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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
Week 11 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1837)
00:43:33
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- [00:00]
Pat Fitzmorris
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
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- [00:34]
Chris Welsh
What's up, friends? And welcome in to fantasy pros. This is the fantasy Football Podcast Week 11 Wide Receiver Ranks. Boy, we got a lot. Including some breaking news at the top. I am Chris Welsh, joined of course by Andrew Erickson and Pat Fis. Fitz Morris. Sorry, Fitz, immediately screw up your name there, but it's a sign because it means you are going to go off this week, which I did not in the ranks this past week. Uh, we're going to give our flowers to a few of the top rankers from week 10. And going through our top 36 wide receivers. But we had breaking news, gentlemen, literally right before we started up this show. Marvin Harrison, appendicitis. He is going to be out this week and he may be out for longer, I would imagine. I've never had an appendicitis issue, but I would imagine this would be more than one week. So, Fitzy, where do you think the ramifications are? Can Michael Wilson or Greg Dortch become a top 36? Obviously we just scoop Marvin Harrison out, but this might also have ramifications. Excuse me. On Jacoby Brissette and Trey McBride.
- [01:37]
Pat Fitzmorris
Yes. And can Trey McBride set the record for tight end targets in a single game? 25:30. No, it's just the Cardinals lost Zay Jones to a season ending injury last week. So. Down Zay Jones, down. Marvin Harrison Jr. Michael Wilson, Greg Dor. And then I am going to have to check the Cardinals depth chart and practice squad to see who else they can possibly suit up for this game. So yeah, Jacoby Brissette, even against this injury depleted 49ers defense, I think kind of becomes less of an option in anything but super flex leagues. It's. It's going to be messy, but it, it seems like it would work out to the benefit of Trey McBride.
- [02:23]
Chris Welsh
Man, she's something. Erickson, rest of season. Knowing the situation with Marvin Harrison, could be a week, could be two, could be a little bit more. Would you rather have rest of season Marvin Harrison or Alec Pierce? No reason I'M asking that specific Pierce, Alec Pierce. Easy before the injury.
- [02:43]
Andrew Erickson
I don't think before the injury was as easy. But right now if you have Marvin Harrison Jr. You're circling week 17. Hope he's back for that matchup because besides that, I don't think that you can expect him to return the next couple weeks. And then the matchups before week 17 are really tough for Marvin Harrison Jr. So if you're playoff bound, you could probably send a bag of balls to get Marvin Harrison Jr. On your bench and stash him for this Week 17 matchup against Cincinnati Bengals, which I think is kind of an interesting move to make. But besides that, I can't really do.
- [03:12]
Pat Fitzmorris
Much with them even in that matchup. Erickson, like, he's probably going to get shadow coverage from DJ Turner, who's been one of the few bright spots for the Bengals. So like I'm not, not even sure that's a smash matchup for Marvin Harrison Jr.
- [03:25]
Chris Welsh
If he comes back. We had a very spirited conversation about this on our Twitch, which you guys should go and check out Twitch TV FantasyPros, the Tuesday live stream. We had ironically, this very spirited conversation before this ended up happening. Not that this necessarily affects that, but shout out to the guy that got super mad about Marvin Harrison.
- [03:43]
Pat Fitzmorris
Hate.
- [03:44]
Chris Welsh
But Marvin Harrison, the appendicitis. We'll see where it ends up going. This is just bad for the offense in general. And like you said, Pat, 2530, you know that meme where they're like 200, 300, 400, like that's Trey McBride targets for this week without Marvin Harrison. Okay, one more quick thing. If you are in an like IL crunch, an injury crunch, Pat, would you cut Marvin Harrison or is he too close to not because of the ambiguousness of like how long he's going to.
- [04:17]
Pat Fitzmorris
Be out, I think I'd keep him around just in case. It's only a one or two week absence. So yeah, just as a bench piece if nothing else.
- [04:28]
Chris Welsh
And it's assuming that it's like a decision by the way, like it'd be better I guess if I give you names. But Erickson, same thing. Like you're in a crunch, you got two other players on an IR that are of noteworthy. Is this injury enough where you think you can move on or from a talent perspective, opportunity perspective and it might not be long. Would you hold on to Marvin Harrison?
- [04:49]
Andrew Erickson
Well, I think it just depends on how you feel about him in the playoffs, right? If you are more concerned about the Bengals match of week 17 and you feel like you look at weeks 15, 16, 17 and think, I don't really feel confident playing him in any of these spots, then poison pill baby, like that's, that's what you got to do. I know that Fitz has mentioned that on the show before where you send a guy to the waivers and let someone else pick him up. At this point, would you rather be having Marvin Harrison Jr. In your fantasy playoffs or facing him and hoping that he has one of his boom or excuse me, his bus games against you versus one of his boom games, which seems more likely than not. If it happens at all in the playoffs, it would be week 17. But as Fitz points out, there is a cornerback matchup that is maybe a little bit tougher than I was giving credit for. So good call for you, Fitz there. But yeah, I think that if there's someone good, I mean Alec Pierce is on a bye week, right? If he's out there, I would trade Marvin Harrison here to get Alec Pierce on my team. So if he's on waivers, yeah, I would make that move.
- [05:44]
Chris Welsh
Crazy stuff. Right before we actually had Marvin Harrison on the sheet to talk about today and that got taken off. So again, Pentacitis, he will be out for seems like an undetermined amount of time, but we'll probably get more clarity as some time goes on. All right, so we're going to be talking about the top 36. A couple of things to do though before we start up. Flowers. We are handing out flowers to the rankers Top 10 ranks in the accuracy contest. Jamie Calandro from Roto Baller number one. The number one stunner for the week. Congratulations Jamie. Joe Pepe who I think was just on this last week, like this is very impressive from beyond the gridiron. Or maybe it was a week before but it's been as of recent. And Dennis Sosik from Fantasy Six Pack. Hopefully I said all of your names correctly. Do not want to butcher because it's your flower time. You did amazing. You guys are awesome. Top three in the ranks. Accuracy contest for week 10. And the last bit of our shout out flowers. How about daddy three times over. Mike Mayer, who brought in a brand new beautiful baby into the world for the third time also brought in a top 25 rank finish. It's not fair. Go do parenting things.
- [06:51]
Andrew Erickson
Go away.
- [06:52]
Chris Welsh
Mayor. Stop putting up. Stop showing us all up while you're also having another kid. So shout out to mayor. We all saw that coming. Fitzy. We all saw Mayor was going to rank like in the top whatever as soon as he has to take some time off.
- [07:04]
Pat Fitzmorris
Yeah, exactly. He's, you know, up with the feedings at 3am and tweaking his rankings while he's doing that.
- [07:12]
Chris Welsh
A kind of a hidden thing in like having a child and everyone's like, oh, you take time off, you're tired. Like you just have all this time and you don't sleep and you're up. So if anything, your rank should be amazing. Mayor so expectations are this week. You better be higher than top 24 because you're up at all hours of the night and hopefully, you know, feeding a human but also checking your ranks. Those are the expectations. Erickson, you'll know someday in the near future. Just wait. He's coming. That faith, it's going. All right. Before we get to the ranks, last thing, giveaway stuff. We love to give away things. Justin Jefferson, this is your chance to win a Justin Jefferson signed jersey for free courtesy of our friends over@pristineauction.com all you got to do is head over to fantasypros.com contest. There's a form there and you can do that. And then you can also do a couple other things. Download the Fantasy Pros app, leave a review for the podcast, follow us on X Instagram TikTok all at Fantasy Pros and you can do every single one of those things. For more entries, we'll be announcing a winner on the podcast. So if you're watching on YouTube, make sure you're subscribed notifications on so you can claim that prize. Very cool. 1 Justin Jefferson Viking sign jersey. Go and get that today. All right, if you want to follow along with US fantasyprose.com rankings that is where the ECR is at. It will be continuously adjusting throughout the week. FantasyPros.com rankings let's start with the top 12 wide receivers for this week. Jamar Chase comes in at number one. Jackson Smith and Jigba at two. Puka Nakua, CD Lamb, Drake London, Amonra St. Brown. Justin Jefferson comes in at seven. Rasheed Rice, Ameca Egbuka, Nico Collins, Jalen Waddle and Devonte Adams. This is I'm going to do a couple like verses who'd you rathers for this week? Because obviously especially in the top end, you know we always say chalky, guys, guys, you're going to play. We had marked Justin Jefferson on this list. You guys are like a tiny bit different on him. ECR is 7. Fitzy, you're right at 7. Ericsson, you're slightly lower at 9. I want to pair him against Ameca Egbuca, who comes in at eight on this list or nine on this list two spots lower. He's going up against the Bills this week while Jefferson's going against the Bears. Erickson, let me start with you. This week you've got Jefferson lower, so please talk to us. He's still a wide receiver one, but talk to us about Jefferson and how does he compare versus a Mecca? Are you a Mecca or Justin Jefferson for week 11?
- [09:38]
Andrew Erickson
Definitely on the Igbuka side here and it's because of the ceiling we've seen all year long with the Buccaneers wide receiver. He has four top eight finishes this season. Jefferson has zero top eight fantasy finishes this season. So could this be the week that Jefferson finally puts it together with JJ McCarthy? It's so weird to look at Jalen Naylor has more top three finishes this year than Justin Jefferson does. So if anything, that Naylor game is encouraging for okay, it is possible for one of these Vikings wide receivers to pop off in a big way. And the matchup is great again for Jefferson against the Bears. He was a top 20 receiver back in Week 1 when it was McCarthy against Chicago Bears, but it's just the consistency with McCarthy. It is an absolute wild ride with him as a quarterback. Whereas Igbuka and Baker Mayfield, you know exactly what you're going to get. You're going to get a top level performance, especially in a potential shootout. I like the Buccaneers a lot playing against the Buffalo Bills this week as underdogs. This is where Baker Mayfield traditionally thrives, especially in betting markets. So I think the Buccaneers can make some noise. I can say they just overrated Buffalo Bills defense. Right? They got shredded last week against the Miami Dolphins. So I like Igbuga Fitzy.
- [10:44]
Chris Welsh
I'm going to guess here you've got this on the other side because I know you have Justin Jefferson at 7 unless you are big a Mecca Igbuka, but please speak to it. Jefferson you've got at ecr. Which side? Jefferson or a Mecca?
- [10:57]
Pat Fitzmorris
Yeah, I can understand the pull towards Emeka here. And Jefferson seemed kind of strangely checked out against the Ravens last week. Caught four of his 12 targets for 37 yards. Couldn't bring in a throw at the goal line that could have been a touchdown. Although I'm not, I'm not sure how catchable that ball really was.
- [11:18]
Chris Welsh
It.
- [11:19]
Pat Fitzmorris
It just, it seemed like the Ravens were getting away with some pretty handsy coverage of Jefferson all day that could have been flagged in some instances and maybe that kind of set the tone. But here nor there. I want to be above consensus on Jefferson this week. One because of matchup two just elasticity. How many times in the six year Justin Jefferson career has he been held to two straight subpar games? Like this was only the 12th time in his career he's been held under 40 receiving yards in a game in the regular season. And I realize quarterback has become kind of an obstacle for Justin Jefferson. Like J.J. mcCarthy just hasn't been good in his four starts. But I think it's a little too early to make sweeping judgments about what the shape of McCarthy's career is going to look like. And you know, no case to be made that he's been good so far, but he is about to face a Bears defense that is capable of making him look good. The Bears have been playing without their two best cornerbacks, Jalen Johnson, Kyler Gordon. Chicago's given up the fourth most fantasy points to the wide receiver position. They gave up 89 yards to Darius Slayton last week. The game before that Jamar Chase and T. Higgins both had more than 100 yards against the Bears. Chris Olave had a big day with two touchdowns against them a month ago. So great matchup here and with Justin Jefferson coming off this poor game and going against a bad pass defense like I wouldn't be surprised if we got an eruption from him this week and I kind of want to play him in dfs. So I love Ebuka a wide receiver one for me this week. No question. I like Jefferson just a little bit more.
- [13:00]
Chris Welsh
Another receiver that's in the wide receiver one range name doesn't feel quite as big as Igbuka or Justin Jefferson, but Jalen Waddle ECR 11 on this list. Fitz you got him at 10. Erickson you've got him at 8. So you're quite a bit higher but you guys are both higher on him. Phenomenal matchup against Washington. Washington has been blush so you want to play where you can. This might also have interesting ramifications on the RV show on tua, but Fitzy, why don't you start us off here. Jalen waddle easy top 10 wide receiver. Is it because of the the share of like what he has in the offense or do you think this is like heavily weighted about this Washington matchup?
- [13:39]
Pat Fitzmorris
Both the Dolphins have played six games since the season ending injury to Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle has gone over 80 receiving yards in five of those six games. And the one exception was he had 15 receiving yards in that windy rainy day in Cleveland last month where the weather Conditions were just made it almost impossible to throw. So Waddle's getting all the downfield targets for the Dolphins. And this week he gets to face what is probably the worst pass defense in the league. The Commanders are giving up 8.9 yards per pass attempt, the highest number in the league by a wide margin. No one else is allowed more than 8.2 yards per attempt. As a team, the Commanders have given up more receiving yards to wide receivers than any other team, along with 13 touchdowns. And opposing wide receivers are averaging 9.9 yards per target against Washington. So great usage, great matchup, great outlook for Waddle in Spain this weekend. I think the Commanders might be his personal toppest platter this weekend.
- [14:41]
Chris Welsh
Erickson, Is it Waddle Sizzle? Is it? Are we activating season time? I just realized you have Waddle over Justin Jefferson, so not that that question would probably necessarily come up, but you know where you have got Waddle ranked would be one spot ahead. So are you ready to activate the Waddle Sizzle?
- [15:00]
Andrew Erickson
I've been here, Welsh. We've been activating the Waddle season all year long, except for that match against Cleveland.
- [15:05]
Chris Welsh
Official activation. You have to activate it on the show though.
- [15:10]
Andrew Erickson
Sure, it's been activated. Jalen Waddle starred him as a top 10 wide receiver because that's basically what he's been without Terry Kill in the lineup. I think that Fitz did a great job kind of outlining his production in the 5 of 6 games without Tyreek Hill. But that even stems back to other games, past games where Tyree Kill is either missed or played less than 50% of the snaps. Waddle's been very productive at any time he's operated as the wide receiver one for the Dolphins. Commander's matchup is obviously great. And when you look at Mike McDaniel and this dolphins team as a whole, they only get so many opportunities to beat up on worse teams than they are. Mike McDaniel is fighting for his job every single week. He's not going to hold back putting up 40 points for on on the Commanders if he can. So I think that the Dolphins office is in a really good spot this week. I think Waddle like he's been every single week. It's going to be a big part of that passing game.
- [15:57]
Chris Welsh
We need like the Power Rangers ring like Waddle Sizzle Activate and then just go, go Waddle Sizzin. All right, let's go to the wide receiver twos. Nothing more to talk about in the top 12. The Chalk Guys 13 through 24. We start with Lad McConkey at 13, followed by George Pickens, T. Higgins, A.J. brown, Roma Dunze, Devonte Smith. Marvin Harrison was at 19. Buh bye. Zay Flowers, Stefan Diggs, DK Metcalf, Juwan Jennings and Jordan Addison. So you know, as we record this, obviously the news just came down. You're going to see everybody rise up. Just a singular spot so we won't get too hyper focused there. But let's talk about T. Higgins here. You guys have a little bit of a flip in rank at least that one of you is higher and one of you is lower on his 15 ECR. Fitzy, you have T. Higgins as a top 12 wide receiver. Erickson, you've got him as a mid tier wide receiver too. Fitz, we'll just start with you. You technically bump him up into the high end range. This is going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. So hit us with. They just brought in Shantae Samuel. He's going to be probably active for this game because they need that secondary help. So talk to us about T. Higgins as a wide receiver.
- [17:08]
Pat Fitzmorris
One yeah, he's had four touchdown catches in his four games with Joe Flacco. T. Higgins has averaged 80.8 receiving yards per game with Flacco and he's had five or more catches in all but one of those. He's wide receiver six in fantasy points per game, half point PPR since Flacco's arrival and one of those games was against the Steelers when he had six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. The Steelers, you see why they brought in Asante Samuel like they've been getting cooked by outside receivers. Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman combined for 230 yards against them a couple weeks ago. Jamar Chase and T. Higgins lit them up for 257 yards and two touchdowns. Christian Watson, unlimited snaps, had more than 80 yards against them. So I don't know if Asante Samuel completely fixes the problem. I think the Bengals wide receivers are still going to eat against the Steelers.
- [18:01]
Chris Welsh
I have a feeling this is not about Samuel, your T. Higgins rank or anything. Erickson. So a little bit lower again, nothing insane or crazy or anything like that. What's your take on T. Higgins T. Higgins this week?
- [18:14]
Andrew Erickson
It's just about the overall spot for the Bengals offense. I think that the Steelers defense has played better over the last couple games. I mean the Chargers offense had been high flying and they were able to take advantage of a really banged up offensive line. I still don't think the Bengals offensive line is that good and this time they're not playing at home, they're playing on the road. So that's the only reason why I'm a couple of spots lower. He's still starting him have him ranked 16th.
- [18:36]
Chris Welsh
Still pretty good. Let's go to Stefon Diggs. He is ECR 21. FitzYou've got him at 22. Erickson 15. We're all in on this spot. Stefan Diggs going up against the New York Jets. So Erickson, why don't you kick us off here. You've got the pretty aggressive rank regardless compared to ecr. What's your take on Stefon Diggs for this coming week?
- [18:57]
Andrew Erickson
Clear Cut Alpha in the Patriots passing attack 25% target share over the last seven games when he first had that massive breakout when it finally seemed like he had come back fully from his season ending injury from last year. Average 3 yards per route run over that span and what we're finally starting to see is he's hitting pay dirt. Stefan Diggs is finally starting to catch touchdowns and Drake May. A bet I make every single week over one and a half passing touchdowns for Drake May. He basically hits it every single week. And against the New York jets he's thrown for one and a half at least passing touchdowns and probably one of them is going to go to Stefan Diggs. So I just think Diggs looked absolutely fantastic. It's a great matchup. He's got a great quarterback, top 15 wide receiver, easy.
- [19:38]
Chris Welsh
I we were doing this on out of Bounds, one of the other shows we do on Twitch and we were talking about MVPs and they're making the guys are making the case for kind of Jonathan Taylor, which is totally understandable. Like I think he's in the top two. And I was like it's Drake May. And Drake May has thrown for two or more touchdowns in eight of nine games. He has done it. I believe, if I have it correctly, eight straight games. It's ridiculous. You're not joking when you say it's the 1.5 over. He is ridiculous. And shout out to Pat Fitzmaurice for just loudly and proudly screaming about Drake May the entire draft season. Like at not like I'm just like Drake May can't be as good as you're making it out to be. He's better. He's better than Fitz. He was making it out to be so Fitzy because of that. Why do you hate Stefon Diggs with your great quarterback? You have him at 221 spot lower. Why do you hate him? Yeah.
- [20:28]
Pat Fitzmorris
And by the way, I think Drake may has the easiest schedule of any fantasy quarterback down the stretch, so things are only going to get better. Yeah, I don't hate Diggs. I'm just not a Patriots homer like Erickson. No, I'm kidding. He's had the touchdown in three straight games and he's been hyper efficient all year. 11.1 yards per target, 2.22 yards per route run. Those are fantastic numbers. But Diggs sort of has to be efficient to make it work with his usage and he is getting a big target share as Erickson mentioned. But even with K Shaan Booty out last week, Diggs only played 59% of New England's offensive snaps and his snap share has been below 64% in every single game this season. He had eight targets against the Buccaneers last week. That was actually his second highest target total of the season. 12 targets against the Bills in week five. But for the year, Diggs is averaging just 6.1 targets a game. So I just, I have a hard time putting Diggs in the top 20 when he's being used as sort of an ensemble cast member. But I mean, that's selling him short. He's been fantastic, but it's just not high volume usage.
- [21:38]
Chris Welsh
You know what it's kind of like? It's kind of like the Broncos and how Cortland Sutton like Cortland Sutton's like the dude. He's the guy. He gets the looks, but he doesn't always get the volume. All of a sudden it's this week it's Troy Franklin, you know, or I guess there were the Marvin Mims weeks and that's how the Patriots work sometimes. And super annoying. It's like, hey, here's Matt Collins and then here's Demario Douglas. How about a little case on Booty? It's like, no, how about all the digs, all the digs and then just let those be the complimentary pieces. That's the only thing that annoys me in it because I think Diggs is a guy that I just want to see 10 to 12 targets every single game. Regardless, I want to say the red zone. 10 to 12 and they don't quite seem to commit that. The last one in here called a tiny bit of an audible. One of the guy is DK Metcalf that we were going to hit on DK Metcalf. We're still going to. He's 22 on ECR. It actually deleted what you guys had. So this is going to be a nice surprise for me he's going up against the Cincinnati Bengals. I wanted to pair him in another versus situation if you guys would be so kind if you can DK Metcalf Metcalf vs Juwan Jennings who really jumps up on this list. I didn't even realize against the Arizona Cardinals. He's 23 on this list. Volume is still sketchy. We don't know. I think he's in a better spot if Brock Purdy's a quarterback because Purdy will throw to him more at volume than Mac will. But Matt don't think Mac doesn't get the job done. Fitzy, feel free to put a hyper focus on DK Metcalf on this, especially if it's not remotely close. But Metcalf versus Jennings and I know this Metcalf matchup against the Bengals is pretty great.
- [23:07]
Pat Fitzmorris
It's close ish and it will be even closer if Ricky Pearsall does not play this week. But there is a chance he gets back to practice this week I believe. Is that right Walsh?
- [23:18]
Chris Welsh
I I've got a yeah, today. They said today as we're recording this he is supposed to return to practice on Wednesday. So you know, fingers crossed. And that's kind of the crux of this too. I think Joann Jennings just seems too high on this. I think there's way too many variables that is that that kind of throws me off that he is right next to DK Metcalf.
- [23:37]
Pat Fitzmorris
Yeah. And maybe it's possible we don't see Pierce all come back. Like waiting for him to get Back to the the 49ers lineup has been like waiting for Godot. But yeah, so I do have to go with Metcalf here even though I'm not thinking about him as a Smash type play this week. He's got 55 or fewer receiving yards in four straight games and he's only scored one touchdown over that stretch. Wide receiver 55 and half point PPR over his last four games. And we talked about DJ Turner a little earlier. You know any matchup against the Bengals looks good on paper, but maybe a little less so for a top perimeter receiver against the Bengals because DJ Turner has been one of the few bright spots. He is allowed a sub 50% catch rate and a passer rating of 78.4 on throws into his coverage. So he's been really good. Debro sort of pointed this out to me and when Metcalf faced the Bengals a few weeks ago, Turner covered Metcalf on 78% of his routes and held him to two catches for 45 yards on four targets. So I like Metcalf a little more than Jennings, but I don't think either guy's a top 20 receiver.
- [24:47]
Chris Welsh
Well, do you remember what your rank was on Metcalf? It was my bad. I taken him off the sheet and then we returned him to the sheet early on. I don't remember if you were lower or higher on ECR than DK Metcalf.
- [24:59]
Pat Fitzmorris
Wide receiver 21, which I guess is going to go to 20 with Marvin Harrison being scratched.
- [25:04]
Chris Welsh
Yeah, okay, so like slightly higher. Erickson. Same thing across the board. Variables on Juwan Jennings kind of seemed odd, but they're right next to each other. But maybe we like him more. Maybe we don't love the match for Metcalf. What's your take on Metcalf and the Metcalf versus Jennings?
- [25:17]
Andrew Erickson
I like Metcalf more than Jennings. Still think we it's always tough to rank these 49ers guys on Wednesday because everything changes by the time Friday rolls around with all the injury news we get with them. So I think right now it's still Metcalf for me. I think that Metcalf is due for a bigger game just because Rogers keeps missing him. Like last week he missed him on what have been a longer touchdown play. Two weeks ago he had multiple targets inside the red zone inside the five yard line, but he didn't score. So I think eventually Metcalfe's either going to catch a long ball or find the end zone. I think that's going to be good for his fantasy value. Now this matchup against the Bengals, again, DJ Turner, not ideal for Metcalf, but Metcalf is a big body wide receiver and they like to get him involved close to the line of scrimmage. So unless they're playing tight man coverage, it doesn't really matter if it's a tougher cornerback match at Metcalf. He's a big body guy like contested catch player. Like he's got to go up and win these 5050 balls so he has to play a little bit better. That being said, this matchup, where do the touchdowns go? Because last time we saw Rogers play the Bengals he threw four touchdowns, except they all went to different tight ends for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I know that we're also really excited. Again, not the running back show, but very excited about Jalen Warren this week and if he's going to score a bunch of touchdowns, he only has two rushing touchdowns this season. So Metcalf I think maybe could have a floor type of game, but if he doesn't find the end zone because it's just other guys that are scoring, that's where you get concerned. But I would still say any matchup against the Bengals there is an upside case because of just how bad their defense is collectively. And if Turner isn't on Metcalf on a certain play, it only takes one big play from DK Metcalf, which he's more than capable of doing, to really feel good about putting them in your lineup. So I'm a little bit higher. I have him at 17, but I could probably bump him down a couple spots just because I want to capture the downside with the tougher cornerback matchup and the fact that the touchdowns might not go his way. Just going to other players on the.
- [27:03]
Pat Fitzmorris
Steelers, if I can add on, I mean which guy is more likely to be involved in a shootout, who is going to push the push the passing volume more? Is it going to be the Cardinals going against the 49ers or is it going to be the Steelers going against the Bengals who in Flacco starts have averaged better than 30 yards or 30 points per game. So maybe that helps for DK Metcalf. And I said I didn't quite see him as a top 20 receiver, but I guess I do now that Marvin Harrison Jr. Is out.
- [27:33]
Andrew Erickson
Also too Rogers is coming off a game that he played really, really, really badly in. So if he has opportunities to throw touchdowns, he might just do that instead of handing the ball off the Jalen Warren, which is going to probably be extremely tilting. But there's a reason why Warren only has two rushing touchdowns this year is because Rogers has thrown a lot of.
- [27:50]
Pat Fitzmorris
The touchdowns that's been Rodgers Mo throughout his career. I mean the joke with packers fans used to be like our goal lineback is devonte Adams.
- [27:58]
Chris Welsh
But also like after I had imagine Rogers too after watching like you throw balls into Calvin Austin' hands and they bounce off into defenders, just throw to DK Metcalf 15 times. Like stop doing this with all the other wide receivers we have got wide receiver threes. But first, today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet. If you're listening to this podcast, you're probably deep in the stats, injury reports and matchups. Put your fantasy football knowledge to the test on Hard Rock Bet. Try your first bet on Hard Rock Bet today. Just place a five dollar bet and if it hits, you get not only your winnings but 150 in extra bonus bets. And if you're not sure what to place your first bet on Check out the Hard Rock Bets Stats hub. It's loaded with trends, streaks and stats to help guide your picks. Numbers don't lie, and neither does the data in there. Check out the Stats Hub now. Get the edge and bet with confidence. The Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook app is the only legal sportsbook for whenever you're in Florida. Here in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois and Colorado. Coming soon to more states too. Plus, Hard Rock Bet offers new promos every single day, so whenever you're listening, just open up the app and check out what they've got. Any day of the week, download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit today. Payable in bonus bets. Not a cash offer offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital, LLC and all other states must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. To play, terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call 1833 play wise. And in Indiana, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-809 with it gambling problem call 1-800- GAMBLER in all other.
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- [31:29]
Chris Welsh
Welcome fellow seekers of the dark.
- [31:32]
Andrew Erickson
I'm Danny Trejo.
- [31:33]
Chris Welsh
Won't you join me in Nocturnal Tales from the Shadow Mission, an ethology of modern day horror stories inspired by the legends and lore of Latin America. Take a trip from ghastly encounters with evil spirits to bone chilling brushes with supernatural creatures and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. You should probably keep your lights on on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of my Cultura Podcast network. Available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast wide receivers 25 through 36 let's kick it off with Jameson Williams, Quinton Johnston, Romeo Dobbs, Debo Samuel Tedoro and McMillan Courtland Sutton. That's through 30 31. Khalil Shakir, Wandell Robinson, Tez Johnson, Trey Trey Tucker, Troy Franklin and Parker Washington. Erickson, you said it was Jameson Williams week and you sir were absolutely right. He is ECR 25 on this list. Fitzy, you were higher at 23. Erickson, you're the number one stunner at 21. So are we having a continuation of Jameson Williams week because you are still firmly in as he goes up against the Eagles though?
- [33:09]
Andrew Erickson
Yes, I know that some people might be scared off a little bit because of the matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. It's on the road. We don't like that with the Lions as a dome team going on the road when they're not playing the Washington Commanders, which was part of the thesis behind the play. Last week I did not know that Dan Campbell was going to take over play calling duties, but that definitely helped out, especially given the matchup. I think that Williams usage moving forward rest of season is going to be much better than it's been to start the year because Dan Campbell, he loves this guy. He knows how he can be used in so many different ways besides just being someone that's Running deep like they're finally using him intermediate on crossing routes because the guy's speed is off the charts and he can really put defenses in a bind. So the usage is going to be there for Jameson Williams more than it's been in the past. I think it's going to give him a higher floor than we've seen. And then the boom potential with Jameson Williams. Well, the Eagles defense, one of the worst things they're at against this year is defending play action. 10 yards per attempt allowed against play action throws this year. That's the fifth most in the NFL. And last week in Jameson Williams breakout game, most of his production came on play action. He had just as many play action yards and catches last week than he did the entire eight weeks or nine weeks leading up to last week. So they were using him in play action throws and that's how you beat the Philadelphia Eagles. So don't be afraid of the matchup at Philadelphia. It's going to look red. It's to be going in whatever fantasy app you're using. Oh no, I got to bench Jameson Williams. Don't do that. You have to start him every single week from here on out because the ceiling that he can offer on a week to week basis, especially with the Lions playing in a bunch of dome games on the trade show for receivers. Jameson Williams, he was my buy. Like he was the guy that even off a big game. No, like this is just the beginning for jmo. So buy Jameson Williams, start him in your lineup. Don't be afraid of the Philadelphia Eagles even though it's going to look red on your fantasy matchup.
- [34:55]
Chris Welsh
Apple Fitz, are you gonna co sign? Are you as much in love with Jamo as Erickson here or a little indifferent?
- [35:01]
Pat Fitzmorris
Yeah, not quite as much based on our rankings. But I like JMO a lot too and I know I had people asking me in discord two or three weeks ago whether they should cut Jameson Williams and I'm glad I told them not to. The play action thing, Erickson, it was funny in that Monday night game, Packers Eagles, there was a play, it was like third and 10 and Jordan love does play action. I'm like who's going to fall for play action on 3rd and 10? And sure enough he ripped like a 25 yard completion to Christian Watson on that play. Like the Eagles just don't have an answer for it. Yeah. So Dan Campbell took over the play calling duties as Erickson mentioned and just ripped the play sheet away from offensive coordinator John morton and immediately JMO had 6 catches for a season high 119 yards and a touchdown. Now granted it was against the Commanders, whose past defense is just a travesty, but ever since Morton kind of publicly fell on his sword for Jameson Williams slow start and vowed to get Jamo more involved. Two games, 10 catches, 185 yards, two touchdowns. So tougher matchup against the Eagles this week, but the arrow is certainly pointing up for Jameson Williams, this next guy.
- [36:12]
Chris Welsh
Things got a little bit more interesting. Wandell Robinson is ECR wide receiver 32. You both, you fine gentlemen have him at 25 well within the last 10 minutes of us recording this. So people watching and listening live are going to be fully in the know on this. It has been reported by Ian Rapaport that Mike Kafka has confirmed that Jameson William or James? We just talked about James William. Jameis Winston is going to start at quarterback this week, all but confirming that Jackson Dart is out and Proto is not working in his favor. But we've got Jameis Winston. Feels a little bit like a Darius Slayton piece of conversation we would have here. But what do you think about Wandell Fitzy, we'll start with you. Anything change whatsoever with Winston at quarterback? For a guy like Wanda Robinson, who you guys are both pretty aggressively high compared to his ECR of 32, you almost had him at wide receiver twos. Is this an up, a down or it doesn't matter.
- [37:06]
Pat Fitzmorris
So for me it's the same because when I first did rankings this week, I sort of projected Jameis to be the starter. Like, if you're the Giants, what is the incentive to rush back Jackson Dart from concussion protocol? When you have two wins, he's your franchise quarterback. You're not going to mess with that. So I would be stunned if Jackson Dart played even if he cleared concussion protocol. And I think the Giants and their fans are pretty much done with the Russell Wilson experience. So yeah, it looks like it's going to be Jameis and he's always a bonanza for his pass catchers since he has zero compunction about pushing the ball downfield even if his receivers are well covered. So Wandell as it is is pace for 90 catches. It's basically just Wandell, Slayton and the Giants tight ends as the only targets in that offense. And I think Slayton is kind of banged up. So the packers not an easy matchup, but the setup for Wandell still looks really good.
- [38:04]
Chris Welsh
Erickson, what do you think? Wandell up, down or is this just right?
- [38:09]
Andrew Erickson
I think it's up for me because I think anytime Jamie Swinson is your quarterback, he just invites fantasy scoring. So I understand stylistically you think, well, Wanda's not really used downfield. He's more of a check down option. I don't really care. It just if James Winston's your quarterback. Your fantasy scene we saw with Jerry Judy last year. Jerry Judy was like a 1300 yard receiver last season. Where is he this year? Nowhere to be found. He's on the mill card because he doesn't have James Winston as his quarterback. So it just matters so much. And even if it's Wandale and he doesn't see as many targets, he's going to see more high value opportunities. And although the last couple weeks Wanda has really been used more as that underneath type of option, he does have a 32 target share over the last two games, which is really, really strong at times this year he actually has been used a little bit more downfield than we've seen in the past. And new or interim head coach Mike Kafka, former officer coordinator for the New York Giants, he talked about Robinson at the end of October, saying that this is their most consistent wide receiver and they like to use them in a lot of different ways. So Darius Slayton we know is really up and down. He's probably more of your Hail Mary throw because he is the deep threat guy that you could see. Jameis Winston just launching bombs to the matchup is always tough against the Green Bay Packers. But when Jameis Winston is your quarterback, I almost don't care who you're playing because he just creates an environment where it could be the 85 bears and he's going to find ways to get fantasy points, whether it's because he throws a bunch of interceptions. We only get I don't know how many more starts we're going to get for James Winston in the NFL. These are precious starts for us. For our fantasy users, you got to take advantage of because the ceiling is just so high. If we get a actual Jameis Winston game and you got to start these Giants players like Wanda, it's like the.
- [39:45]
Chris Welsh
Words of a father being like, I just don't know how much time we have left. So enjoy the moments. Enjoy the moments you have with Jameis Winston when you can still eat your W's. Let's go to the next wide receiver. Wide receiver, 33 Tez Johnson, Keontes, Fitz, you got him at 35. Erickson, you got him at 39. You guys are a little bit lower going up against the Buffalo Bills. Erickson, why don't you kick it off here. There's no other player. Now I will say this is more the running back episode. Bucky Irving was seen at practice on Wednesday doing some run through stuff. That's it. But I've heard nothing about Godwin. There's still no other options. What doesn't have you excited about Tez Johnson? Erickson.
- [40:24]
Andrew Erickson
He had a 12 target share last week and one of the touchdowns he scored in garbage time. So I was wrong about Tez Johnson last week. I definitely was not high enough on him because he ends up scoring two touchdowns. I'm just concerned about what the target floor with him is. He's a full time player in the Bucs offense. Egbuka is clearly, the number one and Kate Otten has been on a hot streak because of all the injuries at the wide receiver position for Bucs. Now the Bills have been pretty good against tight ends so that does kind of concern me about again being too low on Tez Johnson. So he's a player that I'm obviously having trouble ranking and I was wrong about him last week so I'm trying to push him up but I can't get past that. He just didn't see a lot of volume last week and he scored four touchdowns in the last three games so he's definitely putting up a lot of points because of touchdowns. But he plays with Baker Mayfield so that's kind of a plus on his side of he definitely has upside especially against the Buffalo Bills who have been a defensive side been beatable this season. So I'm interested to hear what fits because you're also lower on ECR than Tez Johnson. Is it just the target share that kind of concerns you because you could obviously paint a picture where oh well Tez Johnson scored again and we were wrong again about ranking him too lowly.
- [41:32]
Pat Fitzmorris
Yeah, I'm always wary of the touchdown heavy production which is why I think maybe ECR is just a touch overly optimistic here. Four touchdowns for Tez over his last four games and he's wide receiver 18 over that stretch. But yeah, I just always cast sort of a wary eye at touchdown driven production and tez has averaged 47 yards over his last four games and hasn't really had any sort of big blow up game with yardage I think as high as what, 55 yards. So the Bills aren't necessarily a great matchup for wide receivers. They've allowed the sixth fewest receptions to wide receivers. I think Tez is perfectly playable but maybe not as playable as ECR suggests I think he's a solid wide receiver. 3. Flex option.
- [42:21]
Chris Welsh
Final wide receiver on this list is Trey Tucker, who came in at 34 coming off of one of just the worst football games in a long time. It is, it is hard to, it's hard to look at the Raiders. It was like a really bad night out and no one wants to look at each other and that's what it is looking at. Your players are on the Raiders. You don't want to make eye contact and that's what it feels like with Trey Tucker right now. And you guys really aren't. You guys have them outside the top 36 but fits. You said hold my beer because you've got him. I believe in the 50 range here. So just is this Trey Tucker or is this the Raiders offense? All are acceptable answers?
- [42:54]
Pat Fitzmorris
Yeah, it's mostly Trey Tucker and the arrival of Tyler Lockett and the return of Brock Bowers. Like I just don't think Trey Tucker is that good. He had that big blow up game earlier this year and I think that sort of skewed perceptions of what he is. You know, just like has never really been a high volume target earner. Just hasn't been all that productive throughout his career. And Tyler Lockett comes in last week and immediately like doubles up the targets for Trey Tucker. Twice as many targets in fewer snaps. And now I wouldn't be surprised if they sort of ratchet up the snaps for Lockett. So I tend to think Tyler Lockett is going to be the lead receiver for the Raiders going forward. But that really doesn't mean much because they get both of their tight ends involved a lot. I mean Bowers is Clearly, the number one target Gent. He's going to get a lot of work too. And they throw to Mike Mayer some to not our Mike Mayer, but yeah. So I'm just Michael Mayer even in this matchup against the Cowboys. I'm just not that excited about playing Trey Tucker.
- [44:05]
Chris Welsh
Ericsson, you're not like as low but you're, you're low enough to just be disinterested across the board.
- [44:12]
Andrew Erickson
I think this is actually going to be a really tough spot for the Raiders playing on the road against Dallas. I know that Dallas's defense has been a one to target all year long, but I want to keep things in mind in perspective that this is going to be the first game that they play after the passing of Marshawn Neyland. And I think that you're going to see Dallas play the most inspired amount of football defensively than they have all year and unfortunately just the Raiders are going to get to draw this matchup. They're going to be Quinn Williams is going to play in this game. He's going to make his Cowboys debut. They're getting multiple guys back from injury reserve that they're getting back coming off a bye week. So they're going to be 100 healthy. Meanwhile, you look at the Raiders, Geno Smith barely finished that game on Thursday night. They lost two more offensive linemen. So I think this is just a really tough spot for the Raiders offense overall, which is going to then hurt a guy like Trey Tucker. So I get on paper it's like, ooh Dallas, like maybe this is a good spot for Trey Tucker. Maybe he has a spike weekend. To his credit. He did catch a 31 yard touchdown against the Broncos. It got called back on a penalty. So again that's why I think that ECR is giving him some credit. But yeah, Geno Smith, Tyler Lockett, they have a real connection and I would not co sign. Okay, let's make Locket our number one wide receiver. But I'm not the head coach of the Raiders and if they do that, that's going to be a losing formula. So yeah, I think that the Raiders are I don't want to be really bullish on really anyone on their team this week because I think that the Dallas defense is going to play significantly better in this particular matchup, especially one against an offense that we know can struggle.
- [45:40]
Chris Welsh
Trey Tucker or not. If you have other start and sit questions, we still got you covered. If we miss anything in this episode or just something that maybe we talked about that brought it up Thursday, 3pm Eastern. Come and join us on our YouTube channel where you can just fire away with whatever questions you got. If you aren't listening on the podcast, go to YouTube.com fantasypros subscribe, get notified and come and hang out with us. That is going to do it for the wide receiver ranks for week 11 for Pat Fitzmorrison and Andrew Erickson, I'm Chris Welsh. We'll talk to you next time and good luck. Bye friends.
- [46:10]
Duracell/Klarna Ad Host
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple podcasts@fantasypros.com review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and TikTok at fantasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasypros.
- [46:47]
Andrew Erickson
Foreign.
- [46:52]
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- [47:25]
Chris Welsh
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Pat Fitzmorris
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Chris Welsh
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Pat Fitzmorris
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Chris Welsh
This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game. From breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching.
- [48:06]
Pat Fitzmorris
Trends, and how front offices construct winning.
- [48:08]
Chris Welsh
Rosters, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.
- [48:15]
Pat Fitzmorris
It's everything you need to understand the.
- [48:17]
Chris Welsh
Why behind what happens on Sundays. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [48:27]
Pat Fitzmorris
This is an iHeart podcast.