Good morning. It’s hard to believe that just over a month ago the Broncos were a hopeless 1-5, Pat McAfee was throwing up between segments and none of our must-stash handcuff RBs had hit. Things changed.

The Broncos can’t lose, Pat McAfee is healthy and Jaylen Warren, Gus Edwards and Devin Singletary are winning weeks. Zach Charbonnet has breakout potential.

Thankfully, a few quality handcuffs are still available (read on).

Don’t forget to share the newsletter for a chance to win an NFL jersey - find your link at the bottom of the newsletter (currently only 55 people qualify!).

Good news to start your day: It’s rare that Jets fans get good news, but it’s a positive sign that the Jets are at least attempting to try to improve by announcing that Zach Wilson has been demoted to 3rd string QB.

Tim Boyle will be their starting QB going forward. Which has to be an improvement, right???

TRIVIA

RANKINGS

Cooper Kupp falls to WR10. He’s had rough luck with injuries (most recently a sprained ankle) and only has two strong performances (Weeks 5 & 6). He’s still an elite WR when healthy and shouldn’t miss much time, but we have to downgrade him here.

Tank Dell rises to WR20 and it might not be high enough. The rookie has emerged as C.J. Stroud’s go-to guy, racking up 20 catches for 319 yards and 4 TDs over the last 3 weeks — good for WR3 overall during that span. He’s proven that size doesn’t matter.

Our rest-of-season 0.5 PPR rankings were updated early this morning 👇️ 

WAIVER WIRE

Running It Back

Zach Charbonnet is the no-doubt, must-add RB. He saw the 5th best usage among RBs in Week 11 and Seahawks starter Kennth Walker III is injured (oblique, typically 1-3 week absence). The matchups over the next three weeks aren’t great (49ers, Cowboys, 49ers), but his role might make that irrelevant. Already have Charbonnet stashed? There’s others…

Jerick McKinnon did nothing until Week 13 last season, but from Weeks 13-17, McKinnon was a weekly top-20 RB with 23.5 points per game. Thanks to a huge uptick in receiving work, he scored 22.6 PPR fantasy points in Week 17. It probably won’t happen again. But it might…

D’Ernest Johnson is a sneaky add. The Jaguars limited Travis Etienne's touches in back to back weeks. Johnson worked in as the RB2, handling 8 touches (to Etienne’s 17). He’s a valuable handcuff. Tank Bigsby is an afterthought and saw all his touches on the final drive (with the Jags up 34-7).

Ty Chandler put up a decent game but still struggles in pass protection (which is what’s keeping him from seeing a larger role). Chandler’s yards per snap (4.23) crushed Alexander Mattison (0.92), who also fumbled, per Adam Patrick. If Chandler’s pass-blocking improves, he could win the role.

Deep league: Prior to Week 11, Bills HC Doug McDermott said Leonard Fournette has been a nice addition to the team and continues to learn the offense. McDermott said “the weeks ahead will be a ‘big time consideration’ for [a Fournette] call up”. Fournette’s bruising style would be a strong compliment to James Cook’s shiftyness.

• The other must-stash handcuffs: Tyjae Spears, Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott and Elijah Mitchell. Kendre Miller, too.

• Sean McVay expects Kyren Williams to return in Week 12, so don’t sweat adding Darrell Henderson or Royce Freeman.

• If anyone drops Keaton Mitchell, add him immediately.

Wide Receiver

Last Tuesday, we wrote that Jayden Reed is the Packers best WR. At the time, Reed’s passer rating when targeted (104.4) led all Packers WRs. Since Week 8, Reed has over 70 yards in three of four games. With Aaron Jones (knee) injured, Reed could see more work going forward.

Khalil Shakir has played over 70% of snaps in each of the last two games and is outproducing Gabe Davis (Davis has just two receptions for 56 yards over his last three games). Shakir (323 yards) is also outproducing Stefon Diggs (275) and Dalton Kincaid (318) across the past five weeks. He’s a shifty YAC player who should maintain a role even when Dawson Knox returns.

Elijah Moore quietly has 12-plus fantasy points in back-to-back games. Moore may reunite with former Jets QB Joe Flacco. When together in 2021, Moore had 2 receptions on 2 targets for 40 yards & 1 TD (Flacco only played on final drive) in game one and caught 8/11 targets for 141 yards & 1 TD the week after.

• Demario Douglas has matchups in Week 13 & 14 against two defenses allowing the most receiving yards to slot WRs: the Chargers (5th most) and Steelers (11th-most)(per Fantasy Points Data).

• Rashid Shaheed should see a significant uptick in opportunities with Michael Thomas (knee) expected to miss time. Shaheed saw the second-most targets (behind Olave) once Winston took over in Week 10. Shaheed’s floor/ceiling combo is more enticing with better volume.

• If healthy, Josh Downs is a borderline must start. He averaged 16.6 fantasy points per game in October prior to his injury. An extra week of rest might have done wonders for the rookie WR.

• With Mark Andrews out for the season, Odell Beckham and Rashod Bateman could be WR3s, but I’m not holding my breath.

QB & TE

One of the Saints QBs. “With New Orleans coming off a bye, it seems likely Derek Carr will get the start (barring any unfortunate news) against the Falcons. Atlanta’s defense is in shambles -- or at least it was heading into its Week 11 bye. The Falcons allowed 22.9 fantasy points per game to Will Levis, Joshua Dobbs and first-game-back Kyler Murray in Weeks 8 through 10”, per Matt Okada of NFL.com. Jameis Winston is just as viable as Carr (and a boost to Chris Olave).

Speaking of the Saints, Taysom Hill was dropped in too many leagues. Even with that single-digit outing in Week 10 and a week off for the bye, Hill’s 72.1 fantasy points since Week 6 ranks sixth among tight ends (fifth if you remove Mark Andrews), per Matt Okada of NFL.com.

Jordan Love has quietly been a top-15 QB each of the past three weeks. In those games, Love’s PFF rating is significantly improved. His 322 passing yards in Week 11 were the most of his career. As bad as he’s been, Love’s only had one game outside the top-20 QBs this season.

• Isaiah Likely caught a TD and went 8-103 in two games without Mark Andrews last season. He’s expected to be the TE1 in Baltimore, but keep an eye on Charlie Kolar in deeper leagues.

• Gardner Minshew faces a Buccaneers secondary allowing 25.9 fantasy points per game to QBs over the past month. 20-plus is viable (not expected, but possible).

D/ST

Dolphins D/ST. Facing a Jets offense led by Tim Boyle (no relation to Susan), the Dolphins are a prime streaming candidate.

Bengals D/ST. Against a Steelers team ranked 28th in both scoring and yards (fifth-worst in the NFL) and led by a QB who has thrown only two TD passes in his last seven games, the 7th ranked Bengals D/ST should be started.

Chiefs D/ST. Might be available after facing the “high-scoring” Eagles in Week 11. Add them. The Chiefs face the Raiders and Packers over the next two weeks, then an Aidan O’Connell-led Raiders team in Week 16 before a Jake Browning-led Bengals in the fantasy championship.

DEEP DIVES

Wicked Wicks

The idea is you pick up players the week before everyone adds them off the waiver wire. Last week, the perfect pickup was Khalil Shakir.

Dontayvion Wicks showed off his big play potential with all 3 of his catches going for 25+ yards last week. The rookie has more receptions and receiving yards than Christian Watson and should earn more snaps going forward (but monitor his concussion and knee injury).

Salvon Ahmed had a receiving TD on Sunday while Jeff Wilson was a healthy scratch. Don’t be fooled: the Dolphins dressed Ahmed for his special teams contributions. Jeff Wilson is the backup you want with De’Von Achane aggravating his knee injury.

Greg Dortch is a rare WR handcuff. With Michael Wilson sidelined, Dortch saw a 75% snap share while catching 6 passes for 76 yards. He performed well in Rondale Moore’s absence last season as well, displaying a strong chemistry with Kyler Murray.

Michael Carter was a healthy scratch Sunday after joining the Cardinals mid-week. But given his receiving ability and proven track record (don’t forget he was the RB29 his rookie season), he should slot in immediately as the backup/3rd down back in Arizona.

QUICK SLANTS

📖 Read NFL Week 11 Recap by Nathan Jahnke from PFF. Miles Sanders appears to have caught Chuba Hubbard.

• Hubbard ran the ball 10 times for 57 yards and caught two passes for eight yards while Sanders ran 11 times for 50 yards and caught a two-yard pass.

📖 Read Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings and Tiers by Roto Street Journal. They also list the players at each position they are higher and lower on compared to ECR from Fantasy Pros.

📖 Read Sunday Aftermath by Patrick Daugherty of NBC Sports.

“Calvin Ridley’s two best games have come in Zay Jones’ only completed performances, suggesting he is allowed to operate in his most natural positions when Jones is on the field. The Texans’ defense would be a perfect place to get a hot streak going in Week 12.”

🎙️Listen to Week 11 Instant Reactions by The Underdog Football Show. They recap each game, including discussing what to do with Chargers skill players, including Austin Ekeler (who ran the ball like a podcaster).

🎙️Listen to Week 11 Recap - Biggest Takeways by ESPN’s Fantasy Focus. They advise sitting Steelers WRs until we get any sign of their offense improving. Even Najee Harris is “tired of this sh*t”.

📺️ Watch the trailer for the insane story of superfan “ChiefsAholic” who led a double life robbing banks. As a Bengals fan, I can’t believe Patrick Mahomes was not suspended for this.

CREATOR

Jake Ciely

In this series, we highlight the best people in the fantasy football industry.

From studying e-commerce and marketing to writing a legendary fantasy football rankings column, Jake Ciely (@allinkid) is now an award-winning senior writer at The Athletic. You may know him as the rankings wizard - he's one of the most accurate fantasy rankers in the industry (and will rank anything from food to DuckTales characters).

Jake’s favorite fantasy memory is picking up and riding Billy Volek to a championship.

Jake started with writing on a Giants forum around 2006, offering his two cents for 2-3 years before someone recommended he write full-time. That led to his blog, All in Sports, where he wrote consistently for over two years. He was a big poker fan, and brought his nickname “All in Kid” from tournaments with his friends (damn, again… all in kid!).

While trying to break into the industry, Jake sent his writing to every sports personality he could think of. It led to helpful advice from some, but also had Tony Kornheiser yelling at Jake.

Jake’s hot take: Joshua Dobbs will score more than Trevor Lawrence.

If you’re interested in learning more about Jake’s fascinating journey (which includes him starting All In Gourtmet Deli) and breaking into the industry, we recommend the video below:

Tweet of the Day

Before we go, send your well wishes to our writer, Marcus, who smugly started both Cooper Kupp and De’Von Achane this week. So much for that playoff run…

And to make matters worse, he’s a lifelong Browns fan!

Stay healthy, friends.

- Jake, Eddie, Marcus & Sean