Sneaky Starts: Week 11

Nov 14, 2014

All but the luckiest fantasy owners at some point need to find the proverbial diamond in the rough -- a waiver wire or bench player who is capable of putting up some points in a pinch. This weekly feature is dedicated to that part of fantasy football. It's not pretty, but it's part of the game.

How did our Sneaky Starts fare last week? There are always a few duds, but Josh McCown (QB4), Mark Sanchez (QB5), Michael Vick (QB11), Steven Jackson (RB7), Darren Sproles (RB24), Anthony Dixon (RB31), Bobby Rainey (RB34), Jordan Matthews (WR3), Martavis Bryant (WR4), Anquan Boldin (WR10), Brandin Cooks (WR11), Torrey Smith (WR13), John Brown (WR14), Kendall Wright (WR35), Jared Cook (TE3) and Mychal Rivera (TE4) all posted starter- or flex-type numbers in Week 10.

Note: I’ll mention our primary strength-of-schedule metric, Schedule-Adjusted Fantasy Points Allowed (aFPA), throughout the article. For more detail, click here.

Let’s take a look at the best Sneaky Starts for Week 11:

Quarterbacks

Robert Griffin III, Redskins (vs. TB)
Griffin only has two games under his belt this season. In Week 1, he finished with 267 yards passing with no touchdowns or interceptions against the Texans (#29 QB numbers). In Week 9 he finished with 251 yards, one touchdown and one pick, adding another 24 yards on the ground (#16 QB). This is his chance to break out with a big game. The rust should be knocked off, he’s had a bye week to prepare and he has a terrific matchup with the Bucs, who are #29 in QB aFPA.

Mark Sanchez, Eagles (@ GB)
The Packers are not a great matchup (#11 in QB aFPA), but Sanchez has acquitted himself nicely since taking over for the injured Nick Foles. He has 534 yards and four touchdowns in seven quarters, which extrapolates to around 305 yards and 2.3 TD per game. Even if the Sanchize throws a couple of picks, this game should be a high-scoring affair, so he should be able to produce solid fantasy numbers since the Eagles’ running game isn’t exactly rolling.

Josh McCown, Buccaneers (@ WAS)
Not counting an abbreviated Week 3 game against the Falcons, Josh McCown has averaged 17.2 FP in three games. He has another nice matchup this week as he faces the Redskins, who are last in the league in QB aFPA.