The fantasy regular season is in its final stages and so winning your matchup every week is of the utmost importance. Sports Al Dente has you covered with our Week 11 Start Em Sit Em guide!
This week we play heavy into matchups, and if you are debating between two or three players we want to make sure that we have the answer for you! If your player in question is not listed in this guide, ask your question in the comments, and tune in Sunday morning at 8:30 AM PT to get your question answered LIVE! We will be live on SportsAlDente.com, Twitter, and YouTube!
Week 11 Start Em Sit Em
Quarterback Start Em
QB Play Of The Week: Carson Wentz
Wentz has yet to score over 25 points this season, but he has posted 20+ points in his last 2 contests and has a very favorable matchup this week against New Orleans. While the Saints may very well be the best team in the NFL, and their defense has gotten back on track since the first game of the season, they are the last place defense against quarterbacks in terms of fantasy production. What adds to the confidence level in Wentz to produce, is the likelihood that the Eagles will be playing from behind and their rushing game is nowhere near what it was last year. Wentz has the potential to be a top 5 quarterback this week.
Mariota has been a disappointment this season, but part of that is due to an injury he sustained at the beginning of the season that caused him to lose feeling in his throwing hand. He appears to be healed as he has produced 20+ fantasy points in his last two outings, and those were against good defenses in Dallas and New England. This week he gets Indianapolis, who is 25th in the league against quarterbacks. I love the matchup in this divisional game, and we could see another shootout like we saw last week in the Indy Jacksonville game. Mariota will continue his 20+ point scoring streak.
Bold Start: Case Keenum
To start Case Keenum is bold, and may even be too bold IF Joey Bosa is a full go for the Chargers on Sunday. But if Bosa sits again, or is limited, Keenum could see his best performance in a Broncos uniform. The Broncos have had bad luck on the offensive line, losing three starters for the year due to injury. Not exactly what you want if your the quarterback going against a defense that ranks 13th in pressures. However, the Chargers also rank 24th against QBs in terms of fantasy production. The Broncos are coming off of a bye week and are desperate for a win. If the Chargers jump out to an early lead like they tend to do, Keenum may be a worthy start based on pure volume. I would not be surprised to see him throw the ball 35+ times, which could very easily result in 250+ yards and 2 touchdowns. If you don’t possess one of the top 10-12 quarterbacks, Keenum is worth throwing in our starting lineup.
Quarterback Sit Em
The Chargers gameplan should be very simple: an extremely heavy dose of Melvin Gordon. The Broncos have struggled against the run this year, but they have excelled against opposing quarterbacks, they rank 10th. After week one, Rivers has not scored over 23 points and he will score much less than that this week against the Broncos. Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson were held in check against Denver, and Jared Goff had by far his worst fantasy week of the season against the Orange and Blue. Bench Rivers this week if you have another option.
Luck has been the model of consistency over his last 5 games scoring right around 22 points in all of them. I hate his matchup with the Titans this week, however. Tennessee ranks 3rd against opposing QBs and just held Dak Prescott and Tom Brady to 14.8 points and 11.3 points, respectively. Bad matchup, bench Luck this week.
If you have listened to our show, we have talked about at length how Dalton struggles mightily when A.J. Green is not in the lineup. Well, Green is out, and the Bengals go up against a Baltimore defense that ranks 2nd against opposing QBs. Also, Dalton has only scored 20 or more points thrice this year. Use another option if available.
Running Back Start Em
Running Back Play Of The Week: David Johnson
David Johnson is coming off of his best performance of the season and finally made good of his “must start” value. I included him in our Start Em list because he has fallen out of our good graces and is very hard to consider a “must start” every week. Well get that out of your head, and make sure DJ is in your starting lineup against a bad Oakland defense that ranks 26th against running backs. Melvin Gordon posted 25 against Oakland last week, and Marlon Mack bested 27.9 prior to that. At this point, pretty much start anyone against the Raiders, but DJ should finish as one of the top running backs of the week.
In his last two games, Lewis has carried the ball 19 times and 20 times, respectively. He is the clear-cut bell-cow in Tennessee and gives you some receiving ability out of the backfield as well. Indianapolis has the 23rd ranked defense against running backs. Lewis will be poised to have a great game as this a very important division game.
He may still be the darling of the NFL but he is no longer considered a surprise and has been a reliable fantasy starter for many weeks. Don’t let last game worry you. Royce Freeman is still listed as questionable and will likely be a game-time decision. Since his departure, Linday’s workload has come in the form of 18 carries and 17 carries over the past two games. I expect more of the same this week, and he should be used in the passing game more as well.
Running Back Sit Em
Marlon Mack
Mack faces off against the 1st ranked defense against running backs. Aside from two blowup games, Mack has been very pedestrian, if not unownable. The other three games that he has played in, he failed to reach 10 points. With that kind of consistency, a matchup against the aforementioned stellar rushing defense, and Mack finds himself planted on the sit list.
Mixon has been wildly inconsistent all season. He has one two-touchdown game and only two additional rushing touchdowns for the rest of the season. He has only notched double-digit points three times this entire year, and now faces the 2nd ranked defense against running backs in Baltimore on Sunday. Hate the inconsistency, and hate the matchup. Bench Mixon this week.
Peterson has bested 20 points three times this season, but after that, he only has one game with double-digit points (11.2) Last week he was given 19 carries against a bad Tampa Bay defense and was only able to compose 7.9 points. This week he faces the 8th ranked defense against running backs, Houston. Chunk plays are a must at this point for Peterson to be relevant, and I don’t see that happening against the Texans.
Wide Receiver Start Em
Wide Receiver Play Of The Week: Robert Woods
Woods has been solid all season ranking 9th among receivers an scoring less than double-digit points only twice. There are two reasons why Woods is the start of the week. 1) With the unfortunate loss of Cooper Kupp for the season due to an ACL tear, Woods will see his role expand even more and should see his targets increase. 2) Kansas City’s defense can be non-existent at times and this game is going to be a shootout. Pretty much start any Rams offensive player that you have, but Woods will have a big game.
Alshon Jeffrey
Since returning from injury in week 5, Jeffrey has seen some success but has also been a bit inconsistent. This week, however, he gets to face the 32nd ranked defense against wide receivers and so he should have no problem racking up the yards and finding paydirt at least once. Remember how dominant Jeffrey was during his early days in Chicago? Once Wentz and he start to truly click, we could see this form again. Sunday’s game against New Orleans should be a great teaser.
Although I don’t like Andrew Luck this week, I do like T.Y. Hilton. Hilton started off the season strong but has been somewhat unproductive as of late. Look for that to change this week. Tennessee ranks 25th in defense against wide receivers, and Hilton is Luck’s number one target. I would not be shocked if Hilton works his way into the top 10 by the end of the year, and this weeks game is a perfect launching point for that to happen.
Wide Receiver Sit Em
While the Chargers are having a great season, Allen has been quite underwhelming when it comes to fantasy. Currently, he ranks 19th among receivers and hasn’t scored 20 points since week one. This week he goes up against Denver, the 11th ranked defense against receivers. Outside of DeAndre Hopkins, the Denver secondary has done a fairly good job of shutting down teams number one receivers, just check out the Rams and Chiefs stats (Hill 18 points total in two games, Cooks 6.3). Allen will still get a few receptions, but do not expect a big day out of him.
Calvin Ridley had one 37 point game this year and that made everyone believe that he is a must-start every week. Ridley is a tremendous rookie receiver, and if you have him in Dynasty, make sure that you hold onto him, but in season-long leagues, his inconsistency is a cause for concern. In games where he does not record a touchdown, he has yet to top seven fantasy points. Touchdown dependency is not something you want in your starting lineup. Not to mention, he is going up against the 3rd ranked defense against receivers this week. Stay away from Ridley in week 11.
Juju Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schuster took the league by storm as a rookie last year and has become a superstar in the league this year. However, I don’t like his matchup this week against Jacksonville. The Jags have struggled mightily over the last several weeks, but they have still defended very well against receivers as they rank 1st. Juju tends to depend heavily on the big plays, so if that doesn’t happen Sunday, I expect him to remain in the single digits.
Tight End Start Em
Howard ranks 6th among tight ends, and outside of last weeks dud (along with every other Tampa Bay offensive player), has been very productive over the past several weeks. This week he faces off against the 19th ranked defense against tight ends and will have Fitzpatrick as his quarterback slinging the rock. Expect 4-6 catches for 60 or so yards and a potential touchdown.
It’s crazy to think that Austin Hooper is the 8th ranked tight end, but that’s just how poor the tight end position has been this year. That being said, he did haul in 10 receptions last week which is very encouraging and cause for hope that he can at least replicate half of those receptions. Dallas is ranked 21st against tight ends this year so Hooper has a very favorable matchup (we saw what Ertz did to Dallas last week).
Bold Start: Gerald Everett
Everett is a very gifted athlete that we have been waiting for to have a breakout game. Last week saw him receive his first touchdown of the year, but he still only hauled in two catches. The Rams are without Cooper Kupp moving forward, however, and Everett’s role in the offense will expand exponentially. In this high octane Monday night shootout with the Kansas City Chiefs, we may finally see Everett produce what we hoped when he was drafted early in the 2nd round.
Tight End Sit Em
Obviously, Engram has talent or else his name wouldn’t keep popping up in start and sit questions, but at this point in the season, he is way beyond droppable. Engram has only two games above double-digits and ranks 24th among tight ends. Forget this name for the rest of the year. If you have him in dynasty, pray for a QB change sooner rather than later.
With the struggles that Arizona has had, they do have some bright spots on defense. For starters, they rank 3rfd overall against tight ends. Oakland’s offense continues to sputter, and while Cook has been the lone bright spot, I don’t like his matchup against Arizona. If you have another option, go with that.
What makes fantasy sports so difficult is that there are anomalies that can skew the data. Since Jack Doyle has been back from injury, he has been on the field almost double the snaps of Ebron. A snippet from last game: Doyle – 48 snaps, 3 targets. Ebron – 21 snaps, 3 targets, 3 touchdowns. Ebron’s luck runs out this week and he is a sit against the 1st ranked defense against tight ends.
Defense/ST Start Em
Arizona Cardinals
Pittsburgh Steelers
Defense/ST Sit Em
Jacksonville Jaguars
Philadelphia Eagles