Week 11 of the NFL season is right around the corner, and fantasy football owners everywhere are trying to optimize their lineups. Deciding on who to start and sit isn’t easy, especially when a player like Dede Westbrook starts catching passes from a new quarterback. Let’s take a dive into all of the best start em’, sit em’ matchups of the week to put together the best possible lineup.
Week 11 Running Back Start/Sits
Dede Westbrook, Terry McLaurin Highlight Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Start/Sits
Start: Dede Westbrook
Nick Foles is back, which means that Dede Westbrook is about to see an increase in targets. As mentioned prior to the season, Foles absolutely loves to target slot receivers. This has been the norm in Philadelphia and in St. Louis, and we saw the Foles-Westbrook connection operating at full strength in the preseason.
Westbrook probably won’t be the star some expected in the offseason, as D.J. Chark has established himself as the best receiver in Jacksonville. However, that doesn’t mean the Jaguars are going to completely forget about Westbrook. Even with Gardner Minshew under center, Westbrook saw nine or more targets in four of his last five healthy games. Westbrook already had enough of a workload to be reliable for fantasy, and Foles’ style of play is more conductive to Westbrook’s success than Minshew’s. He should give you a solid WR2 performance for the week.
Sit: Terry McLaurin
Dwayne Haskins is officially the starter for the rest of the season, which is bad news for Terry McLaurin. Case Keenum is a considerably better quarterback than Haskins at this moment in time, but the Redskins aren’t playing with the short-term in mind. They need to figure out if Haskins can be a franchise quarterback, even if Haskins doesn’t give Washington the best chance to win.
Even though McLaurin and Haskins were college teammates, there’s no reason to believe that Haskins has what it takes to consistently get the ball to McLaurin. When factoring Haskins’ inexperience with Bill Callahan’s reluctance to throw the football, it’s hard to imagine Terry McLaurin having any fantasy relevance any time soon.
Start: Curtis Samuel
The Curtis Samuel breakout game is right around the corner. While the former second-round pick has performed well for fantasy owners this year, he is THIS close to putting together a monster game. Through 10 weeks of action, Samuel has 1,044 air yards versus just 442 receiving yards. This 602-yard difference is the largest in the league by a wide margin, and air yard discrepancies tend to even out over time. This basic air yard model has successfully predicted earlier breakout performances by Will Fuller, DeVante Parker, and Mike Evans.
Even though he hasn’t been the most efficient receiver in the league, the Carolina Panthers are still trying to get the ball in Samuels’ hands. Curtis Samuel has received at least six targets in every game since Week 2, so there’s no reason to expect his usage to suddenly change. Samuel sees a high volume of downfield targets – sooner or later, that’s going to translate into serious fantasy points.
Sit: Alshon Jeffery
It might be time to give up on Alshon Jeffery. The Philadelphia Eagles top wide receiver simply hasn’t looked like himself at any point in the season and has struggled to find any semblance of consistency. Jeffery’s only had one great game during the season, and he probably won’t turn his luck around in Week 11.
The Eagles face off against the New England Patriots and their elite defense. Stephon Gilmore is playing like the best cornerback in the league, and he easily has what it takes to erase Jeffery from the game. Gilmore plays man coverage and follows his man more than just about any other cornerback in the league, so Jeffery won’t be able to hide from this matchup.
Start: Mohamed Sanu
Speaking of the Patriots-Eagles game, make sure you put Mohamed Sanu in your lineup. The newest member of the New England Patriots had a solid game in Week 9, recording 10 receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown on a staggering 14 targets. Veteran and rookie receivers alike tend to struggle in New England’s offense, but Sanu appears to have completely picked up the scheme in just under two weeks. The Patriots are coming off a bye week, which means that Sanu should be even more comfortable in New England’s offense moving forward.
It’s worth noting that first-round rookie N’Keal Harry should make his NFL debut in Week 11. Harry is the only first-round wide receiver selected in the Bill Belichick Era, so obviously the hoodie believes Harry is a special talent. While New England will probably have a small set of plays for the rookie, he’s not going to usurp Sanu on the depth chart quite yet.
Sit: Larry Fitzgerald
Larry Fitzgerald looked like his old self in Week 10, recording eight receptions on eight targets for 71 yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unfortunately, this game looks like an outlier performance. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could very well be the worst passing defense in the league, and it doesn’t take much to overpower that secondary. For the vast majority of the season, Larry Fitzgerald simply hasn’t delivered for fantasy football owners. This week, the former All-Pro faces off against a San Francisco 49ers defense which held Fitzgerald to just four receptions for 38 yards two weeks ago.
Start: Calvin Ridley
Mohamed Sanu is in New England, Austin Hooper suffered an MCL injury, and Devonta Freeman is out with a foot injury. The injury bug has decimated the Atlanta Falcons offense, leaving Calvin Ridley as the top receiving option behind Julio Jones. Atlanta’s defense is one of the worst in the league, so the Falcons are going to need to throw the ball early and often to keep up in the game. Julio Jones can’t possibly catch everything, so Riley is going to be a smart start against an unremarkable Carolina Panthers defense.
Auto-Starts (Better Than Dede Westbrook)
Michael Thomas, Mike Evans, Julian Edelman, DeAndre Hopkins, Keenan Allen, Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill, Allen Robinson, Kenny Golladay, Odell Beckham
