Week 11 started with a bang, as Saquon Barkley went bananas for 33.8 fantasy points on Thursday night. Heading into Sunday night, Breece Hall’s 31.1 points was the only runner close to Barkley’s big total. In all, we’ve seen six total players score over 30 fantasy points, including at least one who likely wasn’t on your fantasy bingo card.
See below for more on that!
On the flip side, we also saw what we’re hoping isn’t a sign of (bad) things to come from one of the best wideouts in fantasy football, while a bunch of big-name backs had stinkers.
With that said, here’s my Fabs’ Five Storylines from Week 11 that stood out the most. For all of the latest news and fantasy advice, be sure to check out Fantasy Dirt five days a week!
Taysom Hill runs wild against Cleveland
Fantasy managers who stuck with Hill after last week’s stinker were rewarded with a huge stat line in a 35-14 win over the Browns. He rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns and caught eight passes for 50 yards to finish with a career-best 41.5 fantasy points. That’s the 12th-most points ever scored by a tight end in a game in NFL history. If you were wondering, Kellen Winslow has the most (57.4 points for the San Diego Chargers back in 1981).
Hill’s 138 rushing yards is also the most for a tight end, as he broke his previous record of 112 yards in 2022. While the Saints do have a bye next week, he should still be added in fantasy leagues for the regular season stretch and the fantasy postseason.
Do We Have Anthony Richardson … 3.0?
We all loved Richardson version 1.0, which occurred as a rookie before he was lost or the season with an injury. Richardson 2.0 wasn’t great, as he struggled in his first six starts of 2024 before being benched for Joe Flacco. We saw version 3.0 this week, and it looked a lot like AR 1.0 … that’s good news for fantasy fans. He completed 20 of 30 passes for 272 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, while also rushing for 32 yards and two more scores, including what was the game-winner. In all, Richardson finished with a season-high 28.1 fantasy points. He’s actually available in more than 50 percent of ESPN leagues, so the Florida product should be added and probably started with six teams off next week.
Jared Goff Roars With Four Touchdowns
Goff had been bad in his last two games, scoring a combined 17.4 fantasy points. He also threw five interceptions in last week’s win over the Texans, so fantasy managers might have hesitated to start him. That would have been a mistake, as he completed 82.6 percent of his passes, threw for 412 yards with four touchdowns, and scored 34.6 fantasy points. His scoring strikes went to Amon-Ra St. Brown (27 yards), Jameson Williams (64 yards), Brock Wright (five yards), and St. Brown again (nine yards). This was Goff’s best fantasy game of the season, and he gets a plus matchup against the Colts next on the schedule.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Matthew Stafford, who was dealt to the Los Angeles Rams in a deal that included Goff several years back. He too threw four touchdowns, including two to Cooper Kupp and one to Puka Nacua, and finished with 27.8 points.
Bo Nix joined the four-touchdown party too, throwing for a quartet of scores in a blowout win over the Falcons. If he’s on the waiver wire, Nix needs to be a priority addition.
Time To Worry About Justin Jefferson?
Jefferson isn’t always going to put up big numbers, but when he fails to do it in two straight games, including one against the lowly Jaguars, it raises concerns. The veteran posted just 81 yards and 14.1 fantasy points in a win over the Titans (without CB L’Jarius Sneed), and he’s now scored a combined 23.9 points in his last two games. Jefferson also hasn’t scored a touchdown in four straight games, and he’s hit paydirt once in his last six contests. You’re never going to bench J.J., but it would be nice to see him have one of those huge stat lines to ease our fantasy minds. Jefferson faces the Bears next on the schedule.
Big-Name Running Backs Disappoint
While backs like Barkley, Hall, David Montgomery and Josh Jacobs thrived, we also saw a lot of the big boys post less-than-stellar totals. Christian McCaffrey was held to just 14.6 points (underwhelming for him), Alvin Kamara had just 12.9 points, and Derrick Henry was held under 11 points. The King has now scored no more than 14.7 points in three of his last four games. The same went for Bijan Robinson (10.3 points), and Kyren Williams, Jonathan Taylor, Kareem Hunt, Aaron Jones, and Tony Pollard were all held to single digits.
In Week 12, fantasy fans will be without Robinson, Kamara, Hall, James Cook, and Chase Brown due to the impending bye-mageddon, so be sure to hit that fantasy waiver wire!
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fabs Five Week 11 Fantasy Storylines: Taysom Hill Runs Wild For Fantasy Managers.
