Fantasy Football Week 11 Running Back Preview: Miles Sanders could be a star if Jordan Howard is out

The Eagles head into Week 11 with plenty of injury concerns, especially at the running back position. Darren Sproles was placed on IR in recent days, and it looks unlikely Jordan Howard will be able to return from the shoulder injury that has limited him all week. For a team that is already without DeSean Jackson and doesn't know the status of Alshon Jeffery, the injury news could not be much worse. 

For Fantasy managers with Miles Sanders on their roster, the news could mean they have a new No. 1 running back for Week 11. 

Sanders has been outstanding in his past two games. Against the Bills in Week 8 he totaled 118 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown. Against the Bears in Week 9 his performance was less impactful, but he still produced 10.3 Fantasy points on 13 touches. He could have a lot more than that this week in a matchup that is definitely more favorable. 

The Patriots have surrendered 290 rushing yards just to running backs in their past two games. Of course, Lamar Jackson ran all over them as well. For the year, opponents are rushing for 4.7 yards per carry against them. 

As further evidence that Howard's status is in doubt, the Eagles signed Jay Ajayi this week. While Ajayi did rush for 5.1 yards per carry in 11 games over two seasons in Philadelphia, he's also tried out for several teams this season and the Eagles are the first team to sign him. For now, at least, this move seems more about the Eagles desperation at the position than Ajayi's skill set. While he could have an impact later in the year, I wouldn't expect him to factor in much in Week 11.

That laves us with a distinct possibility that Sanders will see 16-20 touches against an outstanding matchup. That elevates Sanders into the conversation as a top-10 running back in all formats this week. 

Note - We're still ranking the Eagles as if Howard will play, but the projections you'll see below are as if he's out. That way you can get an idea of how we'd handle them in either situation. 

Week 11 RB Preview

The following players are not being projected to play Week 11 at this time. Here's what it means:

Devonta Freeman RB BAL Baltimore • #34 Age: 32 • Experience: 9 yrs. Brian Hill becomes the top waiver priority.

Ty Johnson RB BUF Buffalo • #26 Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs. J.D. McKissic is a solid flex without Johnson.

• 3.4 -Yards after contact per attempt for J.D. McKissic. Only Chris Carson and Nick Chubb have more. 
• 38 - Snaps for Kareem Hunt in his first game of 2019. That could b a problem for Nick Chubb moving forward.
• 4 - Rush attempts for Alvin Kamara in Week 10. Hopefully they were just working him back slowly.
• 1 - Catch for Aaron Jones in two games since Davante Adams came back. The touchdowns were nice, but there's a little room for concern. 
• 5 - This is a reminder that Sony Michel touched the ball five times in the Patriots last football game. Who knows what they have in store for us coming off the bye, but running has not been a good plan against the Eagles.
• 8 - Catches for Ronald Jones in Week 10. It won't matter that he's still sharing carries if he's used like this in the passing game. 

Matchups that Matter

Projections powered by Sportsline

Melvin Gordon RB BAL Baltimore • #33 Age: 31 • Experience: 9 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs KC KC -3.5 O/U 52.5 OPP VS RB 32nd PROJ PTS 15.9 RB RNK 14th YTD Stats RUYDS 300 REC 15 REYDS 91 TD 5 FPTS/G 13

Brian Hill RB SF San Francisco • #35 Age: 29 • Experience: 5 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ CAR CAR -5.5 O/U 50.5 OPP VS RB 27th PROJ PTS 14.5 RB RNK NR YTD Stats RUYDS 101 REC 3 REYDS 24 TD 2 FPTS/G 5.2

Devin Singletary RB NYG N.Y. Giants • #26 Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ MIA BUF -5.5 O/U 39.5 OPP VS RB 26th PROJ PTS 11.6 RB RNK 17th YTD Stats RUYDS 309 REC 15 REYDS 111 TD 3 FPTS/G 11.7

David Johnson RB NO New Orleans • #31 Age: 32 • Experience: 8 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ SF SF -13.5 O/U 45.5 OPP VS RB 2nd PROJ PTS 9.7 RB RNK 13th YTD Stats RUYDS 302 REC 31 REYDS 323 TD 5 FPTS/G 14.4

Week 10 Adds

J.D. McKissic RB WAS Washington • #23 Age: 31 • Experience: 7 yrs. Ownership 58% The Lions have tried to give the ball to several other backs; now it's time to try their most efficient. McKissic is averaging nearly 6 yards per carry and about the same per target so far this year. He'll be sharing with Paul Perkins if Ty Johnson is sidelined. That should put McKissic in line for a floor of around 10 PPR Fantasy points with a ceiling that's much higher.

Kalen Ballage RB PIT Pittsburgh • #29 Age: 28 • Experience: 5 yrs. Ownership 58% Ballage is not good. He was very bad on Sunday, but the Dolphins gave him 24 touches. He now he faces a Bills defense that has been a disaster against the run. He's a flex if you're desperate.

Nyheim Hines RB CLE Cleveland • #22 Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs. Ownership 11% Hines is a bit of a desperation play, but in PPR leagues he should be worth close to double-digit points.

Stashes

Alexander Mattison RB LV Las Vegas • #22 Age: 26 • Experience: 6 yrs. Ownwership 57% You know the drill. Mattison is one Dalvin Cook injury away from being a top 10 running back.

Tony Pollard RB TEN Tennessee • #20 Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs. Ownership 32% Much like Mattison, Pollard is just one injury away from a featured role in a very good situation. I prefer Mattison because of Cook's injury history, but both Pollard and Mattison need to be rostered virtually everywhere.

Gus Edwards RB LAC L.A. Chargers • #4 Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs. Ownership 13% Edwards is looking at 15-20 touches per game with goal-line opportunities if Ingram goes down.

Jay Ajayi RB PHI Philadelphia Age: 31 • Experience: 5 yrs. Ownership 1% In very deep leagues, Ajayi is worth a speculative stash.

Top Plays

Dalvin Cook RB DAL Dallas • #20 Age: 29 • Experience: 8 yrs. Week 11 Prices FanDuel $8,600 DraftKings $8,900 Cook is more than $1,500 cheaper that Christian McCaffrey on both sites, so he's a pretty easy choice.

Contrarian Plays

Devin Singletary RB NYG N.Y. Giants • #26 Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs. Week 11 Prices FanDuel $6,500 DraftKings $6,000 I'll go right back to Singletary after a disappointing Week 10. The Bills can do whatever they want against the Dolphins, and I'd expect a heavy dose of the run game. Hopefully, Josh Allen lets his rookie running back have one of the touchdowns this time.

So who should you sit and start this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 11 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.