Fantasy Football Week 11 Quarterback Start/Sit: Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson and More

The best teams and worst teams get more chances to separate themselves from the pack with every passing week. It’s hard to tell how bad a team really is at stopping the pass after just one game, but it’s pretty clear after 10 weeks that the team allowing the most yards per pass attempt is a bad pass defense (that’s the Dallas Cowboys, for anyone interested).

That helps us in the fantasy world because we get to see which teams truly are the best and worst to target every week. The beginning of the season is a crapshoot; we don’t know what is random or just a scheduling quirk. I believe my lying eyes by this point, though, and feel confident in many of the numbers.

Let’s look at three quarterbacks to start and three to sit in Week 11 of the NFL season. I used defensive stats from NFL.com and our FantasySP defensive fantasy rankings to help determine the best and worst matchups. I will reference those numbers often.

Start

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Goff has been at the helm of maybe the top offense in football, something that will always put him on the fantasy radar. He has the highest completion percentage and yards per pass attempt of his career and no reason to expect much fall-off other than simple regression.

Quarterbacks don’t regress against Jacksonville, though. The Jags have allowed the third-most yards per pass attempt and the third-most fantasy points per game to QBs. They somehow flummoxed Sam Darnold last week, picking him off three times, but Minnesota dominated the game to a degree outside of the interceptions and settling for field goals.

This has the potential to be one of the most thorough beatings of the season, and Goff’s control of the offense is a big part of that. Even if the team dominates and doesn’t have to throw much, Goff is likely to put up a good stat line against Jacksonville.

Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets vs. Indianapolis Colts

Rodgers has been in the middle as a fantasy performer. It seems more disappointing than it really is because of what we expect from him, and New York’s performance doesn’t help at all. He has finished in the top 10 among quarterbacks twice in 2024.

The matchup is in his favor in this one, as the Colts have allowed the fifth-most yards per pass attempt and 10th-most fantasy points per game to QBs. Josh Allen threw for 280 yards last week, though he didn’t throw a touchdown and was picked off twice as the Bills dominated the second half.

This is an instance of an OK player with a good matchup, making a decent fantasy situation. Rodgers is nothing more than a low- to mid-level streamer, but he has two WR1-level guys (maybe) and the matchup in his favor.

Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens

Pittsburgh took a major risk by inserting Wilson into the lineup despite Justin Fields leading the team to a 4-2 record while Wilson was injured to start the year. Plenty of people who are praising Wilson now were shouting about how bad of a move it was three weeks ago.

The Steelers have beaten the two New York teams and Washington in the three games since Wilson took over, with the quarterback averaging nearly 250 yards per game at 8.7 yards per attempt; six interceptions to just one interception is a nice rate too.

The Ravens have been known for their defensive prowess since they arrived in Baltimore, but the script has completely flipped in 2024. Baltimore has allowed the fourth-most yards per pass attempt and second-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. (The run defense has been fantastic, allowing the least yards per carry.)

Wilson has been aggressive throwing downfield to George Pickens and now has Mike Williams, who will keep getting more familiar each week. Wilson will have his ups and downs, but the matchup couldn’t be much better than facing the Ravens.

Sit

Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons @ Denver Broncos

The Broncos have allowed the fourth-fewest yards per pass attempt and eighth-least fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. Denver has given up 20 points just three times in their 10 games, being driven by their defense to a .500 record.

Cousins started the season slow, ranking as just fantasy QB25 through the first four weeks. From Weeks 5-10, Cousins was QB7. He’s helped by not having his bye during that time while other quarterbacks did miss a game, but Cousins is averaging 19.1 fantasy points per game during the latter stretch versus just 11.6 over the first month.

Part of the difference is matchup related: Cousins faced the Panthers, Cowboys, and Bucs twice during his hot stretch compared to the Steelers, Eagles, and Chiefs in the first three weeks.

With a tougher matchup, Cousins is likely to see average or worse results again. While he is a fantasy starter in the right weeks, this isn’t one of them.

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs @ Buffalo Bills

KC has been winning so many close games with last-minute scores and big defensive plays (like a blocked field goal at the buzzer) that they are going to lose one sooner or later. On the road against one of the best teams in the AFC might be that first loss.

The passing game might struggle, as the Bills have done well against quarterbacks. They have allowed the 12th-least yards per pass attempt and fifth-least fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.

We know the story with Mahomes: He’ll do his thing and make magic at times, but his stats haven’t been up to the MVP standards that his name elicits. Mahomes has just one top-10 fantasy finish this season (Week 9).

This is a good week to consider benching Mahomes. Some owners won’t because of his name, and others don’t have a better option, but this looks like it could be another slow week for the star passer.

Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders @ Miami Dolphins

Minshew is only a streamer against the best matchups, not usually high on the fantasy radar. It’s not saying much that Minshew isn’t a fantasy option, but he has one of the worst matchups of the week.

The Dolphins have allowed the eighth-least yards per pass attempt and third-least fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. Matthew Stafford threw for 293 yards against Miami on Monday night, but it took him 46 attempts to get there, producing a below-average 6.4 yards per attempt (average is around 7.0).

This is as simple as a middling or worse quarterback with a terrible matchup. Even in a two-QB league, Minshew should be on the bench in Week 11.