After enjoying Week 10 in which there were no bye weeks for our fantasy players, we go right back to having four teams on byes, including the Saints and Steelers. There are quite a few important players that will be unavailable in Week 11 and since we're so close to the playoffs, you may need to scour the waiver wire to find players that can help lead you to a win.
Fantasy Football Week 11: Sleepers Include Carson Palmer, Jackie Battle
Here’s a list of some sleepers that could help your fantasy football team in Week 11 of the 2011 NFL season.
Here’s some players that can help you out.
Quarterbacks:
In two games as a starter, Palmer has thrown for five touchdowns and over 600 yards. He's going to be facing the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, who were just shredded by Aaron Rodgers for 250 yards and four touchdowns. Nobody is saying that Palmer is Rodgers or the Raiders are the Packers but the Vikings obviously aren't great against the pass. They have the 30th ranked passing defense and I fully expect Carson Palmer and the Raiders to take advantage.
If you have Drew Brees or Ben Roethlisberger as your starting quarterback, pick up Palmer this week.
| Tyler Palko QB Kansas City Chiefs |
This is what you would call a deep sleeper. Like coma deep. However, Palko is facing the worst secondary in the league and if the Chiefs get behind to the Patriots on Monday night in Foxborough, and they likely will, the Chiefs will likely be forced to pass the ball non-stop to play catchup.
I doubt anybody is really expecting Palko to be a top tier fantasy starter or even a good bye-week replacement quarterback, but in the NFL, you never really know.
Running Backs:
| Jackie Battle RB Kansas City Chiefs |
Two Chiefs players in a row? Are they both deep sleepers?
Yep.
The Chiefs will likely throw the ball nonstop if they get down to the Patriots on Monday night, but before that happens, I wouldn't be surprised to see a game plan in which the Chiefs rely heavily on the run to control the clock and keep Tom Brady and the Patriots offense where they can't hurt them: on the sidelines.
If that works out for the Chiefs and for you don’t expect it to last too long, but before the Chiefs have to move to the pass you may score enough points to win your matchup.
The Lions are bad when it comes to stopping the run and the Panthers have two good running backs in their backfield, Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. Usually it would be Williams that I would say to start but he has only averaged around nine rushing attempts per game and it's Stewart who gets the goal-line carries. If it's not Cam Newton running the ball in, expect Stewart to get the first-and-goal handoffs.
Wide Receivers:
It's likely that A.J. Green is out against the Ravens on Sunday and that means that Jerome Simpson will slide into the No. 1 receiver spot. Simpson hasn't exactly been the beacon of consistency for the Bengals but the last time he faced the Ravens as a No. 1 receiver, Week 17 of the 2010 season, he had 123 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Simpson likely won’t repeat that performance, especially since he’s being thrown to by a new quarterback, but he could get a score for you if you pick him up. If you’re in need of a flex receiver, Simpson could be your guy.
Different receiver, same game.
The Bengals secondary was the weak point of their tough defense and that was before Leon Hall was lost for the season with a torn Achilles. No. 1 receiver Anquan Boldin will be facing Nate Clements but the team's deep threat, Torrey Smith, will be facing Kelly Jennings, who has been bad so far this season. I usually don't think of the Ravens as a pass happy team but the Bengals have a very good front seven so I wouldn't be surprised to see Joe Flacco look Smith's way quite a bit.
Tight Ends:
There is not one player on the Redskins roster that can be relied on. You can’t start their running backs because you don’t know who will start and the same goes for their quarterbacks (not that you would want to start them anyways). Fred Davis, the team’s tight end, is one of the only players that can be relied upon on occasion.
The Cowboys will likely jump out to a lead over the Redskins which means that the Redskins will pass. Davis will likely be targeted as much if not more than any other receiver. If Jimmy Graham or Owen Daniels is your starting tight end and you need a backup in Week 11, Davis could be a good option.
| Greg Olsen TE Carolina Panthers |
Any defense with any sort of sense would do two things when they face the Panthers: stop Cam Newton from running and stop Steve Smith. That’s a pretty smart game plan but it has one major flaw, Greg Olsen.
The Lions will probably try to limit Newton's running ability and they will try to take away his favorite target, Smith, but they might forget about Olsen who has scored four touchdowns so far this season. This could be a big game for Olsen, especially if Matthew Stafford and the Lions jump out to a lead and force Newton to throw the ball to catch up.
Defenses:
Michael Vick is likely out against the Giants in Week 11 which means that Vince Young is going to be starting. The Eagles have a lot of talent but Young is rusty and the Giants should be able to capitalize. They may give up some points but they should be able to pick off a couple of passes and sack Young a couple of times.
The Browns are bad but their defense is still pretty solid. They have the best pass defense in the league and they're facing the Jaguars and Blaine Gabbert. Even if they lose, the defense aught to be able to score some points by creating a turnover or two.
They’re not an ideal start but if your defense is on a bye week, go for the Browns in Week 11.
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