Fantasy Football Week 11 Rankings Review: Tyrod Taylor up, Carson Palmer down

If you need a QB for this week, who can save you? Chris Towers digs into our experts' rankings for Week 11 of the Fantasy football season.

Week 11 Rankings: Standard | PPR

Our trio of experts -- Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings -- publish their first rankings of the week every Tuesday, and Chris Towers is here to break them down for the week ahead.

1. Which waiver-wire QB has the most upside?

• Jamey: Tyrod Taylor
• Dave: Tyrod Taylor
• Heath: Colin Kaepernick

This has been a disappointing season for Taylor so far, and he clearly misses the downfield threat Sammy Watkins poses. Still, he remains a solid enough Fantasy option thanks to his rushing ability, especially when he has a good matchup. It's not clear if Week 11 provides that opportunity, with the Bengals on the schedule. But if you're looking for upside, Taylor always brings that to the table, thanks to his rushing ability.

Even in a tough matchup against the Seahawks last week, he rushed for 43 yards and a score, and ended up with 25 Fantasy points, in large part thanks to his rushing ability. Playing on a short week could make the Bengals' job of preparing for Taylor even tougher, so don't be shocked if he runs wild this week.

Speaking of running, there's definitely a theme here with Heath picking Kaepernick. He has actually been a useful Fantasy option since taking over as the starter, averaging 22.0 Fantasy points per game, and his rushing ability plays a huge part in that, obviously. The Patriots tend to do a pretty good job of taking away what you want to do on offense, and when it comes to this 49ers' offense, that means the read-option run with Kaepernick and Carlos Hyde. However, what makes that play so tough for defenses is that it's designed to take whatever the defense gives you.

If the Patriots make slowing down Kaepernick a priority, that could lead to more opportunities for Hyde, but the opposite could also hold true. Neither Kaepernick nor Taylor is a particularly safe Fantasy option, but both represent solid, high-variance plays for Fantasy players on any given week.

• Jamey: Jameis Winston
• Dave: Carson Palmer
• Heath: Carson Palmer

Whether it is because he has regressed, the wide receivers aren't as good, or the offensive line has taken a step back, Carson Palmer clearly isn't the same player he was last season for Fantasy. He has put up big passing numbers lately, racking up 1,081 yards over his last three games, but has just four touchdowns to show for it. That makes him a solid candidate for some much-needed touchdown regression, but this might not be the week for it to go down.

The Vikings' defense has fallen off a bit over the past few weeks, but it still has been the second-stingiest defense to opposing quarterbacks in the league, having allowed 20 Fantasy points to an opposing passer just once. Palmer is unlikely to keep throwing for 300 yards every week without also finding the end zone, but it might be too much to ask him to reverse that trend against this defense -- especially with John Brown and possibly Larry Fitzgerald gimpy.

When you watch Jameis Winston, it often looks pretty ugly. He misses open throws constantly and takes unnecessary risks a bit too often given where he still is on his development curve. On the other hand, he has 10 touchdowns with just two interceptions in four games since his bye week, so it's hard to argue with the results for Fantasy players lately.

You'll take 24.3 Fantasy points per game from anyone, no matter how it looks. However, Winston's luck may be about to run out because he has to face the Chiefs this week and a matchup against the Seahawks in Week 12. It might not just be tough to start Winston this week, it might be tough to roster him. However, he does get the Saints twice in the Fantasy playoffs.

3. Which injury-replacement RB ranks highest?

• Jamey: C.J. Prosise
• Dave: C.J. Prosise
• Heath: C.J. Prosise

Well, that's pretty easy. Even if Thomas Rawls comes back this week, Prosise has pretty clearly carved out a role for himself in this Seahawks' offense by dint of his ability to do something seemingly nobody else in the backfield can -- catch passes. Rawls and Christine Michael will get opportunities in the running game, and they will have to compete with one another for carries moving forward.

Prosise, however, has his clear-cut role, and he has excelled in it lately, topping 80 receiving yards in two of the last three games. His work as a runner has left something to be desired, but they trust him enough even there to give him 17 carries last week, so there's an outside chance he can just take this job and run away with it altogether. That seems unlikely, but as long as Russell Wilson is incorporating him into the passing game, Prosise looks like he should have pretty solid value moving forward.

4. Which typical must-start RB are you sitting?

• Jamey: Ryan Mathews
• Dave: Terrance West
• Heath: "HAHAHA. No."

Heath's point is pretty clear. There are so few reliable Fantasy options at the position, you can't really be too worried about about matchups at this point. I've been trying to come up with a name for the players like Jonathan Stewart and Todd Gurley, who are too good, or have too consistent a role, to sit, but rarely do enough to make you feel good about starting them. They exist in Fantasy purgatory.

Congratulations, Ryan Mathews owners. You held on to him as his role in the offense evaporated, and were finally rewarded with a monstrous two-touchdown, 100-yard performance in Week 10. Now, send him right back to the bench. Mathews has to face the Seahawks, who remain a tough matchup. Yes, they have given up 20-plus points to opposing running backs over the last two games, however even in those two contests, they have surrendered just 3.6 yards per carry to opposing backs.

LeGarrette Blount and LeSean McCoy found the end zone against Seattle, but they weren't great overall, and Mathews is still dealing with a pretty limited role. Despite getting 21 touches in Week 10, he was on the field for just 26 snaps, still behind Darren Sproles. There are a lot of signs pointing to Week 10 being a fluke for Mathews, and if you can manage to sell him off to the highest bidder right now, it wouldn't be a bad idea.

If Kenneth Dixon can show anything, it feels like West might lose his job soon. Dixon made an impact in the passing game last week, and ended up with 80 all-purpose yards, which could be the beginning of the end for West's time as the workhorse in Baltimore. Even if it isn't, we're four weeks removed from West's last double-digit Fantasy effort, and has to face a Cowboys' team that grinds games out, limits possessions and keeps opposing offenses off the field as much as any team in the league.

Without volume, it's hard to get excited about West.

5. Who is my best Alshon Jeffery replacement on waivers?

• Jamey: Rishard Matthews
• Dave: Rishard Matthews
• Heath: Kenny Britt

Matthews has been a solid contributor for a while now, having having scored in double figures in Fantasy points in four of the past six games, while scoring nine in one of the others. Marcus Mariota's apparent ascension into the upper tier of quarterbacks has taken Matthews with him, and he looks like a pretty reliable Fantasy option at this point.

I'm not entirely sold on that -- he has more than five targets in just two of the past six, and is averaging just over 50 yards per game in that span, a pretty paltry amount. Still, Matthews may be able to keep it up for one more week, with a matchup against the lowly Colts' defense. Even if this isn't sustainable, he is worth rolling the dice on for this week.

There's something ironic about Kenny Britt's long-awaited breakout finally coming around when he has arguably the worst quarterback play of his career. Case Keenum has been an abject disaster for the Rams, and yet Britt is enjoying a terrific season. He is on pace for 1,200-plus yards, and should set his career-high in receiving yards some time this week -- he needs just 82 yards to get there.

This Dolphins defense should be in line for a nice game against the Rams, but Miami is at its best in the front seven, which is why Tyrell Williams still managed to go off for 125 yards and a score despite Miami coming up with four sacks and four interceptions in Week 10. Britt is the most unlikely post-hype breakout player of all time, but it's working, so why not go with it?

6. Which top-10 WR is riskiest this week?

• Jamey: Terrelle Pryor
• Dave: Jordy Nelson
• Heath: Brandin Cooks

There's a lot of risk here! Pryor has been terrific this season, but it's awfully hard to trust him even now. Not that it's his fault, of course. Pryor pretty clearly deserves to be this team's No. 1 receiver, and looks like one of the more talented receivers in the league, given his inexperience. However, his yardage totals have been inconsistent, with just two games over 50 receiving yards in his past seven games.

The Browns' quarterback play remains lackluster, and Pryor is sort of a boom-or-bust option as a No. 2 wide receiver. The good news is, the Browns' probably have to throw the ball a lot in Week 11 just to stay within two scores of the Steelers, so he could go boom.

The overall numbers look really good for Nelson, but they don't quite tell the story of how up-and-down his season has been. He's riding another crest right now, and can hopefully keep moving forward as we head into the stretch run, However, he does have a very tough matchup on the way this week with Josh Norman lining up for the Redskins.

Nelson has 94 or more yards in each of his past three games, with a touchdown in each game to boot, but Norman is the kind of corner who can shut down even the best receivers. The good news for Nelson might just be the emergence of Davante Adams, who might draw some of Norman's attention as well. There are a lot of mouths to feed in this Packers' offense, but Aaron Rodgers has been forced to throw more than ever this season, thanks to the lack of a running game. That has left enough room for Nelson and Adams to thrive of late.

There's Superdome Brandin Cooks, and there's Brandin Cooks everywhere else. Even against a tough matchup in Week 10, Cooks found the end zone along with 98 yards, bringing his career average in home games to 12.7 Fantasy points per game. He averages just 6.8 per game on the road. The Panthers aren't a bad matchup, but it's just hard to trust Cooks when he isn't at home in his career. He has scored in double figures just four times in 17 games on the road.

7. Who is the best TE to stream?

• Jamey: Jack Doyle
• Dave: Jack Doyle
• Heath: Julius Thomas

Tight ends ... You're just hoping you find the guy who scores when you need to stream one. And this might be a time when you really need to stream one, with Antonio Gates on bye and Rob Gronkowski dealing with a chest injury that could force him out this week. Assuming Martellus Bennett isn't available in your league -- and he probably isn't -- Doyle and Thomas are as good as any other options.

I might look to guys like Zach Ertz or Cameron Brate, who are available in about one-third of CBSSports.com leagues still, but Doyle and Thomas are fine enough options. The question with Doyle, who has been a pretty reliable option at the tight end position, is whether Dwayne Allen will see a larger role coming off the bye. That could be a potential road block for him.