Week 11 is here and there is less and less time for you to make a statement in your fantasy football leagues. As we all know, there will be plenty of questions about who to start and who to sit in your fantasy football lineups. Below, we’ve provided analysis for every fantasy-relevant quarterback in every game this weekend.
If you’re looking for all positions, head to our Week 11 Fantasy Football Start-Sit Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Aaron Rodgers | NYJ (vs. IND)
Aaron Rodgers has one finish better than QB15 since September and is in the midst of a lost season. Trying to guess where his motivation lies is a fool’s errand, but in the short term, I believe he’ll continue to be aggressive in an effort to build up some sort of equity with this franchise for next season.
The Colts are the third most vulnerable on short passes but fifth-best at defending deep passes. Since Davante Adams came to town, he’s been used more in the short passing game with Garrett Wilson handling the field-stretching role. If this Rodgers/Adams thing is ever going to produce the type of upside that we had hoped, this is the spot.
Rodgers isn’t someone you should be counting on until we have proof of concept. He’s my QB20 this week and is going to struggle to crack my top 15 at any point moving forward.
Anthony Richardson | IND (at NYJ)
Last week started about as poorly as it could for Joe Flacco (two interceptions, including a pick-six, on his first five passes), and yet the Colts didn’t feel the need to insert Anthony Richardson.
But what’s this? Richardson is now the man at the controls of this offense the rest of the way?
Colts have gone back to Anthony Richardson as the starting quarterback.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 13, 2024
I was replaced last season as the cooker of our turkey at Thanksgiving and my brother stepped in.
He burned it.
And now, after watching him fail in spectacular fashion, the responsibility is back in my hands. Am I any more qualified after watching him show me exactly what not to do?
Is Richardson in a better spot now after watching Joe Flacco make a mess of Week 10?
The athletic profile hasn’t gone anywhere and that has him challenging my top-15 this week as a bet on his tools and the Jets’ struggles. They’ve played two games against a top-notch athlete at the QB position and while Richardson is not Josh Allen or Kyler Murray, it’s worth noting that those two, when pressured, found success in bunches in this matchup:
- 13 pressured attempts
- 10 completions
- 1 touchdown
- 142.1 passer rating
I’m not shying away from Richardson in DFS tournaments with top-heavy payouts.
Bo Nix | DEN (vs. ATL)
What we are seeing from Bo Nix is encouraging on multiple levels. He’s keeping his WR1 feed while also taking what the defense is giving him and adding in plus athleticism when given the opportunity.
I’m loading up on as much Nix stock as I can in long-term leagues, and while I don’t think he’s yet a locked-in starter, he’s in the mix. In the first quarter last week, he distributed his eight passes to seven different teammates, guiding him to his fourth top-15 performance over his past six games.
In terms of this week, the Falcons have the fourth-lowest opponent average depth of throw, something that I believe Nix will leverage to a high-floor, low-ceiling sort of performance that lands him in the QB11-15 range. There’s nothing wrong with that, and if he can continue to showcase growth, a matchup with the Bengals in Week 17 could result in you counting on him with money on the line.
Brock Purdy | SF (vs. SEA)
Brock Purdy celebrated the return of Christian McCaffrey by giving fantasy managers their fourth top-10 finish from him this season. He’s averaged over nine yards per pass in each of San Francisco’s past four wins, and with them favored to win this week, it’s plenty reasonable to project another ultra-efficient effort from their QB.
This team may be missing Brandon Aiyuk, but Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall seem capable of picking up that slack. McCaffrey adds a dimension to this offense that few have access to, and with Purdy showcasing an increased willingness to scramble, this is the profile of a top-10 QB the rest of the way.
As for this matchup, we saw Purdy light them up for 255 yards and three touchdowns on just 28 passes in Week 6. The Seahawks defense is one that I trust against below-average offenses and target otherwise.
Per our Offensive+ metric, the 49ers are a top-10 offense thus far despite being bitten by the injury bug. With this team trending near full strength, I’m confident in their projection this week, and that results in Purdy being ranked as a starter, with confidence, for me.
Caleb Williams | CHI (vs. GB)
Caleb Williams was the QB1 in Week 6 but hasn’t been a top-20 option since and is running out of time to prove himself as a redraft option for 2024.
I still think the future is bright, and that can be true even if the present is murky at best. The Packers are coming off of their bye and own the sixth-lowest opponent passer rating on deep balls. I’m not confident that the rookie will dink-and-dunk his way to glory, and this opportunistic defense is going to make chunk plays difficult to come by.
C.J. Stroud | HOU (at DAL)
C.J. Stroud hasn’t finished a week better than QB14 since September, a slump that just so happens to line up with Nico Collins’ last fully healthy game.
I suspect that Collins will be back for this game, and that has me looking at Stroud slightly differently, but I’m waiting one more week before counting on Stroud as my starting signal caller with this game being played on Monday night and the risk that comes with that in terms of Collins’ status.
Houston is going to be playing meaningful games all regular season, and that means you get a motivated (and hopefully healthy) version of this team hosting the Ravens on Christmas Day (Week 17). Remember Alvin Kamara’s historic game on Christmas Day? I’m not saying we see a stat line of similar impact this season, but if we do, it might come from someone attached to this Texans offense.
Cooper Rush | DAL (vs. HOU)
Twice this season has a QB completed 10 passes while throwing for under 95 yards in a 25+ point loss:
- Cooper Rush (Week 10 vs. Eagles)
- Andy Dalton (Week 7 at Commanders)
Both of my siblings also have red hair, and they aren’t starting for your fantasy team. Am I ruling out all red-headed players from making a living in the NFL? No. Am I starting a redhead in 2024 as my fantasy QB? Also, no.
Derek Carr | NO (vs. CLE)
Derek Carr posted his third top-10 finish of the season last week thanks to Marquez Valdes-Scantling making a few big plays against the Falcons. The performance was nice but not something that I’m at all labeling as sustainable with his primary options injured.
The Browns are the top pressure-rate team in the league this season (43.2% of dropbacks), and while Carr is averaging a career-high 7.7 yards per pressured attempt, I’m downgrading him in this matchup given the weapons currently at his disposal. MVS is fast, but can he work downfield faster than Cleveland can apply the heat?
I’m saying no, and that’s why Carr is no more than a low-end QB2 for me this weekend.
Drake Maye | NE (vs. LAR)
Lamar Jackson (eight straight) and Drake Maye (five, an active streak) are the only QBs this season with a 15+ yard run in four straight starts this season. The athletic profile is a game-changer in this game of ours and gives Maye access to a ceiling that many don’t have, but the passing numbers need to be stable if he’s going to break into the top 15.
After consecutive weeks where he finishes as a starter, Maye has just two touchdown passes (and three interceptions) on 72 attempts, not posting a 30-yard completion over that stretch. Maye’s future (for both the Patriots and fantasy managers alike) is bright, but I don’t think we are there yet in terms of consistency, and that has me ranking him as an option in only Superflex situations.
Gardner Minshew II | LV (at MIA)
Gardner Minshew II just doesn’t have the support to return anything close to viable numbers. There will be weeks where Jakobi Meyers and/or Brock Bowers elevate his status to that of a reasonable DFS punt play as part of a contrarian stack, but I’d rather not tempt fate against an above-average blitzing defense that could pin its ears back if it plays with a lead.
Minshew has thrown 139 passes on the road this season — he has three touchdowns and seven interceptions to show for them.
Geno Smith | SEA (at SF)
With Jaxon Smith-Njigba seemingly breaking out and hope that DK Metcalf is back on the field coming out of the bye, I understand why you might consider Geno Smith in desperate situations, but I think you can stream elsewhere (Bo Nix, Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, or Drake Maye are all options, depending on your league).
The 49ers have had Smith’s number in the past (two touchdowns on 153 attempts since the start of 2022), and the efficiency that has made him a fantasy streamer in the past is trending in the wrong direction when facing the divisional rival.
- Week 2, 2022: 80% completion rate
- Week 15, 2022: 70.5% completion rate
- Week 12, 2023: 66.7% completion rate
- Week 6, 2024: 57.7% completion rate
The 49ers are on the short list of teams most likely to create pressure without needing to bring the heat — Smith completed 59.2% of passes when pressured without the blitz in Weeks 1-4, a rate that has fallen to 44.2% in his four games since.
With two games coming against the Cardinals, I’m not dismissing Smith’s value moving forward, but I promise you that you can find a better floor/ceiling combination on your waiver wire for Week 11.
Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. WAS)
It’s getting difficult to properly describe what Jalen Hurts is doing, but that’s not going to stop me from trying.
On Sunday, for the third time in four games, Hurts ran for multiple scores while completing 70% of his passes. He’s normalized something that is a unique occurrence for all other human beings.
- Consider this: the rest of the NFL has three such games this season.
- Consider this: no player has more such games over the past 21 years (regular season, minimum 10 attempts) than Hurts has over the last 21 days.
Does that help add some context? Video game numbers are being put up weekly — don’t let that distract you from what Hurts is doing. His skill set is special, and fantasy managers are enjoying an all-time run. Do I see that stopping this week against a Commanders defense that allowed a touchdown every quarter last week to the Steelers?
I do not.
Jameis Winston | CLE (at NO)
Having one good (8.1 yards per pass and three scores against the Ravens in Week 8) and one bad game (5.1 yards per pass and three interceptions against the Chargers in Week 9) during two Jameis Winston starts is about as spot-on as it gets. We have a decade-large sample size telling us that this is what we get from Winston, and that can be of use in our game, but it has to be the perfect spot.
And no, I’m not talking about the perfect spot for Winston — the perfect spot for you. If you’re fighting for your life and willing to throw all caution to the wind, Winston should be on your radar. This Saints team is in full 2025 mode, and that could allow for some fireworks, but I’m more interested in this random number generator down the stretch.
I don’t know about you, but in my experience, it seems like there is usually a significant mismatch at some point in the semifinals or championship matchup. Some teams get hot at the right time and find themselves matched up with the powerhouse that has controlled the entire season. Sound familiar?
- Week 16 at Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 17 vs. Miami Dolphins
It’s rare to stash a quarterback, but if you’re honest with yourself and view your team as a long-term underdog, putting a volatile player like this on your roster makes plenty of sense.
As for Week 11, I don’t have Winston ranked as a top-15 QB.
Jared Goff | DET (vs. JAX)
- Quarterbacks greatly impact winning NFL championships.
- Quarterbacks greatly impact winning fantasy championships.
With those two facts, I can understand the desire to back a QB on a Super Bowl threat, but Jared Goff has just two finishes better than QB9 this season. For reference, Geno Smith and Derek Carr have more. Heck, Justin Fields has the same number of such performances this season.
I don’t think the five-interception version of Goff that we saw on Sunday night is here to stay, especially against a bottom-three pass defense in yards per pass, completion percentage, and passer rating. The lack of rushing upside and the run-heavy script have Goff outside of my top 12 this week, though I think you could talk yourself into him putting up big numbers early against a vulnerable defense when it comes to DFS builds.
Jayden Daniels | WAS (at PHI)
A dropped touchdown pass didn’t help Jayden Daniels last week, but that is part of the game. The impressive rookie left Week 7 early, and while he didn’t miss any games, his fantasy managers have been struggling — Daniels is the QB16 in points per game over the past three weeks.
Are NFL defenses adjusting faster than Washington can adapt to what is being thrown at them? It’s possible, but I’m still plenty comfortable in betting on an athletic profile like this. The Eagles own the fourth-best defense against deep passes in terms of yards per attempt, so this might not be a highlight-filled game through the air, but that’s part of the beauty with Daniels — he can pay the fantasy bills in several ways.
The Eagles haven’t played an offense structured like Washington’s, and that has me hesitant to project Philly to quiet them. If this game pushes 50 points the way sportsbooks have it projected, both QBs should return big-time value.
Joe Burrow | CIN (at LAC)
Joe Burrow took full advantage of a soft spot on Thursday night, ripping apart the Baltimore Ravens to the tune of 428 yards and four scores in the one-point loss. Bengals fans can be disappointed with this team’s 4-6 record, but fantasy managers who looked past the unique injury last season and the season-opening dud (remember that he threw for 164 touchdown-less yards in a home loss to the Patriots?) have been rewarded.
Handsomely.
Burrow is now the first AFC quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in consecutive games since … himself (Weeks 16-17, 2021). As the leader of the top pass-rate-over-expectation team in the NFL, he deserves to be locked in with confidence moving forward.
Of course, no player is untradeable at the right price, and this is a prime example of that. If your team is somewhere in the 4-6 or 5-5 range and you view the next few weeks as critical to either make the playoffs or set yourself up in a favorable spot, I’d test the waters.
- Week 11: at Los Angeles Chargers
- Week 12: Bye
- Week 13: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
But wait, that’s not all. The final three weeks of the season are just as brutal.
- Week 16: vs. Cleveland Browns (Thursday night)
- Week 17: vs. Denver Broncos
- Week 18 (if needed): at Pittsburgh Steelers
It is worth noting that Burrow is pretty close to the matchup-proof tier of fantasy signal callers. That said, his per-game fantasy production is 15.3% lower if you remove the two games against pass-funnel Baltimore.
What could you get with Brock Purdy for Burrow? Purdy’s bye is behind him, has Christian McCaffrey back, will likely be playing meaningful games all season, and wraps the standard fantasy season with four straight good weather spots, the final three in advantageous spots (Rams, Dolphins, and Lions).
Joe Flacco | IND (at NYJ)
I wasn’t sure that Joe Flacco was going to make it through Week 10 as the team’s starting quarterback, not after two of his first five passes were intercepted. But give the veteran credit for hanging in there.
And now give him a spot on the bench.
I think this is the right move for the Colts and with that belief, cutting Flacco is a reasonable move in Superflex leagues if you value the roster spot. If you have a spot to burn, I’d hang on through this week just as a precaution.
Jordan Love | GB (at CHI)
If I asked you how many top-10 finishes Jordan Love has at the position this season for the 6-3 Packers, what answer would you give me?
Even with two missed games, I’m guessing you’d give him a 50% hit rate, three or four of his seven starts, but the answer is just two. He’s thrown an interception in every game this season, the rushing is all but gone, and in the two weeks before the Week 10 bye, none of his 61 passes resulted in a touchdown.
I still think Love is on the starting radar for the remainder of the season, and maybe the off week will allow him to get closer to full strength. However, he’s nothing more than a fringe option in this divisional matchup.
Chicago’s sack rate has been gradually improving this season, and when Love is under duress, his passer rating has regressed by 36% from 2023. Among pocket passes, something that I’m labeling Love as until proven otherwise, Tua Tagovailoa (vs. LV), Jared Goff (vs. JAX), and Brock Purdy (vs. SEA) rank well ahead of him this week; I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to stream Russell Wilson (vs. BAL) as a one-week option.
To be clear — Love is a fantasy starter you can feel fine about for your playoffs: the Packers get the Seahawks, Saints, and Vikings to close the fantasy season
Josh Allen | BUF (vs. KC)
Josh Allen was missing Keon Coleman and Amari Cooper for all of Week 10 and lost Dalton Kincaid during the game. For 95% of signal callers, that would hinder their ability to put up numbers, but you didn’t draft Allen because he was a part of the 95%.
Despite all of the injuries around him, Allen accounted for 330 yards of offense against the Colts. He failed to throw a touchdown pass (snapping a streak of four straight multi-TD pass efforts) but still found a way to average 12.7 yards per completion to complement his 11 fantasy points as a runner.
He might be the most situation-proof QB in our fantasy game (only one finish this season worse than QB13), and that makes him the type of player who puts his teams in a position to be successful at the highest level.
We can have the “when to draft a quarterback” conversation this summer, but it’s hard to count out any team with Allen on it, and that needs to be considered more this upcoming August than it was last.
Justin Herbert | LAC (vs. CIN)
Don’t look now, but Justin Herbert is getting comfortable in this system, and the fantasy numbers are coming along for the ride. He’s been a top-12 QB in three straight games, a major accomplishment for a player who previously didn’t have a single top-15 finish this season.
Herbert carries his recent momentum (multiple total touchdowns accounted for in all three of those games with 9.4 yards per pass attempt) into a matchup that faces the 10th-most pass attempts per game, in part because they have the third-lowest sack percentage.
More important than Herbert’s direct matchup, though, is his indirect one. He obviously won’t be on the field at the same time as Joe Burrow, but if Cincinnati can do what few have been able to do and score with regularity against this Los Angeles defense, Herbert will be pushed in a way he really hasn’t this season.
I currently have Herbert ranked as QB8 for Week 11 and would be happy to play him in any league where I have him.
Kirk Cousins | ATL (at DEN)
Kirk Cousins was the highest-scoring fantasy QB in Week 5 but hasn’t given us top-15 numbers in a single game since. The lack of rushing equity certainly plays into that, but so does a limited yardage ceiling through the air.
We remember the 509-yard game against the Bucs, but did you know that Cousins has reached 245 passing yards just two other times this season?
The aggressive Broncos figure to make Cousins uncomfortable on his dropbacks and could result in Atlanta looking to leverage Bijan Robinson and the run game. At the end of the day, I think Cousins has a narrow range of outcomes, and I can’t get him inside of my top 15 this week without a top-five upside.
Lamar Jackson | BAL (at PIT)
The front-runner for the NFL MVP was nothing short of special on Thursday night, and his Ravens needed every ounce of it to earn the one-point win over the Bengals. Lamar Jackson is the first QB with three games of four passing scores and 30 rushing yards in a single season since himself in 2019.
Do you still have the weird desire to knock Jackson for the running? Stop it. He’s the first quarterback with multiple passing touchdowns and 280 yards through the air since 2020. He’s bizarro Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is an elite talent whose team doesn’t need him to light up the scoreboard while Jackson is an elite talent whose team requires video game production.
A goofy late-season schedule makes the long-term evaluation a little weird if Baltimore’s seeding isn’t in major question (Weeks 14-17: bye, Sunday game, Saturday game, Wednesday game), but if there is a player that can overcome a less-than-ideal rest schedule, it’s Jackson in a spot like this.
The Steelers are obviously a great defense, but in 2024, great offense beats great defense. In Jackson’s two most difficult matchups this season:
Week 1 at Chiefs: 273 pass yards and 122 rushing yards
Week 9 vs. Broncos: 280 passing yards, 84.2% complete, and three touchdowns
Mac Jones | JAX (at DET)
Mac Jones earned a D+ in our QB+ metric, an identical mark to that of Trevor Lawrence through nine weeks and his fantasy status was even lower. Against the Vikings, his 22 passes yielded just 111 yards with no scores and two interceptions. The Jags had as many first downs as drives on Sunday and without elite volume, Jones will be swimming upstream to return even QB2 value. The only value he can offer for fantasy managers is weighing down his top two pass catchers with targets.
Mason Rudolph | TEN (vs. MIN)
After accounting for multiple touchdowns in two starts for the ailing Will Levis, Mason Rudolph was sent to the bench in Week 10. The impact won’t be felt at the quarterback position in fantasy circles, but Calvin Ridley’s managers were thrilled with his 35.4% target share from Rudolph, a note to remember should the veteran backup see his number called again at some point this season.
Matthew Stafford | LAR (at NE)
The season has been a little rocky for Matthew Stafford. He had a Thursday night gem against the Vikings when he got both of his receivers back (25-of-34 for 279 yards and four scores), but he also has a few games like Monday night against Miami, a game in which he averaged just 6.4 yards per pass and didn’t see any of his 46 attempts result in a score.
Without rushing equity or much splash-play potential (zero 40-yard completions since September), starting a QB with this profile is a tough sell. Add in the fact that the Rams are a five-point road favorite and have a running back in Kyren Williams with whom they are comfortable melting the clock, and Stafford isn’t a top-15 play for me this week.
Patrick Mahomes | KC (at BUF)
Daniel Jones and Caleb Williams are a part of the long list of QBs this season with multiple top-10 finishes in 2024.
That list doesn’t include Patrick Mahomes.
I think he has a chance to join it this week if for no other reason than it might be the rare instance where that is what is asked of him. Mahomes has struggled to be a consistent fantasy asset this season, not because the aliens from Space Jam stole his talent, but because the undefeated Chiefs don’t need him to put up big numbers the way Buffalo needs Josh Allen to.
I like his usage potential in this spot against a defense that asks you to take your medicine with short passes, something Mahomes has been doing in volume for the past few seasons. That said, we have to also include the idea that Buffalo dictates the tempo and makes this a low-possession game.
Mahomes is my QB14 this week. If it looks like we are getting a low ownership situation in DFS tournaments, I might get there as a bet on talent.
Russell Wilson | PIT (vs. BAL)
Russell Wilson has been worthy of your trust in two of his three starts, and he has elevated this offense in such a way that I’m comfortable assuming this team opens things up in an effort to exploit the Baltimore Ravens’ pass-funnel defense.
In every one of his starts this season, the veteran QB has accounted for at least three scores or completed 70% of his passes — why can’t he do both against the worst EPA pass defense in the league?
Three teams have scored at least 26 points in each of their past four games: the Bills, Eagles, and Steelers. I’m not putting this offense on that level yet, but part of being a successful fantasy manager is adjusting expectations with time. This isn’t the Steelers offense from September. Heck, this isn’t the team from early October. This is a team that is embracing its strengths and looking to make splash plays through the air.
Wilson will be a chalky DFS play, and I don’t think that’s wrong.
Sam Darnold | MIN (at TEN)
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).
Trevor Lawrence | JAX (at DET)
Early reports indicate that this is a day-by-day situation when it comes to the health of Trevor Lawrence’s shoulder, but if you’re playing competitive games at this point in the season, you’re not interested in Jacksonville’s QB situation.
I’m tempted to believe that the Jags take a cautious approach given their 2-8 record and their commitment through 2028 to Lawrence. Mac Jones was unable to find success last week, and I fear that is the fate of this offense regardless of who is under center.
Detroit’s D/ST has the potential to post a big number, and if that is your angle, I’d rather see Jones under center.
Tua Tagovailoa | MIA (vs. LV)
Tua Tagovailoa has completed 77.7% of his passes in three starts back (concussion), but the fantasy points have yet to pile up.
- Week 8: QB20
- Week 9: QB17
- Week 10: QB22
With a banged-up Tyreek Hill and a struggling Jaylen Waddle, the counting numbers have yet to come, but I’m tempted to trust him against a defense that ranks inside the bottom 10 in passing touchdown rate, completion percentage, and passer rating.
This week. My third tier of fantasy QBs extends from QB7-QB13, and Tagovailoa finds himself in the middle of that range. I like this to be his best week back, and that has me ranking him ahead of Jordan Love (at CHI) and Patrick Mahomes (at BUF).
Will Levis | TEN (vs. MIN)
On Sunday, Will Levis posted his first game with multiple touchdown passes, no interceptions, and 20+ attempts since his NFL debut. Good for him but meaningless for fantasy managers.
The impactful part of Levis’ Week 10 display was proof that he was watching what “worked” for this offense during his time on the shelf. Mason Rudolph funneled 38.5% of his targets toward Calvin Ridley in his starts, and Levis essentially mirrored that plan in his return to action (39.1% target share).
Levis facing the aggressive Vikings isn’t even a QB2 for me this week (yes, people, I’d still play him over a fringe WR3 in a Superflex setting), but his willingness to load his WR1 down with elite volume gives him a chance to impact fantasy leagues down the stretch.