Fantasy sleepers NFL Week 11: Ten high-upside lineup plays

Every time we’re ready to relegate Tagovailoa to the dust bin of fantasy football history, he does something to remind you of what might have been. That was the case in Week 8 when he threw four touchdown passes and scored a season-high 24.20 fantasy points against the Falcons. He followed that up with 8- and 10-point games and the world seemed familiar again. 

Once again, we’re ready to let go of the rope on Tua as a fantasy starter, along come the Commanders. Washington has offered little resistance to quarterbacks this season. Even less so over the past month. For five straight weeks, a signal-caller has had at least 19 fantasy points against the Commanders -- four of them have been above 22 points. Allow Tua to return to your fantasy frontal lobe for at least one more week. 

Geno has followed Tua on an anti-hero’s journey this season. He’s among the league leaders in interceptions. He’s had just three games with double-digit fantasy points and is barely rostered in NFL.com leagues. Simply put, there’s little reason to consider Smith as a worthwhile fantasy quarterback option in leagues of any size. 

But what if I told you that the Dallas Cowboys were next on the schedule? They’ve been the cure for what ails any offense. They most recently made Jacoby Brissett look like an All-Pro. While it doesn’t happen often, we have proof that Smith can produce against a bad defense. I wouldn’t recommend starting him outside of two-QB formats, but you can feel confident that he’s a strong QB2 this week. 

It’s another bleak season at the Factory of Sadness. The Browns again have one of the least productive offenses in the league. Only three teams have scored fewer touchdowns this season. Dillon Gabriel hasn’t kick-started the offense. Now people are wondering if (or when) Shedeur Sanders will take his turn. But it hasn’t been all bad. Judkins has given Browns fans and fantasy managers something to hold onto.  

The rookie is averaging four yards per carry with five games of 75 or more rushing yards. He’s averaging 13 fantasy points per game and has topped 20 points twice. Judkins burst onto the scene with a 10-point outing against the Ravens in Week 2. Nine weeks later, Baltimore is a tougher matchup, but Aaron Jones still ripped off more than five yards per attempt against them in Week 10. If the game doesn’t get too one-sided (Judkins doesn’t rate in the passing game), he should get enough touches to warrant flex usage. 

Marks wasn’t among the headliners in this year’s running back draft class. Only the most optimistic (or delusional) fantasy drafters thought he’d have any chance to produce this season. Alas, circumstance intervened and Marks has become a useful option for many fantasy enthusiasts. Just one problem: Nick Chubb. It’s not that Chubb has been especially productive. It’s just that no matter what Marks does, the Texans just can’t quit his veteran counterpart. 

Hopefully the tide is turning. Marks has had double-digit carries in five of his last six games. He’s been the more productive runner over that stretch while also contributing as a pass catcher. In a just world, that means he takes the lead this week against an ineffectual Titans run defense. Tennessee is a top five favorable matchup for RBs this season and has allowed more rushing touchdowns than anyone. Marks is in line for low-end RB2 numbers if Chubb doesn’t take any food off his plate this week.  

In the preseason, there was little doubt that Justin Jefferson would be okay with J.J. McCarthy at quarterback. For everyone else ... we had concerns. Those worries have been validated so far. There are no secondary pass catchers in Minnesota that have been consistently usable in fantasy. Though it’s not for lack of effort. Addison has seen 15 targets from the young signal-caller in their two games together this season. Eleven of them came in last week’s loss to Baltimore. The bad news is that Addison only caught three of them for 35 yards. 

But let’s hold on to the positives. McCarthy is looking in Addison’s direction. A lot. That is useful for this week’s game against the Bears. Over the past month, Chicago has been one of the three best matchups for receivers. Helping Addison’s cause is that McCarthy threw a season-high 42 passes last week. It’s hard to see him reaching that number again Sunday, but if Minnesota is trusting its young quarterback to throw more, Addison should have flex appeal in most fantasy formats. 

In the Whac-A-Mole game that is Packers receivers, Watson has popped his head up. Since his return in Week 8, he’s been the most productive of Green Bay’s wideouts. Despite a strict diet of exactly four targets in each of the three games, he has a team-leading 188 receiving yards. You’d think that eventually Jordan Love will stop trying to force the issue with Dontayvion Wicks and Bo Melton and, you know, throw it to his good players. 

Week 11 against the Giants would be a good time to test that strategy. Brian Daboll’s firing and Mike Kafka’s elevation don’t figure to impact a defense that has squandered multiple fourth-quarter leads. Big Blue has allowed the third-most catches and yards to receivers. With Green Bay’s sputtering offense under a microscope, this feels like a week to feature its best playmakers. Watson has strong WR3 vibes in Week 11. 

I’m probably zero-for-eternity in trying to predict which Steelers tight end is going to pop. I should take a page out of Michael F. Florio’s book and tout them all at once. But where’s the fun in that? Freiermuth is third on the roster in receiving yards and tops among the team’s tight ends in that category. In short, when things are happening involving a Steelers’ tight end, there’s a good chance Freiermuth is in the middle of them. 

There’s a good opportunity for plenty of action this week because ... the Bengals are in town! Sure, Joe Flacco is cool and all. But have you seen what can happen when you have a historically bad defense? That alone puts most of Pittsburgh's skill options in play. What puts Freiermuth over the top is the quarterback and an offensive coordinator who likes to feature the position. Freiermuth is a good streaming option for anyone missing Tyler Warren or Juwan Johnson this week. 

Bad times in the Beltway. Jayden Daniels is missing time with a dislocated elbow. Terry McLaurin is fighting to get healthy. Deebo Samuel hasn’t made much of an impact. And the backfield has devolved into a three-headed mess. Could Ertz be the fantasy hero we need? 

Hero might be too strong a word, but Ertz has quietly been a solid option. He’s the TE10 through the first 10 weeks, averaging 9.55 points per game. That doesn't seem like a lot, but it doesn't take a lot to be a top 10 tight end. This week against the Dolphins, Ertz has a lot working in his benefit -- a lack of other quality targets in the offense and a defense that is the third-best matchup for tight ends. If you’ve been on the fence about streaming Ertz, let me gently nudge you over to the “yes” side of things. 

As far as fantasy defenses go, the Bears have been the Monsters of the Meh-dway. Chicago ranks 13th among DST units, thanks to being opportunistic with takeaways. It leads the league in interceptions while being tied for fourth in fumble recoveries. That has made up for having one of worst pressure rates in the NFL. 

Despite the poor pressure rate, the Bears have tallied multiple sacks in all but two games this year. That includes a three-sack outing against J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings in Week 1. While Chicago ultimately lost the game, the defense notched 11 fantasy points. With McCarthy’s propensity to turn the ball over (six interceptions in four starts), the Bears should find their way into plenty of starting lineups. 

I get it. The Cowboys defense has been basura this year. But sometimes there’s something of value found in a discard pile. Dallas might have a bottom-five fantasy defense, but it hasn’t been all bad recently. The ‘Boys have scored double-digit fantasy points on defense in two of their last three games. That includes the Week 9 contest against the Cardinals when they were otherwise run out of the building by Jacoby Brissett.  

This week, Dallas is taking a trip to the desert to visit the Las Vegas Raiders. Geno Smith and company showed some fight a couple of weeks ago but went back to their toothless ways. This is still an offense that gives up a lot of sacks with a quarterback who throws a lot of interceptions. By the way, Dallas also added Quinnen Williams to the defensive line. They shouldn’t be your first option for streaming, but they are an option.