Week 11 Wide Receiver Rankings

You may have noticed by now that there are a lot more good Wide Receivers than Running Backs on a week to week basis this season.  The reason I bring this up is for those of you in leagues where you start a FLEX.  More often than not this year a WR should be started in that spot over a RB because of the depth of the position.  Sure if you have three great backs, then start all of them, but for most people they need to go with a third receiver instead.  Those guys are the ones who are ranked from 20-35 in the ranks each week, and will usually provide some points, with some upside for a big week as well.

There are 4 teams on a bye this week, which means that the bye weeks are almost over.  Some guys who would normally be starters are coming back off of a bye, so make sure you put them back in your lineup.  With that, let's take a look at the rankings and comments on a few of the guys.

Detroit Lions Receivers - A nice performance by Johnson in week 10 showed his fantasy owners that he is healthy, and can still coexist in this offense with Golden Tate.  Both players were effective, and saw plenty of targets.  The run game has not progressed like Jim Caldwell would like I'm guessing, so he has let Stafford throw the ball to his two main guys more often.  Calvin will be a top 5 guy the rest of the way, as Tate will be top 15, bordering along the top 10 potentially as well if the TD's are still there.

DeAndre Hopkins - What a terrific season he has had so far with Ryan Fitzpatrick behind center.  Now Fitzpatrick is a serviceable QB who can do what you ask him to do, but not much more than that.  Now Ryan Mallet will be starting the rest of the season, which now means there is a little bit of uncertainty surrounding the Texans passing game.  There is no denying the fact that Mallet has the stronger arm, but is it as accurate going down the field?  I believe that Ryan Mallet has the skills to be a very successful NFL QB, and one who may end up being a little bit like Jay Cutler, which would be great for Hopkins.

Chicago Bears Receivers - One of Marshall or Jeffery will have a big game, but which one will it be?  It seems to switch randomly between the two, and the other still usually has a decent game.  I think this week it will be Marshall again, but as evidenced by my back-to-back ranking of them, I only believe it by a slight margin.

Larry Fitzgerald - He has finally emerged back into the good graces of fantasy owners everywhere.  He has been getting the most targets out of all the receivers on the roster, and is finally starting to put up some yards and TD's to go with them.  Stanton does come in for an injured Palmer now at QB, but Fitzgerald has worked with him before, so a level of familiarity is there.  Would have ranked higher this week if he didn't have to play against the tough Lions defense.

Jordan Matthews - Was being forced to switch to Mark Sanchez actually a bad thing for the Eagles?  I think not, and I believe the Eagles think that Sanchez is better at running this offense as well.  While we know that Maclin will get his every week, there is still room for more production to go around.  Riley Cooper showed that last year was an anomaly, and Matthews has already shown to be a superior talent to him.  While he may be inconsistent right now, I see this situation getting clearer for Matthews down the stretch.  If he is somehow available in your league, snatch him up and get ready to use him as your FLEX guy when the playoffs roll around.

Greg Jennings - Has been playing decently as of late with Teddy.  Jennings has been a more consistent guy in the offense than Patterson, and I believe that Teddy knows this.  In there last game, Jennings was targeted 10 times, while Patterson was targeted 7 times.  Now factor in that only one of the passes intended for Patterson was caught, and you see why Jennings should be getting more looks.  The Bears is a good matchup, so if you are desperate, take a look to see if Jennings is available in your league for a desperation WR3 option.

Dwayne Bowe - Has been targeted 28 times over the last three games, and has 20 receptions out of those targets.  Alex Smith has nearly doubled the targets for Bowe over the last three weeks, which means that he has been trying to work him more and more in the games.  This has been done at the expense of Charles touches, sorry Charles owners, but has started to make Bowe a legitimate option in PPR leagues as of late.  See if the trend continues this week against the Seahawks, then you will know if it is for real or not.

Preston Parker - Rueben Randle appears now to not only be passed on the depth chart by Odell Beckham Jr., but now Preston Parker.  In a game against a very good Seattle secondary, Parker was targeted 7 times, and converted all of those into catches.  Randle simply isn't as good as we once thought, and Parker at least gives us a little bit of an unknown to project now.  I want to see him get this kind of work for at least another week before he catapults up into my top 30.

Teams On Bye: Baltimore, Dallas, Jacksonville, New York Jets