After George Pickens had two almost touchdowns in Week 8 I told you to buy low. After he torched the Washington Commanders for 20.5 PPR Fantasy points, that's no longer possible. Now you have to buy high, and I am still 100% on board.
In three games with Russell Wilson at quarterback Pickens has caught 14 of 21 targets for 276 yards and two touchdowns. On a per-game basis, he is WR8 over that stretch. I'm still not sure we've seen the best of him. That's because Wilson has still yet to throw 30 passes in a game. Week 11 was the closest the Steelers have come to a pass-heavy game script but the Commanders defense has been much better against the pass than the run so Arthur Smith stuck with the ground game as long as he could. I don't imagine he'll have that luxury against the pass-funnel Ravens in Week 12.
Pass funnel is a good way to describe a large chunk of the Steelers remaining schedule. They have two games against Baltimore and two against the Bengals, who are both good against the run and bad against the pass. They face the Chiefs, who have the second-best run defense in the league. I suspect we're going to see a few 30-pass games from Wilson down the stretch and a few 10-target games from Pickens. He legitimately might be a top-five wide receiver in the second half.
So even though the price has gone up, I'm still buying Pickens.
As always, you can find my projections for every position over at Sportsline.
IND
Indianapolis
• #11
Age: 27
• Experience: 5 yrs.
Josh Downs is a must-start receiver while Alex Pierce and Adonai Mitchell are boom/bust flexes.
WR Preview
Numbers to Know
21.5 -- Since Week 7 Cedric Tillman is WR2 per game, averaging 21.5 PPR FPPG.
2.78 -- Quentin Johnston's 2.78 Fantasy points per target ranks first amongst wide receivers with at least 20 targets this season.
25.8 -- The Broncos have allowed wide receivers to score 25.8 PPR FPPG against them as a unit this season. it could be a tough week for Drake London and Darnell Mooney but it feels impossible to sit them.
6.8 -- Cooper Kupp is averaging 6.8 yards per target. That is a full yard worse than last year, which was a career low.
11 -- Mike Evans still leads all receivers with 11 end zone targets. He's a potential league winner you might be able to buy cheap on his bye.
34 -- Brian Thomas has 34 receiving yards in his last two games combined. He's hard to trust with Mac Jones at QB.
My top two adds at the wide receiver position are both Browns, what could go wrong? Elijah Mooore has 27 targets in his last three games, Jerry Jeudy has 25. Both are in play as number three wide receivers against the Saints in Week 11. Jeudy had his best game of the season, with 14.3 PPR Fantasy points in the Browns last game, Moore was even better with 16.5 in Week 8. I prefer Moore in full PPR and Jeudy in half or non.
Pierce ranks fifth in Fantasy points per target at 2.46. He just matched his season-high with seven targets in the team's first game without Michael Pittman. In the two games Pierce has seen seven targets he's averaging 17.4 PPR FPPG.
We often see a rookie bump coming out of the bye and I actually expect Legette's roster rate to go down this week, not up. If you see him dropped and have a roster spot, add him. He could be a solid WR3 in the Fantasy playofffs.
I have Chase projected for five more Fantasy points than any other wide receiver on the main slate this weekend. It would be hard to price him high enough.
Meyers has been WR15 on a per-game basis since Week 3. He's scored at least 17 PPR Fantasy points in each of his last two games since he returned from injury. He's priced like a number three wide receiver and will go overlooked because of questions about the offense and the quarterback.
WR Preview
Heath's Projections
My full set of Week 11 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 11. Projected stats for all starting wide receivers are available, so be sure to find my projections for every position over at Sportsline.
