Fantasy football: Justin Herbert among top add/drops for Week 11

1 of 5 | Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (L) is a fantasy football streaming option in Week 11. File Photo by Jon SooHoo/UPI | License Photo
MIAMI, Nov. 12 (UPI) — Justin Herbert, Russell Wilson and Quentin Johnston lead my fantasy football waiver wire priority list for Week 11 of the 2024 NFL season. Audric Estime, Jaylen Warren and the Houston Texans defense/special teams are among my other targets. Advertisement
Check out my list of waiver-wire targets below if you need replacement options for injured starters. Players from the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are on bye, should be benched or released.
Injuries, breakout performances and other factors have cleared the way for several players to warrant a spot on fantasy football team benches or maybe even in starting lineups.
My waiver wire priorities each carry an ownership percentage of 60% or less. This week’s group features streaming plays, as well as lottery-ticket style targets, who could be difference makers down the stretch or in the playoffs.
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Here are my top players to add and top players to drop for Week 11:
ALL-ADD TEAM
QB | Justin Herbert, Russell Wilson; RB | Audric Estime, Jaylen Warren; WR | Quentin Johnston, Ricky Pearsall, Marquez Valdes-Scantling; TE | Jonnu Smith; D/ST | Houston Texans; K | Jake Bates
HONORABLE MENTIONS
QB | Aaron Rodgers, Geno Smith; RB | Alexander Mattison, Tyler Allgeier; WR | Cedric Tillman, Alec Pierce; TE | Will Dissly; D/ST | Miami Dolphins; K | Jake Moody
TOP DROPS
QB | Dak Prescott; RB | Tank Bigsby; WR | Xavier Worthy; D/ST | New York Giants; K | Chase McLaughlin
QUARTERBACK
Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson are my top quarterbacks to target off the waiver wire in Week 11. They should be solid plays, especially if you need a replacement for Kyler Murray or Baker Mayfield, who are on bye.
Herbert is set to face a Cincinnati Bengals defense that allowed the fifth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks through 10 weeks. They also surrendered four touchdown passes to Lamar Jackson in Week 10. The Bengals allowed quarterbacks to account for multiple touchdowns in six of their 10 games.
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Herbert failed to account for multiple touchdowns in five of his first six starts, but was responsible for two scores in each of his last three. Look for the Los Angeles Chargers quarterback to total at least two touchdown tosses in this meeting. He will be inside the Top 14 of my weekly rankings.
Wilson threw a season-high three touchdown passes in Week 10. That performance marked the second time in three games that he accounted for at least three touchdowns. He also eclipsed 250 passing yards twice during that span.
This week, Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers will face a Baltimore Ravens defense that allowed the most passing yards (314.4), tied for allowing the most touchdown passes (2.1) and surrendered the second-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks.
The Ravens allowed at least three passing scores to quarterbacks in four of their last six meetings, including four- and five-touchdown efforts by Joe Burrow.
Wilson should throw at least two touchdown passes in this matchup.
RUNNING BACK
The running back pool is a bit shallow this week, but several players can be added to fantasy football team benches. Audric Estime, Alexander Mattison, Jaylen Warren and Tyler Allgeier are my top options, but I wouldn’t start any of them immediately — unless you are very desperate or in an extremely deep league — because of their histories of inconsistent workloads.
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Estime might be the most interesting option of this group because of his increased usage by the Denver Broncos in Week 10, when he received a season-high 14 carries. That total dwarfed the meager workloads of both Jaleel McLaughlin (two carries) and Javonte Williams (one carry).
Estime also was in for a season-high 45% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps, compared to 29% for Williams and 12% for McLaughlin. The rookie also dominated work in the second half.
Entering Week 10, Williams earned at least 51% of the snaps in every game, while McLaughlin was in for at least 22% of the snaps each week. Estime, who hadn’t earned more than a 10% snap share through nine weeks, now appears primed to take over a much larger chunk of the backfield split.
Broncos coach Sean Payton said Monday that Estime