Entering Monday Night Football, Week 11 brought us a mixed bag of fantasy football performances and utilization data to analyze. Unfortunately, two prominent injuries took center stage and will have lasting ripple effects to be felt the rest of the way, namely the season-ending losses of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Baltimore Ravens TE Mark Andrews.
Other question marks have arisen with injuries to Los Angeles Rams wideout Cooper Kupp, Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones, and Seattle Seahawks rusher Kenneth Walker III. All three of those guys could return or miss games, and the latter scenario will create opportunities for increased utilization down the line.
As we enter the home stretch of the fantasy season, most pecking orders have stabilized, although we’ll see a handful of transitions toward the youth movement as teams fall out of the playoff race. That means fewer notable situations arise, and some of the inclusions will be a rehashing of developing roles.
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WR Greg Dortch, Arizona Cardinals
We’ve seen Dortch muster useful fantasy work in the past, and while he’s far from being a safe play, especially without byes in Week 12, consider him a “watch list” candidate in the short term. The Arizona pecking order is still being fleshed out with Kyler Murray entering his third start in this new system, so familiar faces should be given a slight boost in confidence. Now, it’s necessary to acknowledge Dortch saw more playing time with rookie WR Michael Wilson (shoulder) inactive, so the latter’s status going forward will play a role. The Cards go on bye in Week 14, and six teams are on a bye in Week 13, so it’s possible Wilson is held out through the bye, thus making Dortch a possible play for the Pittsburgh game if he one again shows life vs. the Los Angeles Rams.
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WR Justin Watson, Kansas City Chiefs
The Monday Night Football battle between last year’s Super Bowl teams saw Watson on the end of 11 targets, catching five for 53 yards and a score, vs. a pass defense that has struggled much of the year. The gross increase in looks brings hits two-game stretch to 16 with a bye week in between, The prior three games combined for just seven targets sent Watson’s way. The reason he is included in this space boils down to KC having an open role in the pecking order behind Travis Kelce. Entering Monday, rookie Rashee Rice had been holding down that spot with a tenuous grasp, and he secured four of five targets vs. Philly, but the next closest guy was Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who failed to land any of his three looks, including a potential game-winning TD. That’s a long-winded way of saying Watson is worth keeping an eye on.
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TE Jeremy Ruckert, New York Jets
Speaking of a youth movement, the Jets turned to the second-year tight end in Week 11. The 2022 third-rounder drew four targets — one more than veteran Tyler Conklin — but the results were far from useful in fantasy with just three catches for 25 yards to Ruckert’s credit. That said, if you’re dealing with an injury at the position (Mark Andrews, for example), or need to make up for a busted draft pick (looking at you, Kyle Pitts), there’s an opportunity for Ruckert to continue an upward trajectory. Quarterback Tim Boyle really cannot do worse than Zach Wilson, and underwhelming QBs often make known tight ends more valuable.
4
RB Devin Singletary, Houston Texans
Rehashing last week’s segment on the Texans, it was posited whether Singletary’s strong Week 10 would be enough for the former Buffalo Bill to overtake Dameon Pierce (ankle) upon the second-year back’s return. In Week 11, we saw Singletary once again produce at a high level in Pierce’s stead. He has rushed 52 times for 262 yards (5.05 YPC) and two scores in the last pair of contests. It’s difficult to see the Texans getting away from a guy who has produced 80.1% of Pierce’s seven-game output in just the last two weeks. When you’re a 6-4 team with playoff seeding at stake in a season that had no expectations, you ride the hot hand.
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Baltimore Ravens running backs
Barring some radical shift in utility in the Ravens’ first full game without star tight end Mark Andrews (ankle), hopefully this is the last time we address Baltimore’s backfield in 2023. We’ve seen erratic utilization for Gus Edwards, Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell. Entering Week 11, head coach Jim Harbaugh said the rookie earned a larger roll following consecutive games with long rushing scores. However, his utilization has been inconsistent and ultimately capped to 10 intended plays. After a brief downturn in utilization in Week 10, Edwards returned to his lead role last Thursday and is the only remotely safe play of the bunch. It’s improbably that changes without injuries going forward, but we could see more Mitchell as the Ravens look to make up for Andrews’ departure.
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Chicago Bears running backs
Bears running back D’Onta Foreman suffered an ankle injury in Week 11 and did not return. His status for Week 12 is unknown at this time. Prior to exiting a few minutes into the third quarter, he rushed six times and wasn’t targeted. Chicago primarily leaned on Khalil Herbert in the second half, although Roschon Johnson handled the ball six times following Foreman’s departure. He, too, wasn’t targeted. Herbert, in his first game back from an IR stint, rushed 16 times for 35 yards and caught two of three targets for six yards. The matchup was unkind, and Justin Fields, who rushed for a 104 yards on 18 carries vs. Detroit, is always a threat to steal opportunities. For now, gamers should consider a healthy Foreman merely a flier for a cheap TD, Herbert a PPR-driven, yardage-reliant hopeful for a long TD, and Johnson nothing but a desperation flier if Foreman sits.
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Cleveland Browns WRs and TEs
The loss of quarterback Deshaun Watson (shoulder) for the season led to the coaching staff installing rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson as the Week 11 starter, his second time on the year. DTR has struggled mightily to generate offense. Only 16 total points have been scored through his 1-1 record, and the most valuable fantasy commodity in Cleveland’s aerial game, WR Amari Cooper, has been utterly useless. Instead, we’ve seen tight end David Njoku as Thompson-Robinson’s preferred target, which has resulted in lines of 6-46 on seven targets in Week 4 and then Sunday’s 7-56-0 showing on an absurd 15 looks (34.9% target share).
Cooper has drawn 14 total targets in those two contests, but he connection just hasn’t been there with a 35.7% connection rate. In Week 11, Elijah Moore went for 60 yards on six catches over his seven targets, producing double-digit PPR points in consecutive games for the first time since 2021. The weekly returns will be tough to bank on for both Cooper and Moore, but Njoku belongs in lineups the rest of the way, especially given the position’s volatility.
