Week 11 Risers & Fallers Analysis for Fantasy Football

November 12, 2014

Richie Smith analyzes some Week 11 fantasy football risers and fallers. NFL running backs (RB), wide receivers (WR), tight ends (TE) and quarterbacks (QB) that are hot and can be sleepers, or are struggling.

Welcome to the fantasy football stretch run! The majority of bye weeks have past us and the trade deadline is approaching in the next week or two (if it hasn't already passed in your league). If you are 6-4 or better -- congratulations, you are likely in a good position for the playoffs. If you are 5-5 or worse, then you still have some work to do. With just three weeks until (most) fantasy football playoffs, either it's time to start prepping for the postseason if you are sitting pretty, or concentrate on the next three weeks if you are currently on the outside looking in.

This week's Risers and Fallers column will be a bit different than past weeks. We will still look at the Risers, but the Fallers will focus on five players that you likely used a high draft pick on back in August and have underperformed so badly that they can safely be dropped from your standard 10 and 12-team leagues.

With that said, here are your Week 11 risers and fallers. Good luck with your fantasy football lineup and matchups in Week 11, RotoBallers!

Fantasy Football Risers -- Stock Up

Montee Ball, RB -- Denver Broncos

With Ronnie Hillman sidelined for at least the next couple weeks with a foot sprain, the door is now open for Ball to regain the starting running back gig in Denver. Most fantasy folks are higher on C.J. Anderson, but I'm on the Ball train. Aside from garbage time carries against New England and a game against a terrible Raiders defense, Anderson has not really shown that much. Additionally, Ball is much better in pass protection. The Broncos like Ball -- they used a high draft pick on him and let Knowshown Moreno walk to Miami because they thought highly of Ball. Also, Ball has apparently lost some weight and is looking very good in practice. Even if Anderson is named the "starter" this week, Ball will see significant touches, and I wouldn't be shocked at all if Ball is starting come Week 12.

Marshawn Lynch, RB -- Seattle Seahawks

Back in Week 9, I had expressed some concern over Marshawn Lynch and his declining production. In the two weeks since, he has rushed for over 200 yards and scored six touchdowns. I think he's fine. Never sit Lynch.

Josh Gordon, WR -- Cleveland Browns

Believe it or not, Gordon is just one week away from returning to action. While it's unrealistic to expect Gordon to immediately step in and produce top 5 WR numbers, he'll be a solid WR2 with WR1 upside, meaning he should likely be inserted immediately into most fantasy lineups upon his return in Week 12. In the rare chance that Gordon is sitting on your waiver wire, obviously pick him up, but if you have been holding him all this time, it might not be a bad idea to dangle him out there in trade talks and see if an overzealous owner overpays for him.

Mike Evans, WR -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Evans has been on fire the past two weeks, scoring three touchdowns and tacking on 249 receiving yards on 14 catches. With Vincent Jackson occupying the opposition's top cover guy every week, Evans often gets to go up against a smaller, less-skilled option. Tampa Bay has absolutely no running game right now, so they should continue to throw it around quite a bit.

Mychal Rivera, TE -- Oakland Raiders

Can you guess who has been the best TE behind Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski over the past three weeks? That's right-- Rivera. Over that span, Rivera is averaging seven catches a game as well as a touchdown a game. Rookie Derek Carr has started to look for Rivera, especially in the redzone. He's becoming more than just a bye week fill in at the position.

Fantasy Football Fallers -- Stock Down, and OK to drop

Michael Floyd, WR -- Arizona Cardinals

I was very high on Floyd to begin the season. Even after a slow start, I was an advocate of sticking with him. Well, not anymore. This is far beyond a slow start for Floyd (I mean, it's Week 11 for goodness sake!). Floyd hasn't eclipsed more than 50 yards receiving since Week 3, and also doesn't have more than four catches since then. The Cardinals have a very tough schedule down the stretch which includes Detroit this week, Seattle twice, Kansas City and San Francisco still on the docket. And with starting QB Carson Palmer now out for the season with a torn ACL, there's very little I like about Floyd moving forward. It's perfectly fine to cut bait on him at this point in the season.

Wes Welker, WR -- Denver Broncos

See my article from last week, but to summarize, Welker is the 4th passing option in the Broncos passing attack and is primarily used in special situation/packages (i.e. third down). He doesn't see nearly enough targets to be productive, even in the high-powered Denver offense. If his name was Joe Smith instead of Wes Welker, you would have cut him weeks ago.

Vernon Davis, TE -- San Francisco 49ers

No more than four catches in any game this year, hasn't scored a touchdown since Week 1, and has yet to go over 50 yards receiving in any game this year. Davis is still owned in nearly 70% of ESPN leagues. Drop him now and go pick up the aforementioned Rivera, who is only owned in 39% of ESPN leagues.

Terrance Williams, WR -- Dallas Cowboys

Williams was a trendy fantasy pick coming into the season, when we thought the Cowboys were going to pass the ball a ton. It hasn't worked out that way, especially with the emergence of an elite DeMarco Murray. Williams hasn't scored double digit fantasy points since Week 5, and only has one touchdown since then. There's plenty of other, more consistent WR3/flex options to choose from on a weekly basis, especially with most of the bye weeks past us. Dump Williams.

Reggie Bush, RB -- Detroit Lions

Yes. Cut Reggie Bush. Why you might ask? Bush has received a TOTAL of 14 carries and just eight catches since Week 5, while not scoring any touchdowns. That is horrible production. Joique Bell has taken over the majority of the touches in the backfield, and Theo Riddick has impressed of late as well, leaving Bush and his nagging injuries in the dust.  It's probably hard to dump your 2nd or 3rd round pick, but Bush is just the 43rd ranked RB in PPR leagues (and worse in standard) the last five weeks.