No one ever wants to start the week slowly, and it's easy to feel like 'Thursday Night Football' can make or break your fantasy football results for a given week in your seasonal leagues (and your NFL DFS bankroll for DraftKings Showdown contests). Especially at this point in the season, start 'em, sit 'em decisions involving TNF players just seem a little more important, and that's why were here with a special start-or-sit edition for Week 11's Steelers-Browns game.
Tonight's game between the Steelers and Browns is in Cleveland and kicks off 8:20 p.m. ET on FOX, NFL Network and Amazon Prime Video.
WEEK 11 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Steelers: Who to start or sit in fantasy football on Thursday night
Start: RB James Conner
The Browns are the No. 27 run defense in the NFL and give up an insane 4.9 yards per carry. Conner returns from his shoulder injury at the right time to, well, shoulder the load to help the Steelers' sputtering running game without him. If he gets 20 carries as expected, it should translate to a hundy and a score as the floor.
Sit: QB Mason Rudolph
The Browns were consistently giving up multiple TD passes to QBs before Week 10, but then Josh Allen burned them with two TD runs. Rudolph, however, has yet to throw for more than 251 yards in any game and has delivered only one TD in three of the past four games. The Steelers will try to win another one with the running game and defense.
WEEK 11 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
Sit: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schuster was erased from the game plan against the Rams thanks to shadow coverage from Jalen Ramsey. This week, he can work the slot a little better because the Browns won't have Denzel Ward travel with him inside. But the concern here is more on the front end with limited volume and effectiveness from Rudolph in a hostile environment against a tricky pass rush. Smith-Schuster has been better on downfield shots this season, but the checkdowns from Rudolph to avoid mistakes are a big reason for the major dip in production.
Sit: WRs Diontae Johnson and James Washington
The rookie Johnson looked like the man to be the major upgrade as the No. 2 from Donte Moncrief. But then last week, Washington became the man instead downfield for Rudolph, rekindling their days together lighting it up for Oklahoma State. It has kind of become a split situation now with unpredictability in production, something you cannot trust in a crucial week in seasonal redraft leagues.
Sit: TE Vance McDonald
The Browns by the numbers have been vulnerable to tight ends and a top-10 matchup in terms of points allowed in standard leagues. But their main troubles have been against athletic field-stretchers at the position vs. more physical red-zone types. McDonald has seen seven targets each of the past two weeks, but it's yielded only eight catches for 41 yards and a TD. It's score or bust for his viability in your lineups.
Start: K Chris Boswell
This has the feeling of a sloppy, low-scoring Thursday nighter. The kickers should be in play as some good drives stall for both teams.
Start: Steelers defense/special teams
They have been smashing of late and there is one big reason for that: Minkah Fitzpatrick. The versatile defensive back has been an interception machine with five picks to make the biggest plays behind a good pass rush. The sacks and takeaway chances will be there against Baker Mayfield.
MORE TNF: DraftKings Showdown Lineup | Betting guide
Browns: Who to start or sit in fantasy football on Thursday night
Start: WR Odell Beckham Jr.
When the lights go up on the city, the sun shines on OBJ. His journey during his first season in Cleveland has been bumpy, but there are signs he can finish red hot. He tends to ball out in prime time, and to his credit, he's stayed patient and hasn't pouted. He can burn the slower, older Joe Haden more than a few times, and there's a good chance he pops into the end zone.
Start: RB Nick Chubb
This is a brutal matchup for Chubb given the Steelers are very good against the run. They have allowed only four rushing TDs and on average 105.3 yards per game at 3.9 yards per carry. But he's likely your best RB1 option and the talent is there to break through with a long one. He put up 18 carries for 65 yards in his lone start against them last season.
Start: WR Jarvis Landry
The Steelers erased Cooper Kupp in the slot last week but there's a big difference here: The presence of Beckham downfield and Rashard Higgins likely to see more snaps as the No. 3 ahead of useless Antonio Callaway. Last week, with no Brandin Cooks to stretch the field, it was easy to squeeze on Kupp as Pittsburgh picked the milder poison of Robert Woods. In previous games, Pittsburgh actually has struggled to cover the slot. Besides that, Landry is on fire over the past two weeks, catching 15-of-23 targets for 148 yards for two TDs. He's a fine PPR play and more appealing than usual in standard as Mayfield is suddenly locked into him.
Sit: QB Baker Mayfield
Mayfield has two solid games in a row, but there are so many safer options in redraft leagues than one going against the Steelers' pass rush and ball-hawking secondary. You can feel better about him facilitating Beckham and Landry than his individual numbers, which probably are capped at around 250 yards and two touchdowns with some turnovers mixed in. He's out in seasonal leagues because of that, but a little viable in DFS Showdown because of the price (see below).
Sit: RB Kareem Hunt
The Steelers are very good at covering running backs, too, and Hunt essentially, for now, is a more Duke Johnson Jr.-like player over Dontrell Hilliard behind Chubb. There's no need to extend to Hunt, as he's a deep-league reach in PPR and a bad deployment in standard.
WEEK 11 DFS LINEUPS:
Y! cash | Y! GPP | DK cash | DK GPP | FD cash | FD GPP
Sit: WR Rashard Higgins
HIggins did score the game-winning touchdown against the Bills, but that was his only target of the game. So, no.
Start: K Austin Seibert
See our analysis for Boswell. Seibert has quietly been one of the NFL's best field-goal artists all season.
Start: Browns defense/special teams
This one is tricky. The Browns have sorely disappointed in terms of making plays against the Broncos and Bills the past two weeks. But teams tend to play higher impact defense at home in prime-time games because of the emotions involved. If you're in a deeper league where everyone's jumped on the "safer" streaming options, you could do a lot worse than Cleveland. But keep in mind it's a boom-or-bust play based on game script, tied to whether it can play with a lead and force Rudolph to throw.
MORE WEEK 11 DFS: Values | Stacks | Lineup Builder
Steelers-Browns DraftKings Showdown lineup for Thursday night
Captain: WR Odell Beckham Jr. ($13,800)
FLEX: RB James Conner ($10,800)
FLEX: QB Baker Mayfield ($9,000)
FLEX: WR Jarvis Landry ($8,000)
FLEX: Browns defense ($4,600)
FLEX: K Austin Seibert ($3,800)
We're going with OBJ, believing he will realize it's TNF and take it to Haden in a big game that rivals what he dropped against the Jets on MNF. Conner returns to a great matchup, while we're also sticking with Mayfield, related to Beckham, staying semi-hot along with Landry. We're going contrarian by thinking the Browns, as shaky favorites, will win this game with some clutch D late and a few tack-on field goals.
