Flex Options for Week 11 (Fantasy Football)
Welcome back to another weekly edition of my flex options article. Last week’s article featured some hits with Aaron Jones Sr., Darius Slayton, and Parker Washington, but one player in the article who did not hit was Kenneth Walker III, and I would like to formally announce that I will be benching him this week in my home league. He’s been an utter disappointment for fantasy this year, and his matchup this week with Los Angeles is horrendous. You might be thinking to yourself, “If I don’t play Ken Walker, who am I going to play?”. If you’re asking that question, then this list is for you.
I would start all of these RBs over him:
Tyjae Spears, RB, Tennessee Titans
Spears is coming off a bye, and you might find him on some waiver wires as a result, but his arrow is pointing upwards for the second half of the season. His involvement in Tennessee’s receiving game gives him a solid floor, as he’s now had 3+ catches in four consecutive games. He’s also averaging an efficient 5.1 yards per carry this season, showing that he’s got juice even in a Tennessee offense that has struggled to move the ball. The split between Spears and Pollard has settled at close to 50/50, which limits Spears’ upside, but he is always just one injury away from taking over the backfield. The matchup this week with Houston is nothing to write home about, but Spears does profile as a fairly matchup-proof flex option thanks to his receiving work. Consider him a classic Flex-With-Benefits this week. You may need some iron underpants to do so, but I’d start him over Ken Walker this week. Spears has more receptions over the last four weeks than Walker has all season.
RJ Harvey, RB, Denver Broncos
Harvey was also featured in the Week 5 flex options article, which didn’t go nearly as well as the Croskey-Merritt play. It’s been Harvey, however, who has looked like the much more capable player since then, consistently flashing on his limited touches. With the injury to starter J.K. Dobbins last week, Harvey might finally get his chance to show what he can do with a significant workload. Unfortunately for fantasy managers, this opportunity comes with a bad matchup against Kansas City, who is ranked sixth against RBs this season. With that said, we just saw Treveyon Henderson torch Tampa Bay last week, who is notoriously tough against the run. The parallels between Henderson and Harvey are hard to ignore this year, as both have had a hard time seeing the field behind a plodding veteran. It appears that both of these veterans have finally stepped aside due to injury, and I think Harvey is definitely worth a spot in your lineup if Dobbins misses this game. It’s a tough matchup, but not as tough as Ken Walker’s.
Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
So, apparently, RBs capitalizing on injuries ahead of them is the theme for this week, and Hunt finds himself in that spot once again. Andy Reid’s comments were less than encouraging with regard to Isiah Pacheco’s injury status, so Hunt figures to see a large workload once again. Similar to Harvey, it’s not a great matchup for Hunt this week, but he saw a 78% snap share in Kansas City’s last game without Pacheco, turning it into an RB16 finish. I would play literally anybody with a pulse if you told me they were going to get a 78% snap share in Kansas City’s offense this year. Hunt has a pulse, and he also has a nose for the endzone with six TDs through nine games. Start him this week over Kenneth Walker III, and you will likely end up with a double-digit fantasy day, something Walker hasn’t done since Week 4.
Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
Allen is another player who teased fantasy managers with a hot start and has cooled off considerably since. He has had just one finish inside the top 40 since Week 3, which actually sounds even worse than it has felt to have him on a roster. I do like Allen’s spot this week, though, against Jacksonville, whose defense is allowing the 5th-most passing yards per game this year. There was some concern over Allen’s snap share following two weeks sub-50%, but that seems to have been game-script related, as he was back up at 51% last week (a normal mark for an elder statesman like himself). His decline in targets has coincided with the rise of Oronde Gadsden, but Gadsden got banged up in the last game and might be limited or out this week. Either way, I still think Allen is an okay start despite this rough stretch. I probably wouldn’t start him over Ken Walker, but I won’t stop you if you want to do just that.
Rashid Shaheed, WR, Seattle Seahawks
Shaheed made a very minimal impact last week in his first game wearing Seattle colors, but there are multiple reasons why I am not super concerned about that. The first reason is the super obvious one – he had only three practices to try and learn Seattle’s offense and get ready for this game. The second reason is that Seattle got up 35-0 almost instantly in the game, and as a result, Sam Darnold only threw 12 passes. In other words, Shaheed’s one target was actually an 8% target share.
He will have an additional week to prepare for this game, and the game script should be much more conducive to passing attempts. Seattle is +3 against the Rams in a 48.5 point O/U. I get that you would like to see some evidence of it first, but Shaheed figures to take over the No. 2 WR role in this offense that is absolutely humming right now. If it happens this week, you’ll want him in your lineup.
