
We are over halfway through the fantasy season. Immeasurable amounts of blood, sweat, and tears have been shed on fantasy rosters already–and we're not done yet, people!
I don't care if you're 10-0 or 0-10 (okay, the latter would really suck, and I'm sorry if that's the case), but yeah: Our sole focus is coming away with a W in Week 11. Cool? Cool.
This brings us to today's goal: 10 mostly fantasy-relevant things to know ahead of Week 11 that ideally will help make you both a better fantasy manager and overall person. This week's topics:
As always: It's a great day to be great.
Jefferson was fully believed to be QB-proof entering 2025, but that simply hasn't been the case through four starts with the artist known as "nine":
We know JJettas is still, in fact, quite good at football, as evidenced by the 26-year-old talent averaging 16.3 PPR points per game (WR10) in Weeks 3-8 with Carson Wentz under center. The man made a sweet one-handed TD catch two short weeks ago; the Vikings' 140-million-dollar man remains on the short list of the very best receivers in the game.
So … why is Jefferson actively functioning as McCarthy's least efficient target?
Vikings passer rating when targeted by McCarthy:
It's not like Addison (97.8) and Jefferson (81.8) were completely crushing it with Wentz under center, but man: Those numbers are ROUGH. For reference, only Jerry Jeudy has a worse passer rating when targeted this season as a whole (46) among 70 WRs with 30-plus targets.
Is it as simple as concluding that McCarthy is in over his head/sucks at football? There's a pretty decent argument for this: His EPA and completion percentage over expected composite score is only superior to Dillon Gabriel among 37 qualified QBs.

But hey, those are just numbers on a screen. Do these nerds even know ball?
I watched all 34 targets between McCarthy and Jefferson to try to get a better idea of what has gone right and wrong this season:
All in all, I deemed 64% of McCarthy's targets to Jefferson were more than fine, 21% were not great throws but also weren't exactly layups, and 15% were rough misses. This is right in line with PFF's 64% catchable target rate for Jefferson – a mark which certainly isn't great, but is equal or superior to guys like DK Metcalf (64%), AJ Brown (62%), Rome Odunze (62%), Emeka Egbuka (62%), Nico Collins (62%), and Tee Higgins (59%).
I was surprised at how mostly fine things were during their first 3.5 games together, but then the duo connected on just 1 of 8 second half targets against the Ravens, with several of the incompletions being erratic misfires from McCarthy to an open-enough Jefferson. That said: I do imagine the narrative here would be quite different if Jefferson had held onto that aforementioned TD and/or been able to make a play on McCarthy's deep INT that seemed like it could have been a reasonable one-on-one opportunity if JJettas hadn't been tripped up.
Verdict: I think they figure it out, and Jefferson works as his usual WR1-worthy self the rest of the way, even if familiar overall WR1 heights aren't quite reached. I have too much confidence in Jefferson and Kevin O'Connell to believe that things won't get better here, particularly with McCarthy, to his credit, putting a couple handful's worth of truly solid throws on tape this season. It'd make sense if the 22-year-old de facto rookie improves with more reps–he's started four games people!–don't be surprised if Jefferson reminds everyone just how good he is against the Bears this Sunday.
Last week I went through handcuff tiers for the entire position, but that included guys like RJ Harvey and Chuba Hubbard. Awesome, tier 1 handcuffs … who are already on rosters in fantasy leagues of pretty much all shapes and sizes.
Accordingly, below I have *five* rather awesome handcuffs who were also rostered in 35% or fewer Yahoo and ESPN leagues as of Tuesday.
One last good shout courtesy of my friend Justin Herzig who may or may not be the best fantasy football player in the world: Ravens RB Keaton Mitchell, who is just 1% rostered on both ESPN and Yahoo. There's definitely some risk here with current pass-down specialist Justice Hill being a candidate to see his role expanded with Derrick Henry out of the picture, but Mitchell tentatively profiles as the next-man up on early downs–a role which he could make the most out of if that ridiculous 6.7 career yards per carry mark persists.
Six WRs have managed to average an additional eight PPR points per game during Weeks 6-10 compared to Weeks 1-5:
Meanwhile four notable WRs have crashed out quite a bit in recent weeks and find themselves averaging at least eight fewer PPR points per game during the back half of the season so far:
Last week this section highlighted Rome Odunze (yay!), Ladd McConkey (alright!), Jaylin Lane (he had one big catch!) … Keenan Allen (well, that's not great) … and Brock Bowers (oh no).
Still, Week 9 produced some quality rationale for feeling good about Alec Pierce and Josh Downs ahead of their respective top-16 performances. The common variable for several of these guys is the opportunity to simply play the Steelers' league-worst defense in PPR points per game allowed to the position … but hey maybe that's something that we should accordingly keep doing!
So yes: Even the cleanest on-paper mismatches don't always come true. We are trying to predict the future in a sport featuring 60 minutes of 11-on-11 car crashes featuring the world's best athletes who attempt to move a ball that isn't even round, after all.
But damn, is that going to stop us from trying? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
With this in mind: Let's rekindle our strategy just a bit to focus on WRs ideally…
Three dudes who cleanly fit the bill but are obviously already being started in lineups of all shapes and sizes: Eagles WRs DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown, and Bengals WR Tee Higgins. Good news for their potential to really take advantage of their respective smashable spots, but yeah, we don't need to dive into why you should fire up these consensus top-20 WRs in the Fantasy Life ranks.
Anyway, there are three more situations worth looking at because it sure seems like these more under-the-radar WRs have a nice chance of racking up some yardage this week.

Workhorse alert: 14 teams featured one single RB on at least 70% of their offense's snaps in Week 10: Kimani Vidal (94%), Jonathan Taylor (91%), De'Von Achane (88%), Ashton Jeanty (88%), Bijan Robinson (85%), TreVeyon Henderson (83%), Christian McCaffrey (78%), Woody Marks (78%), Rico Dowdle (78%), Josh Jacobs (74%), Aaron Jones (72%), Rachaad White (71%), Breece Hall (70%), and Saquon Barkley (70%). We also saw Chase Brown (95%), Javonte Williams (88%), and Kareem Hunt (81%) handle near every-down roles in Week 9 before their respective team's Week 10 byes.
All should be auto starts in pretty much fantasy lineups of all shapes and sizes with the only two real exceptions being Marks (season-best usage but tough to be positive that it'll persist given last week's extreme negative game-script) and White (over the last two games Sean Tucker has eaten pretty heavily into what was previously a workhorse role). Even then, I typically let a workhorse RB's volume win as the tiebreaker over WR3 types in close start/sit decisions. I do additionally think Marks' boost in usage was more real than not considering he earned his first start of the season.
Still a bell-cow, wouldn't sweat it: RBs who didn't quite rack up a near every-down role in terms of snaps, but continued to dominate their backfield's overall touches and should be continued to be relied on in fantasy lineups of all shapes and sizes include:
Muddled committees are so lame: And the Cardinals, Commanders, Titans, and Seahawks largely continue to insist on deploying just that. None of the involved backs crack my top 24 and shouldn't be relied on with any sort of high-end confidence as long as these gross rotations persist.
That said: Keep an eye on the status of both Trey Benson (knee, IR) and Bam Knight (ankle). The absence of both would push Emari Demercado up the ranks into the mid-tier RB3 conversation, while Benson would presumably take his starting job back and could provide a nice boost down the stretch for a Cardinals offense that has generally been a bit more watchable with Jacoby Brissett under center in recent weeks.
There's a pulse!: Saints RB Alvin Kamara finally got something going last week, turning 25 touches into 115 total yards–his first game with more than 76 yards since Week 2! Now, things still aren't overly great – Kamara has 159 touches and just *one* TD this season–but Tyler Shough actually looked okay out there, and the team's schedule coming out of their Week 11 bye is honestly pretty juicy.
TD dependent early-down grinders: Feature JK Dobbins and David Montgomery, who don't have a high enough overall touch floor to be auto-starts with their general lack of pass-game involvement.
Of course, Dobbins (foot) is looking dicey for Week 11 after reportedly getting a second opinion on his new injury. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a doctor, but I'm guessing Dobbins didn't love the first doctor's opinion if he felt the need to get a second one. This could open the door for RJ Harvey, who has been stuck with minimal touches inside an offense that also insists on keeping Tyler Badie involved. Fantasy football veterans know better than to assume anything when it comes to trying to predict Sean Payton's player usage; just realize Harvey has made the most out of his touches all season (position-best 1.33 PPR points per touch!). I'd be willing to fire up Harvey as a legit mid-tier RB2 alongside guys like Jaylen Warren and Aaron Jones should Dobbins be unable to suit up against the Chiefs. My friend/The Athletic's Jake Ciely is a bit more wary of Payton's history and said he'd rank Harvey behind Vidal on the Tuesday edition of The Pat Mayo Experience.
We're saying there's a chance: Week 9 was annoying for anyone who spent significant FAAB on Tyrone Tracy, but we actually got a glimmer of home in Week 10. Now, the firing of Brian Daboll and potential absence of Jaxson Dart (concussion) could very well make this offense a trainwreck ahead of Sunday's matchup with the Packers–I'm just saying there's at least a chance here!

I put together some strength of schedule charts for every position (except kickers. f*ck kickers) to help get you, a scholar, through the next four weeks and to look ahead to the fantasy playoffs if you're into that kind of thing. You can find the individual charts hyperlinked to each position below alongside my thoughts on a key takeaway for Weeks 15-17:
QB: Obviously most will already have a QB locked down for this stretch, but keep an eye out on waivers for Brock Purdy if fantasy managers are getting restless waiting for his return. Maybe it does in fact take until after the 49ers' Week 14 bye, but yeah: We know Purdy is capable of putting forward QB1 numbers in fantasy land, and he closes out the season strong with the Titans, Colts, and Bears inside an offense that should be nearing full strength down the stretch.
RB: It's been tough sledding this season for training camp Hall of Famer Bill Croskey-Merritt, but the man has the single-best schedule during the playoffs thanks to two pristine matchups against the Giants (Week 15) and Cowboys (Week 17). The other speculative add here is Chris Rodriguez, who does seem to be trending up himself.
WR: This is gross. I get it. BUT: Jerry Jeudy finally showed signs of life in Week 10, and he carries the position's single-best schedule in Weeks 11-14 before getting the third-best playoff stretch thanks to winnable matchups against the Bears and Steelers in Weeks 15 and 17. Again, totally disgusting, but he's probably the most affordable top option among the top-five WR groups in the Vikings, 49ers, Browns, Commanders, and Eagles.
TE: While Mark Andrews and Tyler Warren have the best playoff schedules, the most realistic addition would actually be Dolphins TE Greg Dulcich, who has seen his usage rise in three consecutive weeks. Now, the answer could actually be Darren Waller, who is currently on IR with an allegedly non-season-ending pectoral injury. Either way: The Steelers, Bengals, and Buccaneers is a pretty, pretty, pretty great stretch to end the fantasy season with.
DST: The Buccaneers continue to profile as the best bet from Week 13 on, as Vita Vea and company will close out the fantasy season with the Cardinals, Saints, Falcons, Panthers, and Dolphins. There isn't a better combination down the stretch of a good real life defense on a quality contender with a smashable schedule–and their currently tough stretch has them rostered in just 29% of ESPN leagues.
We're always looking for DSTs that …
Accordingly, two defenses stick out as my favorite streaming options over the next few weeks among groups available in at least 49% of ESPN leagues as of Tuesday:
Your break glass in case of emergency option this week is Da Bears (15% rostered), who deserve credit for racking up an NFL-best 20 takeaways through 10 weeks of action and get to face off against JJ McCarthy–a man with 15 sacks and six INTs to his name in just four starts.
Still don't have a DST available to your liking? Fine. The Cowboys DST (4% rostered) is facing a bad/injured Raiders offense led by Geno Smith, who has taken the fourth most sacks in the league while throwing the second-most INTs. Dallas should be better after trading for Quinnen Williams and they get stud LB DeMarvion Overshown back this week, as well. Throw in the presence of ace return man KaVontae Turpin, and I could at least see this defense/special teams creating enough big plays to return a top-12 finish this week.
I'll be publishing an early rankings column midday Monday throughout the season that gives my top-12 QB/TE and top-24 RB//WR alongside some honorable mention picks while also answering a handful of questions regarding some of the week's biggest storylines. You can read the full Week 11 piece here, but I also wanted to highlight the two biggest questions and answers I had.
*Law and Order Music*
These are their stories.
What rookie WRs have been the most efficient with their opportunities?
The below chart denotes the yards and targets per route run from the 17 most-used rookie WRs:

Some notes:
What teams, not players, have produced the most TE fantasy points?
This question was 1000% inspired by the Rams seemingly using 20 different TEs on their way to beating down the 49ers on Sunday.
Most team-wide TE PPR points per game:
The Rams do in fact improve to second if we only look at the last five weeks, but the real hilarious part here is the Steelers ranking fifth despite not having a single TE ranked better than 29th in PPR points per game. Arthur Smith would assuredly find this to be awesome if he cared at all about fantasy football.
In each instance: It'd be a lot cooler if we had one featured option to lean into in fantasy land, but life isn't fair, so unfortunately we'll continue to largely focus on other options at a position that has annoyed roughly 11 out of every 12 fantasy managers this season (shoutout Trey McBride though!).
… yeah! Home team listed first:
And I'm talking BOLD. No predicting Jonathan Taylor to have a big game, or Jaxon Smith-Njigba to have 100 yards: We're dumpster diving here in the pursuit of glory, but I swear there's legit reasoning to the madness (mostly in the form of my weekly mismatch manifesto charts).
1. Romeo Doubs goes OFF, torches the Giants for 100+ yards and a TD. The Packers' banged-up WR room has rotated quite a few bodies this season, but Doubs has been a staple as THE WR1. Expected to be good to go despite suffering a chest injury last week, it'd make sense if Doubs puts together a quality performance against the Giants' man-coverage heavy secondary that also happens to, well, generally suck. Bonus: Dontayvion Wicks will also find his way into the end zone.
2. RJ Harvey makes the most out of his first start–gains 100+ total yards and scores twice. The matchup isn't ideal, but the Broncos' offensive line has been good enough for Harvey to potentially win out anyway. The RB position's leader in PPR points per touch, Harvey has the sort of explosive pass-catching ability to make the most out of his opportunities, even if Tyler Badie and Jaleel McLaughlin are more involved than expected.
3. Greg Dulcich posts a top-10 fantasy week; goes 6-65-1 in Madrid. The Dolphins' latest starting TE has seen his role expand in three consecutive weeks and now profiles as the team's every-down option at the position ahead of this rather awesome Madrid-themed matchup with the Commanders. Obviously this passing game flows through Jaylen Waddle and De'Von Achane first and foremost, but Tua Tagovailoa and Mike McDaniel should be able to get some decent numbers from the offense's potential third pass-game option as well.
Last week: Zay Flowers (4-75-0) did not finally boom, Kyle Monangai (RB29) did not post a top-24 finish even with D'Andre Swift back, and Khalil Shakir (7-58-0) had a nice enough game but I wouldn't exactly say he "torched" them. … As always: We'll watch the film and get better.
Thank you all for reading and best of luck in Week 11 and beyond!