Boom or Bench: Advice for Week 11's toughest start/sit decisions

Boom or Bench provides insight and analysis to help you handle your difficult fantasy football starting lineup decisions every week.

QB: Cardinals' Jacoby Brissett vs. 49ers

Brissett has averaged 279.5 passing yards in his four starts this year, throwing two touchdowns in each and only one interception across all of them. He's also averaging 20 rushing yards through the starts and hasn't finished worse than QB12 in them.

The 32-year-old has a chance to extend his solid streak against a 49ers defense that has allowed 19 touchdown passes and has recorded just one interception. Additionally, San Francisco has surrendered the eighth-most passing yards this season.

Projection: 241 passing yards, 2 TDs, 16 rushing yards

Other QBs primed to boom:

• Bengals' Joe Flacco at Steelers

• Packers' Jordan Love at Giants

RB: Jaguars' Travis Etienne vs. Chargers

Etienne had a string of underwhelming performances prior to the Jaguars' bye week. However, he's been excellent since, finishing as RB10 and RB11 in half-PPR leagues over the last two weeks against the Raiders and Texans, respectively. Both of those defenses have been solid at limiting tailbacks this season.

The 26-year-old's matchup this week against the Chargers is slightly better, and it takes place at home rather than on the road like his last two games. Although Los Angeles hasn't allowed an exceptional amount of yardage, it hasn't done a great job at keeping tailbacks out of the end zone. The Chargers have surrendered eight rushing touchdowns this campaign - tied for the seventh most in the league.

Projection: 78 rushing yards, 40 receiving yards, 3 receptions, TD

RB: Texans' Woody Marks at Titans

Both Marks and Nick Chubb could post strong performances against this soft Titans defense, as no team has allowed more rushing (12) or scrimmage touchdowns (14) to running backs this season. Tennessee has also given up the eighth-most rushing yards to the position.

Marks gets the nod over Chubb here after handling 80% of Houston's offensive snaps last week. With 81 scrimmage yards and a touchdown on 16 touches, Marks finished as RB10 in half-PPR leagues, marking his second top-10 result of the season. He produced his first top-10 performance in the Texans' first matchup against the Titans as an RB6.

Projection: 83 rushing yards, 15 receiving yards, 2 receptions, TD

Other RBs primed to boom:

• Browns' Quinshon Judkins vs. Ravens

• Steelers' Jaylen Warren vs. Bengals

WR: Vikings' Jordan Addison vs. Bears

Addison didn't have a great game against the Ravens last week, recording 35 yards on three receptions and no touchdowns. Still, there's reason to be positive, as he drew 11 targets while playing 95% of the snaps.

He should have a better performance against a Bears team that's allowing a slightly higher catch rate than Baltimore and the ninth-most receiving yards to wideouts this season. Notably, Chicago has allowed more receiving touchdowns to receivers than every team except the Cowboys.

Projection: 89 receiving yards, 4 receptions, TD

WR: Browns' Jerry Jeudy vs. Ravens

Jeudy's quarterback situation has held him back this campaign, but he showed last week against the Jets that he can still post strong fantasy numbers. The 26-year-old had 12 targets, hauling in six of them for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Another solid game should be on the table against a Ravens defense struggling to contain wideouts. Baltimore ranks tied for sixth in touchdowns, tied for fifth in receptions, and seventh in receiving yards allowed to wideouts this year. Of the teams that have played nine games, only two clubs have surrendered more yardage to the position than the Ravens.

Projection: 82 receiving yards, 5 receptions, TD

Other WRs primed to boom:

• Bills' Khalil Shakir vs. Buccaneers

• Seahawks' Cooper Kupp at Rams

TE: Giants' Theo Johnson vs. Packers

Johnson has produced solid outings in three of his last four games despite playing opponents that range from excellent to below average at preventing tight ends from scoring fantasy points. He gets another good matchup this weekend against Green Bay.

The Packers have allowed the seventh-most receptions to tight ends, but the gap between them and the bottom team is just four catches. And while Green Bay has been above average at preventing the position from racking up yards, it's also conceded five touchdowns to tight ends. A high-volume game with a score is in play for Johnson, even with Jameis Winston expected to start Sunday.

Projection: 51 receiving yards, 7 receptions, TD

Other TEs primed to boom:

• Falcons' Kyle Pitts vs. Panthers

• Commanders' Zach Ertz at Dolphins

QB: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence vs. Chargers

Only the Broncos and the Texans are allowing fewer fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season. In a way, that's almost a good thing for Lawrence because he should have a slightly better outing than last week against Houston. However, slightly better than a QB21 finish still isn't worth starting.

Denver and Philadelphia are the only two teams that have given up fewer passing touchdowns than the Chargers, and only three squads have more interceptions than Los Angeles' nine. Combine all that with the fact that Lawrence has thrown two touchdowns against two interceptions across the last three games, and it's enough to bench the Jaguars' signal-caller this week.

Projection: 188 passing yards, INT, 21 rushing yards

Other QBs to bench:

• Cowboys' Dak Prescott at Raiders

• 49ers' Mac Jones/Brock Purdy at Cardinals

RB: Bengals' Chase Brown at Steelers

Although Brown bounced back from a tough start to his season in his last two games, he'll have a difficult time continuing his resurgence Sunday. The Steelers have given up only five scrimmage touchdowns to running backs in 2025 and have been above average at limiting them from accumulating rushing and receiving yards.

Brown finished as RB17 against the Steelers earlier this season, but he scored only 11 fantasy points. The 25-year-old also had runs of 27 and 37 yards in that contest, meaning 59% of his rushing production came on two long runs. That's difficult to replicate and even harder to trust.

Projection: 40 rushing yards, 28 receiving yards, 4 receptions

RB: Seahawks' Zach Charbonnet at Rams

No NFL team is allowing fewer half-PPR fantasy points per game to running backs than the Rams, who have given up just 659 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to tailbacks this season. And although Los Angeles ranks closer to the league average in receiving yards allowed to backs (282), Charbonnet has only seven receptions on eight targets in 2025.

The Rams struggle with limiting wide receivers, ranking below average in preventing them from scoring fantasy points. That should mean even more opportunities for Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Co. to rack up points, leaving Charbonnet with the proverbial crumbs.

Projection: 43 rushing yards, 12 receiving yards, 1 reception

Other RBs to bench:

• Giants' Tyrone Tracy vs. Packers

• Titans' Tony Pollard vs Texans

WR: Broncos' Courtland Sutton vs. Chiefs

Sutton hasn't posted double-digit half-PPR points since Week 7 against the Giants. His receiving yardage has decreased in every game since then. And he has one touchdown since Week 5. That's rough momentum to take into a matchup with the Chiefs.

Kansas City is the only team in the NFL that has given up fewer than 1,000 receiving yards to wideouts this year, and only five clubs have surrendered fewer touchdowns to the position (six). Sutton has scored in his last four games against the Chiefs, but that streak is likely to end.

Projection: 58 receiving yards, 4 receptions

WR: Commanders' Deebo Samuel at Dolphins

Similar to Sutton, Samuel has put together a string of underwhelming performances, and he's set to take on a top-eight unit at limiting receivers. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have allowed 98 catches (tied for 10th lowest in the NFL) for 1,096 yards (third lowest) and nine touchdowns to wideouts this season.

Samuel will also be catching passes from Marcus Mariota this week, with Jayden Daniels still dealing with a dislocated elbow. Samuel has finished as WR70, WR12, WR71, and WR28 in Mariota's four starts this campaign. That's far too risky to rely on when combined with the subpar matchup.

Projection: 8 rushing yards, 37 receiving yards, 3 receptions

Other WRs to bench:

• Jaguars' Jakobi Meyers vs. Chargers

• Panthers' Tetairoa McMillan at Falcons

TE: Cowboys' Jake Ferguson at Raiders

Ferguson has been one of fantasy's best tight ends this year, but a large part of the production stems from a four-game run in which the 26-year-old scored six touchdowns, along with two early-season outings where he had 12 and 14 targets. However, over his last two games, he's managed just five receptions for 50 yards on eight targets - including getting completely shutout by the Broncos.

Ferguson should be a bit more involved this week, but the Raiders have been excellent at keeping tight ends in check this campaign. They've conceded just 33 receptions, 375 yards, and a pair of touchdowns to the position - all top-five marks in the NFL.

Projection: 42 receiving yards, 5 receptions

Other TEs to bench:

• Browns' Harold Fannin/David Njoku vs. Ravens

• Ravens' Mark Andrews at Browns

Andrew Dixon is a contributing fantasy analyst for theScore.