Stars of Week 11

QB: Cam Newton, CAR: 21-34, 246 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

QB: Jameis Winston, TB: 19-29, 246 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

RB: Thomas Rawls, SEA: 30 carries, 209 yards, 1 TD (3 catches, 46 yards, 1 TD)

WR: DeAndre Hopkins, HOU: 5 catches, 118 yards, 2 TDs

TE: Kyle Rudolph, MIN: 6 catches, 106 yards, 1 TD

The top two fantasy performances from QBs this week resulted in identical scores in standard leagues, so we were left with no choice but to recognize both signal callers. Cam Newton has been great all year, so not much to add there. We’ll take a closer look at Jameis Winston below. For those of you who own Marshawn Lynch, hopefully you had Thomas Rawls handcuffed as well. With the Seahawks announcing Lynch as inactive after the early games had started, folks who were able to swap Rawls in didn’t miss a beat. I wrote about Rawls earlier in the year, with the cliffs’ notes being to start him if Lynch is out and sit him if Lynch plays. And with the increasing likelihood that Lynch will miss significant time down the stretch, Rawls is a must add in all leagues where available – blow your FAAB budget out for him if needed. DeAndre Hopkins bought property on Revis Island, torching the top cornerback on Sunday. It’s scary to think about what Hopkins would do with an elite QB throwing him the ball. Kyle Rudolph has had a relatively quiet season, but had himself a nice game against the Packers on Sunday. He remains a high end TE2.

Week 11 Takeaways – A Closer Look

Each week we take a closer look at a handful of performances and sort out what such performances mean going forward.

- Jameis Winston, QB – TB: 19-29, 246 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

Analysis: By now you have to figure that QBs salivate when they see the Eagles pop up on their schedule. Apparently, doesn’t matter if said NFL QB has only played nine games. Jameis Winston has put together a nice rookie season. Like most rookies, he’s had his ups and downs, but Winston has shown that he has the skills to be a long time franchise QB for the Bucs. Winston can make his progressions and throws a nice ball, but needs to work on protecting the ball (i.e. turnovers). He has a strong supporting cast around him as well with Doug Martin running the ball and Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson and (when healthy) Austin Seferian-Jenkins as pass catchers. Winston should be viewed as a QB2, but feel free to use him in juicy matchups. 

- Javorius Allen, RB – BAL: 22 carries, 67 yards, 0 TDs                                       

Analysis: In what has been a season that can’t end fast enough for the Baltimore Ravens, the team had two additional season ending injuries to key players this week against the Rams. Quarterback Joe Flacco tore his ACL and won’t be seen until 2016. His backup won’t have any consequence for fantasy football, so we won’t cover that here. The more pertinent injury for fantasy purposes is the loss of Justin Forsett with a broken arm. We found out that Javorius Allen, and not newly signed Terrance West, will get first crack at the lead chair. Allen didn’t blow the doors down against the Rams, but he did enough to warrant another look. Flacco being out for the year will not help Allen’s cause, so don’t expect too much from Allen. But if you need an RB, Allen’s worth a flyer. 

- Eddie Lacy, RB – GB: 22 carries, 100 yards, 0 TDs                                                                                  

Analysis: Eddie Lacy is a perfect example of what makes weekly fantasy football predictions hard. James Starks had taken over the lead role for the Packers over the last few weeks, with Lacy inactive last week. So what happens this week? Exactly what one would expect, of course – Starks’ role gets minimized and Lacy gets the lion share of the carries. Exasperating for fantasy football forecasters like myself. Lacy is the supreme talent, so the Packers preference remains for him to continue in the lead role. It’s a fluid situation, but Lacy should be viewed as a high-end RB2 for next week, with Starks reverting back to flex option/RB3 status. But stay tuned! 

- JJ Nelson, WR – ARZ: 4 catches, 142 yards, 1 TD

Analysis: The Arizona Cardinals’ offense hums along at a speed matched by only a few teams. The Cardinals have wide receivers galore, with rookie JJ Nelson slotting in behind Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown, Michael Floyd and Jaron Brown. Ok, you get the picture. Nelson showed his blazing speed against the Bengals with his 64 yard TD pass reception. This was only Nelson’s second game with any catches, with the first coming against Cleveland earlier this month. Despite Nelson’s outburst this week, however, Nelson’s fantasy value remains limited. It’s not a matter of skill, but rather of opportunity. Nelson filled in for an injured Michael Floyd, which is why he got some run. Unless one of the big three Cardinal WRs is out (Fitz, John Brown or Floyd), then Nelson should not be started. If one or more of those guys are out, then Nelson is an option in very deep leagues for such a week. Just too many options exist on this Cardinals’ team in order to rely on Nelson as anything more than that. 

- Marquess Wilson, WR – CHI: 4 catches, 102 yards, 0 TDs 

Analysis:  I received questions from Twitter followers (I can be followed at @NeemaHodjat) on Sunday morning regarding Marquess Wilson. Sure, with Alshon Jeffery out, Wilson had a chance to pick up the slack, which he did. However, Wilson had been terribly inconsistent up through this point. Wilson had games earlier this season with 80 plus yards, only to produce games with 14, 15 and 1 yard respectively over his last three contests. And his inconsistency came with Jeffery both in and out of the lineup. So where does this leave Wilson going forward? He falls into the WR5 category, with a bump up to WR4 if Alshon Jeffery does not play. Too inconsistent to trust on a regular basis, but in deep leagues, worth a roll of the dice in games where Jeffery sits. Just don’t be surprised if he posts 30 yards a week after crossing the 100 yard barrier.

- Vernon Davis, TE – DEN: 6 catches, 68 yards, 0 TDs 

Analysis: Big changes happening in Denver, with the Brock Osweiler era underway…at least for now. I wrote earlier this year that Peyton Manning was done as a useful fantasy quarterback, and sadly it looks like his real life career is just about done as well. Why the intro about Denver’s QBs while writing up Vernon Davis? Simple – with Osweiler now in for Manning, head coach Gary Kubiak can further implement his offense. Kubiak’s offense uses more formations with the QB under center, with the QB often running bootlegs and hitting the open man from there. More specifically as it pertains to Vernon Davis, Kubiak’s offense utilizes tight ends a great deal. So, Davis’ value increases with Osweiler under center. How high does it go? We’ll need to see, but consider this past game against the Bears as a good start. Not quite ready to designate Davis as a low end TE1, but that could change with additional strong games. View him as a high end TE2 for now. 

Rapid Fire Pickups

Each week we’ll throw out potential free agent pickups from each position for deeper leagues, in each case 1) someone who has NOT been referenced above, and 2) a player available in most leagues.

QB: Jay Cutler, CHI

RB: Spencer Ware, KC (he’s next in line if Charcandrick West is out)

RB: Darren Sproles, PHI

WR: Devin Funchess, CAR

WR: Terrance Williams, DAL

TE: Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TB

Week 12 Rankings

Quarterbacks

1. Carson Palmer

2. Aaron Rodgers

3. Cam Newton

4. Drew Brees

5. Brian Hoyer

6. Tom Brady

7. Blake Bortles

8. Eli Manning

9. Ben Roethlisberger

10. Russell Wilson

11. Philip Rivers

12. Derek Carr

13. Tony Romo

14. Jameis Winston

15. Kirk Cousins

16. Andy Dalton

17. Marcus Mariota

18. Matt Ryan

19. Josh McCown

20. Jay Cutler

Running Backs

1. Adrian Peterson

2. Todd Gurley

3. Devonta Freeman (in concussion protocol)

4. Mark Ingram

5. Jonathan Stewart

6. Doug Martin

7. DeMarco Murray

8. Thomas Rawls

9. Darren McFadden

10. LeSean McCoy

11. Chris Johnson

12. DeAngelo Williams

13. T.J. Yeldon

14. Latavius Murray

15. Matt Forte

16. Chris Ivory

17. Frank Gore

18. LeGarrette Blount

19. Charcandrick West

20. Eddie Lacy

21. Lamar Miller

22. Javorius Allen

23. Giovani Bernard

24. Ronnie Hillman

25. Jeremy Hill

26. Danny Woodhead

27. Carlos Hyde

28. Antonio Andrews

29. Alfred Blue

30. Matt Jones

31. James Starks

32. Spencer Ware

33. C.J. Anderson

34. Theo Reddick

35. Matt Jones

Wide Receivers

1. DeAndre Hopkins

2. Odell Beckham Jr.

3. Julio Jones

4. Antonio Brown

5. Larry Fitzgerald

6. Allen Robinson

7. Mike Evans

8. A.J. Green

9. Calvin Johnson

10. Alshon Jeffery

11. Dez Bryant

12. Demaryius Thomas

13. Brandin Cooks

14. Randall Cobb

15. Amari Cooper

16. Brandon Marshall

17. Michael Crabtree

18. Emmanuel Sanders

19. Martavis Bryant

20. Allen Hurns

21. Eric Decker

22. T.Y. Hilton

23. John Brown

24. Stevie Johnson

25. Jeremy Maclin

26. Danny Amendola

27. Travis Benjamin

28. Sammy Watkins

29. Jarvis Landry

30. DeSean Jackson

31. Davante Adams

32. Vincent Jackson

33. Brandon LaFell

34. James Jones

35. Willie Snead

Tight Ends

1. Rob Gronkowski

2. Greg Olsen

3. Tyler Eifert

4. Delanie Walker

5. Gary Barnidge

6. Travis Kelce

7. Jordan Reed

8. Jimmy Graham

9. Jason Witten

10. Antonio Gates

11. Julius Thomas

12. Crockett Gillmore

13. Benjamin Watson

14. Brent Celek

15. Richard Rodgers