The Fantasy Footballers’ Starts of the Week for Week 11
Week 11 is here, and The Fantasy Footballers brought their Starts of the Week to Thursday’s show. Andy, Mike, and Jason discussed their selections and the reasoning behind those picks on the podcast. Below is a summary of who each of the guys picked. If you haven’t listened to the podcast yet, you can find it here. Also, give JoinTheFoot.com a visit as it provides a ton of additional resources exclusively for #FootClan members.
Andy’s Starts
QB: Ryan Tannehill vs. HOU
Tannehill has played the Texans four times as a starter for the Titans. In those four games, he was QB4, QB10, QB3, and QB5 with a total of 12 touchdowns. Andy is about the match-up here, and he believes Tannehill will have his best game of the year. The running game is currently struggling, so the team will depend on Tannehill’s air yards. Andy points out that Houston is terrible, so Tannehill is a good start this week.
RB: James Conner vs. SEA
Conner takes on a Seattle defense allowing the second-most fantasy points to opposing running backs. Arizona runs the ball at the second-highest rate in the NFL. Andy thinks Kyler Murray plays in Week 11, and this will be the first time we see Conner with Murray and without Chase Edmonds. If Murray does not play, the match-up still makes Conner a great start. Conner also leads the league in rushing touchdowns with 11 rushing scores, more than 22 different NFL teams.
WR: Rashod Bateman vs. CHI
Since Bateman came off IR, he has had two games with six targets and two games with eight targets. Bateman faces the Bears in Week 11, a defense funneling the ball to the wide receiver position. The Bears are allowing the fourth-highest target share to wide receivers and the fifth-highest target success rate to wide receivers. Marquise Brown is a valuable part of the Ravens offense, but Bateman is also an essential part of the offense. The Ravens’ running game has been struggling, so the offense probably won’t depend on it. There is a clear margin between Baltimore wide receiver Sammy Watkins and Bateman. Bateman and Hollywood are the future.
TE: Dawson Knox vs. IND
In Knox’s first game back last week, he tallied 84-percent of the snaps versus the Jets. In the previous six weeks, the Colts are 30th against fantasy tight ends. Andy said he is playing both Emmanuel Sanders and Knox in this contest. Vegas likes Josh Allen to hit at least four touchdowns in this match-up, and Knox should see plenty of balls his way.
Jason’s Starts
QB: Joe Burrow vs. LV
This week, the Bengals are on the road, taking on the Raiders. The Bengals are coming off their bye week, so they are fresh and ready to go. Burrow is still a young quarterback, and the team around him is also full of youth. As the season progresses, many rookies have improved. Burrow’s weapon Jamar Chase is already great, so imagine the future. Burrow currently ranks third in the NFL in touchdown rate, Cincinnati throws inside the 10-yard line at the second-highest rate in the league, and the Raiders are allowing the third-most plays per game. With weapons such as Tee Higgins and Chase, Burrow has his recipe for success. Tyler Boyd also plays a vital role as the WR3 on the roster, where he succeeds. He does well in that situation. Jason also notes that CJ Uzomah has had monster games, and this Week 11 game could be another big one for the tight end.
RB: Myles Gaskin @ NYJ
Jason does not think Gaskin is good, but he still has him as a start. That means he is confident in Gaskin’s ability to put up fantasy points this week. Gaskin has done the back-and-forth thing for six weeks, having games that were great-awful-great-awful-great-awful — so you know what comes next. Now, even though Jason is not serious about the pattern being the reason to play Gaskin, he still thinks it is interesting. Gaskin is still getting work in this offense, even if he has looked bad. The coaching staff is sticking with Gaskin when the Dolphins play the Jets, and you should too. Opposing running backs are crushing the Jets this season. The Jets are currently on a 16 game pace of 550 fantasy points surrendered to the running back position, the most fantasy points ever, by a wide margin.
Getty Images / Mark Brown
WR: Amari Cooper vs. KC
Last week was CeeDee Lamb‘s week, and Jason states that every week is a CeeDee Lamb week. Cooper had a tough week last weekend playing against cornerback AJ Terrell. This week, you can confidently start Cooper. The Chiefs are allowing the third-most passing yards and fourth-most 20+ yard plays in the league. Cooper currently leads the Cowboys in end zone targets, and Dak Prescott should utilize Cooper in the red zone. Jason is big on both Cooper and Lamb this week. He wants a piece of this game, and he is not afraid of last week.
TE: Pat Freiermuth vs. LAC
The Muth! He is a rookie, and rookies are usually better in the second half of the year. Over the last month, Freirmuth is on a pace of 123 targets and 90 receptions. The Steelers are utilizing him around the goal line. Whether or not Ben Roethlisberger plays, Freirmuth is still an excellent start this week. Last week, he had nine targets, but his fantasy finish didn’t look great because of his previous fumble in the rain and sleet. The Chargers are 28th in fantasy points given up to the tight end position.
Mike’s Starts
QB: Tua Tagovailoa vs. NYJ
Tagovailoa is Mike’s streamer at quarterback this week as he faces the Jets. Over the last five contests, the Jets have allowed top-12 production to the quarterback position. NYJ looks atrocious on the defensive side of the ball. In three of the past four games, the Jets have given up top-five QB points. Tagovailoa has been adequate in his limited starts, so Mike says stream away with the Miami QB.
RB: Leonard Fournette vs. NYG
Fournette is RB13 on the season. The Buccaneers’ running back has been playing excellent football for both real life and fantasy football purposes. Since Week 4, when Fournette made that shift to the full-time RB, he is averaging just over 16 fantasy points a game. The only RB averaging more is Ezekiel Elliott. Mike says to fire him up.
WR: Emmanuel Sanders @ IND
This game should be a bounce-back game for Sanders. Sanders’ average depth of target is over 18-yards, which is massive. As of late, he has not hit, but early in the season, he was getting the air yards he needed to hit. Eventually, it will happen again for the veteran wideout. Mike believes this will be the week he gets back to being a very startable asset.
TE: Adam Trautman @ PHI
This entire season, Mike has been bringing up streaming tight ends in this segment. Mike says this is the week where he can confidently say this is the player he wants to start up against the Philadelphia Eagles. Over the last five weeks, the Eagles are allowing the fifth-most points per game to tight ends. The Saints have had a shift in the previous three weeks, with Trautman’s target share rising to 17-percent. He has not done a lot with the targets in those three weeks, but Mike believes this is the week we see a top-12 performance from Trautman.