The WN Fantasy Football Report: Week 11 start em and sit em

You see that? It’s the light at the end of the tunnel. Not only are there a mere three weeks left until fantasy football playoff pictures become crystal clear, but this is the last week of byes! No more tricky “who should I start for Tom Brady?” questions. That team you drafted back in August will be ready to play as you imagined they would three months ago.

Hopefully, at least. The injury bug hit again last week. New starters have taken the reigns from old ones. Well, look at that. I guess we aren’t out of the woods just yet.

As always, let’s start off where we got it right last week. It was a good one, especially if you used our advice in DFS leagues.

It may have seemed like a no brainer, but Kirk Cousins was still not started in 10% of leagues last week. If those owners had listened to myself, Saucy T and The Wifeyiac they would have won.

GREAT STARTS BY THE WAYNIAC NATION TEAM:

QB Kirk Cousins: 324 yards passing, four TDs, no interceptions
TE Jordan Reed: three receptions, 29 yards, two TDs
RB Lamar Miller: 43 yards rushing, six receptions, 50 yards receiving, one TD
WR Travis Benjamin: seven receptions for 113 yards
TE Gary Barnidge: six receptions, 65 yards and a TD
WR Allen Robinson: five receptions, 51 yards and a TD
WR Allen Hurns: five recpetions, 62 yards and a TD

POOR RECOMMENDED STARTS:

QB Blake Bortles: 188 yards passing, two TDs, one INT
QB Landry Jones: left injured halfway into first quarter
RB DeAngelo Williams: 54 yards rushing, 15 yards receiving

SMART RECOMMENDED SITS:

WR Alshon Jeffery: three receptions for 23 yards
QB Tyrod Taylor: 158 yards passing, one TD, 12 yards rushing
WR Jeremy Maclin: three receptions, 17 yards
RBs James White/Brandon Bolden: two combined yards rushing, six yards receiving
RB Latavius Murray: 48 yards rushing, five receptions, 29 yards receiving
QB Sam Bradford left hurt
TE Jimmy Graham: three receptions for 41 yards
QB Russell Wilson: 240 yards passing, one TD, one INT, 52 yards rushing

PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE STARTED THESE SITS:

QB Jay Cutler: 258 passing, three TDS
WR: Larry Fitzgerald: 10 receptions for 130 yards

The good definitely outweighed the bad last week. With the Steelers, Browns, Giants and Saints — all teams that provided a huge chunk of fantasy starters — who do the Wayniac Nation team see as winners this week?

(Note to the reader: These picks are made by a collection of experts (I have put the name of each expert ahead of their respective picks). I don’t necessarily agree with all of theirs, and they certainly don’t agree with all of mine. It is the same order every week: Dunton, Teddy Ballgame, JD, Saucy T, The Wifeyiac, and myself (The Wayniac) closing it out, with an occasional guest spot from Fee. Keep in mind as you read, that these are not always consensus picks, and should you find as the season goes on that you feel more comfortable with one of our experts starts, by all means, make he or she your go-to expert.)

Dunton:

Start of the Week: RB Charcandrick West showed us all his skills against the Broncos defense this past week. Now he goes up against a much less impressive Chargers Defense. The Chargers are giving up 122.9 yards/game which has them ranked 27th in the league. West has another chance to prove that the Chiefs still have some life in them with the Broncos beginning their After Peyton Era.

Sit of the Week: WR AJ Green-The Cardinals Defense is strong against the run and the pass. This is their second big game in two weeks and will once again showcase what could be the best team in the NFC. If you saw Green’s game against the Texans you waited all night for Green to do something, and you are probably still waiting. Well you are going to keep waiting after this week when the Honey Badger and Co. lock in on AJ. Don’t expect much out of him.

Fee:

Starts of the Week: QB Matthew Stafford and TE Eric Ebron against OAK are in a bad team/bad defense shootout and Oakland is terrible against the TE. With Ryan Matthews (concussion) out or limited and Bradford out, the Eagles need to go somewhere and Sanchez is going to need the help. Expect a good one from RB DeMarco Murray.

With no Edelman, the Pats should throw against Buffalo’s better than average run D. Start WR Danny Amendola and LaFell. RB Darren McFadden should prove big as Dallas should try to establish the run to ease Romo back into the fold.

Sits of the Week: QB Jay Cutler and TE Martellus Bennett against the Broncos — Talib is back and the D is going to have to win the game. QB Kirk Cousins. Huge week last week…huge. Don’t be fooled. Cincy RB’s and Justin Forsett are ill advised against formidable defenses. WR Jordan Mathews hasn’t lived up to expectations and even with Sanchez throwing it up, even if he comes down with it, he may get lit up.

Teddy Ballgame:

Starts of the Week: I really like WR Allen Hurns to have a big night at home against Tennessee. QB Derek Carr should have a huge day tossing the ball all over the field against Detroit.

Sits of the Week: I would sit the WR DeSean Jackson on the road against a really tough Carolina defense. RB Jeremy Hill will probably struggle against Arizona on the road, I think Giovani Bernard will see the field more in a high-scoring game.

J.D.

Start of the Week: QB Tony Romo– Romo is back for the 2-7 Cowboys with nothing to lose and all of his weapons in tact against a poor pass defense. With the injuries and byes at the position, Romo could be the your answer for week 11 and for the the playoff stretch.

RB James Starks– Aaron Rodgers is banged up and Eddie Lacy is fat. Green Bay has to stop the bleeding this week and they should rely on Starks heavily to accomplish this, regardless if Rodgers plays or not.

WR Danny Amendola– He’s caught an astounding 40 of his 48 targets this season. He and Brandon LaFell will see increased snaps and targets for the rest of the season, making them both must starts going forward.

Sit of the Week: QB Philip Rivers– Speaking of weapons, the Chargers have lost all but one pass catcher and are facing an inspired Chiefs defense.

RB Chris Ivory– He’s been ineffective recently with only 183 yards in his last 2 games. He’s fumbled 2 weeks in a row. Bilal Powell is likely to return. Houston is weak against the run, but I’m afraid that his touches will be reduced enough to not make a fantasy impact.

Saucy T

Starts of the Week: TE Coby Fleener – In Matt Hasselbeck’s first two appearances he targeted Fleener heavily. The Falcons have had trouble covering tight ends this year and give up the 10th most fantasy points to the position. I expect Fleener to be heavily involved as the Colts try to survive without Luck and I expect a huge day for him.

WR Davante Adams – The Packers have lost three straight culminating in a terrible loss to possibly the league’s worst team(Detroit), and in two of those games the Packers offense struggled mightily. The game against the Panthers proved to be a big fantasy day for most of the Packers only after they were down big. Knowing all this you may want to sit your Packers this week against an up and coming Vikings D, but you shouldn’t bench them all. Davante Adams was targeted a ridiculous TWENTY-ONE times against Detroit. Aaron Rodgers is still one of the games top quarterbacks and anyone getting that many looks from AA-Rod should stay in your lineup.

Sits of the Week: WR Emmanuel Sanders – Brock Osweiler will be making his first start as an NFL QB, and while he may be better than the Peyton Manning we’ve seen this year, I don’t expect him to spread the ball around as much as Peyton has. The Broncos will lean heavily on the run game, and when Osweiler does drop back I expect him to look for his most talented WR quite often. Bad news for Sanders owners is Demaryius Thomas is CLEARLY the best WR in Denver. I expect Sanders to fall out of the top 25 at the position as long as Brock Osweiler is under center.

QB Andy Dalton – on Monday Night Football last week “Bad Andy” showed up in primetime again. I still think this is a different Andy Dalton this year than the choke artist we’ve seen in years past, but going up against a tough and aggressive Cardinals defense in another primetime game this week I would steer clear of The Red Rifle for this week.(Just in case he looks like a BB Gun again.)

The Wifeyiac:

Starts of the Week: QB Derek Carr is on fire. He’s posted 20+ points for the past four weeks and has a juicy matchup against the Lions. WR Danny Amendola should be heavily targeted in the passing game. It’s hard to remember people once thought he was the next big thing at WR. Now, maybe out of necessity, he shows those old skills.

Sit of the Week: WR Randall Cobb has suddenly taken a back seat to Davante Adams in targets. Cobb should still be the top dog in Aaron Rodgers arsenal, but he is facing coverage he has never had to before. I think you bench Cobb until the Packers offense gets back on track.

The Wayniac:

Starts of the Week:

QB: Call me crazy this week, but there are two QBs who I wouldn’t normally suggest to start screaming for attention this week. The Atlanta Falcons are coming off of a much needed bye. They are at home against a decimated Indianapolis Colts team, and Matt Ryan has always performed well at home. The Colts are allowing an impressive 88.7 QB rating against their defense and have a modest 16 TD:10 INT ratio, but I think Ryan breaks out of his slump.

I also like Matthew Stafford this week. Derek Carr is a must start and this game could be a shootout. Stafford claims he likes Jim Bob’s offense better and the Raiders are allowing the second most yards per game through the air this season. This could be one of those 400-yard, four TD games for Stafford.

RB: The Miami Dolphins are allowing 135.6 yards rushing per game (2nd worst in the NFL). They have also allowed eight TDs to RBs this season while forcing a fumble a mere once. Start Darren McFadden this week, especially with so many changes coming behind him on the depth chart.

WR: Is Amari Cooper still not a must start? I think he should be, especially with how hot Derek Carr’s hand has been. I also like Demaryius Thomas this week. I could see a lot of people looking to bench him with Brock under center, but here are two things to keep in mind. The Bears have allowed 17 TDs to WRs this season — and Thomas hasn’t scored since September people — and Brock is really not that much of a downgrade to Peyton the way he had been playing of late. You can bet the first time starter will be targeting his best weapon all day long on Sunday.

TE: Jordan Reed is a stud, no matter how good the Panthers defense is — which is nasty by the way. When Reed gets shut down in the yards department, he snags two TDs. When teams shut him down in the red zone, he becomes their top receiver and goes off for 120. He’s that good. Don’t be scared off by the Panthers defense. Cousins has to throw somewhere.

Def: Allow me to go homer on you. The Houston Texans just entered the playoffs last Monday Night. No, I don’t mean they clinched a playoff spot. I simply mean that every game from here on out matters, because nearly every team they play stands in their way of playoff contention. Look how they stepped up on MNF against an undefeated team on the road. The Jets are not as good as the Bengals and they are all banged up a little. Kevin Johnson is a difference maker in this secondary.

Sits of the Week:

QB: Everyone knows that Kirk Cousins was benefitted by playing the Saints, right? Good. Also, the Cardinals defense has allowed less than 15 points per game to opposing QBs on their turf. Sit Andy Dalton this week.

RB: Justin Forsett plays a nightmare front seven against St. Louis. Also, I have said it every week this season. Jeremy Hill is the modern day Jerome Bettis. If he doesn’t get two TDs, you realize he’s averaging 40 yards per game on the ground. The difference between Hill and The Bus is that Bettis became one of the NFL’s all time rushers before settling into that role. Hill is not worth a start… ever.

WR: DeSean Jackson. This guy is an injury waiting to happen. I don’t think he is a viable bye replacement anymore. Against the Panthers? Don’t even think about it.

TE: Remember last season, how after week 7 or so, I put Vernon Davis as my TE Sit of the Week and said I would leave him there until he proved to me otherwise. He never moved. I am taking the same approach with Jimmy Graham as of right now. I told you to sit him last week, and I will continue to do so until I am shown otherwise.

Def: The great thing about this season is that there is that 31 of the 32 NFL teams all have a chance because no team is dominant. No team aside from the Patriots. I don’t care if Edelman is out. The Patriots have an extra day to find a new weapon. Sit the Bills this week, the Patriots are a steam roller right now.