Fantasy Football Week 11 Rankings: Top Players and Matchups for All Positions

They're creepy and they're kooky. Mysterious and spooky. They're all together ooky. Josh Allen's family. 

In Week 11, Allen's Buffalo Bills face a team on the longest active win streak in the AFC. But that team is the Miami Dolphins, and my rankings are not buying into their victories over Sam Darnold's New York Jets and Brian Hoyer's Indianapolis Colts over the past two weeks. 

Based on matchups and recent performances, we've ranked the top players at each position for Week 11. The Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans are all on bye this week—so check the rankings out for your replacement decisions. 

Quarterback

1. Lamar Jackson, BAL (vs. HOU)

2. Patrick Mahomes, KC (at LAC)

3. Drew Brees, NO (at TB)

4. Deshaun Watson, HOU (at BAL)

5. Tom Brady, NE (at PHI)

6. Josh Allen, BUF (at MIA)

7. Derek Carr, OAK (vs. CIN)

8. Jimmy Garoppolo, SF (vs. ARI)

9. Matt Ryan, ATL (at CAR)

10. Dak Prescott, DAL (at DET)

11. Philip Rivers, LAC (vs. KC)

12. Sam Darnold, NYJ (at WAS)

The top four are relatively obvious starts here as each is a top-tier player in a comfortable matchup. As for the rest, matchups dictate their standings. 

Philadelphia's defensive front seems better than the secondary. While they've allowed just 87.3 rushing yards per game, they've allowed 305.5 passing yards per game against passing attacks led by guys not named Luke Falk, Josh Allen or Mitch Trubisky. Given Sony Michel's inability to make much of anything on the ground, Tom Brady is an excellent candidate to light the Eagles up this week.

While Josh Allen, Derek Carr and Jimmy Garoppolo each face defenses who are bad against the run, they're each also bad against the pass, and that leaves those signal-callers in prime position to efficiently score in Week 11. 

Owned in 22 percent of leagues as of Tuesday, Sam Darnold was my smart sleeper of the week against a mediocre Washington secondary. Darnold's yardage and passer rating have increased in four consecutive weeks, so he sneaks into our top 12.

Running Back

1. Christian McCaffrey, CAR (vs. ATL)

2. Dalvin Cook, MIN (vs. DEN)

3. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (at DET)

4. Josh Jacobs, OAK (vs. CIN)

5. Leonard Fournette, JAX (at IND)

6. Melvin Gordon, LAC (vs. KC)

7. Marlon Mack, IND (vs. JAX)

8. Le'Veon Bell, NYJ (at WAS)

9. Joe Mixon, CIN (at OAK)

10. Mark Ingram, BAL (vs. HOU)

11. Devin Singletary, BUF (at MIA)

12. Brian Hill, ATL (at CAR)

13. David Montgomery, CHI (at LAR)

14. Alvin Kamara, NO (at TB)

15. Carlos Hyde, HOU (at BAL)

16. Nick Chubb, CLE (vs. PIT)

17. Tevin Coleman, SF (vs. ARI)

18. James Conner, PIT (at CLE)

19. Damien Williams, KC (at LAC)

20. Todd Gurley, LAR (vs. CHI)

21. Kalen Ballage, MIA (vs. BUF)

22. Adrian Peterson, WAS (vs. NYJ)

23. Phillip Lindsay, DEN (at MIN)

24. Austin Ekeler, LAC (vs. KC)

Outside of the top nine options at running back, workloads and matchups make the rankings a bit of a mess. 

While Austin Ekeler just barely made the top 24 because of concerns that he won't receive enough of a workload against Kansas City's porous front, Ronald Jones II, Jordan Howard and Michel all missed out because they face stout defenses and haven't cemented enough work in the passing game.

Injury questions surround James Conner and Tevin Coleman's rankings, as the former's status remains unclear and the latter's volume is likely to be impacted by Matt Breida's health. If Breida misses the game, Coleman should receive a significant bump—even if he's likely to share work with Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson.

As for a couple surprises that would have made this week's rankings feel like Bizarro World just a month ago, Brian Hill and Kalen Ballage each squeezed into the top 24. 

Hill got 21 touches against the New Orleans Saints in Week 10 after Devonta Freeman went down with an ankle sprain and turned them into 71 yards and a touchdown. Ballage was less effective, but he did get 24 touches against the Indianapolis Colts. 

Each back's usage should remain similarly high in Week 11, and that engenders real confidence in their scoring output as they each face defenses that have bled points on the ground in recent weeks.

Wide Receiver

1. Michael Thomas, NO (at TB)

2. Julio Jones, ATL (at CAR)

3. DeAndre Hopkins, HOU (at BAL)

4. Mike Evans, TB (vs. NO)

5. DJ Moore, CAR (vs. ATL)

6. Amari Cooper, DAL (at DET)

7. Tyreek Hill, KC (at LAC)

8. Julian Edelman, NE (at PHI)

9. John Brown, BUF (at MIA)

10. Courtland Sutton, DEN (at MIN)

11. Marquise Brown, BAL (vs. HOU)

12. Keenan Allen, LAC (vs. KC)

13. Kenny Golladay, DET (vs. DAL)

14. Chris Godwin, TB (vs. NO)

15. Cooper Kupp, LAR (vs. CHI)

16. Terry McLaurin, WAS (vs. NYJ)

17. Emmanuel Sanders, SF (vs. ARI)

18. Michael Gallup, DAL (at DET)

19. Odell Beckham Jr., CLE (vs. PIT)

20. Stefon Diggs, MIN (vs. DEN)

21. Allen Robinson, CHI (at LAR)

22. Jamison Crowder, NYJ (at WAS)

23. Mohamed Sanu, NE (at PHI)

24. DJ Chark Jr., JAX (at IND)

Wide receiver is fantasy football's land of plenty. A lot of players at the position have the potential to score big points, but only the simulation knows who and when. While 39 wide receivers are averaging over 6.5 fantasy points per game this season, 38 have finished in the top-five scored for a week this season. For running backs, 36 are averaging over 6.5 but only 26 have scored in the top five.

Volatility is real for receivers, as embodied by Cooper Kupp's Week 10 goose and Preston Williams' two touchdowns in Week 9. This week, some of the league's most talented get slated for likely shootouts. Of them, Mike Evans has the most to gain by week's end if it turns out that the New Orleans Saints' Marshon Lattimore is held out of the contest by a hamstring injury.

If Lattimore plays, Evans is a downgrade, and his compatriot, Chris Godwin, gets an upgrade as high-tempo passing attacks can remain aggressive against the Achilles' heel of New Orleans: their defense against the slot.

On the other side, Michael Thomas should feast against a Tampa Bay secondary that just gallantly gifted three touchdowns to Christian Kirk.

After goosing last week, Kupp draws a tough matchup against the Chicago Bears in Week 11, but he is still a play since it's likely his Los Angeles Rams will try to get back to opening up their offense with the intermediate game.

Odell Beckham Jr. draws another difficult matchup now that Minkah Fitzpatrick is in Pittsburgh, so he remains a tougher play until Cleveland's schedule lightens up with five bottom-half passing defenses over their following six games. 

From the opposing sideline, JuJu Smith-Schuster remains tough to play until we see him hit double-digit targets for the first time this season, enjoy some downfield targets or get to play Miami again. 

Tight End

1. George Kittle, SF (vs. ARI)

2. Hunter Henry, LAC (vs. KC)

3. Travis Kelce, KC (at LAC)

4. Mark Andrews, BAL (vs. HOU)

5. Greg Olsen, CAR (vs. ATL)

6. Gerald Everett, LAR (vs. CHI)

7. Darren Waller, OAK (vs. CIN)

8. Noah Fant, DEN (at MIN)

9. Jared Cook, NO (at TB)

10. Jack Doyle, IND (vs. JAX)

11. Ryan Griffin, NYJ (at WAS)

12. Zach Ertz, PHI (vs. NE)

George Kittle missed Week 10's game with an assortment of flesh wounds. Watching the game in street clothes, hood-up and restrained by glass, Kittle looked like an immobilized, caged velociraptor eyeing a meal of which he knew he could not eat.

If Kittle gets to return to action in Week 11, against the team that gives up the most yards and touchdowns to tight ends, he is likely to satisfy his two-week hunger for action. If Emmanuel Sanders misses the game with a rib injury, Kittle should be able to pile even more on to his plate.

Mark Andrews is back in the mix after doubling the targets of any other Baltimore Raven in Week 10, while Greg Olsen rounds out the top five against an Atlanta Falcons team that nearly tricked me into believing Jared Cook had some juice in Week 10.

Noah Fant earns a spot in the top 10 because the instant highlight's snap counts have risen in four consecutive weeks, and he hit 86 percent in the game prior to this matchup. With Chris Herndon's return to IR, Ryan Griffin squeezes ahead of Zach Ertz as Griffin is likely to be one of Darnold's main targets and Ertz should receive New England's preferred treatment for top weapons: a lot of attention.

Defense

1. Minnesota Vikings (vs. DEN)

2. Los Angeles Rams (vs. CHI)

3. Buffalo Bills (at MIA)

4. San Francisco 49ers (vs. ARI)

5. Oakland Raiders (vs. CIN)

6. Cleveland Browns (vs. PIT)

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (at CLE)

8. New Orleans Saints (at TB)

9. Dallas Cowboys (at DET)

10. New England Patriots (at PHI)

11. New York Jets (at WAS)

12. Washington Redskins (vs. NYJ)

Brandon Allen, Mitch Trubisky, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Finley, Mason Rudolph, Jeff Driskell, Dwayne Haskins and Sam Darnold are all playing football against NFL defenses this week. Those are exploitable matchups.

The San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots face real quarterbacks in Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz, respectively, but their defenses are strong enough to warrant starting. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints are also strong defenses and get to face trigger-happy, turnover-prone slingers in Baker Mayfield and Jameis Winston, respectively.

Kicker

1. Wil Lutz, NO (at TB)

2. Joey Slye, CAR (vs. ATL)

3. Justin Tucker, BAL (vs. HOU)

4. Greg Zuerlein, LAR (vs. CHI)

5. Zane Gonzalez, ARI (at SF)

6. Harrison Butker, KC (at LAC)

7. Brett Maher, DAL (at DET)

8. Daniel Carlson, OAK (vs. CIN)

9. Josh Lambo, JAX (at IND)

10. Chase McLaughlin, SF (vs. ARI)

11. Ka'imi Fairbairn, HOU (at BAL)

12. Michael Badgley, LAC (vs. KC)

Most of these guys are from games that Vegas expects to have a lot of points scored. Some may even be buoyed by the consistency of extra-point attempts. 

The Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals are each tempo offenses facing fairly stringent defenses, so their kicker should benefit from an ability to get in range on offense while failing to capitalize.