Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 11: Cardinals vs. Jaguars

A week after recording their first, win, the Jaguars host a surprising Arizona Cardinals team. How many fantasy players are going to be relevant?

by Daniel Kelley

Nov 17, 2013, 12:15 PM UTC

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The surprisingly above-.500 Arizona Cardinals are looking to keep themselves at least on the fringes of the NFC playoff race. They have a good matchup in which to do so in Week 11, as they travel to Florida for a 1 p.m. ET matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are coming off their first win of the season. There aren't a plethora of hot fantasy names in the matchup, but there are a few that could matter:

Cardinals

Start in every league: Jay Feely, Defense/special teams

Start if you're desperate: Carson Palmer, Andre Ellington, Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd

Bench: Rashard Mendenhall, Andre Roberts, Rob Housler

Awfully sad when a team’s two definite starts are its kicker and its defense. But Feely has six games of at least eight fantasy points, which is valuable; the Cardinals’ defense is seventh in the NFL, averaging double-digit points. Enjoyable plays, both.

Palmer can generally be counted on for at least 10 points, but his ceiling is really low, and he is still looking for his first interception-free game of the season. ... Ellington has the talent to be a no-doubt starter, but as long as the Cardinals insist on splitting his carries with Mendenhall, it tempers his value. That doesn’t really make sense, but it seems to be their strategy right now. ... In all reality, most everyone that owns Fitzgerald is starting him; listing him here is just pointing out that he’s not the sure-fire No. 1 he used to be, with only one 100-yard game this season. ... Floyd is a more accurate “if you’re desperate” play, as using him is basically just praying for a touchdown, and he only has two of those this year.

While he’s been splitting carries with Ellington, Mendenhall has done much less with his share, and he’s been fumbling the ball. It’s hard to imagine using him. ... The 13 points Roberts scored last week is close to the 15 he had all season before that game. One game does not a starter make. ... Virtually the same thing could be said about Housler, who scored 11 in Week 10 after having 12 all season beforehand.

Jaguars

Start in every league: ...

Start if you're desperate: Maurice Jones-Drew, Cecil Shorts III, Mike Brown

Bench: Chad Henne, Josh Scobee, Defense/special teams

Nope, still no surefire starters in Jacksonville. Jones-Drew, with three double-digit games in his last four, comes close, but he still hasn't eclipsed 75 rushing yards this season, keeping his overall value in check. ... Shorts also comes close, but the Cardinals don't allow much to opposing wide receivers and he's still stuck at one touchdown on the season and besides, with Justin Blackmon out, the defenses can key on him. ... Brown has shown flashes of potential in recent weeks, but still has more to prove before he's regularly usable.

Henne is -- you know what? It doesn’t need to be explained. Just don’t. ... Scobee is the lowest-scoring kicker in the league, because he’s on the lowest-scoring team in the league. ... The Jaguars’ defense is terrible.