Friday, November 20, 2020

Week 11 Fantasy Football QB Start'em, Sit'em

The decision on which player to start, or sit, largely comes down to the options on your roster (and/or possibly the players available on your league's waiver wire).

As an example, Justin Herbert is listed below as a "start" for Week 11. And I'd certainly be comfortable going into Week 11 with him as my starting quarterback.

Then again, Herbert may be a "sit" for your team.

In other words, if you own both Patrick Mahomes and Herbert, you should start Mahomes and, in turn, bench Herbert.

For a more direct answer on whether we would start Player X over Player Y, check our Week 11 Fantasy Football Rankings. Instead of making those direct comparisons, the goal here is to highlight players that we like, or dislike, for the week.

Week 11 Fantasy Football QB Start'em

Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. NYJ)

Once again, Herbert appears on this list. With the exception of Week 3 against the Carolina Panthers, Herbert has scored at least 21 fantasy points in all of his starts. Over his past six games, the rookie has finished no worse than the weekly QB11 and has averaged 26.66 fantasy points per game.

In all eight games this season, Herbert has either thrown for 300-plus yards and/or accounted for multiple touchdowns. Even though he threw for a season-low 187 yards last week, he threw two touchdowns and rushed for another. The strong-armed mobile quarterback has averaged 22.0 rushing yards per game and scored three rushing touchdowns this season as well.

One potential concern is game script working against Herbert's fantasy production, as the Chargers are nearly double-digit favorites. That said, few teams have a higher implied total than the Chargers this week. Meanwhile, only three teams have allowed more fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks than the New York Jets this season.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers (at JAX)

Big Ben will face one of those three teams that have allowed more fantasy points to the position than the Jets. Like Herbert and Chargers, Roethlisberger and Steelers are double-digit favorites and have one of the week's highest implied totals. The Steelers have one of the league's better trios at wide receivers with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool all ranked inside my top-15 fantasy wide receivers for the week.

Roethlisberger started relatively slow this season with seven consecutive games finishing outside of the top 10 weekly fantasy quarterbacks. That said, he has exploited back-to-back soft matchups against the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals by throwing for 300-plus yards and three-plus touchdowns in each game.

Cam Newton, New England Patriots (at HOU)

Heading into Week 11, Newton has only two 200-yard passing games and only three passing scores this season. In fact, he has thrown more than twice as many interceptions (seven) as touchdowns this season. Even so, he has finished as a top-12 fantasy quarterback in three consecutive weeks, four of his past five and six of eight games this season.

One of the most prolific dual-threat quarterbacks in NFL history, it has been Newton's rushing prowess that has helped him compensate for a lack of gaudy passing statistics. Newton has rushed for nine touchdowns this season and is tied with Atlanta's Todd Gurley for third-most in the NFL. Only Dalvin Cook and Kyler Murray have more.

While the Houston Texans have been middle of the pack in limiting fantasy production of quarterbacks, they rank last in the NFL in rushing defense (167.4 YPG allowed) and YPC allowed (5.2).

Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders (vs. KC)

The Raiders are on a three-game winning streak and that has led to disappointing fantasy results for Carr. In those wins, Carr has thrown 25 or fewer pass attempts with 165 passing yards or less in every game.

Before that span, however, Carr had a five-game stretch where he scored more than 20 fantasy points in four games and threw for multiple scores in all five. One of those matchups was against the Kansas City Chiefs, where the Raiders were forced to keep up with the Patrick Mahomes-led high-powered offense. In that game, Carr threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, both of which are season highs.

Even though the matchup is difficult on paper, a rematch against the Chiefs could lead to enough volume that pushes Carr into viable streamer territory in Week 11.

Week 11 Fantasy Football QB Sit'em

Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles (at CLE)

Wentz ended a four-game streak of games with multiple touchdowns as he failed to throw or run for a touchdown in Week 10 against the New York Giants. Wentz now has finished as the QB24 in back-to-back performances with a total of only 331 passing yards in those two games combined. It's not a daunting matchup against the Cleveland Browns this week and a healthier supporting cast around him is certainly a positive, but he'll remain outside my top 12 looking in as long as his struggles continue.

Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans (at BAL)

Last week, the Indianapolis Colts ended Tannehill's five-game streak with multiple touchdowns and limited last year's NFL Comeback Player of the Year to a season-low 147 passing yards. Tannehill now has thrown for 158 yards or less in back-to-back weeks.

Even though he had thrown multiple touchdowns over a five-game stretch, Tannehill now has finished outside the top-12 fantasy quarterbacks in four consecutive weeks. With another tough matchup on the horizon, Tannehill is once again outside my top-12 quarterbacks for the week.

Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams (at TB)

Despite a soft matchup against the Seattle Seahawks last week, Goff was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. While he threw for 302 yards, he failed to throw a touchdown and ended the week with only 10.48 fantasy points.

Since starting the season with 23-plus fantasy points in three of his first five starts, Goff now has failed to score 17 fantasy points or finish higher than QB18 in four consecutive starts. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have allowed the eighth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season.

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