Week 11 Fantasy Football Rankings And Tiers. Don't Shy Away From Puka Nacua.

It is time to make those tough lineup decisions for Week 11 of the fantasy football season.

Below, you’ll find positional rankings, player analysis, team totals and spreads for every game on the slate.

Notes: 

• Players are now tiered across all positions (RB, WR and TE) to help with flex decisions in larger formats. Because of this, TEs might not have a player deserving of Tier 1 compared to RBs and WRs.
• Defensive yards and TDs allowed exclude overtime play.
• All references to defensive ranks are for this week (bye Week teams excluded).

Last updated: 3:30 p.m. Nov. 16. Please refer to our Rankings page for updates!

Quarterback Rankings & Tiers - Week 11

Tier 3 – Brock Purdy

Purdy is a name I have to wrestle with every single week in our projection model because of his insane efficiency on low volume. My first instinct is always that our model is too high on the second-year QB. However, I am now at the point where my general thought is the market is too low.

Purdy and the 49ers offense break conventional wisdom when considering the primary drivers in a projection model. We are talking about a QB that ranks 24th in pass attempts per game out of 27 QBs that have played eight games in 2023. Yet, Purdy ranks No. 1 in passing yards per attempt (9.3), and while that should come down, you can’t simply regress him to other low-volume pocket passers of old.

Make no mistake, the regression monster is coming for Purdy. Still, we must temper the expected impact when you have Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle in a well-schemed offense. Purdy ranks first in fantasy points per dropback at 0.63 — a range USUALLY reserved for the dual-threat aliens.

This is a unique situation, and the 49ers' signal-caller has proven that he can put up huge numbers even in game scripts where the team shouldn’t need to pass often.

Purdy has reached 22-plus points in four games this season. In three of those, he dropped back to pass less than 30 times — the NFL average in 2023 is 37.5. The 49ers won those three contests by a combined score of 111 to 29.

So, while the fact that the 49ers are double-digit favorites should bring down our passing attempt projections in Week 11, it shouldn’t drive down our fantasy-point expectations. Yes, the 49ers could get there on the ground instead — San Francisco runs the ball the eighth-most inside the five-yard line at 72%. However, that doesn’t change the outlook on Purdy’s ceiling.

Tampa Bay allows the second-most passing yards (285) and the fourth-most TDs (1.89) per game. They are much more stout against the run, giving up the sixth-fewest yards (87.1) and the least TDs (0.22) per contest. This could be a funnel game for Purdy & Co.

Purdy’s Pick’em passing yardage is 247.5 yards on Underdog. We have him projected for 261; he averages 259, going higher than 247.5 in 67% of games. Passing yardage isn’t usually a soft spot to attack, but going HIGHER on Purdy has merit.

Purdy is my QB11 and offers 25-point upside against Tampa in Week 11.

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Running Back Rankings & Tiers - Week 11

Tier 2 – De’Von Achane

Mike McDaniel knows fantasy football managers are dying for info on Achane, but his crystal ball hasn’t told him if the rookie will play yet. However, Achane has looked good in practice and wants to be on the field this weekend.

If Achane suits up, we don’t know what his role will be, but it doesn’t matter — you are starting him. While we would love him to see 22 opportunities (attempts plus targets) like he did in Week 3 when he dropped 51 fantasy points, he has also come through on less. In Weeks 4 and 5, he delivered 27 and 24 points on only 12 opportunities.

The Dolphins are 12-point favorites and carry the No. 1 team total (29.25) on the slate against a Raiders defense that has been susceptible to the run. Las Vegas allows the third-most rushing (136) yards per contest as PFF’s fifth-worst-graded run defense. Robert Spillane has missed the ninth-most tackles (13) out of all linebackers and ranks 11th in missed-tackle rate (13.8%).

Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane (28) breaks free for a 76-yard touchdown run against the New York Giants during the first half of an NFL game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, October 8, 2023.

The only thing we need to know before game time is whether Achane is active or not. After that, I will ignore all usage speculation from insiders and jam him into all lineups.

Achane is a top-20 play and ranks as my No. 7 RB against the Raiders.

Tier 3 – Tony Pollard

I understand that this is a time of grieving, and most Tony Pollard managers wish to be left alone — I am one of them. However, as dead as Pollard’s efficiency has been, his utilization still has a pulse, and the Cowboys’ offense is thriving.

Pollard gets 57% of the rushing attempts and 65% of the work inside the five-yard line. His 13 attempts inside the five rank second in the NFL. While we haven’t seen the huge opportunity outbursts like Weeks 2 and 3, the veteran back averages 12 attempts and 3.5 targets over the last six games on an offense that scores on 46% of drives — the second-most in the NFL.

At this point, we must treat Pollard like other inefficient volume-dependent backs on good offenses. He isn’t the superstar we hoped for, but he still has a value similar to names like Joe Mixon.

For this archetype, matchups and game scripts become more critical, and the Cowboys have a favorable setup once again. The Panthers give up the seventh-most rushing yards per contest (132) and the most TDs (1.67). Dallas is a double-digit favorite over Carolina and offers the third-highest team total (26.75), so Pollard offers multiple-TD upside despite not having punched in a score since Week 1.

As a fellow suffering Pollard manager, I am slightly below consensus because I no longer believe in his talent profile. However, he checks the boxes we want for game-script-dependent backs.

Pollard is *technically* a SMASH play as my RB12 and No. 25 player overall for the Week 11 slate.

Tier 3 – Brian Robinson

Robinson destroyed the fantasy box score last weekend with 27.7 points but did it unconventionally with six catches on six targets for 119 yards and a TD. While we shouldn’t expect Robinson to become a primary passing weapon suddenly, he has taken over almost half of the two-minute offense over the last two games.

Any extra work the second-year back can give us in the passing game is a plus because he has been highly game-script-dependent up to this point in the season. Especially on a pass-first team where rushing attempts are hard to come by anyway.

However, this week, the Commanders are nine-point favorites over one of the most dreadful teams in all of football — the Giants. No team has a worse point differential than New York’s -148. Yes, you did that math correctly in your head — the Giants' average score differential is -14.8.

Look for the Commanders to shred the Giants in every capacity but throw the ball less than usual, allowing Robinson to eat against a defense allowing 131 yards and 1.4 TDs per contest on the ground.

Robinson UPGRADES to high-end RB2 territory as my RB14 and carries high-end RB1 upside.

Wide Receiver Rankings & Tiers - Week 11

Tier 2 – Puka Nacua

In three games with a healthy Stafford plus Cooper Kupp in the lineup, Nacua has averaged 16.7 fantasy points — only one point behind Kupp’s 17.7. Yet, industry consensus ranks for Week 11 have Nakua as the No. 40 player out of all RBs, WRs and TEs, while Kupp ranks 14th.

This weekend against the Seahawks, Stafford is expected to start and shouldn’t have any significant limitations. So, I don’t know what has rankers so spooked about Nacua, but 26 spots apart is too far when considering how strong all the underlying data looked with Kupp and Stafford. The WR duo combined for 71% of the Rams' targets.

Kupp and Nacua have been so great that Tutu Atwell and Tyler Higbee have seen drastic role reductions. And this is a passing attack that showed immense promise early in the season, averaging 307 yards per contest over the first four games. Stafford has slowed but averages 273 in seven healthy games and is due for a big one with his dynamic duo.

The Seahawks allow the eighth-most passing yards per game on the slate, and the Rams offer the ninth-highest team total. While that isn’t the sort of matchup that calls for a significant upgrade, it isn’t a matchup we must worry about. The Rams could easily go HAM coming off the bye.

The Fantasy Life projections have Kupp projected for 18.4 PPR points this weekend, with Nacua not far behind at 17.8.

Nacua is my No. 10 WR and No. 15 player overall in Week 11.

Tier 3 – DeAndre Hopkins

The Will Levis experience will likely have many ups and downs, but one thing is clear — the dude wants to get the ball downfield to Hopkins. And in this little game we play to pass time as we float on a rock around a ball of fire, hogging targets and air yards is a good thing.

In three games with Levis, Hopkins has 20%, 30% and 25% in target shares. Many of those haven’t been catchable due to aDOTS of 24, 14 and 21 — but the opportunity for massive outputs is there. Hopkins has accounted for 41% of the team’s air yards over that stretch, averaging a bamboozling 154.7 per contest.

Not only does Hopkins get looks downfield — but he is the best game in town when it comes to end zone targets. For the season, he has accounted for 53%. Based on data back to 2011, WRs with similar profiles to Hopkins with Levis have finished as the WR15 with 15.8 points per game.

Tennessee faces the Jaguars this weekend, who boast the fifth-toughest rushing defense from yardage (86.4) and TD (0.50) per game. However, their secondary hasn’t been nearly as strong, allowing the fourth-most (277.9) yards and fifth-most TDs (1.6) — creating a potential funnel situation.

The 31-year-old WR comes in at 55.5 receiving yards in Underdog Pick’em this weekend — a number he has bested in two of three games with Levis. He has a projection of 71.4 yards and averages 65.6 yards per game.

Hopkins is my WR16 and offers high-end WR1 upside.

Tier 4 – Marquise Brown

Brown was left out of the fun with only 3.8 fantasy points in Kyler Murray’s much-anticipated return. Instead, Trey McBride went bananas with nine targets (30%), scoring 21.1 points. Since McBride took over the starting TE role, Brown has averaged only 8.3 points per game.

However, we saw big target-share games from Zach Ertz earlier in the season, and Brown was still able to get his. In fact, even over this three-game stretch, Brown’s average target share is 24%, and he had a season-high 39% in Week 9.

The bottom line is that Brown is still a high-end target earner — 26% target share for the season — who just got a QB upgrade in the accuracy department. In Murray’s first game, the team had their second-highest passing yardage total (249) and yards per attempt mark (7.8) of the year.

Good things are coming for Brown, and he gets the eighth-best passing matchup on the slate against a Texans defense that allows 264 receiving yards per game. With how well Houston’s offense has played recently, plus the return of Murray, this game carries sneaky shootout potential.

Brown is a top-50 play out of all RB, WR and TE options and offers a WR1 ceiling in his range of outcomes.

Tight End Rankings & Tiers - Week 11

Reminder: I have leveled my tiers across RB, WR and TE to help with flex lineup decisions. So, getting to Tier 1 is hard — often, Tier 2 is where you will find my highest-ranked TE.

Tier 4 – Sam LaPorta

With how well McBride and Dalton Kincaid have performed over the last few games, some hype around LaPorta has faded. However, the rookie is still the No. 4 TE on the season, averaging 13.2 points per game. 

He ranks No. 4 in targets per route run (TPRR) out of all TEs with at least 150 routes and ranks seventh in yards per route run (YPRR) at 1.75.

Amon-Ra St. Brown remains the alpha in this passing attack, but none of the other pass catchers outside of LaPorta have stepped up — leading to a 52% target share between those two players.

In a Lions offense converting 28% of drives into TDs — the fifth-most in the NFL — the rookie TE is in a great situation. This weekend, the Lions carry the second-highest team total (27.75) against a Bears passing defense that allows the sixth-most points per game (33.6) to pass catchers. 

LaPorta is my TE4 this weekend and is a borderline top-50 flex option in a game where he carries multi-TD upside.