With the fantasy playoffs for most just four weeks away, managers need their rosters in a spot that they are comfortable with. Surefire studs have been disappointing and no-name players have been showing out on a week-to-week basis.

Hopefully, your lineup has the luxury of being in a stable position because everyone seems to be scrambling for options as Week 11 approaches. Coming off of another strange week of NFL football, here are your risers and fallers heading into this week. 

Week 11 Fantasy Football Risers

Antonio Gibson (RB, WAS)

Coming off of a bye, the question surrounding Antonio Gibson was whether or not a week of rest would help him recover from the shin injury he has been battling through all season. Despite going up against the Buccaneers’ brick wall run defense, Gibson managed to have a productive day in Washington’s upset win. He finished with 24 carries for 64 yards and 2 touchdowns in addition to 2 receptions for 14 yards. 

While his 2.6 yards per carry isn’t the most impressive stat in the world, the main stat we should be focusing on is the 24 carries. That number of carries for Gibson would’ve seemed like a pipe dream just a couple of weeks ago after he got out-touched by Jaret Patterson. These 24 carries could mean that Gibson is in line for the workload he deserves as his shin is looking better than before. 

DeVonta Smith (WR, PHI)

DeVonta Smith has been a force at receiver during these past couple of weeks. In the Eagles’ matchups against the Chargers and the Broncos, Smith has firmly placed himself in as Jalen Hurts’ favorite target. While he had 1 touchdown in the first 8 weeks, he’s managed to come down with 3 in the past two along with 182 receiving yards. With Jalen Hurts coming into form, Smith is finally seeing a steady and valuable target share in this Eagles’ offense. 

When looking at rest-of-season schedules, the Eagles have the easiest wide receiver schedule in the NFL. That should bode very well for Smith and the value he has on fantasy rosters for the remainder of the season. In the case of DeVonta Smith, we could be seeing a similar rookie breakout to what we saw last year with Brandon Aiyuk, who was incredibly valuable for fantasy managers during playoff runs. 

A.J. Dillon (RB, GB)

A.J. Dillon’s touches have been ticking up throughout the season and now he has a real opportunity to show what he can offer with the recent injury to Aaron Jones. Dillon’s efficiency wasn’t amazing in an ugly game against the Seahawks where he averaged only 3.1 yards-per-carry. His opportunity, however, will be heavy in the workhorse role he has inherited.

With Aaron Jones out of the backfield, Dillon received 23 total touches and that number should continue to be around there as the Packers take on the Vikings in Minnesota during Week 11. Hopefully Green Bay can be a little more effective on offense than they were against Seattle and if they are, Dillon could be the recipient of a huge fantasy day.

Christian McCaffrey (RB, CAR)

CMAC is back and he was impressive during the Panthers stomping of the Cardinals in Week 10. He finished with 161 total yards on 13 carries as well as 10 receptions which resulted in a stellar fantasy output. He did get vultured at the goal line by Cam Newton and that should continue to happen with Cam back at quarterback. 

However, the offense should be running much more efficiently without Sam Darnold and there will be plenty of check-downs to McCaffrey as Newton doesn’t have the shoulder he once possessed to provide an effective deep ball. Cam Newton returning to the team and McCaffrey coming off of injury should spell much better days for this Carolina offense and fantasy managers of the stud running back. 

Darrel Williams (RB, KC)

Darrel Williams is coming off of a great game where he was a focal point in the Chiefs’ offense that was in desperate need of a return to form. He was alright on the ground with 43 rushing yards but where he really impressed was in the receiving game where he had 9 receptions for 101 yards. One of those catches included a fantastic Randy Moss-style catch for a 38-yard touchdown. 

While Clyde Edwards-Helaire is expected to return very soon, Williams has played admirably in his time as the lead back. This should guarantee him a more solidified role in the offense compared to what he had prior to CEH getting injured. You’re most likely not going to see these performances once Clyde returns, but Williams should still be valuable to fantasy lineups while the Chiefs regain their composure on offense. 

Week 11 Fantasy Football Fallers

T.J. Hockenson (TE, DET)

The Lions are a tragic team to watch with Jared Goff leading their uninspired charge. T.J. Hockenson could easily be seen as the only true weapon in this offense, outside of D’Andre Swift, and yet he was only targeted once in the Lions’ entire Week 10 matchup against the Steelers. For a star player who played almost the entire game, those numbers just can’t happen. Goff is an awful quarterback and we are seeing that on full display without the help of Sean McVay. As long as Jared Goff is leading the Lions, T.J. Hockenson can’t be trusted as a stud for your fantasy lineups. 

Aaron Jones (RB, GB)

Aaron Jones has been a steady source of continued production for fantasy lineups this year but now he is expected to miss a bit of time with an injury. The MCL sprain he suffered is considered minor, so a 1-2 week absence is expected. We don’t really know much more than that but Jones avoiding an extended absence is a major sigh of relief. Jones managers will now have to pivot to a different option at running back for, presumably, the next couple of weeks.

Darren Waller (TE, LV)

The Raiders are in the midst of their patented mid-season collapse. It seems that every year the Raiders are expected to be nothing special in the preseason, then they impress in the early season, then they regress to who we thought they were all along. This most recent Chiefs matchup has nothing to offer for excitement if you’re an owner of any Raiders playmaker, especially Darren Waller. 

Coming into the season, Waller was expected to be a surefire top-3 option at tight end. Now he is seen as one of the larger disappointments in fantasy football. It seems like the Raiders are just struggling to find a way to get Waller involved effectively. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, Waller is able to perform better than he has recently and that might be an easy task considering he’s coming off of an awful game in Week 10. 

Cordarrelle Patterson (RB, ATL)

In a complete blowout against the Cowboys, Atlanta struggled to get anything going. Their swiss army knife, Cordarrelle Patterson, failed to be of any use as he put out a measly 4.4 Half-PPR fantasy points. This performance is certainly an outlier in relation to what Patterson has been able to do on a weekly basis, but it is concerning.

Patterson is also reported to have an injured ankle so that may have played into his recent performance. Patterson is a game-time decision heading into a Thursday night matchup against the Patriots. I’d look to pivot to other options, if possible. 

Marquise Brown (WR, BAL)

The Ravens had a confusing game against the Dolphins in Week 10. They struggled to move their offense against a Dolphins defense that has found its footing in these past couple of weeks and it couldn’t have been a less entertaining game to watch. Marquise Brown struggled with the offense as he finished with 6 receptions for 37 yards on 13 targets.

The targets look nice but he did drop a decent amount of them while failing to move upfield on the ones he did catch. I expect him to bounce back in a more advantageous matchup against the Bears in Week 11 but his Week 10 performance surely left a bad taste in managers’ mouths.