Let's take a look at five of the biggest fantasy football takeaways from Week 11 of the NFL season.
Week of the backup
With the fantasy football regular season coming to a close, it was a big surprise the players who brought us home in Week 11. In one of the lowest scoring weeks of the season, it was a group of fantasy backups who dominated most of the headlines.
Rawls: Let's start with Seattle, where backup running back Thomas Rawls torched the 49ers for 255 yards while Marshawn Lynch sat with an abdomen injury. This was the third 100+ yard game for Rawls this season, and he's now averaging a juicy 6.0 yards a carry on the year. It's possible that Lynch could miss more time with this injury, as the nature of it is still unclear, and Rawls has proven to be more than competent in Lynch's absence. If for some reason he's on your waiver wire, go get him.
Ware: Rawls wasn't the only backup to go off. In Kansas City, Charcandrick West exited the game with a hamstring injury. Enter Spencer Ware, who went off for 11-96-2 against a terrible Chargers defense. If West's injury turns into a serious one, Ware could be a valuable fantasy contributor. Remember, West was a relative unknown before becoming a fantasy stud after Jamaal Charles's season-ending ACL injury. Ware could do the same, especially with Kansas City having a fantasy-friendly schedule the rest of the way.
Osweiler: So far, so good for Brock Osweiler in Denver. After taking over a banged up and ineffective Peyton Manning, Osweiler tagged the Bears for 250 yards and two scores with no interceptions. Denver has a lot of weapons offensively, and even with Emmanuel Sanders sidelined, Osweiler made good use of Demaryius Thomas and both his tight ends (Owen Daniels, Vernon Davis) in the win. Osweiler will get another start against the Patriots next week, and he could be in line for some big numbers should the Broncos get down in that one. You should temper your expectations, as Denver will want to run and Peyton can't be ruled out of the picture entirely, but Osweiler could return back-end QB1 value. He's worthy of a roster spot.
Allen: After breaking his arm, Justin Forsett will be out for the season in Baltimore. Ditto for Joe Flacco, who tore his ACL and MCL. While Baltimore could very well turn into a fantasy wasteland, someone will have to soak up some stats there in their absence. If he's available in your league, go get Javorius (Buck) Allen, who could get RB1 like touches the rest of the way. Allen received 27 touches on Sunday, and he's a good receiver that should get garbage time checkdown work going forward. It might not always be pretty, but he's a perfectly acceptable RB2/Flex option from here on out. He can play.
Waiver Wire
QB: Tony Romo, Brock Osweiler, Brian Hoyer
RB: Thomas Rawls, Javorius Allen, Spencer Ware, Robert Turbin, Tevin Coleman
WR: Dontrelle Inman, Devin Funchess, Marquess Wilson
TE: Vernon Davis, Charles Clay, Crockett Gillmore
