Evan Tarracciano | Mon, Nov 17th 2025, 2:30pm EST

Fantasy Football Studs & Duds: Week 11 (2025)

Can someone please unplug Week 11, wait a few minutes and then plug it back in to see what happens? Perhaps it is like a router that isn’t working right. We need a reset. A do-over. A mulligan. There is no getting around it. Week 11 was ugly doe fantasy football. Marquee stars flopped all over the place in prime matchups, defenses essentially ruled the day and several top-scoring performances occurred from players who are hardly rostered.

The most common comment I received on Twitter yesterday was, “I can’t believe that I was favored by 75-80 points over my opponent, and I’m going to lose this week”.

I feel you.

Look, weeks like these happen. And if I’ll be honest, I much prefer that they occur during Week 11, than in the fantasy playoffs. It isn’t fun losing to an inferior opponent that happened to turn into a buzzsaw by eating a can of spinach like Popeye. But I will gladly take the loss and chalk things up to a fluky week, trusting my overall process and what led me to this point, rather than becoming upset and making knee-jerk changes to an otherwise successful team.

Here are a few of the more notable performances from Week 11 around the league.

Fantasy Football Studs & Duds: Week 11

Quarterback

Stud: Josh Allen (QB – BUF)

Josh Allen likely read my introduction and then sauntered around like Maximus from Gladiator, screaming, “Are you not entertained?” One of the lone bright spots at the quarterback position on Sunday, Allen went absolutely nuclear, passing for 317 yards and three touchdowns, adding another 40 rushing yards and three touchdowns scrambling.

Tampa Bay’s defense had no prayer of stopping him, despite Buffalo’s lack of a valid alpha option in the passing game. The elevation of veteran Gabe Davis adds depth, but it would be nice to see someone of the Joshua Palmer/Curtis Samuel/Khalil Shakir grouping take over. Buffalo squares off in a difficult contest on the road against Houston on Thursday Night Football. The Texans are currently the top defense in the league, surrendering barely 16 points per game. Allen’s heroics will be needed again.

Stud: Bryce Young (QB – CAR)

It feels nice to include Bryce Young here, as he’s been middling at best so far this season. During his best performance of the year, Young completed 31-of-45 attempts for 448 yards and three touchdowns, and showed plenty of moxie by playing through an ankle injury that hampered his mobility. Young feasted against Atlanta’s secondary, routinely peppering Tetairoa McMillan (8/130/2) and Xavier Legette (4/83/1) with targets all over the field.

What struck me most from this game was Young’s ability to be unfazed under pressure, leading Carolina to several scoring drives late in the game and during overtime. The Panthers are now 6-5 and just one game behind Tampa Bay for the NFC South lead. With two head-to-head matchups looming large against the Buccaneers in the near future, the time is now for Young and this offense to take another step forward and become more consistent.

Dud: Justin Herbert (QB – LAC)

Yes, you read his final statistics correctly. Don’t adjust your monitor settings. Justin Herbert threw for a career-low 81 yards and an interception on Sunday, attempting just 18 passes during a 35-6 throttling by Jacksonville. Constantly under pressure all afternoon, Herbert was unable to look downfield or have any time within the pocket and was eventually replaced by backup Trey Lance in the fourth quarter.

Thankfully, Los Angeles has a Week 12 bye that will allow them to regroup and assess what went wrong (spoiler alert: everything). Herbert has a “get right” game in Week 13 against Las Vegas at home, where he will hopefully have rookie running back Omarion Hampton back at full strength. Both Ladd McConkey and Keenan Allen will be relied upon to methodically move the ball up the field, since Herbert isn’t afforded a great deal of time to find Quentin Johnston downfield at the moment.

Dud: Lamar Jackson (QB – BAL)

We knew that Cleveland’s defense occasionally gives Lamar Jackson problems due to their ability to rush the passer, but few could have predicted this level of futility. Jackson completed just 14 passes on the afternoon for 193 yards, throwing two interceptions (one of them being a pick-six). Perhaps even more concerning was that he only scrambled for 10 yards on the afternoon. He did pop up on Baltimore’s injury report earlier in the week with knee soreness, but it was difficult to tell how much that actually hampered him during the game.

Myles Garrett sacked Jackson four times and consistently disrupted plays, forcing the game to become a field position battle all afternoon. Better days are ahead for Jackson in the short term, as he faces Cincinnati and the New York Jets in three of the next four games. Hopefully, he can turn things around in time for the fantasy playoffs.

Running Back

Stud: Sean Tucker (RB – TB)

Rumors swirled that Sean Tucker would be in line for a larger workload heading into Sunday’s contest against Buffalo, with Bucky Irving (foot/shoulder) taking his sweet time to recover and Rachaad White proving yet again that he is an inefficient option in the backfield. In response, Tucker was given the bulk of Tampa Bay’s carries against Buffalo. He promptly carved up their defense for 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground, contributing an additional two receptions for 34 yards receiving.

With Irving’s status murky moving forward, it would make sense for the Bucs to ride the hot hand and stick with what is working. The team travels to Los Angeles to square off against the Rams during Week 12, in what should be a more challenging matchup for Tucker, should he draw the start. Expect his name to highlight most waiver wire columns this week.

Stud: TreVeyon Henderson (RB – NE)

Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me that good things can happen when you provide an uber-talented running back touches? Who knew? (Glances angrily over at Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh for letting Kaleb Johnson rot on the bench so far this season). TreVeyon Henderson torched the New York Jets on the ground during Thursday Night Football, rushing for 62 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while chipping in five receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown as a receiving threat.

With Rhamondre Stevenson still nursing a toe injury, New England appears comfortable handing over the reins in this backfield to Henderson — something fantasy managers have been begging for all along. Even if Stevenson were to return at this point, it is difficult to envision a scenario where Henderson isn’t on the positive side of a committee split — the genie is officially out of the bottle.

Dud: Saquon Barkley (RB – PHI)

Both Josh Jacobs and Jaylen Warren finished with lower point totals than Saquon Barkley, but their disappointing performances were directly a result of injuries — Barkley was just ineffective again. Against a stout Detroit defensive line that put pressure on quarterback Jalen Hurts all evening, Philadelphia pivoted from a pass-heavy approach towards providing Barkley with a ton of opportunities — he just failed to capitalize on them.

On a season-high 27 touches, Barkley totaled 90 yards and was unable to find the end zone. Constantly bottled up on each snap, Barkley averaged a paltry 3.2 yards per carry (YPC), and this marked the ninth time out of 10 starts this season that he has failed to eclipse the century mark on the ground. Even more concerning, he has just one rushing touchdown since Week 4. Philadelphia is finding ways to win, but Barkley is failing to recapture the magic from his fantastic 2024 season. Perhaps the Madden curse does exist?

Dud: D’Andre Swift (RB – CHI)

Similar to Saquon Barkley above, D’Andre Swift received plenty of volume during his game on Sunday, but managed to do little with it, converting 21 rushing attempts into a rather hollow 90 yards. More concerning was Swift’s lack of involvement in the passing game, as he failed to log a reception (or target) for the first time this season.

Backup Kyle Monangai had the lone rushing touchdown on the day, and continues to dominate short-yardage and goal-line situations for the team. Though Swift is on the positive side of this split for the time being (and Chicago is finding ways to pull off late victories each passing week), he hasn’t had a truly outstanding performance since Week 7 against New Orleans, despite being fully recovered from his groin strain. The Bears are at home against Pittsburgh for Week 12. Hopefully, Swift can rebound for his fantasy managers.

Wide Receivers

Stud: Michael Wilson (WR – ARI)

Michael Wilson found himself in the perfect situation for fantasy production on Sunday afternoon against San Francisco, with Marvin Harrison Jr. out for the game and Arizona immediately trailing. In an effort to catch up, the Cardinals went into ultra-pass-heavy mode, with quarterback Jacoby Brissett attempting an absurd 57 attempts and setting a new NFL record with 47 completions.

Fifteen of those 47 completions went to Wilson on 18 targets, with him setting a new career-high 185 receiving yards. It remains to be seen if Harrison will continue to miss time while working through the NFL’s concussion protocol, as the strict guidelines and step-by-step process must be adhered to. If Harrison misses Week 12 against Jacksonville, Wilson is best viewed as a low-end WR2 with volume upside.

Stud: Tetairoa McMillan (WR – CAR)

Now this is more like it. The top-rated rookie wideout in this year’s class, Tetairoa McMillan, finally enjoyed his big breakout game on the road against Atlanta, catching eight receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 12 targets. On the season, McMillan had steadily broken double-digit point production in PPR formats each week, but failed to log a 100-yard game since Week 2.

After weeks of Carolina operating in an ultra-run-heavy scheme, the Panthers finally opened up things for quarterback Bryce Young and were rewarded with a big divisional win on the road. Hopefully, for fantasy managers, this inspires Carolina’s coaching staff to trust Young moving forward, balancing the mixture of rushing attempts and passes. Carolina squares off against San Francisco during Sunday Night Football in Week 12, as the Panthers attempt to compete for the NFC South crown.

Dud: Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN)

Amidst an embarrassing 34-12 loss to Pittsburgh, Ja’Marr Chase became the focal point for the Steelers’ secondary to cover, and was held to just three receptions for 30 yards on 10 targets. This is likely due to the eruption that he had earlier this season against them, when he went 16/161/1 on 23 targets.

Clearly frustrated throughout the game, Chase got into an altercation with Steelers safety/cornerback Jalen Ramsey at one point, resulting in Ramsey being ejected after punches were thrown. Video review later revealed that Chase had actually spat towards him (an accusation Chase later denied). The league is currently reviewing the incident, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Chase dealt a minor suspension, similar to what happened with Philadelphia’s Jalen Carter in Week 1.

Dud: DeVonta Smith (WR – PHI)

Our expectations for DeVonta Smith were already tempered for this game after A.J. Brown‘s social media antics calling for more involvement, but this was pretty mind-blowing. Amidst a 16-9 victory over Detroit on Sunday Night Football, Smith drew just five targets (his lowest total since Week 6). He caught just one pass for eight yards. Philadelphia tried to appease Smith (yet again) after his antics, so we knew that a down game was likely coming, but nothing to this magnitude.

Thankfully, the Eagles square off against one of the league’s worst secondaries in Week 12, on the road against Dallas. The hope is that Smith’s target share will be somewhat more equitable than before, so he can finish as a mid-range WR2. Philadelphia’s offense has been a mess this season, with spurts of appearing unstoppable followed by a cold snap.

Tight End

Stud: AJ Barner (TE – SEA)

AJ Barner currently sits as the TE4 on the week, behind household names Trey McBride, George Kittle and Travis Kelce. During a game when Seattle’s defense was its saving grace and quarterback Sam Darnold struggled to throw the ball to the correct team, Barner was one of the few bright spots for the Seahawks. Barner set career-best marks across the board, with 10 receptions on 11 targets for 70 yards, operating as the 1B weapon in the passing game behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

While we don’t expect this level to be repeatable (especially once the team remembers that they have Rashid Shaheed and Cooper Kupp on the field), Barner is a fine streaming option for fantasy managers dealing with injuries or bye week concerns in the short term.

Dud: Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL)

Now, there is the Kyle Pitts that we’ve all come to know and love. Sunday’s two-catch performance for 14 yards was Pitts’ lowest total of the 2025 season, and the third game in a row that he has finished with fewer than 10 points in a PPR format.

I wanted to highlight Pitts, as Michael Penix Jr. (knee) is expected to miss the remainder of the season, and Atlanta’s top receiving threat, Drake London (PCL), is out several weeks. The switch under center to Kirk Cousins and a lack of alternatives should push Pitts up the pecking order for targets in Atlanta, providing a buy-low window on a player sure to experience a cut in his rostership percentage.

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