Fantasy football preview: Week 11

Week 11 is upon us as the Atlanta Falcons are set to host the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football. The Falcons are hoping to return to .500 with a victory in a matchup that has some not-so-great fantasy football matchups. Today, we’ll be diving into this week’s matchups to discuss some Falcons’ players who may be worth starting and some you should probably leave on your bench.

Every week we’ll be previewing the fantasy matchups and who you may want to consider starting and also benching. Additionally, if you have any fantasy questions you’d like answered, you can submit them every week.

With that, let’s get started.

You should leave Matt Ryan on your bench

Matt Ryan has been largely unpredictable in fantasy football of late. From Week 2-7, Ryan was essentially a lock to get you 20+ fantasy points per game. Since Week 8 however, it’s been up and down for the former league MVP. In a favorable matchup against the Carolina Panthers, Ryan had 8.14 fantasy points. The following week, in a tough matchup against the New Orleans Saints, Ryan recorded 35.52 fantasy points. Then in a Week 10 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, which could’ve went either way, Ryan has his worst fantasy day of the season, finishing with 0.68 fantasy points.

Without knowing who is available to you, I won’t say you should definitely bench him, but the recent inconsistency would make me awfully nervous for Thursday evening. It’s also worth noting that the Patriots are currently allowing the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

What to do with the running backs

If you missed the news, Cordarrelle Patterson is dealing with an ankle injury which has kept him limited in practice this week and has him designated as questionable for Thursday night. Patterson is a weekly must-start so if he plays, you likely play him. The Patriots have made it a thing to shut down opposing team’s best weapon, so if you feel that’s Patterson he’s likely in for a quieter day if you play him.

If Patterson doesn’t play, Mike Davis will see more action but the name I’m most interested in is Wayne Gallman. At this point, we know what to expect from Davis. His ceiling is roughly 11 fantasy points and his floor, which he has been hitting recently, is roughly 2.0 fantasy points. My advice is to leave Davis on your bench going forward until he gives you a reason to start him.

With Patterson only playing 15 snaps against the Cowboys, it was Wayne Gallman who saw more action. Gallman had a season-high 15 carries for 55 yards and had a reception for 21 yards. It’s fairly easy to do, but Gallman passed the eye test as the best running back the Falcons have outside of Patterson. He even out-touched Davis 15-4 this past Sunday. If Patterson is inactive come Thursday night, Gallman who is currently available in 87% of leagues, would make for a sneaky desperation play. At minimum, he’s worth adding to your bench.

Kyle Pitts remains a must-start

One of the few must-starts on the Falcons is tight end Kyle Pitts. Although he’s been in a bit of a fantasy slump recently, the tight end position is bare this season. You likely don’t have a better option, so you basically just have to hope for the best with Pitts who has the talent to breakout any given game. Pitts is a lock every week to have 7+ passes thrown his way. The Patriots have allowed only 6.2 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, so it’s likely another tough game for Pitts, but again, what other options do you have?

Should you start any Falcons wide receivers?

Nope.

That about does it for the Week 11 fantasy football preview. As I say every week, when it comes to fantasy football – always go with your gut!