Week 11 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Play or Bench Advice on Top Fantasy Football Stars

It's Thursday of NFL Week 11, which means that the action is about to get underway. Later tonight, the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals will kick things off with another edition of Thursday Night Football. For fantasy managers, of course, this means that the time for setting lineups is here.

Managers will face some difficult decisions in Week 11, especially with players like Christian McCaffrey and Drew Brees out and the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers on bye.

While players like Patrick Mahomes, Dalvin Cook, DeAndre Hopkins and Travis Kelce are weekly must-starts, not every roster slot can be filled with such a premier talent. Some fantasy standouts are best utilized only in the right scenarios.

Here, we'll dig into some of this week's fringe—those ranked outside the top 10 at their respective positions (top 20 for WRs) by FantasyPros—and determine some players worth starting and some who should ride the pine in Week 11. We'll also dig further into some of the best matchup plays of the week.

All picks are based on point-per-reception (PPR) scoring.

NFL Week 11 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Start 'Em

Jameis Winston, QB, New Orleans Saints

Alex Smith, QB, Washington Football Team

Kareem Hunt, RB, Cleveland Browns

Damien Harris, RB, New England Patriots

Duke Johnson Jr., RB, Houston Texans

Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

Travis Fulgham, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

Christian Kirk, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Austin Hooper, TE, Cleveland Browns

Logan Thomas, TE, Washington Football Team

Sit 'Em

Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams

Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

Todd Gurley, RB, Atlanta Falcons

Kenyan Drake, RB, Arizona Cardinals

Leonard Fournette, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

DJ Chark Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Randall Cobb, WR, Houston Texans

Antonio Brown, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Robert Tonyan, TE, Green Bay Packers

Trey Burton, Indianapolis Colts

Alex Smith, QB, Washington Football Team

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston is likely to get plenty of fantasy run this week, and for good reason. He should be the primary quarterback for New Orleans—though he'll probably share time with Taysom Hill—with Brees out, and he has a fantastic matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.

However, I'm going to take this opportunity to push for Washington Football Team signal-caller Alex Smith. Not only is Smith one of the best stories of 2020—he nearly lost his leg and his life two years ago—but he's playing at a high level. He's thrown for more than 300 yards in each of the past two weeks and had 390 last week against the Detroit Lions.

"He's back as a player," Washington coach Ron Rivera said, per ESPN's John Keim.

While Smith did toss three interceptions in his first start in Week 9, that marked his first start in roughly two years and shouldn't be the norm for the seasoned veteran. Against the Cincinnati Bengals this week, it's more likely that Smith will pair his gaudy passing numbers with some touchdowns.

Cincinnati ranks 26th in pass defense and 24th in points allowed. It has also given up 21 touchdown passes on the season, 11 coming in the past three games.

Expect another strong outing from Smith, which might be enough to lock of 2020 Comeback Player of the Year.

Damien Harris, RB, New England Patriots

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

New England Patriots running back Damien Harris hasn't regularly found the end zone—he has just one touchdown this season—and isn't much of a PPR option (two receptions), he should still be a fine play in Week 11.

Harris is coming off his biggest game of the season and the Patriots' best win of 2020. New England dominated the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night, thanks in no small part to Harris' 121 rushing yards.

Harris has now topped the 100-yard mark two of his last three games and hasn't fallen below 70 scrimmage yards in a game over the past month. He should again be the focal point of New England's backfield, at least, when it comes to running backs.

Expect quarterback Cam Newton to have his fair share of carries, and utility man Rex Burkhead will likely cover the receiving work. However, New England is likely to turn Harris loose on the ground against the Houston Texans.

This is great news for Harris managers, as Houston ranks dead-last in both run defense and yards per carry allowed. The Texans have also surrendered 12 touchdowns on the ground this season, meaning Harris should have a good shot at finding the end zone.

Harris should be solid in PPR, and he's an absolute must-start in standard leagues.

Christian Kirk, WR, Arizona Cardinals

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is arguably the most indefensible player in football right now, and while DeAndre Hopkins is his go-to target, fellow wideout Christian Kirk should be a strong play this week.

Kirk is coming off a modest four-catch, 27-yard game against the Buffalo Bills. However, he had five receptions, 123 yards and a touchdown the previous week, and that should be the sort of production managers expect in Week 11.

Kirk will be facing a Seahawks defense that ranks dead-last in the NFL in yards allowed and 28th in yards per pass attempt. With Russell Wilson pulling the trigger for the Seahawks offense, there should be plenty of scoring and plenty of reasons for Murray to keep chucking the ball down the field.

With Hopkins commanding much of the defensive attention, Kirk should get frequent one-on-one opportunities. He was targeted eight times in the first meeting between these two teams and finished with five catches, 37 yards and two touchdowns.

Kirk has scored five touchdowns in his last four games, and while he might not find the end zone multiple times this week, it wouldn't be a shock if he does.