Welcome back to Week 11 of Keeping it Real With Fantasy! We’ve had yet another interesting week of football come and go. Patrick Mahomes exploded for 406 yards and 5 touchdowns, bolstering the Chiefs to their first dominant win in weeks. Taylor Heinike finished the job against the reigning champion Buccaneers. Cam Newton made his long awaited NFL return to his former team, the Carolina Panthers, and scored two touchdowns to defeat the first seeded Cardinals. The Lions ended their losing streak with a tie. Somehow, Detroit managed to end a losing streak, and couldn’t win in the process. Looking ahead to next week, we have many interesting matchups slated. The Chiefs and the Cowboys face each other this coming week, expect high scores from two strong offenses. The Seahawks and the Cardinals also face each other. Russell Wilson has returned from injury so it’s going to be interesting to see how Seattle performs against the best team in the league. The Giants also play against the Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. Let’s hope Daniel Jones can finish the job this season after a miserable loss against the Buccaneers last year. Many great matchups await us as we get into yet another week of Fantasy Football. 

News/Injuries

Saquon Barkley (RB) – The Giant’s star RB will return on the turf for the first time since his ankle injury on October 10th against the Cowboys. When healthy, the running back was an excellent contributor to the Giants’ offense. The only concern we have for him this coming week is his health. Barkley relies heavily on his athleticism and elusiveness to make plays. We hope for nothing but the best for the young star, but we advise all fantasy users to be cautious. 

Clyde Edwards Helaire (RB) –  The sophomore RB has also been out of action since October 10th with a knee injury. He was an efficient runner for Kansas City last season and looks to contribute at a similar rate this year. Helaire hopes to make his return against the Cowboys this Sunday where he will likely split carries with Darrell Williams. Both are great pass catching RBs, but we like Helaire’s rushing abilities more.   

Antonio Brown (WR) – After spending an entire season out of the news (and regaining a lot of lost fans), Brown does it again. The Buccaneers WR was just caught using a fake vaccination card. He  missed one game after testing positive for COVID-19 and allegedly owes his former chef $10,000. Brown also supposedly  paid $500 for a counterfeit Johnson and Johnson card in order to bypass league regulations. The news is fairly fresh so we should expect the Buccaneers to make a statement soon. The Bucs play the Giants on Monday Night Football, if Brown is not playing, his absence will be felt. 

Starts

Cam Newton (QB) – Welcome back Cam Newton. Upon Newton’s first game back, he  was quick toestablish himself yet again, completing three of four passes for eight yards and a touchdown along with rushing three times for 14 yards and another score. The running upside of Newton provides a lot of fantasy production, paired with his newly coached offense and star studded weapons. Players like Christian Mccafrey, DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, and Terrence Marshall Jr. are all great pieces to this Carolina offense and Newton will be getting used to them as the year goes on. Getting first team reps, Newton will most likely be the starter for next week’s game against the Washington Football team, who have allowed the most fantasy points to QBs per game. If you’re looking for a big splash, Newton is the answer. 

AJ Dillion (RB) – With Aaron Jones expected 1-2 weeks, Dillion is an easy lock for the next couple of weeks with RB1 upside. This is a bruising back who will break tackles to get those extra yards, and to top this off, his hands aren’t too shabby. He has tallied 16 receptions for 196 yards, a touchdown, and he will look to increase his touches with the absence of Jones. 

Sits

Jordan Howard (RB) – It’s been a good run for Jordan Howard. Since he was called up from the practice squad, Howard has rushed 41 times for 211 yards with 3 touchdowns. In two of his games, he was a top-15 RB in fantasy. But, that’s all coming to an end this week. There is the pending return of Miles Sanders to the backfield, but the matchup isn’t great either. The New Orleans Saints are No. 3 in points allowed (18.66) and No. 1 in rushing yards allowed per game (53.6). Howard brings no value in the passing game, and even if they opt to bring Sanders back slowly, he is likely to struggle on the ground in Week 11.  

Antonio Brown (WR) –  We are electing to sit Antonio Brown this week. It was initially thought that Brown would be good to go by this week, but it seems he has suffered a setback and looks like he is a few weeks away from returning to the field. Also, as we previously said, there has been a recent report that Brown has used a fake vaccination card to bypass the NFL’s COVID-19 rules and regulations. Because of the injury concerns and the possibility of this news being confirmed, make sure to take Bucs’ receiver Antonio Brown out of your lineups. 

Waiver Wires

A.J. Dillon (RB)– Star Green Bay Packers’ running back Aaron Jones suffered an MCL sprain which will likely sideline him for one to two weeks. The biggest benefactor of this injury news is the backup, A.J. Dillon. After taking over for Jones, Dillon brought together a break-out performance with 26.8 fantasy points. On a high-powered offense that likes to get the ball to their running backs, Dillon becomes an automatic RB2. 

Rhamondre Stevenson (RB) –  Now we know that the Patriots’ backfield has been difficult to predict in the past, but it looks like Stevenson is the featured back after running back Damien Harris went down with an injury back in week 9. This past week, Stevenson saw a stunning total of 25 touches and did a lot with them as he managed to put together 27.4 fantasy points. If Harris were to miss another week, you can pick up and start Rhamondre Stevenson.