Week 11 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Tua Tagovailoa, Gus Edwards, Adonai Mitchell and More
These are some sleeper options you can consider picking up and streaming this week.
Quarterbacks
Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Ravens are a pass defense that we are looking to target every single week and that's who Russ will be going up against in Week 11. It's the best matchup any quarterback has this week with the Tampa Buccaneers on a bye week, and they are the only team giving up more fantasy points to quarterbacks than the Ravens.
We just saw Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase have a historic game against this defense, with Burrow throwing for 428 yards and four TDs, and Chase catching 11 of his 17 targets for 264 yards and three TDs. Week after week we see quarterbacks posting monster games against the Ravens D.
Russ obviously isn't Burrow, nevertheless, he's been solid since taking over the starting job in Pittsburgh and should be able to torch the Ravens secondary along with George Pickens. In three games as the Steelers' starter, he's thrown for 737 yards, six TDs, just one pick, and he added a TD on the ground.
Only one of those three matchups was against a team in the bottom 12 when it comes to allowing fantasy points to QBs. Like seemingly every Ravens game this year, this game should be a high-flying track meet with plenty of fantasy points to go around.
Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Even with Tua back under center, the Dolphins offense hasn't looked quite right. It's looked much better than when the backups were in, but far from what we've come to know they can be. This will be the get-right game against the Las Vegas Raiders, who are spiraling.
This offense has bullied and crushed bad teams and the Raiders are as bad as they come ranking dead last in our latest power rankings. They are allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, and we expect Miami to try to blow them off the field to get their confidence back and figure some things out. Tua is a borderline low-end QB1 this week.
Running Backs
Jaylen Wright, Miami Dolphins
We featured Wright in this article last week, predicting that there was a chance the coaching staff could move off of Raheem Mostert, who essentially fumbled two potential wins away in the previous three games. That's exactly what happened, as Wright saw five carries and Mostert didn't see any.
While Wright did very little with his opportunities, it could be a sign of things to come for the explosive rookie. If he's given the same opportunity this week, he should be in for a much bigger day against a porous Raiders defense that is allowing the seventh-most fantasy points to running backs and playing for nothing nearing the end of another lost season. Wright is risky but worth a look if you're searching for a sleeper option for Week 11.
Gus Edwards, Los Angeles Chargers
Edwards returned from the injured reserve list last week and looked much better than he had all season. He was visibly more spry on film and outperformed J.K. Dobbins.
Dobbins saw 15 carries for 50 yards, while Edwards led the team with 55 rushing yards on 10 carries. This is a run-heavy team and this backfield could be very close to split when it comes to carries. Rookie Kimani Vidal was also inactive with Edwards back, so he's a non-factor.
LA faces off with a leaky Bengals' defense this week that has struggled to slow down anyone, and they are coming off a 35-34 loss. Cincy has also given up 96 points in their past three games. While Dobbins is still considered the RB1 for now, Edwards looks to have a significant role and has been the better goal-line back as a pro while Dobbins is the better pass-catcher.
Cam Akers, Minnesota Vikings
Akers has seized the RB2 job in Minnesota since coming over from the Houston Texans via trade. Aaron Jones got injured last week, and while he was able to return to the game, we don't yet know his status for Week 11.
Even if Jones is active but limited, that makes Akers an intriguing sleeper candidate. He saw 13 carries last week with Jones playing, and he could see a ton of volume against the Tennessee Titans with the Vikings likely playing from ahead most of the game.
Wide Receivers
Adonai Mitchell, Indianapolis Colts
The coaching staff in Indy has been saying that Mitchell was going to see more work. In Week 10, he played over 90% of snaps and caught all six of his targets for 71 yards, crushing all his season highs. However, that did happen with Michael Pittman Jr. inactive, so it's tough to know if he's getting more work because it was planned or simply because Pittman was out.
We also don't know Pittman's availability for Week 11. If he is sidelined, Mitchell could be an intriguing option against the Jets, whose top corners will likely be locked on Josh Downs and Alec Pierce.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, New Orleans Saints
No one wants to start him and we certainly don't trust him, nevertheless, we have to mention MVS. All week we tried to figure out who was the wideout to own in New Orleans with all the injuries and MVS caught all three of his targets for 109 yards and two TDs, leading the group in every receiving category.
We've seen him have games like this before then disappear, so he is very risky. However, as of now, he has to be considered the WR1 option for the Saints and that makes him a viable sleeper option until he proves otherwise.
