NFL Week 11 inactives and fantasy tips: George Kittle out, Amari Cooper active

Welcome to the Week 11 NFL fantasy and betting cheat sheet, a one-stop-shop for The Athletic’s game previews, injury and weather updates, and expert analysis. Bookmark this page and check back often, as we offer regular updates to assist with fantasy lineups and betting decisions.

Player rankings referenced in this article are current as of 8 a.m. ET, Nov. 17. For updated rankings, see the “Fantasy football player rankings” section.

The latest NFL news and headlines

Last updated: 3 p.m. ET, Nov. 17

Injury news
Week 11 flex fliers | Fantasy football player rankings
Featured games | Next week’s waiver wire

Injury news

Updated through 3 p.m. ET, Nov. 17

Sunday 4 p.m.

Keon Coleman, WR, Bills (wrist) — Out
Amari Cooper, WR, Bills (wrist) — Active
Cooper is officially active for Week 11. Coleman has been ruled out ahead of Week 11, which means Khalil Shakir should see more targets. Shakir is averaging 12.59 PPR points per game for the year and has more targets (54) than anyone on the team outside of Dalton Kincaid (59). In Week 10, Shakir had 58 yards receiving on six receptions. His best game came against the Seahawks in Week 8 when he had over 100 yards receiving and 19.9 PPR points.

Dalton Kincaid, TE, Bills (knee) — Out
Kincaid has been ruled out after suffering a knee injury in Week 10 during a win over the Colts. Dawson Knox is now a great Week 11 TE streaming option.

George Kittle, TE, 49ers (hamstring) — Out
Kittle is officially out for Week 11. Eric Saubert and Jake Tonges are behind Kittle on the depth chart, but the 49ers receivers may benefit the most from Kittle’s absence. Fantasy players know Deebo Samuel’s ceiling, but Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall have been productive this season as well. Pearsall has averaged 11.37 PPR points since returning from injury and had 17.3 in Week 10. Jennings had 16.3 PPR points in Week 10 and an unbelievable 46.5 in Week 3; however, he’s also had three games with under 6 PPR points.

Noah Fant, TE, Seahawks (groin) — Out
Fant has been ruled out ahead of Week 11. A fourth-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, AJ Barner is next on the depth chart, and maybe Seattle will see what they have in him. So far this year, he’s caught all eight of his targets and has a TD reception under his belt.

Harrison Butker, K, Chiefs (knee) — Injured reserve
Butker is heading to the IR after a successful meniscus trim, but Kansas City hopes he’ll be back for the end of the season and the playoffs. The Chiefs signed Spencer Shrader off the Jets’ practice squad as Butker’s replacement.

Sunday Night Football

Tee Higgins, WR, Bengals (quadriceps) — Expected to play
Higgins has only played in five games this year and hasn’t seen the field since Week 8, but he’s off the injury report, and head coach Zac Taylor told reporters that Higgins is expected to play in Week 11. Joe Burrow is putting up MVP numbers this year, and Higgins averaged 5.8 receptions, 68.2 receiving yards, and 16.22 PPR points per game before his injury, so when he returns, Higgins is a great WR2/flex option.

Monday Night Football

Nico Collins, WR, Texans (hamstring) — Expected to play
According to DJ Bien-Aime at ESPN.com, Collins is practicing this week with the expectation that he’ll play against Dallas on Monday Night Football. Collins is a no-brainer every-week fantasy starter when healthy, and with Stefon Diggs out, Tank Dell is a viable flex option each week.

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Cowboys (back) — Questionable
Lamb was added to the injury report on Saturday and is now questionable for Week 11. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that head coach Mike McCarthy said Lamb’s status for Monday is “not of high concern.” Prescott is on IR and underwent surgery for a partial avulsion of his right hamstring, according to Dallas Morning News. With Cooper Rush or Trey Lance under center, Dallas receivers outside of Lamb are very hard to trust, though newly acquired Jonathan Mingo has been impressive in practice.

Jake Ciely’s Week 11 fantasy football player rankings

Find out Jake’s top QB, RB, WR and TE for the week!

• There is no perfect widget out there, sadly, still. I know many view this on your phone, but 1) use the rankings widget on a PC/laptop/etc. if possible or 2) open in your phone’s browser, especially for Android users, to get the scrolling to work (or Android people can try a two-finger scroll).
• ECR = “Expert” Consensus Ranking (which isn’t updated by everyone consistently, so take with a grain of salt).
• Updated regularly, so check up to lineups locking.

Get Ciely’s full Week 11 analysis. Plus sleepers and projections.

Featured games

Game-specific previews and live updates are available on the day of the game.

Sunday afternoon

Kansas City Chiefs (9-0) vs. Buffalo Bills (8-2)

• Venue: Highmark Stadium — Orchard Park, N.Y.
• Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
• TV: CBS
• Streaming: Fubo (try for free)

The Chiefs are undefeated, but their wins haven’t always been pretty. Luck was on their side in Week 10 when they beat the Broncos by blocking a field goal in the game’s final seconds. But the Bills > the Broncos and are favored heading into Week 11 despite having two losses to Kansas City’s zero.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has been fallible this season. He ranks 34th in air yards per attempt (which hasn’t helped Xavier Worthy) and has thrown nine interceptions to 12 touchdowns. But he’s an accurate passer with the fifth-ranked completion percentage (69.5%) in the league, finds ways to win, and his chemistry with Travis Kelce is back in full force. Kelce has been targeted 40 times in the last three weeks, compared to DeAndre Hopkins’ 17 targets and Worthy’s 14.

The Chiefs’ running game is truly lagging, though. Kareem Hunt has been a welcome addition during Isiah Pacheco’s injury, but he’s averaging only 3.8 yards per carry (luckily, the Bills defense allows 4.9 yards per carry on average).

Steve Spagnuolo’s defense has kept the Chiefs in games all season. They rank fourth in yards allowed per game, third in rushing yards allowed per game, and second in yards allowed per rush, so cap expectations for James Cook and Ray Davis.

Given the Chiefs’ strong rush defense, Bills QB Josh Allen may pass a lot. Amari Cooper is Allen’s No. 1 target. With Cooper out in Week 10, Khalil Shakir had nine targets, followed by Curtis Samuel at eight and Dalton Kincaid with five. As noted above, now that Kincaid is out, Dawson Knox could have an expanded role.

Read the full preview.

Sunday night

Cincinnati Bengals (4-6) vs. Los Angeles Chargers (6-3)

• Venue: SoFi Stadium — Inglewood, Calif.
• Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC, Peacock
• Streaming: Fubo (try for free)

The odds are tight, but the Chargers are narrowly favored at home when they host the Bengals in Week 11. Jim Harbaugh has given the Chargers life in his first season as head coach, building an internet-viral connection with Justin Herbert. While Harbaugh relies on and favors the run, Herbert averaged 31.8 passing attempts in Weeks 4-9 compared to 20.5 in Weeks 1-3. His passer rating is 103.2, and his yards per attempt skyrocketed from 5.5 in Week 1 to 10.4 in Week 9 and 9.1 in Week 10.

Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston are the top two receivers in Los Angeles, averaging 12.24 and 11.60 fantasy points, respectively. McConkey is a good flex play averaging 4.11 receptions on six targets per game, and in Week 8, he had a 29.1 PPR day, so the ceiling is there. In Johnston’s return from injury in Week 9, he had over 100 receiving yards but only had 24 in Week 10. Johnston is a boom-or-bust player, while McConkey offers more consistency.

An early waiver wire stud, J.K. Dobbins now has to compete with Gus Edwards for touches following Edwards’ return from injury. In Week 10, Dobbins had 15 carries to Edwards’ 10, but Edwards was the more efficient runner with 5.5 yards per carry, while Dobbins had only 3.3 yards per rush. Both RBs may be flex-playable in a pinch, but Dobbins’ value suffers with Edwards back.

The Bengals are also loaded with talent, and their record does not represent their capacity to win. QB Joe Burrow has been excellent this season, throwing for the most yards in the league (2,672) with a league-leading (three-way tie) 24 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He also has the second-highest passer rating (108.1) behind only Lamar Jackson’s MVP-race rating of 123.2. As seen in Week 10, when Ja’Marr Chase finished with 55.4 PPR points, Burrow and Chase have chemistry with a capital “C.”

Read the full preview.

Monday night

Houston Texans (6-4) vs. Dallas Cowboys (3-6)

• Venue: AT&T Stadium — Arlington, Texas
• Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN, ABC
• Streaming: Fubo (try for free)

C.J. Stroud has struggled since Nico Collins got injured, but Houston’s contest against Dallas is the perfect opportunity for the Texans to get their groove back. Heavily favored, Houston and Stroud should take down the ailing Cowboys with ease, especially with Collins’ expected return in Week 11.

Without Collins, Stroud has not exceeded 13 fantasy points in any game and had a 5.3-point performance in Week 7. Prior to losing Collins, Stroud averaged 16.8 points per game. Dallas is absolutely flailing right now and surrendering 362.9 yards per game, 152.1 of them rushing (31st). The Cowboys are also ranked last in opponent net yards per pass attempt, which gives Stroud the opportunity for redemption and to rebuild confidence in Week 11.

While Tank Dell has seen a lot of targets (26) in Collins’ (and, in the last two weeks, Stefon Diggs’) absence, he is not a WR1 and can benefit from a defensive focus on Collins. Dell’s sweet spot may come with Collins in (diverting coverage) and Diggs out (relinquishing air yards and red zone targets). As always, Joe Mixon is an every-week fantasy RB1 and Ciely’s RB2 this week.

It’s hard to muster excitement for Dallas in this one. The only viable fantasy starts on this team are Rico Dowdle (Ciely’s RB28) and CeeDee Lamb (WR30 — 30!) if he plays, with Cooper Rush under center. In Dak Prescott’s absence, Dowdle had 8.6 PPR points, Lamb had 8.4, and kicker Brandon Aubrey was third on the team with 7.0. What else is there to say? Literally, nothing.

Read the full preview (coming Monday).

 Flex fliers

Scott Engel’s weekly guide to last-minute free-agent additions.

Ricky Pearsall, WR, SF (57 percent): The rookie is healthy now and should continue to emerge as a quality contributor to the San Francisco passing game. Pearsall caught his first NFL TD pass last week. Seattle ranks 24th in fantasy points per game allowed to WRs and will be heavily concerned with containing the 49ers’ other top playmakers.

— Engel

Discover all of Engel’s recommendations for Week 11.

Next week’s waiver wire

John Laghezza uses a patented, data-backed, formulaic approach to get ahead of next week’s waivers. 

Suboptimal RB options are the new norm if you whiff on the first waiver run this year. That said, it’s par for the course at this stage of the season, when it becomes more about identifying the crop of “next men up.” With RB committees as the new standard, you’ll be hard-pressed to find immediate production.

If I had to pick my favorite combination of payout for now and later, at only 25 percent rostered, I would go back to the well (again) to stash Bills backup Ray Davis. I still think Buffalo’s fourth-round rookie out of Kentucky represents the best case for a stash — standalone fantasy floor with league-winning upside in the case of a serious injury to James Cook.

For managers with immediate needs who were left empty-handed with their starting RB on the bye, check the availability of Tennessee backup Tyjae Spears. At only 40 percent rostered on Yahoo, Spears returned from injury to handle 43 percent of the Titans’ RB opportunities. He’s skilled as a pass-catcher and could see an expanded role in negative game scripts as a perennial underdog.

— Laghezza

Read all of Laghezza’s recommendations.

(Photo of George Kittle: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)