Getty Antonio Brown #81 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers runs a route against Janoris Jenkins #20 of the New Orleans Saints.
Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Wide Receivers for Week 11 of the NFL season. This week’s edition features a one-time must-start working his way back into lineups. Plus, one of the position’s highest-scorers over recent weeks is met with a devastating matchup.
* 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 Michael Thomas will not be found in this column. If you’re looking for players of their caliber check out our weekly fantasy football wide receiver rankings.
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WR: Start ‘Em
Start of the Week: DK Metcalf
Metcalf has now failed to crack 29 receiving yards in half of his past four games. Of course, sandwiched between those numbers are two 100-plus yard outings. He was held to just 23 receiving yards in his Week 7 matchup against Arizona, but that was mainly due to Tyler Lockett shredding the Cards secondary to the tune of 53.0 points. With Lockett questionable, expect a heavy dose of Metcalf. Arizona has allowed the most points and tied for the most TDs surrendered to the position over the past month.
Christian Kirk at SEA
After a five-week tear where Kirk averaged 18.06 points, the wideout came back down to earth in Week 10, posting just 6.7 points on the day. Still, he was targeted six times, giving him 32 targets over his last three games. Wideouts have seen 36 more targets against Seattle this year than any other team in the NFL. The Seahawks also allow the most points, receptions and yards to the position as well.
Antonio Brown vs. LAR
Some may be wary of the matchup, as the Rams allow the fewest points and receiving TDs to WRs the season. However, they’ve surrendered three of their four TDs this year over their last four games. Let’s also take into consideration that L.A.’s statistics are a bit skewed as they’ve faced off against Daniel Jones, Kyle Allen, Nick Foles and Tua Tagovailoa in his first career start over their last six games. Brown has quickly carved out a role in Tampa Bay. Over the last two weeks, he ranks second on the team with 13 targets. Brown has the makings of a rock-solid WR3 with high-end WR2 upside.
Jakobi Meyers at HOU
Meyers was the only Patriots wideout to catch a pass a week ago. He’s now seen 37 targets come his way over the last four weeks. Houston allows the sixth-most receiving TDs to WRs this year. Over the Texans’ past three games, two wideouts have logged at least 146 receiving yards.
Justin Jefferson vs. DAL
Jefferson had one of his monster performances a week ago. The rookie has made it a habit this season of following up such performance with multiple duds in the weeks after. Yet, a matchup against a Cowboys defense who allows the most TDs (tied w/ MIN) and sixth-most red zone targets to WRs this year may very well help end that trend.
Sleeper: Jalen Reager at CLE
Reagor tied for the team-lead in snaps a week ago by a WR, logging 59 on the day. His seven targets against the Giants were also a team-high, as he’s now seen 13 passes come his way over his last two games. The Browns allow the six-most points and receptions, as well as the third-most targets and red zone touches to WRs this season.
Deep Sleeper: Isaiah Wright vs. CIN
Since Alex Smith has taken over the helm in Washington, the team has lived and died by the pass. Last week Smith aired the ball out a whopping 55 times for a career-high 390 yards. Thanks to the high volume of passing, Wright posted or tied career highs in targets, receptions and yards in Week 10. The UDFA is owned in literally 0% of leagues at the moment, making him an extremely deep sleeper. With that said, no team has given up more points to WRs over their last two games than the Bengals.
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WR: Sit ‘Em
Sit of the Week: Marquez Valdes-Scantling
While the fact that MVS has found the end zone on three occasions over his last two games may once again make fantasy owners fall for his trap, the fact of the matter is his lack of volume continues to make him an unreliable play. He’s hauled in just six receptions over that span and has yet to exceed four receptions in any game this year. Over the last four weeks, Indy has allowed 26 receptions to WRs (fewest in NFL).
Corey Davis at BAL
Davis has scored a TD in two of his last four games. The Ravens, on the other hand, have surrendered just four receiving TDs to WRs all season long. Over their last five games, Baltimore has allowed an average of just 184.6 yards through the air. Davis’ QB, Ryan Tannehill, has averaged a mere 152.5 passing ypg over the last two weeks.
Michael Pittman Jr. vs. GB
We’ll pat ourselves on the back for making Pittman our sleeper selection a week ago and we’ll reward him by sitting him on our bench this week. The former USC standout posted career highs in targets (8), receptions (7) and yards (101). Yet, the matchup this week is simply unappealing. As we noted in our rankings, “WRs rank within the bottom-10 in the NFL in targets, receptions and yards when facing off against the Packers.”
Buyers Beware: Jamison Crowder at LAC
It’s hard to sit a player who typically sees such a high volume of usage. However, the last time the Jets played marked the first time that Crowder, Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims all played together this season. In return, Crowder only saw two passes come his way. While we’d expect a bit more targets in Week 11, how much is up for debate. Joe Flacco will once again start at QB for the Jets. The Chargers have also seen their secondary’s production improve drastically over recent weeks, allowing the fourth-fewest points to the position over the last month.
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