With the fantasy football regular season winding down, we need to do everything in our power to avoid rolling out overvalued players in our starting lineups. Saying it is one thing, but using data to overcover why these players could bust is another. Fortunately, we've done the work for you with our Week 11 fantasy bust list, which includes stars like Kyler Murray, Najee Harris, and Calvin Ridley.
Of course, even "must-starts" can have off-days (just ask Trevor Lawrence), but you won't see those types of players among our bust picks unless we legitimately advise benching them. We're looking for players on the start-sit bubble -- not obvious starters and not players owned in just a small percentage of leagues. You might not have enough depth to bench the players below -- or you might just disagree with our picks -- but either way, it's your team, so make the decisions that work best for you.
James Conner, Will Levis, Jakobi Meyers, Evan Engram, and the Lions D/ST came through for us last week, but it was tough sledding for the rest of our bust selections. That said, we have an inkling that we'll hit our Week 11 busts at a higher success rate.
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Don't take the bait on these potential lineup killers.
WEEK 11 FANTASY ADVICE: Sleepers | Projections | Start-sit
Fantasy RB Busts Week 11
Chuba Hubbard, Panthers vs. Cowboys (Sloan Piva). Even if Chuba is "the guy" in the Panthers' backfield, he's not a guy you can trust. He has been held under 30 rushing yards in two of the past three weeks and has only surpassed 10.7 PPR points once all season. Hubbard might be a perma-bust the rest of the season, but he's an especially foul play against the Cowboys.
Isiah Pacheco, Chiefs vs. Eagles (Vinnie Iyer). You can’t feel good about going here in what should be a pass-happy affair based on the matchup. The Eagles will completely erase the Chiefs’ power running game before the hosts just decide to abandon it, opting instead for quick passing everywhere from Patrick Mahomes.
Najee Harris, Steelers @ Browns (Matt Lutovsky). Harris has played well lately, scoring in three of his past four games. However, Jaylen Warren continues to outshine him and earn more snaps, and Harris’ plodding style doesn’t figure to play well against Cleveland’s seventh-ranked run defense. The Browns stifled Gus Edwards last week (11 carries, 24 yards), and that’s likely to be Harris’ fate in Week 11.
WEEK 11 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Fantasy QB Busts Week 11
Geno Smith, Seahawks @ Rams (Piva). Geno has been more down than up recently, and now he faces a Rams defense that has held three of its past four opposing QBs — and six of nine on the season — to under 16 fantasy points.
Justin Fields, Bears at Lions (Iyer). He should return from his thumb injury -- and just in time to face an inspired Lions’ defense at home that will contain his running with speedy linebackers and make it tough on him with the pass rush in a negative game script.
Kyler Murray, Cardinals @ Texans (Lutovsky). Murray’s first game of the season was a mixed bag of mediocre passing (19-of-32, 249 yards, INT) and solid running (six carries, 33 yards, TD). The ceiling is high, but the floor is lower than you think. We expect him to be closer to that floor against an underrated Texans’ defense.
WEEK 11 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Fantasy WR Busts Week 11
Gabe Davis, Bills vs. Jets (Piva). Davis has been a nightmare lately. In Weeks 6 and 7, he combined for just four catches and 27 yards. In Week 9 against Cincinnati, he has a goose egg, failing to haul in either of his two targets. Last week against Denver, he finished with two catches and 56 yards and had a costly red-zone drop that turned into an interception. Don't expect a sudden turnaround against the Jets' stifling secondary.
Calvin Ridley, Jaguars vs. Titans (Iyer). Can we reverse-jinx this? Maybe, but we’re not feeling it here given the Riddler has been a big question mark with poor ways of scheming him open on the outside. The Titans can press him and "force" the Jaguars to simply exploit them elsewhere (again) in the passing game.
Tyler Lockett, Seahawks @ Rams (Lutovsky). Lockett’s on an “every-other-week” program, and we see another down week in his future against a Rams’ defense allowing the 11th-fewest FPPG to WRs. If Lockett (hamstring), be careful with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who will seem like an "obvious" play but has a similar mediocre outlook.
WEEK 11 DFS:
DK lineup | FD lineup | Best values | Best stacks
Fantasy TE Busts Week 11
David Njoku, Browns vs. Steelers (Piva). It's no-can-do with Njoku this week, as the Steelers have surrendered the fifth-fewest FPPG to tight ends this season. The last time Cleveland faced Pittsburgh, the veteran tight end had just four catches for 48 yards.
Evan Engram, Jaguars vs. Titans (Iyer). The Titans allow the second-fewest FPPG to TEs, so this will probably be a nuts Christian Kirk and Travis Etienne game.
Jake Ferguson, Cowboys @ Panthers (Lutovsky). Ferguson has scored in three-straight games, so his owners likely aren’t considering benching him. However, he’s only had more than 48 yards in a game twice all year, making him mostly a TD-or-bust option. The Panthers allow the 11th-fewest FPPG to TEs, so the outlook isn't as rosy as you might think for Ferguson.
Fantasy Defense Busts Week 11
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 49ers (Piva). You might have heard this already, but San Francisco is pretty good. Brock Purdy should look like a Pro Bowler against a Bucs D that allowed C.J. Stroud to hit a rookie-record 470 yards and five TDs. Fade Tampa Bay like Antonio Brown during a mid-game bender.
Los Angeles Chargers at Packers (Iyer). You might be looking for some sacks and mistakes from Jordan Love, but they also can get totally gashed by run and pass. They also just gave up a ton of points.
Philadelphia Eagles @ Chiefs (Lutovsky). Patrick Mahomes isn’t above throwing some INTs, but we can’t recommend the Eagles against a Chiefs’ offense allowing just 6.3 FPPG to D/STs.
