Fantasy football: Start-em, sit-em players for Week 11
By Jay Marsdale
Playoff races are beginning to take shape in the NFL and that means there is some exciting football this week. With that comes great fantasy football as well. Week 11 is filled with great matchups to exploit in your fantasy football league.
Only a few more weeks to go in the 2017 fantasy football season!
Wins are becoming more gratifying and losses more crippling. Many players need a win this week to keep playoff hopes alive. Some need it to clinch a top spot, but either way this week is set to be fantastic.
Before heading into this week, let’s take a look at how the players who made this list in Week 10 performed.
San Francisco 49ers
Week 10 Hits: Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) start-em, Brett Hundley (GB) sit-em, Lamar Miller (HOU) sit-em, Jordy Nelson (GB) sit-em, and Evan Engram (NYG) start-em.
Week 10 Misses: Leonard Fournette (JAX) start-em, Marvin Jones Jr. (DET) start-em, and Vernon Davis (WAS) sit-em.
Fournette has to still be injured right? He barely played in the fourth quarter and overtime of the Jaguars game last week. If the Jaguars had a healthy Fournette to run out there in a close game, you have to believe they would have. His 33-yard performance was very surprising seeing as he was coming off of so much rest.
Jones was outshined in targets and yards by fellow receiver Golden Tate. I have a feeling that wide receiver group’s production is going to be difficult to judge for the rest of 2017. Tate is the more reliable choice, but Jones is going to have his big games.
As for the good, Roethlisberger started very slow against the Colts but finished strong. Meanwhile, Hundley was not asked to throw the ball 30-plus times in Week 10, and the Packers got the win against the Bears. If Hundley can put up a few more wins, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay medical staff are going to be facing some big questions come Week 16.
Engram has caught a touchdown in his each of his last four games now with one last week against the 49ers. The Giants are in desperate need of playmakers on offense, and Engram is one of their top options. He is a top tight end to close out this fantasy football season and can lead you into the playoffs.
Taking the good with the bad from last week and moving forward. Week 11 start-em, sit-em list hopes to be all positive on such an important week for so many fantasy football players.
Start-em: Alex Smith (KC) @ NYG
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in action after their Week 10 bye. They get to ease back in with an easy matchup against the one-win Giants. This entire offense is set to pad their numbers and embarrass New York in Week 11.
Alex Smith is the fantasy football quarterback to own this week.
I don’t hear many people talking about the Chiefs as a top team in the NFL since their win in Foxboro over the Patriots on opening night. They are getting back into that discussion after Week 11. They are going to put on a show.
Smith is having a career year in 2017. He has 2,444 yards and is completing nearly 70 percent of his passes. Smith is not just controlling the game like in previous years, but he is dominating teams. He only has one interception on the season, and that came in Week 9 right before the Chiefs bye week.
He wouldn’t be making mistakes like that this week.
This Giants team is in shambles. The players are not respecting the coach, and it’s showing on the field. In Week 10, they let rookie San Francisco quarterback C.J. Beathard throw for 288 yards pulling off the team’s first win of the season. The Giants have already packed it in for the 2017 season. Smith will have fun at their expense.
Smith has more weapons than he is going to need in this one. Tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill are mismatches, and that includes the New York defenders. Smith is in store for over 250 yards and a few touchdowns. Get him in your lineup this week and watch the fantasy football points rack up.
Other options: Blake Bortles (JAX) @ Cleveland and Jay Cutler (MIA) vs Tampa Bay