Fantasy football projections, Week 11: Saints-Panthers featuring Drew Brees, Brandin Cooks, Cam Newton, more

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The Week 11 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers is a division matchup that should feature plenty of fireworks on Thursday Night Football. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Father Time eventually catches up with quarterbacks in their late 30s. That was part of the reason the Saints and Drew Brees took a while to reach an agreement on a contract extension. Fortunately for both the team, Brees and fantasy owners, he’s managed to stave off Father Time and continues to produce. He has thrown for at least three touchdowns and 300 passing yards in six out of nine games this season. In Week 11, Brees will face a Panthers team that he scorched for 465 yards and four touchdowns back in Week 6. Brees is historically much better at home than he is on the road, but Carolina has been generous to all quarterbacks this season. Three touchdowns and 300 yards will put Brees beyond his projections this time around.

With Brees’ outlook this week looking great, wide receiver Brandin Cooks should continue to benefit. While he’s developed a reputation for being a boom-or-bust player throughout his young career, Cooks has stabilized his fantasy production in 2016. After being shut out of the end zone in three straight games, Cooks has scored in four of the last five contests. He caught a season-high seven passes for 173 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers in Week 6. Should Cooks’ production go hand-in-hand with his quarterbacks, Week 11 should be quite fruitful for the Saints’ most dynamic wideout.

Cam Newton is going to have to be on his game in order to top the Saints in Week 11. The matchup has all of the makings of a high-scoring affair. If Newton leads his team to the win, he’ll likely be effective scrambling out of the pocket and find open receivers in the end zone. If he trails most of the evening, he’ll be forced to throw the ball and go toe to toe with Drew Brees. Either scenario will work out for fantasy owners. Newton put together his second-best fantasy performance of the season against the Saints in Week 6. He completed 27 passes for 322 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in that game. He will be hungry to top that effort and top the Saints in Week 11.

Hopefully an inspired performance by Newton can give wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin a boost against the Saints. Benjamin is undoubtedly one of the most talented receivers in the NFL. From a fantasy perspective though 2016 has been a disappointment so far. Benjamin has just one touchdown catch in his last seven games. On the other hand he does have at least 70 receiving yards in seven out of nine contest this season. Add to that the fact he still gets a ton of targets and Benjamin has managed to at least maintain some of his value in PPR formats. Hopefully he can capitalize on a generous Saints squad in Week 11.