By SCOTT FELTS
Week 11 is in the books and there were a lot of prominent fantasy players that left games with injuries, putting their participation this week in doubt. Not only are injuries a factor but there are four teams on bye – the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders.
Quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Michael Penix, Jr., both left their games with injuries as did running backs Josh Jacobs and Jaylen Warren. Falcons wide receiver Drake London will miss at least Week 12, if not longer after leaving last week’s game early.
SIT
QB: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys. In the Week 1 matchup against Philadelphia, Dak failed to throw for a touchdown and had just 188 passing yards even though the Eagles were without their top defensive tackle Jalen Carter after he spit at Prescott on the first play of the game. The Eagles haven’t allowed an opposing quarterback to log multiple passing touchdowns against them since Week 4. If he’s on your roster, sack Dak.
RB: Devin Singletary, New York Giants. One would have thought that rookie phenom Cam Skattebo’s injury would have opened the door for Singletary. One would be wrong. Singletary is averaging just 57 yards per game since Skattebo’s injury. Going against a Lions defense this week that has allowed the second fewest fantasy points to running backs this season, the touchdown-dependent Singletary is best left on your bench.
WR: Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers. If you’ve been holding Pearsall on your bench, the last six weeks then you are probably happy that he returned last week unless you checked the stats, Pearsall caught more bullets in 2024 than he had receiving yards last week (1 catch, 0 yards). Too soon? It’s not likely that he will improve much this week as he faces a Carolina defense that has allowed the fifth fewest fantasy points to wide receivers this season.
TE: Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans. Schultz has averaged 5.8 catches and 60.5 receiving yards per game since Week 5 but now matches up with a Bills defense that has allowed the fewest receptions and receiving yards to tight ends this season while also only allowing one touchdown to the position. This Schultz is likely to score “Peanuts” this week… Snoop around for another option.
START
QB: Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers. Purdy finally came back to make his third start of the year against the Cardinals last week, throwing for 200 yards and three touchdowns in a blowout win. When Purdy plays, he is very consistent, averaging 262 yards and multiple touchdowns in the three starts this season. This week’s matchup against Carolina is not the best, as the Panthers have allowed just three passing touchdowns the last five games, but if you have a starter that is out or injured, Purdy should flirt with top 10 QB numbers.
RB: Woody Marks, Houston Texans. Marks was a popular add last week and didn’t quite live up to high expectations. The good news is, he had 19 carries to three for Nick Chubb, which confirms Marks is the starter moving forward. The bad news, Marks rushed for just 51 yards and failed to get a touchdown. Enter a Buffalo Bills defense that has allowed a league-high 14 rushing touchdowns to running backs and just made Bucs running back Sean Tucker look like Walter Payton (140 yards and three TDs). Free Woody!
WR: AJ Brown, Philadelphia Eagles. There was a time that Brown was considered an automatic start regardless of the matchup, but the wide receiver position this season is a revolving door of starter-worthy players. After making it known that he was unhappy with the Eagles’ offensive consistency, Brown saw a season-high 11 targets in Week 11. Going against a Cowboys defense that has allowed a league-high 16 receiving touchdowns to wide receivers this season, if Brown sees a target share that high again, he should definitely get into the end zone.
TE: Hunter Henry, New England Patriots. You may have already given up on Henry on your roster. He has just three double-digit fantasy performances on the season and all of them came in the first month. In most formats, he has not scored 10 or more fantasy points since Week 4. Pay me if you’ve heard this before, (Venmo @JCVol) but the Bengals defense is absolute garbage against tight ends, having allowed a league-high 12 touchdowns to the position. If you’re at the point you are streaming TEs or have a starter out, pick up Henry and give him the start.
SNIPE
QB: Jacoby Brissett, Arizona Cardinals. (Rostered in around 35% of leagues.) All that Brissett has done since coming in for the injured Kyler Murray is set an NFL record for completions in a game (47) in Week 11 and log his fifth consecutive top 12 fantasy performance throwing for 452 yards and two touchdowns. Brissett is worthy of being an every week starter in most all leagues.
RB: Kenneth Gainwell, Pittsburgh Steelers (Rostered in around 30% of leagues). There have been two games that Gainwell has been the lead back for Pittsburgh this season and in both games he scored RB1 numbers as the lead rusher and pass catcher out of the backfield. As mentioned above, Warren left last week with an ankle injury and Gainwell made the most of it, finishing with nine carries, seven receptions and over 100 yards and two touchdowns. The schedule is sweet for Gainwell moving forward with matchups against the Bears and Bills on the horizon.
WR: Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers (Rostered in less than 35% of leagues.) Fantasy football is all about matchups and Watson, in five of his final seven games, faces the Bears twice the Vikings twice and the Ravens. All of those defenses are in the top seven of allowing deep pass completions. Half of Watson‘s targets in Weeks 8-10 averaged more than 25.8 yards. Look for Watson to continue to stretch the field and score fantasy points in bunches.
TE: Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints (Rostered in 45% of leagues.) Johnson is Tyler Shough’s number two target behind Chris Olave. In Shough’s two starts, Johnson has averaged 61.5 receiving yards per game and ranked ninth and third, respectively, in fantasy TE scoring those weeks. Shough sprinkled both red zone and deep targets to Johnson, who should continue to put up fringe TE1 numbers.
Week 12 Freebies (Unless you were kind enough to pay me above).
With Ja’Marr Chase serving a one-game “SPITspension” think about grabbing Andrew Iosivas. The Patriots haven’t been shutting hardly any receivers down lately and he could be a sneaky play.
Chris Rodriguez is looking like the bell cow in Washington when they return to action next week. He had 30 carries in Week 11, nearly as many as Bill Croskey-Merritt (18) and Jeremy McNichols (17) had combined.
Fade Baker Mayfield, who is down an average of 7 fantasy ppg over his last five.
Tay Tay Swift must be done touring as Travis Kelce has averaged 19.5 PPR fantasy points over the last three games. “Wood” indeed!