Getty Taysom Hill #7 of the New Orleans Saints.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Quarterbacks edition for Week 11 of the NFL season. In this week’s quarterback edition, we feature a first-time starter taking the helm in New Orleans, while a former No. 1 overall pick is quickly falling off the fantasy radar.
* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Superstars such as Patrick Mahomes will not be found in this column. If you’re looking for players of his caliber check out our weekly fantasy football quarterback rankings.
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QB: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: Ben Roethlisberger at JAC
Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson all have matchups against defenses who have ranked within the top-five over the last four weeks in points surrendered to opposing QBs. However, with each of those players ranking within the top-eight scorers at their position, we’ll peg our Start of the Week with a less obvious start. Big Ben has averaged the 13th-most points at the position this season. Yet, since Week 9 he’s jumped up to QB4, averaging 27.18 ppg over that span. Jacksonville has allowed the most points to the position over the last month (29.36), with no opponent over their last three games scoring below 24.24 points.
Lamar Jackson vs. TEN
On the surface, it sounds asinine to even have the reigning MVP in this column. On the other hand, Jackson has been nothing more than a low-end QB1 for much of the season, totaling the 12th-most points at the position since Week 5. The good news, Jackson has now scored 18.6-plus points in three of his last four contests, including two outings of 22.46-plus points. The better news, the Titans are one of just eight teams to allow a per game average of 20-plus points to QBs this year. Since Week 2, opposing QBs have scored at least two TDs in every game against Tennessee this season (P. Rivers & J. Brissett combined for two in Week 10).
More Boom than Bust: Taysom Hill vs. ATL
The Falcons surrender a league-high 26.02 points to QBs this season. Four of their last six opponents have scored 20.82-plus points, while all but three of their opponents on the year have failed to register multi-TD games against them. Hill has led the team in rushing over the past three weeks (134 yards), while Atlanta has surrendered a total of 77 rushing yards and a TD to the position over their last two games. We are not certain how much Hill will be used as a quarterback specifically, which will scare away owners. With that said, his usage is bound to increase with Brees out of the lineup. This, along with a great matchup, makes Hill a tantalizing low-end QB1 play with a high-end QB1 ceiling.
Sleeper: Alex Smith vs. CIN
Smith was a sleeper for us a week ago. While he hit a new career-high in passing (390 yards) on the day, he failed to find the end zone, capping his output at just 16.0 points. His trend of going scoreless should not continue into Week 11. The Bengals allow the 2nd-most TD passes (21) in football this season, including 11 over the last four weeks (most in NFL over that span). Smith has now averaged 43.5 pass attempts and 357.5 passing yards over his last two games.
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QB: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Philip Rivers at GB
Rivers has averaged 21.45 points over three of his last four games. Unfortunately, the Packers have held five of their last six opponents at the position to an average of just 11.96 ppg. That statistic includes the likes of Deshaun Watson, Tom Brady and Matt Ryan.
Jared Goff at TB
Goff is still owned in 77% of Yahoo leagues, which seems a bit hefty considering he’s QB22 since Week 4. Over his last three games, the former No. 1 overall pick has thrown three TDs to two INTs. The Buccaneers have forced 12 INTs this season (most in NFL).
Ryan Tannehill at BAL
After being a buyers beware selection for us in back-to-back weeks, it’s time to simply sit Tannehill. Jake Luton has averaged more points than Tannehill over the last two weeks despite the Jaguars QB failing to crack double-digits a week ago. The QB17 since Week 7, Tannehill has averaged just 12.5 completions over his last two games. Over the last four weeks, the Ravens have allowed 59 completions to opposing QBs (third-fewest in NFL). Since their Week 8 bye, Baltimore has held opponents at the position to just 13.4 ppg.
Buyers Beware: Tom Brady vs. LAR
Brady has topped 31.0 points in two of his last four games. He’s also scored 14.64 points or fewer in half of his last six outings. The Rams allow just 14.24 ppg to the opposing QBs this season, second-lowest in the NFL. Five of their last six opponents have scored 11.92 points or fewer.
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