Week 11 of the NFL and fantasy football season is here, and I’m officially one “Friendsgiving” dinner in. That’s right, I wore flannel over to a house full of people whom I barely knew, carrying a homemade pecan pie that my loving wife had made, fully prepared to engage in distracted conversation while seven hours of commercial-free football was taking place. Luckily for me, no future turkey dinners will take place on Sunday and I only hope the same for you and yours. In the meantime, let’s feast on the Week 11 waiver wire pickups.
Teams on bye in Week 11: Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints
As always, the players below are rostered in fewer than 50% of ESPN leagues.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 11 Pickups (2023)
(Rostership percentages courtesy of ESPN)
Priority Adds
Joshua Dobbs (QB, Minnesota Vikings) | 38.5% Rostered
Joshua Dobbs‘ first two games with the Minnesota Vikings have been remarkable for a player on his third team this season. He stepped in Week 9 for an injured Jaren Hall and put up two TD’s through the air, 66 yards on the ground and got into the endzone on the ground. He was in Minnesota for all of five days before this.
Week 10 was equally as impressive, to the point that Minnesota, even after losing Kirk Cousins to a season-ending Achilles injury and having Justin Jefferson on Injured Reserve (IR), has a legitimate shot to make a playoff run. Dobbs has run for at least 40 yards in seven games this season. That’s huge for his fantasy floor. Plus, we should probably all be talking about the upgraded weapons on the Vikings for Dobbs, especially considering that he will get arguably the league’s best WR back sooner rather than later.
“The Passtronaut” takes on the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears in the next two weeks. Dobbs is fun to watch and fun to root for; go get him off the Week 11 waiver wire and start him immediately.
Plug-Ins
Keaton Mitchell (RB, Baltimore Ravens) | 23.3% Rostered
The genie is about halfway out of the bottle here with RB Keaton Mitchell, and it will be difficult for the Ravens to put him back in. Mitchell is far and away the Ravens’ most explosive option out of the backfield, breaking away for three plays of at least 30 yards in the last two weeks.
The reason Mitchell isn’t a priority add? Snap share and total touches. In Week 9, Mitchell had an 18% snap share but 10 total touches. In Week 10, his touches fell to just four.
The good news is that Baltimore loves to run the ball, and Mitchell can continue to earn more touches, especially if Baltimore continues playing in positive game scripts. The bad news for Mitchell’s overall ceiling is that Gus Edwards has still been low-key pretty good. But the Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA) rookie might find more work after Baltimore’s bye in Week 13. Teams are weird and often wait to make wholesale changes until they feel they have sufficient time to tweak their playbook. Mitchell could be a difference-maker down the stretch.
Demario Douglas (WR, New England Patriots) | 27.1% Rostered
Demario Douglas is my new Josh Downs. He’s been in this article for each of the last three weeks, and he’s still widely available. Look, I get it; the Patriots aren’t a fun team. They aren’t a sexy team, and truthfully, they aren’t a good team. We’re talking about getting fantasy points, though, and Douglas can provide those.
He’s gotten at least six targets in each of his last four contests, which has led to double-digit Points Per Reception (PPR) points in three of those games. You’ll need to stash him through his Week 11 bye if you grab him off the waiver wire now, but then the Patriots take on the Giants and Chargers. Both of those teams are bottom-six in fantasy points allowed to the wide receiver position. Douglas is set up as a solid WR3 with WR2 upside if he finds the endzone.
Noah Brown (WR, Houston Texans) | 25% Rostered
Every time Noah Brown gets the ball, I wonder why a linebacker is playing WR. That’s what Brown looks like – just a player who’s too fast to be that big and is going to hit someone after he catches the ball. With Robert Woods out in Week 9 and then Nico Collins out in Week 10, Noah Brown casually put up 325 receiving yards on 13 catches over two weeks. Good grief. With QB C.J. Stroud continuing to be #GoodAtFootball and the timetable for Collins’ return unclear, Brown could continue to see an expanded role. I’m not typically bullish on a sixth-year breakout for a player who has never had more than 555 yards in a given season. Still, Brown has a great QB with two very beatable matchups in the Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars over his next two games.
Luke Musgrave (TE, Green Bay Packers) | 17% Rostered
There isn’t a lot of volume to chase here with Luke Musgrave, but we can chase the matchup, and that’s all you can hope for off the waiver wire in Week 11. Over the next two weeks, the Packers take on the Chargers, who allow the fifth-most fantasy points to the TE position, and the Lions, who allow the 11th-most. The Packers are three-point home underdogs to the Chargers per DraftKings Sportsbook. Packers QB Jordan Love leads the NFL in interceptions thrown, with 10 thus far. It’s pretty easy to squint and see a game script where the Packers turn the ball over, get down a significant number of points and need to throw. Musgrave leads all tight ends in target separation and could find himself open enough to earn more work.
Stashes
Rico Dowdle (RB, Dallas Cowboys) | 3.7% Rostered
I won’t get overly deep into analysis here with Rico Dowdle, mainly because there isn’t much to be had on Dowdle. The third-year back looked good in limited action for the Cowboys this season and had his most productive game to date this past week, ending the day with 13.9 fantasy points.
Starting RB Tony Pollard has been less-than-impressive over the last six weeks, not amassing more than 55 rushing yards in any of those games. While the Cowboys did have a massive lead over the Giants on Sunday and didn’t need Pollard, he still had 15 rushing attempts. However, Pollard has scored under 10 PPR points in five of his last six contests. Dowdle could see increased touches after Sunday’s solid performance and is the clear “next man up” should Pollard be forced to miss time.
Thanks for reading my favorite fantasy football waiver wire Week 11 pickups. Looking for more fantasy football advice? Follow me on Twitter @ThatMattKelley.
*Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan – USA TODAY Sports*