Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 11 RBs Include JK Dobbins

Week 11 has arrived, the fantasy football trade deadline for most leagues will come to pass in the next two weeks, and the playoffs are rapidly approaching. For many managers, losses simply will not stand at this point in the season. As such, a premium emphasis must be placed on making optimal fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em decisions. The RB position continues to be somewhat tricky to navigate thanks to questionable injury tags and a lot of bad offensive play around the league. Let’s try to sift through the muck and make quality lineup decisions in a pivotal fantasy week!

As a reminder, players like Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson and Derek Henry will still be started in lineups weekly. It’s the RB2 and FLEX spots where things can get a bit trickier. To help you make some of these tough decisions, check out our weekly fantasy football rankings and continue reading for our Week 11 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em analysis at RB.

Wide Receivers — Week 11 Fantasy Football Start/Sit

Tight Ends — Week 11 Fantasy Football Start/Sit

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Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 11 RBs

Start: JK Dobbins Fantasy Outlook vs. Bengals

Expert Consensus Ranking (ECR) Rank: 21

When betting on the NFL, a common strategy for some is to “buy on bad news”. You could say we are doing exactly that in fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em this week when it comes to J.K. Dobbins. With Gus Edwards returning and leading the Los Angeles Chargers backfield in rushing yards last week, plenty of people are down on Dobbins heading into Week 11. The freak-out has gone a bit too far. Dobbins still played 66% of the offensive snaps last week and handled the bulk of the carries.

Furthermore, Edwards is still dealing with an ankle injury and doesn’t figure to usurp Dobbins’ role now or ever moving forward. As for this week’s matchup, the Chargers go up against a Cincinnati Bengals defense that ranks in the bottom half of the league in rushing yards allowed per game. Cincy has also surrendered nine rushing scores to the position. The defense is nowhere close to where it has been in recent seasons. Dobbins should find his way back into the RB2 threshold in terms of production this week.

RELATED | Week 11 RB Fantasy Football Rankings + Insights

Start: Rico Dowdle Fantasy Outlook vs. Texans

ECR Rank: 27

For the second week in a row, Rico Dowdle lands on the positive side of the fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em spectrum. Now, it goes without saying that the Dallas Cowboys as a whole completely stink. From a fantasy standpoint, however, Dowdle’s role in the offense cannot be ignored. Sorry to all the Ezekiel Elliott fanboys out there but there is no competition in terms of talent in this backfield. Elliott did see six carries last week in a blowout loss and it was a waste of time as usual in terms of production.

Along with having at least a dozen carries in each of the last four games for which he has been fully healthy, Dowdle’s pass-catching abilities could be amplified moving forward. With Cooper Rush starting at QB, more check-downs and dump-offs could be in store which well help boost his PPR value. In Week 11, Dowdle and the Cowboys will face the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football. Statistically, the Texans have held their own against opposing RBs. However, this defense got gashed by Detroit on the ground a week ago and isn’t exactly as good as many perceive in the current season.

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Sit: Travis Etienne Fantasy Outlook vs. Lions

ECR Rank: 24

Do I think Travis Etienne is still the best RB in the Jacksonville Jaguars locker room? Absolutely. Should we be rushing out to throw him back into starting lineups after an 11-carry, 44-yard effort last week? Absolutely not. The Jags are a complete trainwreck offensively. Even a Mac Jones stan like myself doesn’t expect that to change, especially in a Week 11 matchup against the Detroit Lions. While it was encouraging to see Etienne have his highest snap count since Week 3, there are still too many red flags to justify his ECR ranking of RB24.

For starters, Tank Bigsby is still lurking. While he did not practice on Wednesday and carries a “questionable” designation at the time of writing, we have to assume that he will be active on Sunday at this juncture. Then again, even if he misses the game, the matchup thwarts any boost in value Etienne would stand to receive. The Lions’ defense has allowed the sixth-fewest rushing yards per game this season and is giving up less than 19 PPR points per game to the position. Etienne cannot be viewed as anything more than an RB3/FLEX play in Week 11 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em.

Sit: Najee Harris Fantasy Outlook vs. Ravens

ECR Rank: 26

With only four weeks remaining before the start of the Fantasy Football Playoffs, it would behoove managers to avoid starting RBs facing the NFL’s top rushing defense. That is exactly what Najee Harris will be doing on Sunday as the Pittsburgh Steelers clash with the rival Baltimore Ravens. To date, the Ravens are giving up only 73 yards rushing per game and have ceded just 20 total PPR points to the position on a per-game basis. Opposing backs have also only scored five rushing touchdowns against them which doesn’t bode well for Harris’ chances to save his day by reaching pay dirt.

To further complicate matters, Harris did not practice on Wednesday due to an ankle injury. While one would have to believe that he will suit up come Sunday, this could cut into his overall workload. Jaylen Warren’s presence further muddies the picture. He saw a season-high 14 carries last week and is the better pass-catching back. Given Harris’ injury designation and how difficult it is to run the ball on the Ravens, there’s reason to believe that Warren could be the featured RB for the Steelers as a wrinkle of sorts in this matchup.