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| Friday, November 18, 2022 |
| We had a couple of rookie wide receivers show star potential on Thursday Night Football, and given the state of the position right now, that was a very, very welcome sight. We have a ton of big names on bye week right now, but more concerningly, the injury report is littered with high-end names for Week 11. It's not ideal. |
| In today's newsletter, I have all the injury news you need to know about in my previews of every Week 11 game, along with start/sit calls for every game. And that's not all the help we have. If you have other lineup questions or need more help, send your emails my way at Chris.Towers@ViacomCBS.com with the subject line "#AskFFT" and I'll try to answer them before Sunday morning's lineup locks. Plus, you can catch our YouTube stream Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. ET where Adam Aizer, Frankl Stampfl and I will be answering all of your lineup questions, while Jamey Eisenberg, Heath Cummings, and Dave Richard will be live on CBS Sports HQ at 10 a.m. to preview Week 11 from every angle. |
| Get ready for Week 11 with all of our preview content here: |
| Week 11 Start 'Em & Sit 'Em: QB | RB | WRStarts, sits and sleepers for every game Cheat sheets: PPR | Non-PPRWeek 11 Position Previews: QB | RB | WR | TEWeek 11 Rankings: Jamey | Dave | Heath My rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE |
| And here's what the rest of today's newsletter has in store to help you get ready for Week 11: |
| 🏈TNF Fantasy Recap: Titans 27, Packers 17🔍Week 11 Game Previews: Injury updates and lineup dilemmas |
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| 🏈TNF Recap: Titans 27, Packers 17 |
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| Winner: Treylon Burks. In his second game back from IR, Burks looked like the star the Titans were hoping he would be when they selected him in the first round. He caught six passes for 60 yards in the first half and then got open down the field late for a 51-yard catch to bring his total to 111 on seven catches. He was still third on the team in routes run at WR, but with 21, compared to 27 for Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Robert Woods, he's narrowing the gap. He has significant upside for the stretch run. |
| Loser: Aaron Jones. To be clear, I don't really think there's much to be concerned about here -- Jones only had 40 yards on 12 carries, but he was second on the team with seven targets, turning them into six catches for 20 yards. That's a decent enough game in leagues where catches count, and he's been awesome in two of the previous three, so I have no concerns here -- beyond my general concerns about the Packers offense, which seems doomed to mediocrity. |
| One more thing: Christian Watson came through with two touchdowns if you started him, but I didn't think this was an especially promising game. To be clear, it was fine, but he tied with Randall Cobb for third on the team in targets with six, and he turned them into four catches for 48 yards. Again, two touchdowns, so who's complaining? But there was some hope he might have earned Aaron Rodgers' trust as his go-to receiver, but Allen Lazard had five more targets than Watson in this one. I think Watson is likely to be a Gabe Davis-esque enigma, a high-upside, low-floor WR3 who you'll probably want to ride the ups and downs with. Lazard was still Rodgers' go-to target, and he was very close to a big game if Rodgers had been a bit more on-target. He's a nice buy-low candidate as Watson appears to be ascending. |
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| 🔍Week 11 Game Previews |
| There's something to watch in every game on the NFL schedule every week, even if you have to squint to see it sometimes. Here's a look ahead at every Week 11 game, with some notes on what Vegas is expecting to see, some lineup help and the latest injury updates from around the league: |
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| All odds are via Caesars Sportsbook. |
| Bears at Falcons |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLine: Falcons -3; 49 O/U Implied totals: Falcons 26-Bears 23 |
| Justin Fields is going to slow down at some point -- probably. You can't count on 60-yard touchdowns every week, though even if you took his 67 and 61-yard scores away, he'd still have 197 rushing yards over the past two weeks. We're seeing an unprecedented level of rushing production from a QB right now, and even some regression to the mean makes him a must-start Fantasy QB. For what it's worth, if Josh Allen had been playing in the snowy conditions in Buffalo this week, I would've ranked Fields ahead of him. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Kyle Pitts -- Start. I know, you're frustrated with Pitts. I am, too. There's basically no floor for his production at this point, but the ceiling remains enticing. In Week 10, he had 135 air yards; in Week 9, he had 208. He has 24 targets over the past three games, primarily down the field, and he only needs to hit on a few of them to be worth starting. If Pitts had just a 50% catch rate over the past three games, he'd probably be a top five tight end. I'm just going to keep betting on upside at a position where there really isn't very much. |
| Injuries: Cole Kmet (thigh) -- Kmet didn't practice Wednesday, but he was upgraded to limited Thursday, a positive sign. At this point, I'd expect him to play, and he's a worthwhile TE starter, though still a fringe one in my eyes. |
| Browns "at" Bills |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLine: Bills -8; 43 O/UImplied totals: Bills 23.5-Browns 17.5 |
| This game has been moved to Detroit due to concerns about a weather emergency in Buffalo, which isn't a bad thing for our purposes. Snow is fun, but give me turf any day of the week when it comes to Fantasy conditions. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Gabe Davis -- Start. In snowy and windy conditions, I'd probably avoid Davis, who is boom or bust in the best of conditions. But playing indoors in Detroit is the best of conditions, and given the limited options this week due to byes and injuries, it's going to be tough to stay away from him. In the interest of full disclosure, there is one league where I have Davis on my bench, but that's one where I have DeAndre Hopkins, Stefon Diggs, Tee Higgins, and Deebo Samuel -- though I'll admit, I did consider sitting Samuel for Davis. |
| Injuries: David Njoku (ankle) -- Njoku was upgraded to a limited participant in Thursday's practice, a good sign for his chances of playing, but by no means a guarantee. If he does play, Njoku is a top-10 option, and I'd start him over Kmet, for one. |
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| Eagles at Colts |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLine: Eagles -7; 44 O/UImplied totals: Eagles 25.5-Colts 18.5 |
| The Colts got the win in Jeff Saturday's first game as coach, and they did it with a pretty even run-pass split. They'll probably try to do the same thing against the Eagles, who have added Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh in recent days to try and shore up their porous run defense. Expect Jonathan Taylor to get a lot of opportunities early in this one, and the Colts' chances of winning will almost certainly be tied to how well they are able to keep the Eagles off the field, just like Washington did in their upset win in Week 10. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Michael Pittman -- Start. In an ideal scenario, the Colts will be able to impose the run game in this one, but in all likelihood, they'll have to throw a decent amount as they'll be chasing points. That should obviously benefit Pittman, though his target share with Matt Ryan this season is a disappointingly low 21.5% -- Ryan has been spreading the ball around a good amount. However, Pittman did get nine targets in Week 10, and I'm expecting something similar in this one. |
| Injuries: A.J. Brown (ankle/rest) -- Brown sat out Wednesday's practice, but I thought it might have been a quasi-rest day, and it looks like it was. Hopefully, it's a similar situation with Devonta Smith (knee), who was also limited Thursday. At this point, I expect both to play ... Deon Jackson (knee) -- Jackson was upgraded to a limited participant in practice Thursday after being out since suffering the injury in Week 9. With Jonathan Taylor back, Jackson is back to being a bench stash and handcuff in case Taylor's injury issues crop up again. |
| Jets at Patriots |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLine: Patriots -3; 38 O/UImplied totals: Patriots 20.5-Jets 17.5 |
| The Athletic had a very thorough breakdown of what has gone wrong with the Patriots offense so far this season this week, and the conclusion was that the scheme "is making it hard on Jones, and he simply is not transcendent enough to carry this offense." That matches what I've seen, and unfortunately, this Jets defense has not been as easy to push around as you might think -- it ranks sixth in defensive DVOA so far this season, and the Patriots managed just 288 yards of total offense against them in Week 8. The under/over is appropriately low in this one. |
| Toughest lineup decision: James Robinson/Michael Carter. -- Sit. These two teams played a few weeks back and Carter and Robinson combined for 12 carries for 43 yards, plus four catches on eight targets for 35 yards. It's not a perfect comparison, because it was Robinson's first game with the team and Ty Johnson played a bigger role than he is likely to this time around, but I still think we're likely looking at a situation where these two split 20-24 touches against a tough defense, and I just don't see much to get excited about there. You're hoping for a touchdown, or for Carter to have a solid receiving role in a comeback attempt. |
| Injuries: Corey Davis (knee) -- Davis hasn't practiced yet this week, so it looks like it's going to be another week without him. That's good news for Garrett Wilson, who has been much more productive since Davis' injury. |
| Rams at Saints |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLine: Saints -3; 39 O/UImplied totals: Saints 21-Rams 18 |
| It says something about how low expectations are for the Rams without Cooper Kupp that they're underdogs against the Saints, but it also says something about how mediocre the Saints have been that they are only three-point favorites against the Rams at home. These just aren't very good teams right now, and they might only have three starting-caliber Fantasy options between them. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Any Rams players -- Sit except Tyler Higbee. It's possible someone on this Rams offense will step up to be worth starting down the stretch -- after all, every injury is an opportunity in Fantasy Football. The problem is, this team just doesn't really have much talent. Van Jefferson hasn't shown he can be much more than a deep threat, and Allen Robinson hasn't shown he can be much of anything at this point in his career. This just looks like a bad offense, and someone is going to have to prove they're worth your time before you give it to them. |
| Injuries: Matthew Stafford (concussion) -- Stafford is expected to make his return to the starting lineup this week after missing last week's game, however with Kupp on IR, expectations remain rightly low. |
| Lions at Giants |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLine: Giants -3; 45 O/UImplied totals: Giants 24-Lions 21 |
| The Lions offense started the season so well, with over 385 yards of offense in each of their first four games. In five since, they've reached that mark just once as they've been hit hard by injuries. They're starting to get healthy, but Vegas likes the Giants for a reason -- they're still mostly a disaster on defense. The question is whether the Giants offense is capable of taking advantage of that. Besides Saquon Barkley, they may not be, but that may be enough. |
| Toughest lineup decision: D'Andre Swift -- Sit. It's not an across-the-board sit, because Swift is still a top-25 RB for me this week. But after seeing him removed from the injury report last week in the leadup to the game only to be limited to six carries and three targets while playing 31% of the snaps, I just don't know that we can trust the workload. Between Swift's big-play abilities and passing game skills, Swift's upside is huge if they just decide to give him 15 touches, but there's too much risk with his workload at this point. |
| Injuries: Wan'Dale Robinson (hamstring) -- Robinson suffered the injury during practice Wednesday and wasn't able to go Thursday, so this one is probably going to cost him some time. Darius Slayton is in the WR3 discussion if you need some help ... Jamaal Williams (illness) -- Williams was back to a full practice after sitting out Wednesday's session. He's a touchdown-dependent RB2. |
| Panthers at Ravens |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLine: Ravens -13; 41 O/UImplied totals: Ravens 27-Panthers 14.5 |
| So, it's safe to say Vegas is as excited about the return of Baker Mayfield as the rest of us. This offense has shown frustratingly few signs of promise this season, with Mayfield sporting a 6.5 Y/A and 3.5% TD rate, both of which would be the worst marks of his career. After a poor start, this Ravens defense has come back strong, so it would be a genuine surprise if the Panthers were able to keep it close, let alone win. |
| Toughest lineup decision: D'Onta Foreman -- Sit. Foreman made me look pretty dumb in calling him a sit last week, but he's outside of my top-24 again this week. When the Panthers are in position to nurse a lead, Foreman can be used pretty heavily, but, again, it's hard to see the Panthers being in line for that this time around. He has just four catches in four games since Christian McCaffrey was traded. |
| Injuries: Mark Andrews (knee/shoulder) -- Earlier in the week, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Andrews has a "really good chance" to play, so hopefully his limited tags Wednesday and Thursday are more precautionary than anything. It's been a frustrating couple of weeks for Andrews, but he's a must-start TE if active ... Gus Edwards (hamstring) -- Edwards seems to be in a similar spot to Andrews, having been limited both days so far. He's a touchdown-dependent RB3 who probably won't see more than 15 touches even if he's active ... P.J. Walker (ankle) -- Baker Mayfield has already been declared the starter for this week. Walker could miss a couple of weeks with this one. |
| Commanders at Texans |
| Sunday, 1 p.m. ETLine: Commanders -3; 40.5 O/UImplied totals: Commanders 21.75-Texans 18.75 |
| The Commanders are sticking with Taylor Heinicke as the starter at least for Week 11, and it'll probably be pretty tough for them to justify going back to Carson Wentz as long as they keep winning and Heinicke keeps the vibes positive. That's what the line suggests is likely to happen this week, at least. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Brian Robinson - Sit. It's not especially hard to envision a scenario in which Robinson has another good game, but we pretty much saw a best-case scenario for him last week, and the result was ... fine -- 14.6 PPR points in a game where he got 26 carries and the Commanders won. The Commanders very well could win again this week, but if Robinson doesn't get into the end zone, he's probably not going to help you out very much. He's a low-upside play. |
| Injuries: Curtis Samuel (shin) -- I haven't seen much reason to be concerned about Samuel at this point, but it would be nice to see him get a full practice in Friday. He's a WR3 either way ... J.D. McKissic (neck) -- McKissic has been out of practice so far this week, so I'm expecting him to be out yet again. Antonio Gibson should continue to get the majority of the passing snaps with Brian Robinson filling in the rest, though in Week 11 you're hoping both find the end zone ... Brandin Cooks (hip/wrist) -- Cooks was a full participant in Thursday's practice and should be good to go for Week 11, however he was third on the team in routes run in Week 10 and is just a desperation starter at this point. |
| Raiders at Broncos |
| Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ETLine: Broncos -3; 41.5 O/UImplied totals: Broncos 22.25-Raiders 19.25 |
| I wanted to give Russell Wilson the benefit of the doubt that he could unlock some upside coming out of the bye, but he continued to struggle last week, so I'm giving up on this offense. His only good game so far this season did come against this Raiders defense, but even that isn't enough to make me capable of feigning optimism at this point. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Courtland Sutton -- Start. At least this week, this shouldn't really be a tough decision. Not with Jerry Jeudy unlikely to play. Sutton has four games with double-digit targets so far this season, and three have come with Jeudy either limited or leaving early, so it seems like a safe bet he'll be heavily featured in this one. |
| Injuries: Davante Adams (abdomen) -- At least as far as I can tell, there doesn't seem to be much concern about Adams' availability for this one, so I'm not too worried about a couple of limited practices. It's a tough matchup, but you're still starting Adams -- he had nine catches against them in an earlier matchup ... Jerry Jeudy (ankle) -- Jeudy's initial diagnosis was less serious than feared, but with two DNPs so far, it looks like there's a pretty good chance he won't play this week. That's a tough break with a good matchup, and with KJ Hamler (hamstring) and Kendall Hinton (shoulder) also dealing with injuries, Russell Wilson could have a very limited group to work with this week. |
| Cowboys at Vikings |
| Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ETLine: Cowboys -1.5; 47.5 O/UImplied totals: Cowboys 24.5-Vikings 23 |
| Even coming off their miracle win over the Bills, Vegas isn't buying the Vikings. 8-1 is 8-1, but the Vikings have the point differential of a team that should be more like 5-4 or 6-3, with a 5-0 record in games decided by seven points or less -- with two more wins decided by eight points. Generally speaking, point differential tends to be a better predictor of future performance than record alone, but don't tell that to these Vikings. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Ezekiel Elliott -- Start. As of Thursday night, it's still an open question as to whether Elliott is going to play, but I'm going to start him if he does. Maybe Tony Pollard 's success over the past two weeks -- especially his workhorse performance in Week 10 when he played 72 snaps and was still breaking big chunks of yardage off late -- has changed how the Cowboys view their backfield pairing, but I still think Elliott is going to be the lead back when healthy, and that's going to mean enough goal-line opportunities to make him hard to sit. As the entire Fantasy Football community shrieks in agony at the unfairness of Pollard being a part-time player yet again. |
| Injuries: Ezekiel Elliott (knee) -- Elliott has turned in a couple of limited practice sessions, so at this point it looks like he's legitimately questionable. Hopefully, as with last week, we'll know his status well in advance of game time one way or the other ... Jefferson has been limited both days so far, but I haven't seen any indication that the Vikings are concerned about his availability. Hopefully he's a full-go Friday. |
| Bengals at Steelers |
| Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ETLine: Bengals -3.5; 41 O/UImplied totals: Bengals 22.25-Steelers 18.75 |
| I'm genuinely surprised at this only being a three-point line, even with the Steelers at home. It is, admittedly, hard to shake the memories of the beating the Steelers defense put on Joe Burrow and this Bengals offensive line in that Week 1 win, and the Bengals offense hasn't exactly proven it can move up and down the field consistently without Ja'Marr Chase , but I still can't trust this Steelers offense. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Najee Harris -- Sit. Harris is coming off his best rushing game of the season, though it didn't even manage to break double digits in points in any scoring format. This just isn't a good offense right now, so scoring opportunities are limited, and Harris is ceding real playing time to Jaylen Warren , who ran 14 routes to Harris' 16 last week. With that kind of split, Harris just needs too much to go right to be worth trusting every week. |
| Injuries: Ja'Marr Chase (hip) -- Chase hasn't practiced this week and was spotted on crutches earlier in the week, so I'm still not sure I buy the Week 12 timetable at this point. He definitely won't play this week unless something extraordinarily unexpected happens ... Najee Harris (knee) -- Mike Tomlin said Harris was going to be limited this week, but that hasn't been the case in practice so far, so I'm expecting him to play his typical role. |
| Chiefs at Chargers |
| Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ETLine: Chiefs -6; 51 O/UImplied totals: 49ers 26.25-Chargers 19.25 |
| The Chiefs offense has managed to overcome the loss of Tyreek Hill this offseason, and it is going to be tested again with Mecole Hardman (abdomen) placed on IR and JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) very much in doubt for this week. Patrick Mahomes' brilliance has helped the Chiefs overcome it -- and having Travis Kelce obviously makes his life easier, too -- but they're going to need someone to step up. As the Chargers have learned this season, overcoming the loss of multiple starting receivers is easier said than done. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Kadarius Toney -- Start. A lot of Fantasy players are betting that Toney is going to be a key part of the Chiefs offense this week, but I'll admit I have my concerns. Even with Smith-Schuster and Hardman out, Toney ran a route on just six of 15 pass plays in the second half, as he was behind Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson in the hierarchy. Toney did score a touchdown last week, and his role could and should continue to grow as he gets further acclimated, but there's more risk here for Toney than you might think. If it weren't for the injuries and byes at WR, I'd probably lean toward leaving him outside of my top-36. |
| Injuries: Keenan Allen (hamstring)/Mike Williams (ankle) -- Both Allen and Williams have been mostly limited to individual drills so far, and I'm viewing them as legitimately questionable at this point. That makes this a tough situation, because Josh Palmer would be a top-24 WR if either is out, but we may not know until the rest of the games have locked ... JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) -- Smith-Schuster hasn't practiced this week and seems unlikely to play. The one bit of good news for the Chiefs is that Marquez Valdes-Scantling was back to a limited practice after being held out with an illness Wednesday ... Jerick McKinnon (hamstring/shoulder) -- We'll have to keep an eye on this one Friday, because McKinnon is the best Chiefs RB to use if you need one. |
| 49ers "at" Cardinals |
| Monday, 8:30 p.m. ETLine: 49ers -8; 43.5 O/UImplied totals: 49ers 25.75-Cardinals 17.75 |
| The 49ers and Cardinals are set to play at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, and the thing you have to know about that setting is, it's at 7,200 feet above sea level, even higher than Denver. The thin air at that elevation makes for easier punting and kicking, but also it can make it even harder for players to catch their breath. The impact of that is hard to predict, but it could introduce some elements of chaos in this one if key players have to miss more snaps than usual. I'm not suggesting you should avoid this game, necessarily, but any introduction of uncertainty tends to be bad for Fantasy, so it's something to keep in mind. |
| Toughest lineup decision: Elijah Mitchell -- Start if you're desperate. If there's some concern about how the thin air is going to impact the availability of starters, that should make backups a bit more viable, right? Mitchell is obviously coming off a big workload in his first game back from injury, carrying 18 times for 89 yards, and I could see a similar workload in this one to help keep Christian McCaffrey fresh, especially if the 49ers get up early. Mitchell isn't a must-start -- he's in that D'Onta Foreman/Michael Carter/James Robinson range -- but he's useful enough in a pinch. |
| Injuries: DeAndre Hopkins (hamstring) -- Well, this is a new one. Hopkins was unable to practice Thursday, and with the Cardinals playing Monday, any uncertainty around his status is especially tough. Hopefully he'll be back out there Friday or Saturday ... Kyler Murray (hamstring) -- As expected, Murray was back at practice Thursday on a limited basis. Colt McCoy was also limited with a knee injury, but if Murray is healthy enough to play, he'll start. Hopefully we know well in advance of Monday. |
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| | | | | SEC Football on CBS | | NFL on CBS | Saturday at 3:30, the SEC on CBS features another huge test for top-ranked Georgia as they go on the road to face Kentucky. Catch it all on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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| | Sunday, It’s an NFL on CBS doubleheader featuring the Eagles taking on the Colts and an AFC East battle between the Jets and Patriots. Later, it’s over to the NFC where the Cowboys clash with the Vikings. The action is all on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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