Welcome to Week 11's edition of The Cut List, RotoBaller's weekly column filled with advice on who is fat to be trimmed from your roster and who deserves a little more time on your plate. Each player receives both statistical and social media analysis, providing both real and ridiculous reasons why we--Tony Peters and Ben Hamren of the All Stats A Salad weekly fantasy football podcast--feel the way we do. The season's chalk full of angst and anxiety, let us take you beyond the stats to tickle your funny bone and your brain.
All ownership rates are taken from Fleaflicker and opponent ranks are based on the last four weeks. Be sure to check our Week 11 (NSFW) episodes of the All Stats A Salad podcast--out every Wednesday and Friday--by clicking here.
Editor's Note: Once you're done here, be sure to read about even more Week 11 waiver wire recommendations, for all fantasy-relevant positions. Just click on any link: ALL - RB - WR - TE - QB - DEF - FAAB
Week 11 Players to Consider Cutting or Replacing
Alshon Jeffery (WR, CHI) - 98% Owned
WK10: 4-of-9 for 47 yards, zero TD
WK8-WK10: 8-of-17 for 107 yards, one TD
WK11 Opponent: Doesn't matter
TONY: No, I didn't reverse the "All Stats a Salad" portion but it sure is about to seem like it. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery has been suspended for the next four games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He says it came from a supplement he was taking to help with inflammation that he didn't read into enough before taking, hitting the same notes every player busted says. "I listened to someone else instead of looking into it myself because risking millions of dollars for a spoonful of powder is how I roll." With Jeffery ruled out until Week 15 on one of the only teams with a quarterback problem worse than the Browns, he's an easy drop in 12-team leagues and shallower if he can't be stashed.
All stats a salad...Jeffery should be demonized for this. Not for what he took but because he didn't share his performance-enhancing goodies with the only player truly ruining his season: quarterback Jay Cutler. It all goes back to Cutler, and to be quite frank, maybe some PEDs could go a long way to injecting some life into what looks like a purposeless shell of a gunslinger.
Gary Barnidge (TE, CLE) - 66% Owned
WK10: 1-of-4 for 8 yards, zero TD
WK8-WK10: 7-of-14 for 73 yards, zero TD
WK11 Opponent: Steelers (10th in points allowed to TE)
BEN: Remember when tight end Jesse James was promising earlier this year? Well, just like him, Gary Barnidge has been hit hard repeatedly with the reality stick. With the rotating door of quarterback in Cleveland sadly landing on Cody Kessler instead of Josh McCown, any hope of Barnidge having a good time is out the window. We could get into stats and analytics but all that matters is one singular phrase: “The Browns.” 10-team leagues should stay away, as should many standard scoring 12-team leagues.
All stats a salad...as we have shared before, Barnidge loves movies. Every Thursday, he takes 10 fans out to the movies, and he probably even did it last week instead of showing up for Thursday Night Football because TNF sucks. Anyway, this isn't about movies, this is about wardrobe. You will not see his suit, you will bear witness to it!
Corey Coleman (WR, CLE) - 57% Owned
WK10: 3-of-5 targets for 17 yards, zero TD
WK8-WK10: 6-of-12 targets for 58 yards, zero TD (includes game missed due to injury)
WK11 Opponent: Steelers (29th in points allowed to WR)
TONY: The Browns have been a darling for opposing players to face this season, giving up points like Americans cast votes last week. But they cannot feed their own players, something the return of rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman proved is still intact in his return from an early-season injury. Coleman is going to be worthy of all of our attention when this team finds a way to run a consistent passing game. But that certainly isn't likely to happen this year, yet alone before the Browns return from their Week 12 bye thanks to tough matchups coming up against the Steelers and Giants. Fantasy owners in 10-and-12-team leagues almost certainly have better options available to them.
All stats a salad...Coleman posted a new photo of himself last week looking truly dapper in all black, making me feel bad for putting him on this list. As does his public love fest with Steve Smith Sr. In my imagination, any time they speak, Smith is teaching Coleman how to trash talk at a hall-of-fame level, which can only increase his future fantasy potential.
Christine Michael (RB, SEA) - 89% Owned
WK10: five rushes for 22 yards, zero TD
WK8-WK10: 20 rushes for 63 yards, two TD
WK11 Opponent: Eagles (18th in points allowed to RB)
TONY: Thomas Rawls makes his way back to the Seahawks at a perfect time Week 11. Well, for him but not Christine Michael. After being out-rushed by C.J. Prosise the past two weeks, starter Rawls is set to swoop back in and retake the lion's share of touches from them both thanks to Michael failing to convince anyone otherwise. Even if Rawls needs time to get his game feet back underneath him, tough matchups Week 11 against the Eagles and Week 13 against the Panthers aren't going to give Michael a chance to outshine Rawls, let alone Prosise. He's a drop in 12-team leagues and shallower, especially if he can be swapped out for Prosise.
All stats a salad...I'm finding it hard to root against Michael after seeing what he posted on Instagram Monday. He uploaded a screen cap from Sunday's game against the Patriots showing him stiff-arming a Pats' defensive player into the ground, face first. It looks like he is hulk smashing right through that man's face! I don't want to make a man of that strength angry, especially when we share a general area of the globe with us both sharing Washington State as a workplace.
Hot Seat - Sending Warning Signals
Chris Ivory (RB, JAX) - 57% Owned
WK10: 9 rushes for 31 yards, zero TD; 2-of-3 targets for 10 yards, zero TD
WK8-WK10: 22 rushes for 144 yards, zero TD; 4-of-6 for 151 yards, zero TD
WK11 Opponent: Lions (25th in points allowed to RB)
BEN: Does top back mean anything in Jacksonville? New OC Nathaniel Hackett--outside of sounding like an admiral from WWII--seems to be initially giving running back Chris Ivory a go as the, in only the strictest sense, top back. He has been used a decent amount so far, producing only a decent amount of fantasy points. Jacksonville has been a dumpster fire all year, burning any expectations placed near it, something Ivory is not immune to. On the bright side, he isn't in the hospital anymore.
All stats a salad...Ivory is pretty much entirely off twitter. So much so his account--or what I assume is his account--is so old it is decorated with him in Jets regalia. Anyway, his time with the Jags has been sad. He had some stellar times with the Jets like when BB-8 wrote him jokes. Let's try to remember those good times.
Cole Beasley (WR, DAL) - 62% Owned
WK10: 5-of-9 for 33 yards, zero TD
WK8-WK10: 15-of-22 for 142 yards, zero TD
WK11 Opponent: Ravens (3rd in points allowed to WR)
BEN: wide receiver Cole Beasley had one job last week: catch the ball. But he managed to blow that with a huge drop, picking a poor time to be look foolish with fellow receiver Dez Bryant back and balling out and quarterback Dak Prescott finally realizing Jason Witten is on his team. There is also the case that running back Ezekiel Elliot is making for MVP. When there were less mouths to feed, Beasley was a serviceable fantasy option but those days are but dust in the wind. He's a cut in 10-team leagues, a stash at best in deeper and PPR leagues.
All stats a salad...this has to be a fraudulent Twitter account and contest. It claims to be Cole Beasley, and it claims you can meet him. It also claims free oil changes and dinner. But that photo is NOT Cole Beasley. Where are the flowing locks that we all cherish and love? This Twitter is all lies!
Stash and Pray
Carlos Hyde (RB, SF) - 97% Owned
WK10: 13 rushes for 14 yards, zero TD
WK8-WK10: DNP (injured)
WK11 Opponent: Patriots (13th in points allowed to RB)
TONY: Running back Carlos Hyde returned from a shoulder injury Week 10, but he was very effectively ineffective in against one of the league's top running defenses in the Cardinals. Hyde has a better matchup Week 11 when the Patriots come to town, but he follows that up with two terrible matchups against the Dolphins and Bears before the lowly Jets visit Week 14. With the 49ers playing for nothing at this point, it could leave Hyde's owners in a bind if the team plays it safe with one of their better players. If he doesn't show up Week 11, his owners in 10-and-12-team leagues should make other plans pre-Jets.
All stats a salad...before injuring his shoulder and missing a month, Hyde was fined for a post-play celebration in which he brandished pretend weapons towards other players. Which weapons did he bring to imaginary battle? Just the whole dang gun show. Yes, Hyde was fined for flexing his arms, pro wrestling style, towards his opponents. On a side note, the rule that he broke states players are forbidden from, and I quote, committing an act of "incredible hulk" directly towards an opponent.
Jarvis Landry (WR, MIA) - 98% Owned
WK10: 6-of-6 for 53 yards, zero TD
WK8-WK10: 14-of-20 for 164 yards, zero TD
WK11 Opponent: Rams (11th in points allowed to WR)
BEN: In this week's "Better Know a Receiver," we profile none other than... Jarvis Landry! Early in the year, he had some monster games despite catching passes from quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Then the unthinkable happened: the Dolphins realized why make Tannehill throw when could rely on running back Jay Ajayi instead. To Ajayi's credit, he did not like being on my Hot Seat earlier this season, turning into a monster since. Landry is going to find himself riding the pine most of the fantasy playoffs if he and Tannehill can't figure out a way to get him fed regularly.
All stats a salad...already planning to not be at the Superbowl, Landry is a man with multiple interests. Apparently this includes sleepovers. I want in this contest. I don't care that I don't live in Florida or that I am too late to enter. I demand a Landry sleepover!
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