RADIO
Whether due to their own play, the play of others, or injuries, players' stock increases and decreases on a weekly basis. Perhaps more than any other, the NFL is a league that experiences ups and downs at a rapid pace. With only 16 games, there’s little room for error and seemingly endless opportunities for improvement. The same goes for fantasy football; managing rosters effectively is key to winning that championship.
Throughout the season, players get hot and see an increased role while others struggle and fight to stay relevant. Experienced fantasy players know this happens every year. In this weekly column, we’ll showcase those who have taken important steps forward and those who have taken steps back.
These are the key risers and fallers heading into Week 11 of the NFL season.
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Week 11 Fantasy Football Risers
Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers
After a three game stretch of sub QB1 outings, Ben Roethlisberger reminded us why his Steelers are undefeated. Big Ben has seven passing touchdowns in his past two games and surpassed 300 yards in each of them. He gets the porous Jaguars Defense this week, but that's not the main reason Roethlisberger is a riser. In the two most important weeks of the fantasy season, Weeks 14 and 15, Roethlisberger gets the Bills and the Bengals. Those are the type of matchups that carry your team to a championship game.
Marvin Jones, Detroit Lions
Left for dead by many, myself included, Marvin Jones has four straight games with double digit fantasy points and is thriving in his second stint as the Lions' WR1 with Kenny Golladay out. Jones has four touchdowns in his last three games, scoring in all of them. With Golladay not expected back for at least another week or two, Jones will continue to be Matthew Stafford's primary target on a team bereft of pass catchers. Jones is an every week WR3, at worst.
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals
Shame on me for not having Tee Higgins here sooner. He's undoubtedly the most under-appreciated rookie wide receiver. I don't even know where to begin with Higgins. He's scored double digit fantasy points in every game since Week 3. He has at least seven targets in all but one game since Week 3. Remember those two weeks where A.J. Green had those flukey big games and some people started to retract their "A.J. Green is done" positions (not me though!). Yeah, A.J. Green is all kinds of done. Higgins is the clear alpha X receiver for the Bengals. Joe Burrow is playing well and throwing a lot because the Bengals are always trailing. Higgins is a matchup proof WR2 and no one seems to be noticing.
D'Andre Swift, Detroit Lions
It only took Matt Patricia 10 weeks to realize that Adrian Peterson is awful and should not be playing snaps at the expense of D'Andre Swift. It was a career high in snaps and touches for Swift and he did not disappoint, posting an RB1 performance with 149 total yards and a receiving touchdown. Swift looks so much faster compared to AP and while he isn't elite at anything, he's very good at everything. Swift looks like the same league winner Miles Sanders became in 2019.
Salvon Ahmed, Miami Dolphins
After Jordan Howard was inactive last week, I kind of expected them to cut him. Sometimes rational coaching breaks through and that appears to be the case with Brian Flores in Miami. Salvon Ahmed is so clearly the best running back on the team. They fed him 22 touches and he delivered 90 total yards and a touchdown. The Dolphins are a legitimate playoff team this season and they want to be a running team, protecting Tua Tagovailoa as much as possible. Myles Gaskin is out at least one more week and if I were in charge of the Dolphins, I'd be hard pressed to give him his job back after seeing what Ahmed can do. The Dolphins don't have a single imposing defense remaining on the schedule. Ahmed is a must start while Gaskin is out and he has the potential to remain so if he continues to play well.
Week 11 Fantasy Football Fallers
Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
I try and avoid putting players on here based on injury, but Drew Brees had been so rock solid all season, with such a high floor. He will certainly miss the remainder of the fantasy regular season and depending on how Jameis Winston does, they may very well hold him out until the playoffs. Brees had scored between 19 and 24 fantasy points in five of his last six games prior to Sunday's injury shortened day. Brees is a drop now.
Tight Ends, All of Them
This is the second time I've had to list the entire tight end position here. It's historically bad. 13 points was the best any tight end did in Week 10. There were only eight tight ends that hit double digit fantasy points and three of them were backups that no one was starting. Some names that comprised the TE1s were Durham Smythe, Richard Rodgers, Cameron Brate, and Pharaoh Brown. 2020 is a real good argument for converting the TE position into, at the very least, a WR/TE flex.
Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints
The #1 player on my do not draft list this season was Michael Thomas, but it was because I was never taking a wide receiver in the first round, not because I expected us to be here. 10 weeks into the season, Thomas has played in three games with totals of 4.7, 10.1, and 4.7. Now, he goes from Drew Brees to Jameis Winston. While I do think Winston can maintain the offensive output of the Saints offense, Winston doesn't really mesh well with your precise route runners; he's more of a throw it up guy. The Saints don't have a go up and get it guy. Once you get 10+ yards away from the of scrimmage, that's no longer Thomas' domain. It's very difficult to call him a WR1 going forward. He might not even be a WR2. He certainly hasn't been thus far, even in the games he's played.
Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears
We currently live in a world where I'm wishing Mitch Trubisky would come back. Nick Foles may be out multiple weeks and while he certain is nothing to write home about, Tyler Bray is not an NFL quarterback. Allen Robinson has never been thrown a pass from a good quarterback (the Pro Bowl doesn't count). Not in the NFL. Not in college. Somehow, he may be playing with his worst passer yet. The volume will always be there and Robinson is unquestionably one of the 10 best wide receivers in the NFL, but the fantasy production is going to suffer.
Melvin Gordon, Denver Broncos
Melvin Gordon has 25 carries for 90 yards over his past three games. Drew Lock is one of the worst quarterbacks we've seen in a long time. He's Dwayne Haskins level bad. He should've been benched weeks ago. This offense is missing its best receiver. The defense is not doing them any favors. It's an all around terrible situation for an incredibly overrated running back. I have no idea why the Broncos signed Gordon. He's not better than Phillip Lindsay. At age 27, it sure looks like Gordon is just about done. He may be droppable after this week.
Darrell Henderson, Los Angeles Rams
There were no concerns about Darrell Henderson's health after having two full weeks to rest a thigh bruise. He was fine. In a game the Rams led throughout and were content to just sit on with the run game, Henderson managed just seven carries. We laugh at Malcolm Brown turning his first four carries into two touchdowns, but when it was all said and done, Brown's six carries were just one behind Henderson. Cam Akers carried the ball 10 times. The Rams have a terrible matchup at the Bucs next week and it looks like Henderson may be pushed back to third in the pecking order in this backfield.
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