinals game, you would’ve assumed that Sam Darnold had a great day, due to the fact that they scored five touchdowns in the first half. Yet that was not the case, because Darnold had a season-high 3 turnovers and his second-lowest passing output. He still should be in lineups this week. He’s had fewer than 10 fantasy points in just 3 of his 10 games this year. On the flip side, he’s had 15 or more points in all 6 of his other starts. This week, against the division rival Rams, he needs to be in lineups. The Rams secondary has been middle of the pack this season, and this game has the makings of a shootout, with both teams top 5 in scoring on the season. If Darnold can keep the turnovers to a minimum, his floor this week makes him a must-start.
RB – David Montgomery Detroit Lions (@Phi)
Not many teams have two fantasy-relevant RBs. The Detroit Lions sure do. With injuries and bye weeks, RBs are almost slim to none at this point. The Lions love running the ball. Through 9 games they average 29 carries per game. David Montgomery might be the second fiddle, but he’s a worthy start this week. He’s gotten 11-plus carries in 7 of his 9 games this season, with 5 of those games going for over 40 rushing yards. He has also found the end zone 5 times on the year. The matchup should be a good one as well. The Eagles are 22nd against RBs in fantasy this season and have given up the 6th-most rushing TDs. Montgomery is a must-start due to being much better than anything else available.
WR – Troy Franklin Denver Broncos (KC)
Troy Franklin has been on a tear in the last month of football. It’s actually shocking. He’s still available in about 40% of leagues. He now has gotten 8 or more targets in 6 of 10 games this season. That stat alone should have him rostered in all leagues. In his last 4 games, he has had 37 balls thrown his way and taken 4 of them for TDs. He is currently the hot hand in Denver’s offense. The only thing is that he has yet to surpass 100 yards receiving on the year. His TDs and target percentage make up for that. I expect a shootout this week at home against the division rival Chiefs. If it’s a high-scoring affair, Franklin will no doubt surpass 8 targets once again. Make sure you have him starting.
TE – Cade Otton Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buf)
Tampa Bay has been hit with an injury bug to their receiving corps all season. The biggest benefactor has been Cade Otton. TEs have once again had a terrible season across the board. You gotta go where the volume is, and Otton has that, with 5-plus targets in 5 straight games. Now he’s coming off his best game of the year with 9 catches on 12 targets for 82 yards. It was a really slow start for Otton to start the year – just 34 yards in the first 4 games of the season. He has now had 5 straight games with 40-plus yards. He has yet to be in the end zone, but you should be starting any TE getting 5 catches for 40 yards in these crucial weeks. He’s available in over 60% of leagues. Go get him while he has the hot hand.
Defense – Ravens (@Cle)
What a turnaround it has been for Baltimore’s defense. They started off the year about as poorly as you can start, allowing 37 or more points in four of their first five games. Now they are looking like a really good streamer to end the season. Since allowing 44 points to the Texans in Week 5, they have really tightened things up, surrendering fewer than 20 points in 4 straight contests. Turnovers were pretty much slim to none through those first five weeks as well, with just 2 during that time. They have turned that around drastically with seven takeaways in the last three games. Now they play the Browns this week, who have scored 20 or fewer points in every game but one this season. The Ravens will be a top ten play this week and should be available.
Sits
QB – Jordan Love Green Bay Packers (@NYG)
With a quick glance, it looks like Jordan Love should be a must-start this week. Then you take a deeper look and he’s a bit risky with his up-and-down play this season. He’s had some highs: 2 games with over 300 yards and 3 TDs. He’s had some lows as well, including back-to-back weeks now without a passing TD and fewer than 10 fantasy points. He has now thrown for fewer than 200 yards in 4 of his 9 games this season. He also has thrown for 1 or fewer TDs in 5 of those 9 games. It has been a truly hit-or-miss season. His 2 best games of the year were against the 2 worst secondaries in the league. He does have a solid matchup this week, but I think the Packers continue to rely on Josh Jacobs, who already has 162 carries through nine games. Better options are available this week.
RB – Jacory Croskey-Merritt Washington Commanders (@Mia)
Jacory Croskey-Merritt came into the season with such buzz, and started off somewhat hot. It has been nothing but downhill since his 2 TD performance in Week 5 against the Chargers. He’s getting the ball but just not doing much with it. Since that game, he’s run the ball 62 times for 187 yards and no TDs. Three yards per carry and no TDs in 5 games simply ain’t cutting it. I was looking forward to this juicy matchup against the Dolphins defense, who have allowed the 3rd-most rushing yards this season. Sadly, I don’t think the matchup matters much at this point. Without Jayden Daniels, the offense just looks flat in Washington. He is currently unplayable and it probably will stay that way the rest of the season.
WR – AJ Brown Philadelphia Eagles (Det)
Not many players this season are giving owners headaches as much as AJ Brown. Once again Brown had a solid matchup against a middle-of-the-pack secondary and was basically just not part of the game plan in Week 10, only getting 3 targets the entire game, with the 3rd target coming on their last offensive snap. He has now had fewer than 30 yards receiving in four of his eight games this year. In 3 of those games, he has had 2 or fewer catches. We are getting too late in the season to afford a WR1 not being involved in the game plan. He does have a good matchup this week, but I don’t even know if that matters with the Eagles offense at this point. Brown is the 7th-highest paid WR in the league, yet he is 43rd in targets on the year. Just frustrating. Start a WR that actually gets the ball thrown to him.
TE – David Njoku Cleveland Browns (Bal)
If the Browns didn’t have two good TEs, I have no doubt that David Njoku would be a top five TE in fantasy. Instead, the rookie Harold Fannin Jr. has really forced the team to throw his way more. The problem is they both have solid projections on a weekly basis. Fannin is getting way more balls thrown his way. The reason Njoku is still rated somewhat high is his TDs. Take those away and it’s been a rather poor season. He has hauled in a TD in back-to-back games but had less than 40 yards in both of those games. He has only surpassed 50 yards once on the season and had 3 or fewer catches in 4 of his 8 games this year. You just can’t bet on TDs, even more so against the Ravens, who are 6th against TEs in fantasy this season. If you were debating between the two Browns TEs, Fannin is the guy.
Defense – Pittsburgh Steelers (Cin)
Being owned in over half of leagues in fantasy and a favorable matchup on paper, I know the Steelers are gonna be in lineups this week. I’m here to tell you that’s a mistake. The thing is, it’s hard to tell if the Steelers have a good defense or not. Some weeks they look as if they do. They have had five games with five or more sacks and 4 games with multiple takeaways. On the other hand, they have surrendered 30 or more points in 4 games this season. One of those games included this same matchup. When they played Cincinnati in Week 7, they gave up over 400 yards of offense and 33 points. This week might not be as big of a shootout, but I don’t think the Steelers are a smart play this week.
