Koerner’s Week 11 Fantasy Football Tiers: Jared Goff Joins Tier 1

Below you’ll find my tiers for Week 11 fantasy football. These are based on standard scoring and cover every position.

As a reminder, these tiers are not updated after publication. If you want my most up-to-date rankings for PPR, Standard and Half-Point PPR leagues, check out this post.

Jump to a position:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | Kicker | Defense

Quarterbacks

Tier 1
Patrick Mahomes (@ LAR)
Cam Newton (@ DET)
Jared Goff (vs. KC)

The matchup we’ve all been waiting for between the Chiefs and Rams started with a bang before the players hit the field, as the NFL announced that the game would be moved from Mexico City to Los Angeles.

Both quarterbacks elevate their own floors and ceilings due to what will be a no-brainer shootout with an over/under of 63.5, likely the highest ever.

Cam Newton sneaks into this tier based on his rushing ability and the fact that the Panthers have the fourth-highest team total this week, only behind the Rams, Chiefs, and Saints. He extended his career-best streak to eight straight games with two or more passing touchdowns.

Tier 2

Drew Brees (vs. PHI)

Drew Brees clearly has the ceiling to be in the top tier, but it has become clear that his floor is much lower than most people realize.

The past couple of years he has enjoyed having a stout enough defense and highly-efficient ground game, so he doesn’t need to throw 40 times a game for the Saints to have a chance to win. This is a great matchup for him against an Eagles secondary that has been ravaged by injury and just lost top corner Ronald Darby to a torn ACL.

The Saints are nine-point favorites against the defending champs. We may not be able to bank on 300 passing yards in a game, but New Orleans should dominate. This means Brees probably has to hit at least three touchdowns to be an elite QB1 this week, which is certainly a realistic outcome for him but far from a certainty.

Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram and now Taysom Hill are all threats to steal touchdowns from Brees. Go back and look at Weeks 7 and 8 to see what I mean. The Saints are even playing Hill on goal line plays — he had a sure touchdown pass in Week 10 to Ben Watson that was dropped in the end zone.

Tier 3
Russell Wilson (vs. GB)
Aaron Rodgers (@ SEA)
Carson Wentz (@ NO)
Matt Ryan (vs. DAL)
Ryan Fitzpatrick (@ NYG)
Deshaun Watson (@ WAS)
Ben Roethlisberger (@ JAX)
Andrew Luck (vs. TEN)
Mitch Trubisky (vs. MIN)

With six teams on a BYE this week, you would think that the quarterback position may be thinner than usual, but the only QB1 who is on BYE this week is Tom Brady — and calling him a QB1 these days is a bit of a stretch.

This leaves us with a massive Tier 3. I think you can now trust Russell Wilson as a mid-range QB1 with back-to-back games of 40 or more rushing yards. Carson Wentz, like Wilson, was competing to be arguably the biggest bust at quarterback this year.

Wentz has been heating up and is in a great spot this week to put up a ceiling game vs. the Saints.

The Eagles have all but abandoned trying to establish a running game, and if Golden Tate can expand his role this week, they may be able to use him in the slot as an extension of a running game. Wentz arguably has the best receiving talent he has ever had.

Deshaun Watson’s rib injury could be nearing 100% after having a much-needed BYE week. Hopefully this allows him to start getting more production as a runner, which helps make him a QB1-caliber fantasy play.

Mitch Trubisky’s stock is soaring after another massive game, but he gets a Vikings defense that is trending up right now so you might need to bench him if you own anyone ranked above him. He will have a much better matchup next week at Detroit, when he will possibly be a low-end QB1.

Tier 4
Philip Rivers (vs. DEN)
Eli Manning (vs. TB)
Dak Prescott (@ ATL)
Kirk Cousins (@ CHI)
Marcus Mariota (@ IND)
Lamar Jackson (vs. CIN)*
Matthew Stafford (vs. CAR)

Eli Manning has serious stream appeal in a home game against a Tampa Bay defense that has been shredded by anyone not named Alex Smith. I don’t recommend Manning as a sneaky BYE-week fill-in very often, so enjoy it.

We still do not know who is starting for the Ravens this week and may not know until Sunday morning, as head coach John Harbaugh mentioned that Joe Flacco, who is battling a hip injury, does not need to practice to play. Harbaugh is on the hot seat, so I’m guessing he simply wants to win and has no interest in having to start rookie Lamar Jackson unless he has to.

This is where I would rank Jackson if Flacco does sit and the Ravens do not name Robert Griffin III as the starter. Lamar’s rushing ability alone could make him a potential mid-range QB2, but we will have to see how this sorts out later in the week. Be sure to check my updated rankings on Sunday to see where I end up on ranking Jackson.

Tier 5
Blake Bortles (vs. PIT)
Joe Flacco (vs. CIN)*

This is where I’d slot Flacco if he suits up. It’s unclear if this is an injury that could flare up in-game and force him to exit early. This uncertainty makes him a risky, low-floor play this week.

Blake Bortles is another risky quarterback. We can never be confident anymore that he will finish a game; another in-game benching is always a possibility. If you are desperate, you could do worse than Bortles, who has QB1 upside if he’s “on.”

Tier 6
Alex Smith (vs. HOU)
Josh Rosen (vs. OAK)

Alex Smith decided to play game-manager against one of the NFL’s worst defenses in Week 10. I have completely given up on him having any sort of ceiling games like we saw last year. His outlook will improve slightly if Chris Thompson returns, but Smith is nothing more than a high-floor two-QB-league play this week.

Josh Rosen and the Cardinals offense as a whole is playing much better under offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. He has a great matchup this week against a Raiders team that has all but given up. You probably aren’t going to win your league with Josh Rosen, but in deeper two-QB leagues his arrow is certainly pointing up.

Tier 7
Andy Dalton (@ BAL)
Case Keenum (@ LAC)
Derek Carr (@ ARI)

Andy Dalton gets a big downgrade this week: He’ll be without A.J. Green again, and he faces a tough Ravens defense. To make matters worse it appears the Bengals are carving out some wildcat packages for quarterback Jeff Driskel a la Taysom Hill (Saints) and Lamar Jackson (Ravens).

This is a trend I have been sounding the alarms on for a while. When making projections, it’s easy to see just how much it negatively impacts these quarterbacks who have to share time with another.

It only becomes a real issue when these wildcat QBs start getting red-zone looks. We aren’t considering Dalton anytime soon anyway, so it’s just something to monitor.

It’s pretty incredible to see Derek Carr as the bottom-ranked quarterback, but he is playing very poorly at the moment — and it certainly doesn’t help that many of his best receivers have either been traded or injured this month.

His rank this week is mostly due to the six teams on BYE being the Bills, Jets, 49ers, Dolphins, Browns and Patriots. There are some dreadful quarterbacks who aren’t playing this week, which makes Carr stick out like a sore thumb.

Running Backs

Based on standard scoring; +/- indicates how many Tiers up/down each player would move in a PPR format.

Tier 1
Todd Gurley (vs. KC)

Gurley is one of the big winners of this game being moved from Mexico City to LA. With the unplayable field conditions at Azteca Stadium, I was (likely) irrationally worried about Gurley potentially suffering some sort of non-contact injury. (Can you imagine the backlash if a player like Gurley or Mahomes would’ve blow out their knee on an unkempt field?)

This matchup also sets up well for Gurley to continue his fantasy MVP-like season.

Tier 2
Saquon Barkley (vs. TB)
Melvin Gordon (vs. DEN)

I love Barkley's chances to have a huge bounce-back game this week. After having either 100-plus scrimmage yards or a touchdown in each of his first nine NFL games, Barkley has hit a bit of a wall, failing to score in two straight weeks.

Not exactly the type of drought we saw Kareem Hunt have in his rookie season last year, but I think he’ll snap his mini-slump this week with a massive game against Tampa Bay’s defense.

Tier 3
David Johnson (vs. OAK)
Ezekiel Elliott (@ ATL)
James Conner (@ JAX)

Leftwich has helped turn DJ’s 2018 fantasy season around. This week, Johnson gets a matchup against the soft Raiders defense; he should have a positive game-script, as the Cardinals are -4.5 home favorites.

We have been riding pass-catching backs against the Falcons since Deion Jones went down earlier in the year and hitting on nearly every single one. Jones is set to return from IR this week, so that edge may be going away. Either way, this is still a great spot for Zeke, who is heating up right now.

Congrats James Conner owners. Before the season, I shared my little secret about not drafting a kicker/defense if your league rules allowed it, instead opting to use that on guys like James Conner and Chris Ivory. All backups come with the upside of the starting RB potentially getting injured and missing time, but these two backs were behind starters with contract and legal issues.

The Conner pick has been a league-winner so far. Trading him away or trying to trade for Bell were always high-risk moves I only recommended it if you wanted to take on that risk.

I decided to just ride Conner out until he potentially became the backup again. With the news that Bell is not eligible to return this year, it’s incredible to have a last-round pick be a RB1 the entire season.

Tier 4
Kareem Hunt (@ LAR)
Christian McCaffrey (@ DET) +1
Alvin Kamara (vs. PHI) +1

The Panthers decided to cut C.J. Anderson this week. Back in the offseason, I thought CJA would play a Jonathan Stewart-type role that would hold McCaffrey back. Boy, that seems like a distant memory. I definitely underestimated CMC’s ability to handle a full workload and become a rock-solid RB1 even in standard formats.

Tier 5
Leonard Fournette (vs. PIT)
Aaron Jones (@ SEA)

There is a gigantic 3.5-point drop-off from Tier 4 to 5. Fournette rewarded owners who decided to buy low via trade or hang on to him with the hopes that he’d become a top-10 RB come fantasy playoff time. He managed to handle 29 touches and scored twice in his return.

Since Fournette didn’t suffer any setbacks, it’s fair to say he should be near 100% healthy, and we have to assume the Jaguars played it cautious with him hoping they could wait until he was fully healthy again.

The Packers finally unleashed Aaron Jones in Week 10, and he exploded for 145 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns. He doesn’t need many touches to put up big numbers so we may not have seen his ceiling quite yet.

Tier 6
Joe Mixon (@ BAL)
Phillip Lindsay (@ LAC)
Tevin Coleman (vs. DAL)
Kerryon Johnson (vs. CAR)
Marlon Mack (vs. TEN)
Adrian Peterson (vs. HOU)
Mark Ingram (vs. PHI)
Dion Lewis (@ IND)

This massive tier mostly consists of running backs who are on the better end of a running back by committee. The position itself is the most volatile to rank early in the week because it is so dependent on expected health of both running backs, expected workload, and even the health of the offensive line.

Phillip Lindsay and Adrian Peterson’s value could go up/down based on the health of Royce Freeman and Chris Thompson, so be sure to check my updated rankings later in the week to see where this above Tier ends up.

Tier 7
Alex Collins (vs. CIN)
Tarik Cohen (vs. MIN)
Doug Martin (@ ARI)

Alex Collins has managed to survive a growing running back by committee based on touchdown production alone. With the Ravens likely debuting Ty Montgomery, who they recently acquired from the Packers, we can’t expect more than two receptions per game from Collins going forward.

Collins could benefit if Lamar Jackson ends up starting this week, as defenses would need to put all their attention on containing the mobile quarterback, in turn opening lanes for Collins. He may be someone to try to sell high after this week if he has a decent game.

Tier 8
Dalvin Cook (@ CHI)
Jordan Howard (vs. MIN)
Lamar Miller (@ WAS)

Dalvin Cook, similar to Leonard Fournette, was treated with kid gloves during this injury, sitting out until the Vikings thought he was close to 100%. This may have been frustrating to not be able to use either back for a stretch of games, but they will be much safer plays going forward as a result.

Cook had 109 combined yards in his return in Week 9 then got a timely BYE week, which should allow him to be near full strength heading into a huge Week 11 divisional game with the Bears.

Tier 9
Peyton Barber (@ NYG)
Mike Davis (vs. GB)

The Seahawks have three viable running backs for fantasy, and if Chris Carson is ruled out again, it will make it easier for us to decide how to handle this. As of now I’m tentatively expecting Carson to play, so it’s suppressing Mike Davis and Rashaad Penny’s rank.

Luckily, Seattle plays on Thursday Night Football, so we will know well in advance if Carson is playing before our first potential sit/start decision of the week. Check my updated ranks once we have clarity on this to see how the Seattle backfield sorts out.

Tier 10
Derrick Henry (@ IND)
Ito Smith (vs. DAL)
Jalen Richard (@ ARI)
Rashaad Penny (vs. GB)
Josh Adams (@ NO)

This tier is full of backs who are on the tail-end of RBBC situation. They’re a little more fantasy relevant this week than usual because we have six teams on a BYE. Derrick Henry is a touchdown-dependent back who has now scored in three-straight games.

When you plug in Henry this week (because you have no choice) just realize that you are betting on a coin flip — he’s either going to score a touchdown or bust.

Josh Adams appears to pulling ahead in the Eagles’ three-headed backfield. I’m not sure I want to fall into any trap where I’m starting an Eagles running back quite yet. If you are desperate, you could do worse, but you need to root for the Eagles to keep it close enough to get him 8-12 touches. If not, I’m afraid we’ll see more Wendell Smallwood who is more of the pass catching back of the group.

Wide Receivers

Tier 1
Michael Thomas (vs. PHI)

There is no higher floor/ceiling combo than Thomas this week. The Saints lost Cameron Meredith and Dez Bryant the past two weeks, making it a pretty empty cupboard behind Thomas.

The Saints brought in Brandon Marshall, who might learn enough of the playbook to play most passing downs this week and help take some pressure off Thomas, but I highly doubt he will eat into Thomas’ production at all. The Eagles lost shutdown corner Ronald Darby to a torn ACL and have no one who can stop Thomas in their secondary.

Tier 2
Odell Beckham (vs. TB)
Tyreek Hill (@ LAR)
DeAndre Hopkins (@ WAS)
Antonio Brown (@ JAX)
Adam Thielen (@ CHI)
Julio Jones (vs. DAL)

Take your pick this week as to who should be the No. 2-ranked receiver. It doesn’t matter, as you can make a case for all six of these elite receivers. Antonio Brown has to matchup with Jalen Ramsey, giving him enough of a downgrade to be in the bottom half of this Tier, but obviously not enough to consider benching him.

Don’t look now, but Julio Jones has scored a touchdown in two straight games! It looked like the Falcons were actively trying to get him a touchdown in Week 10 with a screen pass on the goal-line. Happy to finally see some positive touchdown regression. Hopefully it can continue this week.

Tier 3
Robert Woods (vs. KC)
Davante Adams (@ SEA)
Brandin Cooks (vs. KC)
Keenan Allen (vs. DEN)

Both Rams receivers in this tier get a bit of a boost with Cooper Kupp suffering a season-ending injury in Week 10. Josh Reynolds will do his best to step up and be a viable third option, but I anticipate even more targets for Cooks/Woods going forward.

Tier 4
Mike Evans (@ NYG)
Emmanuel Sanders (@ LAC)
JuJu Smith-Schuster (@ JAX)

I think AB battling it out with Jalen Ramsey this week could open the door for JuJu to have a huge game. He will likely face some mixture of Tyler Patmon and/or D.J. Hayden, both of whom are burnable. Expect Big Ben and the Steelers to attack this weakness in the Jags defense.

Tier 5
Kenny Golladay (vs. CAR)
Marvin Jones (vs. CAR)
Stefon Diggs (@ CHI)
Tyler Boyd (@ BAL)
T.Y. Hilton (vs. TEN)
Tyler Lockett (vs. GB)
Corey Davis (@ IND)
Amari Cooper (@ ATL)

Marvin Jones is shaping up to be a game-time decision this week. I’m still unsure if this will boost Golladay (more targets) or hurt him (see double teams). We will cross that bridge when the time comes, but if Jones suits up, they are both high-end WR2s with Golden Tate’s departure opening up a ton of extra targets.

Tyler Boyd gets another week without A.J. Green to distract attention away from him and faces a stingy Ravens defense this week. He is a fade matchup and bet on volume WR2 this week.

I am willing to admit that I underestimated how much of a boost Amari Cooper would get after being traded to the Cowboys. They have been throwing to him early and often from Day 1. It’s comforting to see a team forcing the ball to its best wide receiver. Cooper should only get better as he and Prescott gain more chemistry.

Tier 6
Alshon Jeffery (@ NO)
DeSean Jackson (@ NYG)
Larry Fitzgerald (vs. OAK)
Sterling Shepard (vs. TB)
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (@ SEA)
Devin Funchess (@ DET)
Allen Robinson (vs. MIN)
John Brown (vs. CIN)
Courtland Sutton (@ LAC)
Sammy Watkins (@ LAR)
Doug Baldwin (vs. GB)

The boom/bust tier that you really have no choice but to play and hope for the boom. The Courtland Sutton hype train has been temporarily out of service ever since the Broncos traded away Demaryius Thomas.

His first game as the WR2 for Denver resulted in a 3/57/0, which was EXACTLY what I had projected him for that week. I think people let their perceptions get in the way of properly assessing how a player did and how it impacts them going forward.

Additionally, the Broncos had a BYE Week 10, so people may have completely forgot about Sutton at this point, which is a mistake. I am projecting Sutton for a 4.1/58/0.3 line this week, but that is simply his median expectation.

We are going to see some big games from him in the second half, so he really needs to be a fixture in your lineup as a solid WR3 (with WR2 upside) until further notice.

Tier 7
Christian Kirk (vs. OAK)
Tyrell Williams (vs. DEN)
Calvin Ridley (vs. DAL)
Michael Crabtree (vs. CIN)
Demaryius Thomas (@ WAS)
Donte Moncrief (vs. PIT)
Dede Westbrook (vs. PIT)

Calvin Ridley has cooled off since the hot start to his rookie season. Regression was bound to happen after six touchdown catches from Week 2-4, but he is now in a spot where I think we will start to see some positive regression. He may be worth trying to pry away from an owner who’s growing impatient after setting their expectations too high.

Tier 8
Chris Godwin (@ NYG)
Anthony Miller (vs. MIN)
Golden Tate (@ NO)
Mohamed Sanu (vs. DAL)
Willie Snead (vs. CIN)
D.J. Moore (@ DET)
John Ross (@ BAL)

The rise of Mitch Trubisky lately has helped elevate Anthony Miller’s stock. Miller’s snaps have trended up ever since Week 4 and it’s now starting to show up in the box score as he erupted for a 5/122/1 Week 10.

Taylor Gabriel appears to be nothing more than a decoy. The time to buy low on him is now over.

Tight Ends

Tier 1
Travis Kelce (@ LAR)

Ertz belongs in this Tier in PPR formats, but at this point it’s nothing but a formality. Kelce/Ertz aren’t part of any sit/start decisions and both are arguably two of the most valuable draft selections due to the tight end position being so barren after the second tier.

Kelce is still a bit ahead in standard ranks this week given his increased touchdown odds in what should be a very high scoring game.

Tier 2
Zach Ertz (@ NO)

Ertz has now put up at least 70 receiving yards or a touchdown in all but one game this year. At such an inconsistent position, his consistency is incredibly valuable.

We wondered if Golden Tate’s addition could negatively impact Ertz (and it still might) but that was put to rest with a 14/145/2 line in his best game of the season to date.

Tier 3
Greg Olsen (@ DET)
O.J. Howard (@ NYG)
Jared Cook (@ ARI)
Jimmy Graham (@ SEA)
Evan Engram (vs. TB)
Trey Burton (vs. MIN)
Eric Ebron (vs. TEN)
Jack Doyle (vs. TEN)
Austin Hooper (vs. DAL)
Jordan Reed (vs. HOU)
Vance McDonald (@ JAX)

This massive Tier is a grab bag. Take your pick at who should be ranked No. 3 behind Kelce and Ertz. There is plenty to like about each of these players, but it’s impossible to expect any sort of consistency from any of them.

This also means you shouldn’t overthink things. If you have Jared Cook or Jimmy Graham, you can’t get frustrated and bench them for a lower-ranked TE who has had two or three good games in a row. You are going to get burned more times than not.

Tier 4
Kyle Rudolph (@ CHI)
C.J. Uzomah (@ BAL)
Ricky Seals-Jones (vs. OAK)
Ben Watson (vs. PHI)
Jeff Heuerman (@ LAC)
Nick Vannett (vs. GB)

If you are looking for a sneaky BYE week replacement at TE, I like Jeff Heuerman this week. He’s one pass catcher on the Broncos I thought could benefit from DT being traded away.

In the first game sans DT, he went off for 10/83/1. The Broncos were on a BYE Week 10 so there’s a chance people didn’t scoop him up.

Tier 5
James O'Shaughnessy (vs. PIT)
Gerald Everett (vs. KC)
Jonnu Smith (@ IND)
Mark Andrews (vs. CIN)
Geoff Swaim (@ ATL)
Vernon Davis (vs. HOU)

Gerald Everett could see his role expand with Cooper Kupp now out for the season. Head coach Sean McVay compared Everett to a young Jordan Reed. This is highly relevant considering McVay was the Redskins TE coach from 2011-13.

Tight ends usually take some time to reach their peak, so it’s very possible Everett has untapped potential we could see unlocked soon once things start to click for him. He’s worth a flier in deeper leagues.

Kickers

Tier 1
Greg Zuerlein (vs. KC)

Tier 2
Wil Lutz (vs. PHI)
Harrison Butker (@ LAR)

Tier 3
Graham Gano (@ DET)
Adam Vinatieri (vs. TEN)
Chris Boswell (@ JAX)
Mike Badgley (vs. DEN)
Sebastian Janikowski (vs. GB)
Justin Tucker (vs. CIN)
Matt Prater (vs. CAR)
Giorgio Tavecchio (vs. DAL)
Ryan Succop (@ IND)

Tier 4
Aldrick Rosas (vs. TB)
Mason Crosby (@ SEA)
Jake Elliott (@ NO)
Cody Parkey (vs. MIN)
Cairo Santos (@ NYG)
Phil Dawson (vs. OAK)
Ka'imi Fairbairn (@ WAS)
Brett Maher (@ ATL)
Dan Bailey (@ CHI)
Josh Lambo (vs. PIT)

Tier 5
Dustin Hopkins (vs. HOU)
Randy Bullock (@ BAL)
Brandon McManus (@ LAC)
Daniel Carlson (@ ARI)

Defenses

Tier 1
Arizona Cardinals (vs. OAK)
Los Angeles Chargers (vs. DEN)
Baltimore Ravens (vs. CIN)

Tier 2
Pittsburgh Steelers (@ JAX)
Washington Redskins (vs. HOU)
Chicago Bears (vs. MIN)

Tier 3
Carolina Panthers (@ DET)
Houston Texans (@ WAS)
Oakland Raiders (@ ARI)
New York Giants (vs. TB)
Atlanta Falcons (vs. DAL)

Tier 4
Minnesota Vikings (@ CHI)
Indianapolis Colts (vs. TEN)
New Orleans Saints (vs. PHI)
Cincinnati Bengals (@ BAL)
Tennessee Titans (@ IND)
Seattle Seahawks (vs. GB)
Green Bay Packers (@ SEA)
Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. PIT)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@ NYG)
Dallas Cowboys (@ ATL)
Detroit Lions (vs. CAR)

Tier 5
Denver Broncos (@ LAC)
Los Angeles Rams (vs. KC)

Tier 6
Kansas City Chiefs (@ LAR)
Philadelphia Eagles (@ NO)