Elevensises. Eleven from Stranger Things. 7-11. Turn it up to…eleven. All right, now what’s your favorite Dungeons and Dragons race? Did you say “Halfling?” I knew it was Halfling! OK, now that I’ve scared away the normies, let’s jump in and figure out what the front door to do about our teams on this, the [checks notes] 11th week of fantasy football. What a coincidence — I didn’t even plan that lede to go with the eleventh week. I suppose that’s what happens when I start writing at the 11th Hour. I’m done, I promise! Meet me after the jump.
Week 11 Highlights
Quarterbacks
Joe Burrow: You thought I was gonna recommend Carson Wentz again, didn’t ya? Fooled you! This time I’m finding faith in one of the most prolific yet still available in 15% of leagues quarterbacks out there, Joseph Dartthrow Burrows. What a suitable middle name! Just don’t misspell it or it sounds really spooky. True story: I’ve been reading technical documents all day on top of managing kids and couldn’t remember the name of my favorite Netflix series about supernatural child labor and Winona Ryder (Stranger Things) so I Google’d “Netflix Spooky Kids” and I wound up with some very different imagery than I desired. ENYWHEY. That’s basically Joe Burrow to every fantasy manager right now. Burrow was a top 10 QB for 3 out of the past 4 weeks and faces off against the Raiders this week. Rudy’s premium tools see a great chance of Burrow joining the 300 yards passing club and he’s still sitting on benches and waiver wires across this great country of US of A.
Running Backs
A.J. Dillon: This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. You kept your vision board of muscular calf examples (OK, just Donkey Teeth did that). You waited patiently while Aaron Jones took all the reps. You waited while Aaron Rodgers got immunized and then came back to dump all the passes short. Now, with Aaron Jones very questionable to play this week, you could get a great game out of Dillon at an opportune time to break away in your fantasy league. He’s still available in about 15% of leagues and coming off an RB3 finish last week, so it’s time to get out those fancy Christmas socks, because you’re getting your holiday gifts early.
Receivers
Hunter Renfrow: Seriously, all I do is write about Hunter Renfrow. He’s got 2 top 12 WR finishes in a row and he faces off against the Bengals this week. Available in 40% of the leagues. Want to pay me to sign into your app and pick him up already?
Corey Davis/Jamison Crowder: The Jets face off against the Dolphins, and the latter has one of the more embarrassing DEF in the league. Ostensibly a NY/Miami game should be media gold — imagine the Nets vs the Heat or the Yankees vs Marlins — and yet we get the Jets vs Dolphins. Whatever. The Jets are starting Joe Flacco, which is basically giving him the veteran’s audition to sign on with another team next year. How generous! Regardless of who plays QB, it sounds like the Jets are taking a moment to take advantage of the Dolphins and show off their air game, which could mean big numbers for these widely available wideouts.
Dan Arnold: Think quick hotshot: who has 3 consecutive top 12 TE finishes? Is it Mark Andrews? Kyle Pitts? The Ghost of Gronk? Nope, it’s Dan Arnold, and he’s available in 70% of your leagues! What would you do with 24 targets over the past few weeks? Probably not finishing last in your league.
Thursday Night Football
Are we done with the awful teams on prime time yet? Like, we know that media gimmicks sometimes don’t work and you want out of contracts, but there are better things to do than make us watch HOU vs MIA every Thursday night. Let’s check out what teams are on tap for TNF: the Patriots vs Falcons. Ah, at least we could understand why some scheduler summer 2020 thought this was a good idea: Matt Ryan was once good. At least Mac Jones has himself figured out now and we get to watch while the Falcons jostle for positioning on the 2022 roster. Who should you play for Thursday Night?
Wayne Gallman: So, Cordarrelle Patterson’s got a sore ankle and Mike Davis had the ball taken away from him. Last week in the Falcons’ most recent blowout, Gallman run 15 times for an inefficient 55 yards, but it’s always fun if you can get an RB with 15 carries. So, be like the Falcons and give Gallman a tryout — the upside is another 15 carries, with the downside being 4 carries from Mike Davis, the guy you drafted in the 3rd round.
Damien Harris / Rhamondre Stevenson: Well, Harris is back to being a full participant in practice, which means…dilemma. This is probably awful for your fantasy football team and yes I would start both because I believe in Javonte Williams AND Melvin Gordon, and we’ve seen them go 100/100 multiple times this year. Harris and Stevenson could do that too…or Harris could carry 20 times and Stevenson 5, or vice versa, or Brandon Bolden comes in because Belichick is Belichick. Best case scenario: the Falcons are down by 2 TDs at the half and we get the game control show and each of these backs is usable for fantasy football and DFS. Worst case scenario: Mac Jones sends 3 TDs to Hunter Henry because variance.
Kendrick Bourne: OK, here’s the guy who makes your DFS team a winner. Bourne has 2 top 10 WR finishes on the year, and has finished in the top 25 WRs 3 out of the last 5 weeks. For a guy that’s available in basically every league, that sounds like fun upside. Would rather trot out Nelson Agholor, who’s been overlooked all season? Give Bourne a shot in this favorable matchup.
All right friends, let’s hear what issues and concerns you have, and best of luck in week 11!
