Never get complacent. Always be looking to improve your fantasy roster. With that in mind, let’s take a look at which fantasy football players are buy-lows and which are sell-highs entering Week 11.
*Most leagues have their trade deadlines in the next week or two. Going forward, consider this article as a guide to which players you can expect to improve and which will decline.
Which players should you buy low heading into Week 11?
As we enter the home stretch of the fantasy regular season, managers are either trying to make that last push for the playoffs or trying to set their rosters up for the postseason. Entering Week 11, which undervalued players should fantasy managers consider trying to acquire for a reduced price?
James Conner, RB, Arizona Cardinals
James Conner followed up his 40-point outburst in Week 10 with a relatively mild 15.4 PPR points in Week 11. He was inefficient on the ground (as he typically is), but did find the end zone.
The Cardinals have a road game against Seattle next week followed by their bye. If the Conner manager in your league can’t afford a potential dud performance and then a week off, shake the tires on a deal.
There are reports that Chase Edmonds might be ready to return from his high-ankle sprain after just three weeks on injured reserve. That is simply not going to happen. High-ankle sprains are 4-6 week injuries, but they have a history of derailing seasons entirely.
Perhaps you can use those reports as leverage to acquire Conner for cheaper than he’s worth. Conner is a high-end RB2 for at least the next month, and likely longer. Even if Edmonds does return, it may be just a part-time role. You want Conner for the stretch run and have a few angles to attack to get him for a reduced price.
Jerry Jeudy, WR, Denver Broncos
Jerry Jeudy has been nothing more than a middling WR3/4 since his return from IR. Although I just mentioned above how debilitating high-ankle sprains can be, the Broncos held Jeudy out a long time to make sure he came back fully recovered. Jeudy looks just fine out there.
Over the past two weeks, Jeudy has scored 11.1 and 12.9 PPR fantasy points. That’s okay, but it’s possible Jeudy’s manager is growing impatient. The Broncos are on bye next week, which you can use to your advantage. Perhaps the Jeudy manager can’t afford a loss. See if you can pry Jeudy away for a player who’s already had his bye, using the fact that Jeudy hasn’t been great to your advantage.
The reality is Jeudy has overtaken Courtland Sutton as Denver’s WR1. I’m one of the biggest Sutton > Jeudy guys out there, but I must admit the truth. With Jeudy back on the field, Sutton is just a deep threat.
Jeudy has seen 17 targets over the past two weeks. His problem is two-fold. One, the Broncos keep finding themselves in non-competitive contests. Two, Jeudy hasn’t scored. Eventually, the touchdowns will come and Jeudy will be a rock-solid WR2. See if you can get him for a WR3 price.
Who can you sell high in Week 11?
Fantasy managers tend to be very reactionary when it comes to what happened recently. Most of these players are coming off strong Week 10 performances but may have higher perceived value than actual value going forward. That makes them candidates to be sold high — if you can get solid value.
Antonio Gibson, RB, Washington Football Team
This past week, I recommended J.D. McKissic as a start and Antonio Gibson as a fade. That went horribly awry. Why? Because the game script was the complete opposite of what I (and everyone else) expected.
Washington dominated the Bucs through and through. We expected the 7-point home underdogs to be trailing, and thus, throwing. More throwing should have meant more McKissic and less Gibson. The opposite happened, and Gibson was able to amass 24 carries. He turned those into 64 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The problem for Gibson is that he remains touchdown- and volume-dependent. When the Football Team is losing, he’s still going to cede snaps to McKissic. WFT is going to lose more often than not. Gibson saw just 2 targets this week. He was inefficient but managed to fall into the end zone twice.
If you roster Gibson and can frame his performance as him getting healthy following the bye, do it. He will still have solid weeks because of his status as Washington’s goal-line back, but he’s going to disappoint more often than not. Gibson is a touchdown-dependent RB3 masquerading as an RB2. See if you can get a real RB2 for him.
Marquise Brown, WR, Baltimore Ravens
The good news for Marquise Brown from this past week is he still saw 13 targets. The bad news is he only caught 6 for 37 yards. I highly doubt anyone looking to acquire Brown will hold one bad game against him. The targets are there, and the production typically follows.
I know a secret, though. It’s not exactly a well-kept secret, but I’m certain some people aren’t realizing it. Rashod Bateman is Baltimore’s WR1. He profiles as a true alpha and is extremely talented. It’s only a matter of time before Hollywood becomes the stretch Z-receiver he was always meant to be.
Bateman has played well since being activated from IR, but he hasn’t truly broken out. The return of Sammy Watkins tried to derail his ascent, but Watkins probably shouldn’t be in the NFL anymore. After his game-losing fumble last week, Watkins didn’t play another snap. It shouldn’t have taken that for John Harbaugh to realize Watkins has no business on an NFL field, but we’ll take Harbaugh reaching the right conclusion however he gets there.
Bateman is set to see his snap share increase considerably. When he’s on the field, he’s going to be Lamar Jackson’s primary target more often than Brown. If you can still sell Brown as a low-end WR1, try to get an actual WR1 in exchange for him (or, him plus another player). Brown is likely to going to settle in as a boom/bust, high-end WR3.