The fantasy football landscape shifts dramatically after Week 11, as unexpected performances and emerging storylines reshape our expectations for the season ahead. Some players exceed all projections, while others leave managers scratching their heads, wondering if early concerns were justified or merely a case of growing pains.
Thursday night’s New York Jets-New England Patriots matchup could provide crucial clarity on several key start/sit situations for both AFC powerhouses. Get ready to dive deep into the developments that could make or break your fantasy team’s Week 11 performance.
Drake Maye, QB
Drake Maye was intercepted for a third straight start and completed just 51.6% of his passes against a pass funnel Buccaneers defense (previous season low: 65.2% in his 2025 debut).
I’m more than comfortable blaming the conditions (a rainy mix) and moving on.
He showed perfect touch on the 72-yard score to Kyle Williams and now has five straight games with 220+ pass yards, 2+ pass TDs, and 7+ rushes.
That’s something no other QB has done during the 2000s.
No Mike Vick, Jayden Daniels, Josh Allen, or anyone else.
Dillon Gabriel looked like an NFL quarterback against these depleted Jets last week, and there’s no reason to think that Maye is anything but elite in this divisional matchup.
The only question left on Maye at this point is … what excuse are you going to make for not winning your league title after getting such value at the highest-scoring position in our game?
Rhamondre Stevenson, RB
That’s now two consecutive missed games with a toe injury for Rhamondre Stevenson, a player who is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry this season and doesn’t have a single 25-yard rush this season (83 attempts).
The injury to the veteran has forced New England’s hand in terms of relying on TreVeyon Henderson, thus opening the door for Stevenson to lose volume moving forward.
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This coaching staff has shown a frustrating amount of loyalty to their RB1 this season despite three lost fumbles, and that makes it difficult to envision a world in which he is sitting on the wrong side of a committee once he is deemed healthy enough to return.
That said, the lack of efficiency means that any decline in volume puts his value at significant risk. The Jets made it clear at the trade deadline before Week 10 that they are in the business of looking past 2025, and that makes any starter facing them worth a look, but I’m not sure that Stevenson’s touch ceiling is much greater than 15 should he return this week, and that makes him a touchdown-reliant RB2 at best.
TreVeyon Henderson, RB
I made note of a TreVeyon Henderson carry early in the win over the Bucs, where he was barely tripped up on a pitch play that had the potential to be a long gain or maybe an 81-yard touchdown, fearing that we missed our chance to get the rookie breakout game.
He may have missed out on that opportunity, but he more than made good on the chances presented to him the rest of the way, finishing with 147 yards and two scores against one of the better run defenses in the league.
I was high on Henderson entering the week, as most were, but it was under the assumption that we’d see his fluidity in the passing game on full display with Tampa Bay largely stuffing between-the-tackle runs.
I still want to see that, but seeing him hit holes at full speed was even better. The game could have been even better if not for a chaotic sequence at the goal line to end the first half, where he was tackled on the doorstep three times before Drake Maye threw a fourth-down fade to Stefon Diggs, but we can’t pick nits.
Do we have a league winner on our hands?
That’s the hope. He’s battling a minor knee injury this short week, but I’m more concerned about the health of Rhamondre Stevenson. This coaching staff has made it well known how valuable the veteran is to them, and that means he’ll be involved to some degree when healthy, even if it skews all logic.
Henderson now has more 35-yard touchdown runs during his career than Stevenson, and I expect that explosion to win out in the touch department for a team that is now chasing the AFC’s top seed. Mike Vrabel’s loyalty to Stevenson sends a good message, but if this team thinks its championship window is open as soon as this year (and why wouldn’t they), my hunch is that we have a change at the top of the depth chart moving forward.
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To be clear, that doesn’t mean this is an 80/20 split when all parties are healthy, but rather a 65/35 range, as seen in their last three games together, which makes sense to me, especially with the rookie leading the charge.
He’s to be viewed as a fringe RB1 when Stevenson is inactive, and I’ll be ranking him as an average RB2 until proven otherwise when his backfield mate returns.
If you stuck through the tough times, it’s time to buckle up for the good!
DeMario Douglas, WR
We all want a piece of this New England offense, but it’s a committee at the WR position, and I don’t see that changing.
Kyle Williams hit on the splash play last week, Stefon Diggs has been the most consistent target earner, and KayShon Boutte has had his moments.
Oh, and Mack Hollins followed up a nine-yard game with a 106-yard effort on Sunday because why not?
DeMario Douglas finds himself in a peculiar position where he doesn’t have a clear role. In Week 9 against the Falcons, he racked up 131 air yards, and on Sunday, he was responsible for only five.
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It’s been more than a month since the last time he was on the field for even a quarter of the offensive snaps. That sort of rare usage means he not only belongs on your waiver wire, but that he shouldn’t be on the long list of names you look at when bargain shopping on a Sunday morning as you try to replace inactive players.
Kayshon Boutte, WR
The hamstring injury sidelined Kayshon Boutte last week, and while there’s a chance he returns, you’re chasing ghosts here.
Boutte had a run of three straight games where he was a WR2 or better, which is great, but he achieved this with unsustainable scoring rates. In an offense like this that is structured around Drake Maye’s willingness to spread the ball around, the odds of a floor game far outweigh those of a ceiling performance.
The big-play threat (18.7 yards per catch this season) has scored on 16.1% of his targets this season, a dramatic shift from his first two seasons (4%). He’s a fine dart throw if that is the position you find yourself in, but with only two teams on bye and health question marks, there are likely better swings to take on your waiver wire.
Stefon Diggs, WR
Stefon Diggs has now scored in three straight games, his first such streak since Weeks 11-13 of 2022 with the Bills, and he looks great in doing it.
The explosive plays aren’t really a part of the equation any more (we are a month removed from his last 25-yard reception and in a two-year run that has seen him rip off one 40-yard gain), but as long as Drake Maye continues to make defenses sweat on those long passes to other players, Diggs’ savvy in the short area (8.6-yard aDOT) projects as sustainable.
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He was featured from the jump last week (38.9% first-half target share), and if this TreVeyon Henderson breakout is real, then there may be even more to the profile of New England’s WR1.
Back in Week 3, the upset win in Buffalo, Diggs turned six play-action routes into five catches and 77 yards. Maybe pillow-soft deep ball stretches the opponents vertically, and if the running game is now explosive, those middle crossing routes are Diggs’ for the taking.
He’s a top-20 receiver for me on this short week, ranking ahead of DK Metcalf and AJ Brown, to name a few.
Hunter Henry, TE
Drake Maye continues to play at an MVP level, so his indifference to getting his tight end speaks volumes to me.
Hunter Henry has checked in well under 0.5 yards per route run in two of his past three games and hasn’t reached 55 receiving yards in a game since doing it in two of three to open this season.
Being attached to a great offense makes sense in theory, but if they are great when not involving your piece of the pie consistently, maybe it’s time to reconsider.
Coltson Loveland is the obvious name, but Theo Johnson and Harold Fannin are among the young tight ends who mean much more to their respective units than Henry does, and that has me ranking all of them a tier ahead of the veteran without a second thought.
