Things are going splendidly in one of my home leagues. I’m 8-2 with the best record in the league. Lady Luck has been my companion.
Sure, I drafted a pretty good team. But let’s face it: Even talent-rich teams need to avoid being smitten by the ill-tempered fantasy gods if they’re going to make it to the promised land.
Avoiding injuries is part of it. I’ve mostly dodged the injury bug — just a few missed games here and there.
But here’s how you can tell when luck is really on your side:
When you get to face the Jonathan Taylor team during JT’s bye week.
Taylor has been on a rampage this season. Fantasy managers who had to face Taylor last week knew they had lost by the time the early game in Germany was over. Taylor steamrolled the Falcons for 244 rushing yards, 286 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns — good for 48.1 half-point PPR fantasy points.
Getting to duck Taylor thanks to fortunate scheduling is a gift — manna from the fantasy heavens. How lucky can one guy get?
(I’m going to get bounced in my first playoff game, aren’t I?)
All right, enough of my yakking. Let’s get to the 10 most intriguing players of Week 11.
The 10 Most Intriguing Players of Week 11
1. RJ Harvey (RB – DEN)
Hearts were aflutter for draftniks and dynasty managers when the Broncos spent a second-round pick on RJ Harvey in this year’s NFL Draft. Coming out of the University of Central Florida, Harvey didn’t have Power Four pedigree, but a lot of the draft nerds had fallen in love with him and were delighted to see Harvey paired with Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
Harvey flashed exciting pass-catching ability in college. Running backs in Sean Payton’s offenses typically catch a lot of passes. And, hey, second-round draft capital? Payton has long favored the RB-by-committee approach, but it seemed reasonable to assume that a second-round pick would be a prominent committee member.
Alas, it’s been a slow rollout for Harvey, who’s played fewer than one-third of the offensive snaps in all but one of the Broncos’ first 10 games. (The one exception was a 40.7% snap share vs. the Bengals in Week 4.)
Harvey had a recent TD binge during which he scored five touchdowns over a three-game span from Week 7 to Week 9. But Harvey is averaging only 7.5 touches a game and has only had one game with double-digit touches. He’s basically been unplayable in fantasy.
Until now.
J.K. Dobbins has been the primary mail carrier in the Denver running game, but Dobbins has a foot injury that could keep him out of action for a while. Harvey figures to get a usage bump while Dobbins is out. How big a bump?
Harvey investors expecting a usage windfall might be disappointed. Remember: Payton uses multiple backs. That’s just how he rolls. Expect Tyler Badie to play increased snaps while Dobbins is out, and Jaleel McLaughlin might get some run, too.
Still, Harvey has a nice opportunity to assert himself and petition for a bigger role in the Denver offense. The Broncos host the Chiefs — not an easy matchup for the rookie. The Kansas City run defense hasn’t been quite as impregnable as it’s been in recent years, but the Chiefs have allowed the seventh-fewest fantasy points to running backs.
It will be a fascinating test for the rookie.
2. Jameis Winston (QB – NYG)
Is everyone ready to eat a W?
With rookie Jaxson Dart recovering from a concussion and veteran Russell Wilson having shown he’s hit the wall, the Giants are giving Jameis Winston his first start of 2025.
Winston is wildly entertaining. Off the field, he’s funny and quotable. On the field, he mixes big-time throws with ill-advised heaves into tight coverage. In 2019, the last of his five seasons with the Buccaneers, Winston had a league-high 5,109 passing yards and a league-high 30 interceptions.
In seven starts for the Browns last season, Winston averaged 291.1 passing yards per game, with 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He was QB10 in fantasy points per game over that stretch with 19.1. That included a 36-point game and a 2.6-point game.
If you have a Giants pass catcher on your fantasy team, you’re delighted to see Winston starting. The man is a rainmaker for his pass catchers. Wan’Dale Robinson becomes a must-start for Week 11. Darius Slayton, alas, has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. TE Theo Johnson becomes a compelling fantasy option.
Winston has a tricky matchup against the Packers, who have allowed the eighth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks and have a pass rush that ranks 11th in pressure rate.
Regardless of the matchup, expect Winston to play with the same fearless style that’s characterized his entire 10-year career.
3. Jaylen Waddle (WR – MIA)
The Dolphins and Commanders play in Spain early Sunday, and Jaylen Waddle seems poised to slice up the Washington defense like Jamon Iberico.
Waddle has been terrific since the season-ending injury to Tyreek Hill. In the six games Miami has played without Hill, Waddle has caught 29 passes for 485 yards and three touchdowns. He’s surpassed 80 receiving yards in five of those six contests. The only miss was a 15-yard outing on a rainy, windy day in Cleveland.
Waddle is getting nearly all the downfield targets for the Dolphins, and now he gets to face arguably the worst pass defense in the league. The Commanders are giving up 8.9 yards per pass attempt. No other team is yielding more than 8.2 yards per attempt. The Commanders have given up more receiving yards to WRs than any other team, along with 13 touchdowns. Opposing wide receivers are averaging 9.9 yards per target against Washington.
In all likelihood, Waddle is going to make the Commanders his personal tapas platter Sunday in Madrid.
4. Jameson Williams (WR – DET)
It’s been quite the two-week turnaround for Jameson Williams.
Before the Lions’ Week 8 bye, Williams had 17 catches for 289 yards and two touchdowns. He was WR52 in half-point PPR fantasy points per game. In the Lions’ last game before their bye, Williams had two targets and zero catches against the Buccaneers.
Lions offensive coordinator John Morton took the blame for Jamo’s slow start and vowed to get Williams more involved. In Detroit’s first game post-bye, Williams had four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings.
But things would get even better.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell took over the playcalling duties in Week 10, and Williams exploded for six catches, 119 yards and a touchdown against the Commanders.
Early in the season, Morton was using Williams as a field stretcher, having him run one go route after another. But Lions QB Jared Goff has said that Williams is a “cheat code” on crossing routes, and Campbell seems to be making it a point to have Williams run more of them.
Williams has seven targets, six receptions and 164 yards on crossing routes this season, according to Fantasy Points Data. That’s 23.4 yards per target.
Jamo victimized a bad Washington pass defense last week. He has a much tougher matchup against the Eagles this Sunday in Philadelphia, but the arrow is pointing up for Williams.
How can you not be excited about the fantasy outlook for a quarterback who gets to throw to Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Keenan Allen and Oronde Gadsden II?
How can you not be concerned about the fantasy outlook for a quarterback who’s lost two excellent offensive tackles to season-ending injuries and was pressured by the Steelers on over 40% of his dropbacks last week?
How can you not be excited about the fantasy outlook for a quarterback facing a Jaguars defense that has allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to QBs and just gave up 292 passing yards and two touchdowns to Texans backup Davis Mills?
This week’s game against the Jaguars sets up well for Justin Herbert in a lot of ways, but the protection issue is terrifying. Will Herbert have the time he needs to pick apart a bad pass defense, or will his offensive line be his undoing?
6. Bijan Robinson (RB – ATL)
Bijan Robinson investors are not amused that Bijan’s backup, Tyler Allgeier, has six touchdowns this season, while Bijan has only four. Nor should those investors be pleased that Allgeier has 13 carries within 10 yards of the opponent’s goal line this season, while Bijan has only five.
Through the first seven weeks of the season, Bijan averaged 21.7 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. Over the last three weeks, Bijan has averaged 9.2 fantasy points per game — fewer than Kimani Vidal and Kyle Monangai.
Can Bijan get his mojo back against the Panthers, who keel-hauled the Falcons 30-0 in Week 3? Bijan had 13 carries for 72 yards and five catches for 39 yards in that game.
Bijan’s stakeholders are growing impatient.
7. Woody Marks (RB – HOU)
Woody Marks has been splitting backfield duties in Houston with Nick Chubb for much of the season. But last week against the Jaguars, Marks played 60 of the Texans’ 75 offensive snaps — a season-high 80% snap share.
Marks finished with 14 carries for 63 yards and a touchdown, along with two catches for 18 yards on three targets.
One reason Marks so dramatically out-snapped Chubb (10 snaps) was that the Texans fell into a 17-0 hole and were in catch-up mode against the Jaguars throughout the second half. They eventually did catch up, winning 36-29. It was a pass-heavy game script for Houston, and Marks is a better pass catcher than Chubb.
It’s possible the usage shift is a sign of things to come. Perhaps the Texans will ramp up the usage of their rookie RB in the second half of the season. Chubb is a known commodity at this point — a low-upside veteran who’s had a major leg injury.
It would be fun to see Marks get 15-20 touches this week against a Titans defense that has allowed the second-most fantasy points to running backs.
8. Trey McBride (TE – ARI)
It turns out that Kyler Murray was the source of Trey McBride’s early-career touchdown allergy.
McBride scored seven touchdowns in his first 54 NFL games, mostly with Murray as his quarterback. But with Murray sidelined by a foot injury, Jacoby Brissett has been the Cardinals’ starting QB for their last four games, and it’s been a touchdown jubilee for McBride. Brissett has thrown eight TD passes in his four starts, and McBride has caught five of them.
In fairness to Murray, he helped McBride turn into one of the league’s most prolific yardage gainers at the TE position. McBride had 1,146 receiving yards in 2024.
McBride is still racking up receptions and gaining yardage at a furious clip. He’s averaging 6.8 catches and 67 receiving yards per game, putting him on pace for a 115-catch, 1,139-yard season.
But what can McBride do this Sunday against an injury-riddled 49ers defense with Marvin Harrison Jr. out of action? Harrison needed surgery on Monday night due to appendicitis. Sunday will be the first time that the second-year receiver has missed an NFL game.
With Harrison out, the Cardinals’ top two wide receivers will be Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch, who have combined for 37 catches and 304 yards this season.
The 49ers-Cardinals game could be an all-you-can-eat target buffet for McBride.
9. Justin Jefferson (WR – MIN)
Justin Jefferson is coming off one of the worst games of his career. He had four catches for 37 yards on 12 targets in the Vikings’ 27-19 loss to the Ravens. It was just the 12th time in Jefferson’s six-year career that he’s been held under 40 yards in a regular-season game.
Jefferson seemed strangely disengaged last Sunday. Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy threw two interceptions on throws intended for Jefferson, who showed little interest in making a tackle after either of the INTs. Maybe Jefferson was frustrated with McCarthy’s uneven play. Maybe Jefferson was frustrated that the Ravens were getting away with some handsy coverage.
Regardless, Jefferson has a nice bounce-back opportunity this week against the Bears. Chicago has been playing without its two best cornerbacks, Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon, who are both on IR.
It seems like a smash spot for Jefferson, but can he get on the same page with McCarthy? In McCarthy’s first four NFL starts, Jefferson has 17 catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns — numbers well below Jefferson’s lofty standards.
10. Jordan Love (QB – GB)
Jordan Love figures to be at the crux of a lot of start/sit decisions this week. He was QB12 in the FantasyPros Expert Consensus Rankings as of Thursday night.
The Green Bay offense has been struggling. It has produced two touchdowns and 20 points the last two weeks in home losses to the Panthers and Lions. Love didn’t have a TD pass in either game.
Love has lost some key teammates to injuries. TE Tucker Kraft is out for the year with a torn ACL. Center Elgton Jenkins sustained a lower-leg fracture in Week 10 and has landed on IR. WR Jayden Reed is still on injured reserve, and WRs Romeo Doubs and Matthew Golden are banged up.
Love will be in New Jersey on Sunday to face the Giants. The Giants’ defense has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, but does Love have enough firepower to take advantage of a good matchup?
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