2020 Fantasy Football Week 11 Rankings

As you might imagine, I listen to a bunch of fantasy football podcasts every week, and there are a handful of articles I read from time to time.  When I saw Matthew Berry tweet a link to his Week 10 Love/Hate article and found out it's now behind a paywall, I was a little surprised and slightly bummed.  But like, whatever.  If that's what ESPN is doing with some of their content, that's what they're doing.  I don't get the people tweeting hateful stuff at the guy because the content is now on ESPN+.  If you really want to read it, then get ESPN+.  Or not.  It's really up to you.  

Anyway, it got me thinking about my own format of my weekly rankings.  I tend to point out guys I like/don't like versus the ECR, but that also ends up changing between Wednesday and Sunday every week.  I also was thinking about how I used to read Berry's Love/Hate and could often predict who he would "love" and "hate" because to me a lot of them are obvious calls due to matchups, recent performance, etc.  So instead of my usual format, I'm going to change it up.  I'll give you a guy or two at each position who I think is an obvious start, a not-so-obvious start, and then a guy I don't really like which I'll call "the ceiling is the roof".  

If you don't remember Michael Jordan saying that during halftime of a Duke/UNC basketball game, well he did.  It was one of those moments that just makes you go "huh?!"  I considered going with "the floor is lava", but obviously I'm not going to like a guy with a zero floor.  "The celing is the roof" in my mind is a guy who I'm just not excited about starting at all.  Sure, he has a ceiling...but like, it's the roof.  You can see it.  I don't think he's winning you a week, and quite frankly I think he'll probably be kind of a dud (just like MJ's comment).

Maybe the format will stick.  Maybe it's won't.  It might be a little long this week, and maybe I'll tighten it up a bit in Week 12.  Feel free to let me know what you think on Twitter @bartonwheeler.

Let's do the rankings!

2020 Fantasy Football Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ - Expert Consensus Rankings

QBs

Obvious Start: When Julio has been healthy this year, Matt Ryan has been a QB1.  You're starting him against the Saints and not even thinking about it.  Another no-brainer is Ben Roethlisberger who is coming off a 4 TD performance against the Bengals.  This week it doesn't get any harder as the Steelers face the Jags.  As someone who has James Conner in a couple of leagues, I can tell you that Pittsburgh hasn't really committed much to the run.  I expect Big Ben to easily be a top-10 fantasy QB for the third straight week.

Not-So-Obvious Start: I reserve the right to change my mind on this guy in the coming days if we get any info from the Saints that Taysom Hill is going to start or split snaps or something crazy...but how can you not like Jameis Winston against Atlanta?  I won a championship last year with this roller coaster of a QB, and it was certainly a wild ride.  He might fumble and throw a couple of picks, but that just means he'll need to chuck the ball even more and put up yards/TDs.  I'm not saying it'll be just like last year, but combine his potential with arguably the best matchup against the Falcons, and I think he's a start here in Week 11.

The Ceiling is the Roof: I was at the playoff game last year in Baltimore when they lost to the Titans, and I think they'll be fired up to get some revenge in this game.  I don't expect Ryan Tannehill to put up big numbers, and I think it'll be a lot of Derrick Henry in this one.  I also am trusting Matthew Stafford less and less as the week progresses.  It's not a great matchup against the Panthers, and Stafford is dealing with a torn ligament in his thumb...on his throwing hand!  Sounds important.  If Golladay is back to practicing in full and Stafford looks good to go, I might change my tune a bit.  But for now, I'd be shying away from playing Detroit's QB this week.

RBs

Obvious Start: It's hard to find an "obvious" start outside of my top-20, so I'll stay in that range with rookies D'Andre Swift & Antonio Gibson.  Both have been more involved in their teams' game plans in the second half of the season, and both are coming off top-10 performances last week.  Swift has the better matchup this week, but I'd fire them both up here in Week 11.

Not-So-Obvious Start: I feel like Damien Harris should be in the obvious category, but people tend to be scared off by Patriot running backs.  Not only does he have over 100 yards rushing in 2 of his last 3 games, but he also has the best matchup this week according to the Harris Index (ironically enough...but that's Christopher Harris, not Damien Harris).  The real not-so-obvious start though is Kalen Ballage.  Now that he's gotten away from Adam Gase (twice!), Ballage has been a top-20 fantasy RB in back-to-back weeks.  Who is he playing this week?  Adam Gase and the Jets!  It's like a super revenge game.  Start HIM!

The Ceiling is the Roof: If you're considering starting Phillip Lindsay this week, stop it...get some help.  The only game this year in which he had more than 9 rushes was Week 6 when Melvin Gordon was out with an illness.  Otherwise Gordon has clearly been the lead back for the Broncos.  Even if Lindsay somehow gets 10 touches this week, I don't expect him to be anywhere near a top-30 RB.  You can do better.

WRs

Obvious Start: Don't overthink this one.  If Tyler Lockett is healthy enough to play tomorrow night, you're starting him against the Cardinals.  Remember when Patrick Peterson shadowed D.K. Metcalf in Week 7?  Remember what Lockett did?  If not, I'll remind you: 15 catches for 200 yards and 3 TDs.  He obviously won't do that again, but please don't consider benching him.  If he plays, you play him.

Not-So-Obvious Start: I'm pretty excited about starting Brandin Cooks in a league this week.  He's led the Texans in targets since the departure of Bill O'Brien, and he's been quietly a top-20 WR in 3 of his last 5 games.  If Stephon Gilmore misses a fourth straight game, I expect J.C. Jackson to cover Will Fuller and Cooks to go crazy in this game.  I feel like he'll be open the entire game in that scenario, and if Gilmore is out I'll likely bump Cooks up into my top-20 WRs.

The Ceiling is the Roof: With Jalen Reagor, Alshon Jeffrey, and Dallas Goedert now all healthy, I'm kind of worried about the role for Travis Fulgham moving forward.  Last week he had one catch for 8 yards, and I'd have a hard time putting him in my lineup this week against the Browns.

TEs

Obvious Start: I'm playing against him in my main league of record, so Darren Waller is going off against the Chiefs.  If you have him, you're starting him.  But hey, that's why this is the obvious category, right?

Not-So-Obvious Start: Sure, Austin Hooper had a bad game last week in his first action since his appendectomy, but so did everyone in the passing game.  The weather was terrible, but it looks like Cleveland might finally have a game without 40 mph winds this week.  I expect Hooper to be heavily involved in this game, and I actually like him to be a top-10 TE the rest of the year with the nice matchups he has remaining on the schedule.

The Ceiling is the Roof: I'll give you two: Tyler Higbee and Robert Tonyan.  Both guys had 3-TD performances earlier this season, and both guys haven't done much else outside of those games.  They're touchdown or bust dart throws, but that's kind of the tight end position after the top-5 or so guys.  

Last week I went 4-0-1 with my over/under picks after going 6-0 in Week 9.  Somehow I'm on a roll with those, but I'd really like to get back on track at least with my picks against the spread too.  We'll see if I can do that here in Week 11.