In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by 1440:

We are at the point in the season where the rubber meets the road.

There’s no more room for stubbornness or blaming results on a small sample size.

It’s “put up or shut up” time.

The Bears came to this conclusion on Monday and yesterday the Colts realized it was time to wave the white flag on the Joe Flacco experiment.

Despite trying to tell us that Flacco was definitely and totally going to start for the rest of the season, Shane Steichen back-tracked and named Anthony Richardson the team’s Week 11 starter (and for the rest of the season).

It’s an embarrassing flip-flop for Steichen, regardless of who was actually pulling the decision strings behind the curtain.

But we can table the conversations about organizational dysfunction for another day. Instead, let’s do some quick hitters on the fantasy fallout…

📈 This is good news for both Richardson (he’s back in the QB2 mix) and Jonathan Taylor. Taylor’s splits with Richardson are much, much better. Both should enjoy a decent matchup vs. a Jets team that just got cooked by Kyler Murray and James Conner.

📉 This is bad news for both Josh Downs and Michael Pittman, who both had much bigger target shares in games with Flacco. It’s more of a neutral move for Alec Pierce and Adonai Mitchell, who pair better with Richardson’s downfield game.

You can see our full set of ranks on all of the Colts pieces here.

What else is in today’s newsletter?

  1. Stat of the Day: WHO is a top-7 QB on the season??
  2. Watercooler: Rest-of-Season Rankings Updates

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A Rock-Solid QB1 In Pittsburgh?

Stat: Russell Wilson is now QB7 on the season, based on PPG

I’m not sure how we got here but Russell Wilson, through three starts, is now averaging more fantasy points per game than the following QBs. 

Yes, dusty old Russ, the short-order cook who burned everyone’s toast the last two seasons as the QB of the Broncos is QB7 and averaging 19.3 fantasy points per game since taking over as starter. The scary part is that he really hasn’t had any great matchups through this three-game stretch. The Jets (24.9 FP) are notoriously tough against opposing QBs and the Commanders (18.1 FP) rank about league average in fantasy points allowed to the position. 

So, how’s he doing this? Wilson is mostly just throwing the ball to the Steelers best players and letting them do the work. George Pickens is averaging 92 yards and 0.66 TDs per game since Russ took over (he had zero TDs with Fields) and last week he even managed to unthaw Mike Williams, whom he connected with on a 32-yard TD in the waning moments of the game. 

I’m not suggesting you trade your Murray or Daniels shares for Russ, but for Week 11, Wilson has the Ravens on tap, who have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing QBs. Feel free to ride the newly appointed gourmet chef of the Steelers, for one more start, before you reevaluate the rest of the season.

Where do our rankers have Russ for Week 11?

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds:

📊 Rest-of-Season rankings update. Waz has you covered.

🏴‍☠️ The Raiders are flip-flopping at QB, too. Makes sense.

😬 What to do if you have Josh Downs, Michael Pittman, and more. More instant reactions to A-Rich news.

💥 Upgrades across the board. Your smash matchups of the week for Week 11.

⚔️ Week 11 kicks off with a big divisional matchup … projections for Eagles/Commanders.

🤫 Make sure this RB isn’t on waivers. A deep stash for the playoff weeks.

💰️ The best prop bets for tonight’s game. We’ve got you covered.

😆 A little late for this, Jets. Good luck.