It’s Week 11 and there’s an emergency! The Colts offense that has been carrying you through the season is on a bye this week! Oh, and the Saints, too. But you don’t need to call 9-1-1 for this; just let me call out these “Shore Thing Sleepers” to get you through this urgent matter!
But always, let’s talk about last week first! It’s been a crazy couple consecutive weeks for the wide receiver portion of the article. I’ve gone consecutive weeks calling out an AFC South WR, and they both have scored a touchdown… on special teams, like Parker Washington (+8.1 points over projection) did last week. Think it can’t get crazier? I’ve somehow written about a Seahawks wide receiver who practiced fully on Wednesday but downgraded during Thursday’s practice, causing me to pivot to their teammates, Rashid Shaheed (-7.1 points under projection). That’s just the crazy part, though. I was able to bounce back from a disappointing Week 9 to a total of 4.2 points over projection, with big hitters from Jacoby Brissett (+4.1), Cade Otton (+7.6) and of course, Parker Washington.
Okay, let’s get back to the problem at hand, and I’ll find you some fantasy football sleepers for Week 11!
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 11 Sleepers (2025)
Quarterback
Davis Mills (Houston Texans)
Let’s keep it in the AFC South, shall we? Davis Mills played spectacularly in Week 10, putting up a performance of 27 completions on 45 attempts, 292 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and an interception. It wasn’t just in the passing game; he also had three carries for 20 yards and a rushing touchdown! Altogether, he put up 28.7 fantasy points and ended up finishing as QB1 for the week. While C.J. Stroud hasn’t officially been ruled out, he’s still in concussion protocol, and his chances of playing in this game are looking slimmer by the day.
So, why not ask for an encore from Davis Mills? And when I look at the numbers the quarterbacks have been putting up against the Titans in their last three games, it’s got me salivating. While the Titans were on bye in Week 10, from Weeks 7-9, a quarterback had at least 222 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 23 fantasy points in every game against the Titans. I know, I know, you want the exact stats and I’ll provide them for you! Those quarterbacks average 288.6 scrimmage yards (248 passing and 40.6 rushing), 2.6 total touchdowns (2.3 passing and 0.3 rushing) and 0.3 interceptions for 25 fantasy points.
Davis Mills could be living the perfect backup quarterback’s dream and putting up great single-game performances to keep his team (and your fantasy team) in contention!
Running Back
Tony Pollard (Tennessee Titans)
I still want to keep it in this Texans-Titans matchup, however, I will switch it up. Lately, I’ve recommended the other Titans running back, Tyjae Spears, and he’s been doing well. But this week, I have a feeling it will be Tony Pollard who will be the best among the backfield teammates. When you look at the splits between the two running backs in the last three games, Pollard has been averaging more on the ground, with 39.3 rushing yards from nine attempts compared to Spears’ 35.6 rushing yards from seven attempts. While Spears averages more receiving yards and fantasy points, plus has the lone rushing touchdown in those games, I think his counterpart will get it done on the ground.
He may only average nine carries, but Tony Pollard has seen double-digit carries in back-to-back games and is still the only Titans running back to have done so this season. That’s when I looked at the averages for running backs against the Texans with double-digit carries this season, and they are averaging 58.9 rushing yards for 0.7 touchdowns and 12.6 fantasy points. I then broke it down to look at how it’s been after the Texans’ bye week, and wouldn’t you know, the Texans have allowed a running back with double-digit carries to have at least 49 rushing yards and 6.6+ fantasy points. To make it even sweeter, in two of those last four games, the running back scored a rushing touchdown and 15.7+ fantasy points. Tony Pollard should be queued up for a solid matchup in Week 11.
Kenneth Gainwell (Pittsburgh Steelers)
His name might be Kenneth Gainwell, but he hasn’t been gaining well since the bye week. Sadly, he’s only been averaging 24.8 scrimmage yards for 3.6 fantasy points in those games. So, why recommend him? First, he’s shown potential with the limited opportunities he’s had, because in two of the five games of that stretch, he had 34+ scrimmage yards and 7.4+ fantasy points.
Second, and more importantly, it’s the matchup. Yes, Gainwell did disappoint in Week 7 against the Bengals, with only 15 scrimmage yards and 3.5 fantasy points. I don’t think he will repeat that performance, because the Bengals have gone back-to-back games allowing a running back duo to have at least 37 scrimmage yards and 9.7 fantasy points. In fact, the RB2 in those games is only averaging nine touches, and despite the limited opportunities, they’ve still managed to average 73 scrimmage yards, 0.5 touchdowns and 12.8 fantasy points.
Although Gainwell has been seeing limited opportunities behind Jaylen Warren, I think this week is a “Kenneth Did Well” week, all simply because of the encouraging matchup he has!
Wide Receiver
Tez Johnson (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
TikTok edits are going crazy with the sound “real G’s move in silence like Egbuka,” but fellow Buccs WR Tez Johnson is going borderline crazy, sorta, kinda. No, seriously! Since Week 5, Johnson is WR21 in PPR scoring, averaging 3.6 receptions for 49.4 yards, 0.8 touchdowns and 13.3 fantasy points in that span. His big-play potential even saw him outscore Emeka Egbuka in two of their last three games and in fact, Johnson’s four touchdowns are the most by a single Buccaneers non-quarterback in their past seven games! Granted, he’s been doing this while Chris Godwin has been sidelined and Godwin did practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday. But I think they’ll want to use Tez Johnson more this week, even if Godwin plays.
Look at the matchup, and it gets even more exciting. The Bills were already struggling against WR1s, allowing a WR1 to have 80+ receiving yards and 16.9+ fantasy points in five straight games. Now, it’s only gotten worse, as the Bills have gone back-to-back games allowing a wide receiver duo to each score 9.3 fantasy points. It must be mentioned that Tez Johnson’s worst performance in this five-game span was exactly 9.3 fantasy points, so he should be able to manage at least that and hopefully more.
Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills)
The magic number for Keon Coleman is seven, as in seven targets. When Coleman has seven targets in a game this season, he is averaging five receptions for 60.3 yards and a touchdown for 17 fantasy points. In each of those games, he’s scored a touchdown and had at least 12.3 fantasy points! When he’s targeted six times or fewer? Oof. It’s a disappointing 2.8 receptions for 24.8 yards and 5.3 fantasy points, with no touchdowns or games over eight fantasy points.
Let’s look at the matchup, now knowing that Coleman’s magic number is seven. The Buccaneers definitely know something about facing seven-plus target wide receiver duos, because they’ve allowed it to happen in three of the last five games! It’s even been more fun being a WR2 during this stretch, too, as the WR2s in those three games are averaging seven receptions for 80 yards and 15 fantasy points. But wait, there’s more! The Buccaneers have allowed a WR2 to be targeted 10+ times, go for 75+ yards and score 16.5+ fantasy points in back-to-back games. I know it’s a little early for the Christmas-themed jokes, but give us the gift of fantasy points from Keon Coleman and not coal, man!
Tight End
Pat Freiermuth (Pittsburgh Steelers)
It’s very apparent that Aaron Rodgers has a favorite tight end for a couple of games this season, and then he switches it up on us. In the first three weeks, Jonnu Smith was the higher-scoring Steelers tight end for fantasy. Then, they had back-to-back games with Darnell Washington. Now, it’s been four straight games of Pat Freiermuth, and I don’t think it’ll be stopping this week. In Freiermuth’s last four games, he averaged 3.5 receptions on 4.2 targets for 46 yards, 0.7 touchdowns and 12.6 fantasy points.
In all honesty, I didn’t even need to tell you all that, because this Bengals defense is atrocious against tight ends. Oh, and that’s a nice way of putting it. The Bengals are by far allowing the most fantasy points to the tight end position this season, and you’ll see why when I state the numbers. In the last five games, EIGHT different tight ends have scored a touchdown, and six of those eight had at least 28 receiving yards and 11.8 fantasy points. There’s no way it can get any worse than that… right? Oh, but it does. In two of their past three games, the Bengals allowed a tight end to have 111+ receiving yards and two touchdowns, and one of those tight ends was Pat Freiermuth, himself! Look for him to easily do it again.
Thanks for reading this week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers.” If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions,” Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ or on BlueSky!
*Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports*
