A mere eight quarterbacks were active in more ESPN standard leagues than New Orleans Saints leader Drew Brees in Week 10, so when he stood on the sideline to begin the second half and controversial backup Jameis Winston carefully finished a workmanlike 27-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers, it likely sent myriad fantasy football managers into a panic. Brees, dealing with sore ribs and with an MRI and X-rays pending Monday, finished with not only a season-worst 6.9 PPR points but also with his availability for a Week 11 showdown with Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons in question.
With only one top-10 fantasy quarterback serving his bye in Week 11 -- that would be Buffalo Bills runner Josh Allen -- perhaps most fantasy managers in standard formats will ignore adding Winston in case Brees needs to miss more time. Then again, most people probably forgot that Winston finished the 2019 season as the No. 5 quarterback in season scoring, though his average of 19.1 PPR points per game was a more modest ninth. Brees finished one spot ahead of Winston in eighth in average scoring, at 20.4 PPR points per game. That isn't exactly a large difference, though it hardly fits said narrative.
Winston is not Nathan Peterman, Ben DiNucci -- apologies, fellows -- or some raw, struggling backup. He remains eminently capable of playing top-notch football, and one could easily argue that if Brees needs to miss time, Winston isn't even a downgrade -- for real life or fantasy purposes. After all, Winston led the NFL with 5,109 passing yards for the freewheeling 2019 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, though most people focused on his league-leading 30 interceptions. Yes, those are bad, but Winston also threw 33 touchdown passes. Chances are the Saints would utilize him far more cautiously than the Buccaneers did, anyway.
Suggesting that Winston would be an upgrade on Brees -- who entered Week 10 outside the top 10 among quarterbacks in fantasy scoring -- is hardly heresy, but most fantasy managers will focus on the potential effect a Brees absence has on star running back Alvin Kamara and underwhelming wide receiver Michael Thomas. Kamara was the lone Saint to top Brees in fantasy scoring on Sunday, contributing 34.8 PPR points. That's no surprise, as Kamara is arguably the top player in fantasy. A change in quarterbacks should not alter that. Thomas, in his third game of the season, was statistically quiet, and one could argue that he is far from 100 percent healthy. Again, it would not matter who plays quarterback with him.
Still, this is likely to be an important story to follow this week in fantasy, even if the overall ramifications could be relatively minor. Winston is available in nearly every league and, should Brees have to sit, would warrant legitimate attention as a QB1 for the enticing matchup with the defensively awful Falcons. The Saints then face an appealing three-game stretch of road games in Denver, Atlanta (yes, again) and Philadelphia, with nary a strong defense or secondary among them. Mock Winston all you want for the interceptions, but even with those negatives, he was a top-10 quarterback for fantasy in 2019, and if Brees has to sit, the Saints are in a strong position.
High-scoring rematch: The Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks get Week 11 started on Thursday, and if it is anything like the Week 7 game, which the Cardinals won 37-34 in overtime, we will surely be entertained. Quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson did their collective parts to ensure fantasy managers enjoyed it, combining for 748 passing yards, 151 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett caught 200 yards of passes and scored three touchdowns. These passing games dominated!
These quarterback MVP candidates enter Thursday, however, coming off very different Week 10 outings: Murray scored 29.9 PPR points, with the final points coming on a miraculous Hail Mary touchdown to DeAndre Hopkins to beat the stunned Buffalo Bills. Wilson scored a season-worst 9.92 PPR points in a frustrating loss to the Los Angeles Rams, marking the first time this season that he was held to fewer than 20 fantasy points. Fantasy managers should not worry about Wilson, though. The main thing to watch for fantasy entering the game is whether Seahawks running back Chris Carson returns from a foot injury. Carson last played in that Week 7 game, and he would be a borderline RB1 in our rankings if active.
K.C. Masterpiece?: Patrick Mahomes, another MVP candidate, and his Kansas City Chiefs come off their bye week to face the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday night, with the fantasy world wondering if running back Le'Veon Bell will handle a greater or more important workload for the matchup. Bell and rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire split their touches relatively evenly the past few games, but Mahomes took over, throwing for 790 passing yards and nine touchdowns in wins over the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers. If that continues, then perhaps Bell's only path to fantasy relevance would be in the passing game, though Edwards-Helaire thrives there as well.
Playoff rematch: The Baltimore Ravens saw their magical 2019 campaign end with a disappointing and mighty surprising home loss to Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans, but Jackson did his part statistically, throwing for 365 yards and a touchdown (with two interceptions) and running 20 times for 143 yards. Still, the Ravens scored only 12 points, and Derrick Henry ran all over their vaunted defense. Entering Week 11, Jackson boasts no outings this season with 365 passing yards and none with 143 rushing yards. In fact, he has not come particularly close to either figure. Jackson enters Week 11 outside the top 10 quarterbacks in fantasy scoring but among the most active at his position. Perhaps this rematch will change his statistical fortunes.
Watching running back injuries: Carson is hardly the lone running back on the physical mend. The Carolina Panthers seem optimistic that star Christian McCaffrey can return this week after suffering a shoulder injury in Week 9. McCaffrey missed six games because of a high-ankle sprain and looked as good as new in Week 9, when he scored 37.1 PPR points on 151 total yards, two touchdowns and 10 catches, but the shoulder problem cast a shadow over the performance. The Panthers host the Detroit Lions, and McCaffrey, should he play, would be a candidate for the No. 1 running back spot in the rankings, not only because he is great but also because the Lions struggle to stop the run. Backup Mike Davis has failed to reach double-digit PPR points in each of the past four games, so if McCaffrey sits again, fantasy managers might wish to fade Davis.
Monday madness: Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers struggled mightily in a dispiriting 38-3 loss to the Brees-led Saints in Week 9, and nary a Buccaneer reached as many as 11 PPR points. In Week 10, the Buccaneers certainly bounced back. They scored 46 points against the Panthers, and eight Buccaneers eclipsed 11 PPR points. OK, so neither extreme performance is likely in the Week 11 Monday night game against the Los Angeles Rams, but fantasy managers seem a bit perplexed about several positions. Leonard Fournette trended in the direction of fantasy running back of choice for this team entering Sunday, then Ronald Jones II broke off a 98-yard touchdown run, and now a lack of clarity reigns again. There is no right answer here. Play them both, play neither -- we all are guessing.
At wide receiver, Antonio Brown led the team in catches against the Panthers. Is he just as valuable a fantasy play as Mike Evans and Chris Godwin? Few would go that far, but based on snaps and targets the past fortnight, it looks like little separates any of these wide receivers from the others, as Brady keeps them all happy and busy, along with tight end Rob Gronkowski. The Rams feature lineman Aaron Donald and a secondary that has been among the best in limiting fantasy points to quarterbacks and wide receivers, as proven in their win over Wilson's Seahawks.