10 Things to Know About Week 11 (#FantasyFootball)
1. Colin Kaepernick to workout for NFL teams.
It looks like Colin Kaepernick will finally get his shot to show that he’s still an NFL caliber quarterback, as the league has set up a workout for him on Saturday, November 16th. At the time this was written 13 clubs had committed to attend, and video of the workout will be sent to all 32 teams. From a redraft standpoint, don’t waste a roster spot on him. Even if he has been working out and staying in shape, he hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016. Even if he’s signed, there is a good chance he’d be a backup. He’s worthy of a pickup in dynasty leagues, as if the league is serious about letting him have another shot, a team could bring him in and give him the off-season to get up to speed. In the highly unlikely scenario he’s signed to be a starter, if he’s thrown right in the fire I wouldn’t expect much fantasy production. Let someone else waste a roster spot, he’s not helping fantasy teams this year.
2. R.I.P. Robby Anderson.
With the way he and Sam Darnold finished 2018, Robby Anderson was a favorite breakout candidate this offseason around the twitter-verse. A slow start this season was chalked up to Darnold’s bout with mono. All was right in the world when Darnold came back to light up the Cowboys and Anderson had his best game of the season (five catches, 125 yards, one touchdown). Anderson was seen as a huge buy low opportunity thanks to the stretch of schedule the Jets are in. But it’s time to accept Anderson for what he is, a poor man’s Desean Jackson. He will certainly have his boom games, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him blow up in the next three weeks (OAK, @CIN, MIA). But you simply can’t depend on him for anything more than a dart throw flex play, even in good matchups.
3. Don’t be afraid to plug in Brian Hill right away.
Many fantasy players tend to want to see how a newly minted starting player performs at least one game before plugging them into their lineups. You don’t need to hesitate with Brian Hill, who has a match-up against a defense that gives up the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs. He performed decently in relief of an injured Devonta Freeman, but in fantasy volume is king, and he got 20 carries in a game he didn’t start. He rushed for 61 yards, but that’s an accomplishment against a tough Saints rush defense. The Falcons heads to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on a Panthers rush defense that ranks fourth worst in rushing yards allowed per game (136.7) and leads the league in rushing touchdowns allowed (17). Start Hill as a solid RB2 in a backfield he should have to mostly to himself.
4. Washington moves focus to 2020.
With the announcement that Dwayne Haskins will be the starter for the rest of the season, the Redskins officially signaled that they are playing for next year (and rightfully so). It’s certainly not his play on the field that earned him the starting job. But they need to see what they have in Haskins, which spells a downgrade for the breakout rookie Terry McLaurin. In three games Haskins and McLaurin have played together, McLaurin averages 2 catches for 26 yards. That will surly improve (it can’t get much worse), but McLaurin loses the ceiling he had with Case Keenum under center, and his floor is literally zero, as he had no catches with Haskins at quarterback in Week 4. With the shift to next year and Derrius Guice finally healthy, I would expect Adrian Peterson to get phased out as they give Guice more run week after week. I doubt Guice gets full bell-cow treatment, Peterson has been effective and with Guice’s injury history they wont want to run him into the ground.
5. You can do worse than J.D. McKissic.
It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but with four teams on bye, things start to thin out rather quickly. Although he hasn’t had a whole lot of success rushing the ball, he’s locked in as the pass-catching back. It’s a last man standing situation for the Lions, as the injury bug has ravished this offense. In relief of Matthew Stafford, Jeff Driskel checked down to McKissic seven times in Week 10, which resulted in six catches for a whopping 19 yards. His value goes up significantly if Ty Johnson is unable to play this week, but even if Johnson does, with a roll as the third down back, he’s a flex play in PPR leagues regardless. He’s had double-digit points in his past two games and faces a Dallas defense that gives up the 10th most fantasy points to opposing running backs.
6. Jared Goff is broken.
In 10 games last year before Cooper Kupp was injured, Jared Goff averaged 313.4 passing yards, 2.2 touchdowns, and .6 interceptions per game. The six games without him of the regular season, those numbers dropped to 259 yards, 1.6 touchdowns, and 1 interception per game. Many thought it was losing his go-to receiver that caused the step back, but he hasn’t been that much better this year. In nine games, Goff is averaging 290 yards, 1.2 touchdowns, and 1 interception per game. He’s thrown for nearly as many interceptions (9) as touchdowns (11) and although the Rams offense is still top ten in points per game, Goff isn’t locked in QB1 he was most of last season. Bill Belichick laid the blueprint in the Superbowl how to stop this offense, and other teams have followed suit this season. Teams have figured out how to stop his play-action heavy scheme, and McVay is struggling to readjust. That’s leading to Goff being exposed as nothing more than a game manager, and someone I’m avoiding in anything outside of plus matchups.
7. Ronald Jones may finally be breaking out.
It took a year and a half, but Ronald Jones looks like he’s becoming the fantasy contributor many though he could be when the Buccaneers drafted him in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He had the best fantasy performance of his young career, and it was through the air versus on the ground. He caught all eight of his targets for 77 yards and chipped in an additional 29 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. It was the first time in his career he scored 20 or more fantasy points. Bruce Arians recently named Jones the official starter and after his Week 10 performance against the Cardinals said Jones “can do even more in the passing game”. If his involvement in the passing game continues, Jones can be a weekly RB2 for the rest of the season. The matchup this week is a tough one however, the Saints give up the fourth-fewest points to opposing running backs. He’s more along the lines a flex play this week, but a fine bye week replacement at RB as well.
8. Melvin Gordon will remain en fuego in Mexico City.
It took some time for Melvin Gordon to finally get going, but over the past two weeks, he’s shown why he feels like he deserves to get paid as one of the top running backs in the league. After not rushing for over 32 yards in his first four games, rushed for over 100 yards the first time this season in Week 10. The past two weeks he’s gotten over 20 carries, scoring over 20 points in each of those games rushed for three touchdowns in that span. The Chargers have a “home game” in Mexico City on Monday Night Football versus the Kansas City Chiefs, and expect Gordon’s hot streak to continue. The Chiefs have given up the most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season, give up the second-most rushing yards per game (148.1), and have allowed the second-most rushing touchdowns in the league (12). With the passing game struggling and the Chiefs pass defense playing better as of late, expect the Chargers to lean on the run and Gordon to have another big game. Gordon is top-5 play in Week 11 and has the upside to finish as the RB1 on the week.
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9. No Green Bay receiver is startable besides Davante Adams.
Aaron Rodgers is notorious for only throwing to receivers he trusts, evident by targeting Davante Adams 169 last season. Rodgers claimed this offseason he wanted to spread the ball around more, but even in missing four games Adams leads the team in targets with 57, the next highest receiver is Marques Valdez-Scantling with 42. It speaks volumes how little Rodgers trusts any receiver not named Adams with the fact the second highest targeted player on the team is running back Aaron Jones. In the four games Adams was out, only one receiver went over 100 yards (MVS Week 7) and there was only three touchdown passes thrown to a receiver. With Randall Cobb leaving town, many expected MVS or Allison to step up as Rodgers number two and have fantasy value. Unfortunately, it looks like Rodgers hasn’t changed and the only receiver he trusts is Adams. Outside of a random big game from time to time, all other Packers receivers will offer little to no fantasy value on a weekly basis. Adams is an every week WR1 and the rest are nothing more than dart throw flex plays.
10. There may be a difference maker on your waiver wire.
Last week there were six teams on bye, and this week there are four. With that many holes to fill players who shouldn’t be dropped have been recently, so make sure you take a look and see if there is someone who can contribute down the stretch. Dede Westbrook is a name that I’ve seen wind up on a lot of waiver wires due to injury and byes and has an extremely nice schedule down the stretch. Will Fuller is getting healthy and is a WR3 with upside who you can get for free. Darius Slayton is coming off a monster performance where he saw a whopping 14 targets. If Sterling Shepard is out for the year, he will continue to have a significant roll in this offense and the Giants have a good schedule coming up. Be sure to go through the waiver wire with a fine-toothed comb, some hidden gems can help give you that extra push in the most important time of the fantasy season.
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