The Minnesota Vikings will face the Tennessee Titans in Week 11. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Vikings skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 11 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Sam Darnold, QB
It felt like the Darnold ship was taking on water before Week 10, and he did nothing to quiet those fears with an ugly showing in Jacksonville (24-of-38 for 241 yards and three interceptions).
Included in those struggles was an end-zone interception on a play in which he had all day to throw. If you simply look at Darnold’s season-long numbers, he looks like a viable starter, but those stats are buoyed by three top-10 finishes that came in September (zero since).
The fact that the Titans rank 29th in pressure rate is why I have Darnold hovering around QB15 this week, but in traditional-sized, one-QB leagues, I’m making excuses to look elsewhere (Bo Nix and Jameis Winston both rank higher for me this week).
Aaron Jones, RB
I’ve used this space to say it a few times, and I’ll continue to say it: Aaron Jones’ managers are skating on thin ice. He’s again banged up, this time with a rib injury that Kevin O’Connell doesn’t believe will cost him time, but the premise remains the same. This is a featured back who turns 30 in less than a month and has had his fair share of troubles staying on the field.
Jones scored on the third carry of his Vikings tenure and has punched in just one of his 139 rushing attempts since. Volume has been the driving force behind him being a viable option in each of the past four weeks, but it’s beginning to feel as if we are on borrowed time with this offense as a whole.
Cam Akers is a must-add if you haven’t made the move already as he is working ahead of Ty Chandler these days in the RB2 role. You’re playing Jones any week he is active because Minnesota has proven to be committed to giving him 17-20 touches, but I’d want to make sure I have plenty of RB depth for the stretch run.
Cam Akers, RB
Cam Akers is the type of addition savvy fantasy managers make entering the holiday season. That’s not to say that he’s a league winner or anything like that, but he provides you with an avenue to production, and that’s the profile I want to load my bench with for the stretch run.
Last week, Akers doubled Ty Chandler’s snap count, providing us with proof that he sits as the RB2 on Minnesota’s depth chart. Aaron Jones has over 1,700 touches on his NFL résumé, has missed time in three of the past four seasons, and is currently battling sore ribs (not expected to threaten his status for Week 11 but worth noting).
The 7-2 Vikings will be playing meaningful games in December and are well past their bye week. Would it surprise you at all for Jones to miss time at some point? After this week …
- Week 12 at Chicago Bears (15th in defensive rush success rate)
- Week 13 vs. Arizona Cardinals (28th)
- Week 14 vs. Atlanta Falcons (27th)
- Week 15 vs. Chicago Bears (15th)
- Week 16 at Seattle Seahawks (24th)
Only a veteran RB with a checkered health history stands between Akers and a strong Flex ranking. Make the addition now and cut loose your WR6 who you’re never going to realistically play.
Jordan Addison, WR
I understand that we are in an era of football that places importance on offensive production, but that doesn’t mean that every team needs to have two viable receivers.
Jordan Addison paid off the excitement that followed him out of USC last season with 10 scores, but the league has adjusted to him; as a result, he’s not in the Flex conversation in any matchup.
In four straight games (and in five of his past six), Addison has failed to reach an on-field target share of 15%, a trend I don’t see reversing as T.J. Hockenson works toward full strength. The inability to earn consistent looks means you’re banking on a single home-run play against the top defense in terms of opponent yards per deep pass.
Good luck with that.
Justin Jefferson, WR
I don’t want to hear it. In a year where receiver injuries are as prevalent as ever and some bad quarterback situations (be it due to a lack of health or talent) have limited WR production, I don’t want to hear it from the sad Justin Jefferson manager who lost in Week 10 because their first-round pick only gave them 9.8 PPR points on nine targets against the Jaguars.
Sure, it was his worst finish of the season, and yes, I had him projected for close to double that … but relax. Jefferson is without question one of the top receivers in the sport. Even with Sam Darnold’s profile starting to show some cracks, I have no issue with labeling his WR1 as an elite option.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say that the usage last week was just fine — you just ran cold with the production. Three of the four targets that hit the ground were looks in the end zone for Jefferson. If one of them connects, this is a different story.
It was his first game this season with multiple end-zone looks, and if you gave me his exact profile (nine targets, three end-zone looks, and a one-possession game against a bottom-tier defense), I’d rank him as the WR1 for the week.
You worrying about Jefferson is Taylor Swift spending an afternoon sweating out penny stocks.
T.J. Hockenson, TE
The Vikings have yet to unleash T.J. Hockenson, and they really haven’t needed to. Is that frustrating? It is. For now.
Minnesota will be in a playoff battle until the very end of this season, and that has me optimistic that this star could peak at the perfect time. In Week 9, Hockenson played 45.1% of the snaps and was hardly extended in Week 10 (46.3%). I’m happy to read into the quality of snaps as opposed to quantity — he was targeted on 30% of his routes last weekend against the Jaguars.
I’m not expecting Hock to get back to his 2023 snap rate in November (79.6%), and I don’t care. If he is getting usage like he did in Week 10 (nine targets, 72 yards), the snap count will eventually follow. We could be looking at a Tier 1 option come the fantasy postseason.
Lock him into your lineups now and understand that you’re playing the long game.
Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans Trends
Minnesota Vikings
Team: After trailing for a total of 3:26 during their 5-0 start, the Vikings have trailed for over 107 minutes (roughly 45% of the time) in four games since. The culprit has been the second quarter—Minnesota has been outscored 35-0 in the second quarter since Week 7.
QB: Sam Darnold has thrown multiple interceptions in back-to-back games after not doing so in any of his first seven games of the season. He’s never thrown multiple picks in three straight games, and Christian Ponder (three straight in 2012) is the only Vikings QB this century with three straight multi-INT games.
Offense: The Vikings have a +58 point differential in first quarters this season, 26 points ahead of the second-place 49ers.
Defense: Minnesota’s volume blitzing gets the attention, but is it effective? They have the third-lowest pressure rate when bringing an extra defender (32.4%, better than only the Cardinals and Panthers).
Fantasy: Aaron Jones scored on his third carry of the season – he’s run for one touchdown on 139 attempts since.
Betting: After a 5-0 start against the spread, the Vikings are 1-3 ATS since.
Tennessee Titans
Team: The Titans have been out-scored 106-45 in their first three games against the NFC North this season.
QB: On Sunday, Will Levis posted his first game with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions in a game with 20-plus attempts since his NFL debut.
Offense: The thought this preseason was that this offense would open up – they rank dead last in the pace of play.
Defense: The regression monster has hit the Titans – 2023’s best red zone defense ranks 26th through 10 weeks this season.
Fantasy: If you extend Calvin Ridley’s three games post-DeAndre Hopkins trade for a full season — 114 catches for 1,700 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Betting: The Titans are 0-4 ATS at home this season (failures to cover against the Jets, Packers, Colts, and Patriots) and are just 1-6-1 ATS in their past eight in front of their fans.