Week 11 of the NFL season has arrived! Thursday Night Football is always hit-or-miss from a fantasy perspective, you can either make or break your week in the first game of the slate.
Let’s highlight some start/sit fantasy football picks for Commanders vs. Eagles on TNF.
TNF Must-Starts
- QB Jalen Hurts
- WR A.J. Brown
- QB Jayden Daniels
- WR Terry McLaurin
- WR DeVonta Smith
- RB Saquon Barkley
Start ‘Em: Dallas Goedert
Goedert has dealt with injury issues this season, but he has been fairly productive on the field, especially when Philly was missing other pass-catching players. He had his best game of the year back in Week 3 against the Saints with 10 catches for 170 yards and 30 fantasy points.
In Week 4, he was very busy again with seven catches, 62 yards and 13.2 fantasy points against the Bucs. After the bye week, though, he injured his hamstring in a Week 6 matchup with the Browns and missed three weeks.
In Week 10, he returned to the field and hauled in two catches for 25 yards and saved his fantasy day with a touchdown.
He played 63% of snaps for the Eagles this week despite spending some time in the injury tent with an ankle issue. That injury would have forced him to sit out Monday’s practice, according to the Eagles’ estimated practice report, but he was upgraded to a limited participant in Tuesday’s estimate.
It looks like he’s on track to play this week against Washington, who has been a slightly above-average matchup for tight ends this season, allowing an average of 37.3 receiving yards per game to the position and five tight end touchdowns in the last six weeks. — Zach Thompson
Start ‘Em: Austin Ekeler
Ekeler has been very good while Brian Robinson Jr. has been sidelined. I wrote that he was a must-start vs. the Steelers without Robinson last week, and he produced 18.1 fantasy points with two touchdowns in the Commanders’ one-point loss.
In the two weeks that Robinson was out, Ekeler had 17.3 and 18.1 fantasy points. Before that, Ekeler had posted double-digit fantasy points in five straight games to start the year but had a smaller role against the Panthers and Bears.
Last week against the Steelers was the first week all season that Ekeler didn’t have multiple receptions. He is averaging 28.3 receiving yards on 2.5 catches per contest.
If Robinson is out this week, Ekeler is a great RB2 against Philly and would be a must-start in almost all formats.
If Robinson returns, Ekeler becomes much higher risk since he may not get all the work. He still has potential as a receiver and goal-line option, though, and would still be my slightly preferred play of the two if both are healthy. –– Zach Thompson
Sit ‘Em: Noah Brown
After being limited to a 3/33/0 receiving line against a stingy Steelers defense last week (6.3 FPTS), Noah Brown draws another tough matchup this Thursday vs. the Eagles. Philadelphia’s defense has been elite against the pass this season, with them giving up the fewest yards per pass in the NFL (5.5). The Eagles are PFF’s highest graded defense this season and Brown’s struggles should continue in this spot.
While Brown owns a decent 16.9% target share this season, the receiver hasn’t been overly productive with this role, with Brown only scoring double-digit FPTS twice this season in eight games. The most obvious path for the receiver to have a productive performance is for him to find the end zone, but this is very unlikely vs. Philadelphia’s stout defense.
Impressively, the Eagles have only yielded one receiving touchdown in their last five games and that came via Ja’Maar Chase, who is obviously a far more talented player than Brown. On the DraftKings Sportsbook, the receiver carries long +270 odds to score a touchdown and his receving yard line also isn’t encouraging (41.5).
Brown’s upside is limited this week and sitting the wideout is the right call in this ugly spot. — Alex Hunter
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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.