Start 'Em, Sit 'Em For Week 11 Fantasy Football: Start Darius Slayton, Bench Saquon Barkley?!

Hat tip to Coach Gene for even more smooth sailing last week as the Skipper, while the highs and lows of my start/sit season more closely resemble his pal, Gilligan.

Start Davis Mills last week for a (292-2-1; 3-20-1) QB3 finish out of nowhere? You’re welcome. Or did you sit Breece Hall—who somehow managed to rack up 125 yards despite the woeful Jets’ totaling just 169? That’s an absurd 74% of the team share by the way! Sorry (sad trombone sound).

Anyway, forward we march …

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Start These Players In Week 11 Fantasy Football

Darius Slayton, WR, NYG

LAGHEZZA: Sometimes it’s OK to incorporate a little fun into the formula. The New York American Football Giants completed their all-out YOLO transition this week, announcing wildcard Jameis Winston will get the nod under center for Big Blue on Sunday.

Sure, Green Bay’s far from a soft matchup anytime Rashan Gary and Micah Parsons are trolling the waters. With that, the Pack’s bottom-five blitz (12.2%) and sack (4.4%) rates could give deeper routes time to develop for Jameis downfield—not like he’s going to be intimidated anyways.

Remember, we’re not much more than a calendar year removed from Winston torching secondaries over a six-week span as fantasy’s QB5 in points/game (20.0).

Slayton’s still waiting for his first top-24 weekly finish, but the drought ends Sunday. Plus, if you’ve been watching the Giants lately, Slayton not only hauled in a highlight grab of the season, but he also missed a couple of big plays on ticky-tack penalties. Expect a deep target every single time there’s man coverage on the outside.

Jameis Winston, QB, NYG

CLEMONS: If you like any giant wide receiver to go off this week like Laghezza does, then you should love Jameis Winston.

Let's put aside that he was fantasy gold last year when they inserted him into a moribund lineup in Cleveland. Forget about the last time we saw him as a starter when he had 15 total touchdowns and three interceptions. The only things people seem to remember about Winston are the interceptions and his funny cartoon-like antics, but beneath all of that is a fierce competitor and touchdowns, lots and lots of touchdowns.

Winston could be the key to unlocking Darius Slayton's deep ball potential. He could have the formula to bring Jalin Hyatt back to life. In addition to his high-level arm talent, he is much more athletic than he gets credit for. He could find himself with a rushing touchdown to go with his passing scores. I know the Packers defense is tough, but Winston will not care; he will continue to push the ball. Put him in your lineup if you need a quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers, QB, PIT

LAGHEZZA: Aaron Rodgers would probably have choice words for mentioning it, but the nearly 42-year-old’s been among the NFL’s most pressure-sensitive QBs this season. The splits between being able to operate on schedule for the veteran QB are crazy ...

AARON RODGERS PRESSURED: YES ⏩ NO

EPA/Dropback: -0.54 ⏩ +0.18
Passer Rating: 69.5 ⏩ 104.8
Completion Rate: 39.0% ⏩ 74.4%

Of course, the lede’s being buried whenever mentioning this historically terrible Bengals defense isn’t the first word out of my mouth. Then, inexplicably, things arguably went from bad to even worse when star DE Trey Hendrickson (hip) went down. Ugh.

Cincy’s defensive macros could hardly stink any worse over the last 4 weeks: 33.3 points allowed/game, -0.17 EPA/play, 426.6 yards allowed/game, 6.4 yards/play, 46.3% success rate. Each one ranks dead last in that timeframe. Oof. Time to change the difficulty setting.

Remember this year’s theme … Everyone feasts against the Bengals.

Sit These Players In Week 11 Fantasy Football

Saquon Barkley, RB, PHI

LAGHEZZA: Telling people to sit Eagles’ WR A.J. Brown feels a little too on the nose at this point, after going viral during a video game stream. AJB was quoted saying, “If you got me in fantasy, get rid of me.” Yikes.

Shorting the league’s best RBs hasn’t quite worked out so swimmingly for me this season (see James Cook)—but I’m not about to give up on the process now.

Despite logging just a pair of top-10 RB finishes through nine games played, fading Saquon Barkley is always a risky venture. If there’s an out this weekend, Philadelphia’s vaunted offensive line of years past doesn’t strike the same fear in opponents’ hearts without Cam Jurgens (knee) playing center and OT Lane Johnson (ankle) constantly coming in and out.

Suddenly, the Eagles slow pace plus low play volume combined with Jalen Hurts’ lack of RB targets and nose for the end-zone looms large for Barkley’s output—he’s fantasy football’s RB11. Not killing you most of the time, but also not what drafters hoped for after breaking the game last year.

Sorry to say—given the way Detroit’s playing defensively backed by an explosive offense, we could be looking at Barkley’s fourth time in five games as a back-end RB2 or worse.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, WAS

CLEMONS: The “Bill” has come due, and it is time that we pay it. It was a great story when he was introduced to us. A seventh-round pick who had kicked around colleges. He showed so much promise and could further the ridiculous narrative that devalues running backs being taken high in the draft. After all, if you can find backs like Bill in the seventh round, who needs to spend a first?

After Week 1's top-17 PPR performance, everybody was on board. His Week 5, top-five performance solidified him in many fantasy prognosticators' minds.

Over the next five weeks, however, he has failed to score six points in PPR formats. It is time to turn the page if you have not already done so. He has not proven to be valuable as a pass receiver, and although he has averaged 12.4 carries per game, his 3.01 yards per carry are not very appetizing when he has not found the endzone. Maybe there is a new Bill in the future, but it is time for an amendment right now in the nation's capital.

Courtland Sutton, WR, DEN

LAGHEZZA: Courtland Sutton thrived last season for the Broncos on tons of volume, wrapping up his 2024 campaign on nearly eight targets/game as fantasy’s WR15. To the team’s benefit (though not his own), Denver spent a top-100 pick on a wideout for the third year in a row—legitimate target competition was always imminent.

Feels like a good time to mention overall fantasy rankings mean less the further we get into the season—Sutton being the perfect case in point. Perfectly normal to see WR17 on the ledger and immediately think must-start player. However, Denver’s yet to hit the bye, so he’s actually WR29 in PPR points/game—a horse of a completely different color (ooooh ... see what I did there?).

Either way, Sutton failed to crack the top-20 wideouts for five weeks straight despite the Broncos strongest run against their weakest comps. That’s a lot of red flags before factoring in Steve Spagnuolo’s top-four scoring defense. Kansas City’s Nick Bolton and George Karlaftis create pressure and swallow up everything up front. Tough task for DEN.

Frankly, my confidence in Bo Nix to flourish in these high-leverage spots is waning. Quick, think of the three softest matchups on the board. Did you imagine Bengals, Cowboys, and Giants? Those are the only teams he’s produced +20 fantasy points against. I’m out.

Bold Starts and Sits For Week 11 Fantasy Football

The strange thing about bold predictions is that people do not seem to respect the “bold” part. If you do not jump out the window with your selection, people say, “That's not bold.”

If you do, they say, “Nobody is going to do that.”

In most instances, it is a losing battle where you find yourself constantly trying to find or even define the line of what is “bold” compared to what is ordinary or so far gone that it is unbelievable. When you see the word “bold,” understand that it came with consternation. We never know what the response is going to be, but we usually know there is going to be dissension, and we welcome it ...

Bold Week 11 Start: Roman Wilson, WR, PIT

CLEMONS: Roman Wilson spent the better part of the season in obscurity, barely receiving any attention from quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Meanwhile, he's had to watch every tight end known to man get targeted like they were prime Tony Gonzalez in an offense predicated on running and play-action passes.

But a funny thing happened during that Week 7 matchup against Cincinnati, where all three tight ends scored touchdowns. Wilson had a modest two receptions for 17 yards. That seemed to be the catalyst for Rodgers to notice his existence.

Over the next three games, he was targeted 10 times, hauled in seven receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns. With defenses focused on stopping DK Metcalf from going deep and sitting on the tight ends underneath, it has opened up room for Wilson to operate at the intermediate level. He finished as WR10 and WR32 in two of the past three weeks, which clearly puts him in start territory for someone looking to swing big. Cincy will not want to be embarrassed by a bunch of decent to mediocre pass-receiving tight ends. Wilson could be the forgotten man in coverage, and we know Rodgers can find him.

Bold Week 11 Sit: Kyren Williams, RB, LAR

CLEMONS: Williams has been a good fantasy back overall this season. He has been relatively consistent, but there have been games where he has not been as effective. Yes, he is coming off consecutive weeks of top-10 performance, and this Rams offense is operating at a really high level. Here comes a challenge in the Seahawks rush defense. It's ranked third in the NFL. They are only allowing 90.7 yards per game and 3.7 yards per rush. They are also holding teams to 0.6 rushing touchdowns a game.

Now their passing defense is much more leaky. So if you are the offensive genius that McVay is, and you have a quarterback and two receivers playing at All-Pro levels, why would you not choose the path of least resistance? Look for the Rams to go heavier pass in this game, which will result in a lackluster performance from Williams. It might be the game you want to look elsewhere.

John's Parting Week 11 Start/Sit Thought

Our start/sit piece wouldn’t be complete without my favorite research tool, updated weekly throughout the season! Whenever I’m in a pinch, this image is my favorite picture without time for a thousand words.

Want to win weekly fantasy matchups? Attach yourself to the highest-scoring game totals (furthest upper-right corner). Please note I updated our chart to reflect the last six weeks, trying to stay more in line with the current state of things.