Fantasy Football Week 11: Start or Sit Jack Doyle, Jared Cook, or Kyle Rudolph?
Week eleven is upon us, which means that some of us are just two games away from worrying about our fantasy football playoffs. If you’re still reading this, congratulations, the marginally-long slog of the fantasy football season hasn’t broken you yet. Every week, we at Football Absurdity like to highlight players with marginal matchups that you might get a wild hair about. We hope to provide you with some basic facts to help you inform your decisions. This week’s start or sit continues with three TEs who were considered solid TE plays at one point in the season or another, but have recently fallen on more difficult times.
Start or Sit Jack Doyle versus Tennessee
Jack Doyle returned last week to be the absolute target hog that he should be; the guy that will steal all of Eric Ebron’s touches and that explains perfectly why Ebron out-touched him last week. But Doyle is the yardage and targets guy, they’ll say. Well, in his four games he’s played this season, he’s topped sixty yards just once. That puts him as a touchdown-or-bust guy in my mind, and he’s not even the best touchdown-or-bust guy on his own team. His teammate, Eric Ebron, is on pace to tie Rob Gronkowski’s single-season TE touchdown record. This week, he gets the literal worst possible matchup for tight ends, and he hasn’t done much of value in three of his four games this year. I highly doubt that Jack Doyle will become the second tight end to surpass 100 yards against the Titans this season. Granted, if he gets 22 yards, he’ll be just the second TE to pass that number against the Titans, too. They’re good, and they’re a touchdown-or-bust play for tight ends. Doyle isn’t even the best guy to consider on a start or sit basis on his own team in this matchup. Sit him this week.
Start or Sit Jared Cook at Arizona
We warned you. Oh, how we warned you. I even made that pithy little photoshop that is the header. Jared Cook is a beast, they said. Jared Cook is going to feast, they said. Jared Cook is a player on the Oakland Raiders, I said. Cook started the season with a bang, posting two games with at least 100 yards and chipping in two touchdowns in his first four games. Since that stretch, however, he has just one game over 52 yards and has scored just one touchdown. That five-game stretch sees Graham with a cool, cool average line of 3.2 catches for 35.2 yards. That’s a sub-600 yard pace, and he’s doing with without scoring touchdowns. The touchdowns are unlikely to flow in the desert, as no opposing TE has scored against the Cardinals since week two. Maybe he’ll get yardage? He’ll be the second player all season to top 55 passing yards against them. Don’t start or sit Jared Cook. Just jettison him. If you insist on keeping him, sit him.
Start or Sit Kyle Rudolph at Chicago
Kyle Rudolph’s 2018 campaign has gone pretty much the exact opposite as expected. People anticipated a Jordan Reed Lite situation for him in Minnesota, but the presence of guys like Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs precluded that. He hasn’t scored since week three. He hasn’t passed 57 yards since week two. It’s just been a huge disaster for Rudolph’s fantasy owners this season, and given his 76% ownership and bad production, there’s probably a lot of people wondering if they should start or sit him. He’s a clear sit this week. Nevermind that he’s surpassed five targets just once in his last five games, and ignore that he’s caught just seven of his thirteen targets over the last four games. The matchup is one that sucks out loud for Rudolph. The Bears are one of the worst possible matchups this week, as the Bears stymie opposing tight ends. His best bet is a touchdown, but Rudolph’s five ten zone targets on the year have turned into just one catch for four yards. Sit Kyle Rudolph this week, and if he doesn’t produce, consider him one week closer to getting a letter that says, “Dear Baby, Welcome To Dumpsville, Population: You.”
None of these players are great options this weekend, whether through matchup (Rudolph), a crowded TE room and matchup (Doyle) or being Jared Cook (Jared Cook). I would go with them in this order if you were trying to decide who to start or sit:
- Kyle Rudolph
- Jack Doyle
- Jared Cook
If you need more start or sit advice, check out the remainder of our start and sit articles for week eleven!
Fantasy Football Week 11: Start or Sit Andy Dalton, Kirk Cousins, or Alex Smith?
Fantasy Football Week 11: Start or Sit Eli Manning, Dak Prescott, or Josh Rosen?
Fantasy Football Week 11: Start or Sit Alshon Jeffery, Amari Cooper, or T.Y. Hilton?
Fantasy Football Week 11: Start or Sit Tevin Coleman, Chris Carson, or Dalvin Cook?
Fantasy Football Week 11: Start or Sit Tyler Boyd, Chris Godwin, or Courtland Sutton?
Fantasy Football Week 11: Start or Sit Alex Collins, Doug Martin, or Peyton Barber?
Fantasy Football Week 11: Start or Sit Vance McDonald, O.J. Howard, or Jeff Heuerman?
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