Fantasy Football Week 11 Start 'Em Sit 'Em WRs: Rashee Rice, Terry McLaurin, Adam Thielen and more

Fantasy managers don't (or at least shouldn't) need help with the obvious choices at receiver each week. Barring the first sign of an apocalypse, players such as Tyreek Hill and Amon-Ra St. Brown should be in starting lineups every week.

Decisions get a bit tougher after that, and that is where I hope to help by providing a reason or two why we can trust certain WR3 or WR4 types that usually end up deciding fantasy matchups. Below are a few receivers who could post fantasy week-winning performances and a few other wideouts who are generally considered weekly starters that might disappoint:

Fantasy Football Week 11 Start'Em WRs

Commanders Patriots Football

1] Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders vs. New York Giants

Sometimes fantasy football does not have to be hard. No team is throwing the ball more often than Washington, while the Giants have surrendered the second-most yards to receivers. When these two NFC East rivals met in Week 7, Sam Howell attempted 42 passes and three of his receivers earned at least eight targets. Howell has averaged 47 throws in three games since and topped 40 attempts in six of his last seven.

McLaurin has benefited in a big way from Washington's pass-happy ways, averaging almost nine targets since Week 3. He saw exactly nine targets in the first meeting against the Giants, which he turned into six catches for 90 yards. It is one of the lowest totals a lead receiver has posted recently against New York, which has allowed at least 100 yards to a receiver six times and is coming off a game in which CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks each scored at least one touchdown and topped 150 yards.

2] Rashee Rice, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Rice has seemingly been the most obvious non-obvious start for over a month. Kansas City continues to increase his snaps (a season-high 68 percent in Week 9) and is coming off a bye in which it likely focused on ways to get him the ball more often. Somewhat amazingly, Rice has topped five targets only twice but is still the overall WR44 in PPR fantasy points this season.

The Eagles have been the league's most forgiving defenses against fantasy receivers for most of the season, giving up an average of 47.1 fantasy points per game to the position. They have surrendered at least 20 PPR fantasy points to seven receivers and at least 12.3 fantasy points to 18 wideouts.

Lamb torched Philly for 30.1 fantasy points before its Week 10 bye. While no one should expect Rice to match that performance, players such as Jahan Dotson and Kendrick Bourne scored nearly 25 versus the Eagles with quarterbacks much less talented than Patrick Mahomes. At worst, Rice should be considered a high-upside WR3 choice this week for Monday Night Football.

Gabe Davis vs Rashee Rice fantasy projection for Week 11

Our Start/Sit Optimizer projects a haul of 11.2 points for Rice this week.

Other potential strong start(s):

Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers (The rookie has been Green Bay's highest-scoring fantasy receiver in three of the team's four contests following the Week 6 bye, accounting for 80-plus yards receiving and/or a touchdown in those games. This week, Reed faces a Chargers' defense that ranks as the fifth-friendliest matchup for wide receivers for the season.)

Fantasy Football Week 11 Sit'Em WRs

Carolina Panthers v Chicago Bears

1] Adam Thielen, Carolina Panthers vs. Dallas Cowboys

To be clear, Thielen's presence here does not mean he should be benched in most leagues and is more of a nod to the lack of upside he has this week. The 33-year-old is still drawing targets at a high rate over the last three weeks (nine per game), but his average depth of target over that same time (no higher than 4.8) has dropped considerably from earlier in the season as Carolina has struggled to protect Bryce Young.

Making matters worse this week is a visit from the Cowboys, who have yielded only nine double-digit fantasy efforts to wideouts in 2023. Only Cooper Kupp and Keenan Allen saw as many as 10 targets, while no receiver has topped seven receptions against Dallas. Garrett Wilson (Week 2), Michael Wilson (Week 3) and Allen (Week 6) are the only wideouts with more than 66 receiving yards versus the Cowboys.

2] Gabe Davis, Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets

Davis has been very much touchdown-or-bust this season. In four of the five games he has a touchdown, he has scored at least 15.1 PPR fantasy points. In the five contests in which he has failed to find the end zone, he has scored no more than 7.6 fantasy points each time. Davis has failed to score a touchdown in four of his last five, which has predictably made him more of a drain on fantasy lineups than anything else.

Rashee Rice vs Gabe Davis fantasy projection for Week 11 - Detailed breakdown

The Jets have occasionally given up a big game to some of the best receivers in the league, but one thing they have not surrendered to a wideout since Week 1 is a touchdown. There is also no way to know what alterations new OC Joe Brady will make to the offense after his predecessor (Ken Dorsey) was fired this week, but it seems unlikely that it will have anything to do with force-feeding Davis at the expense of ignoring Stefon Diggs and Dalton Kincaid.

Other potential weak start(s):

Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings (There is no way to know for sure right now if Justin Jefferson will return to action this week, but Addison has taken a clear back seat to T.J. Hockenson in Joshua Dobbs' two games with Minnesota. Even if Jefferson sits, Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II has rebounded from a rough start to the season and played a key role in slowing down Stefon Diggs in Week 10.)

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