A look into week 11 of fantasy football in the NFL

Week 10 of the NFL season is complete, which means playoff season is just around the corner. 

By now most leagues should have a trade deadline either coming up within a few days or it has already passed, which means you need to be on top of your roster and be truthful to yourself as to who you really want to keep when the playoffs come around the corner. Right now every team should be in win-only mode, and teams that are already playoff locks need to be looking to trade for players who have great playoff schedules. 

The reality is that the regular season output of your team does not matter anymore once the playoffs arrive, and all you need is good playoff schedules for most to all of your players. It is always tough to let go of some of the guys who have gotten you to where you are today, but the truth of the matter is all that is important now is giving yourself the best chance to win.

It is always suggested in the fantasy football world to get players with good playoff schedules, meaning they play teams who give up a lot of points naturally to people at their position. Going through each position, the quarterback always comes first. 

First, a few quarterbacks with good playoff schedules include Ben Roethlisberger, Ryan Tannehill, and Dak Prescott. Roethlisberger and Tannehill have not been the greatest at putting up points this season, but they might be good stashes to have on your bench when the playoffs come around the corner. 

Prescott has been good all season despite a few dud performances, but with a great playoff schedule, he is surely going to put up a load of points. A few quarterbacks you might have on your team with bad playoff schedules include Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins, two decent fantasy quarterbacks. 

Stafford and Cousins rank second and fourth in hardest playoff schedules at the quarterback position. This does not mean you should get rid of them completely, but it would be worth it to see what you could trade them for now before it gets ugly. 

On the running back side of things, Najee Harris, Joe Mixon, and Austin Ekeler have some of the best playoff schedules at the position. Harris has the most impressive stretch, where he faces the Vikings, Titans, Chiefs, and Browns who allow an average of 21.8 fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. 

Unfortunately the bad side of the spectrum swallows up some of our fantasy football favorites including Saquon Barkley, D’Andre Swift, and Dalvin Cook. The three backs rank first through third in hardest schedules for running backs during the playoffs, so you should look to see if you could trade these guys now for people who have better playoff matchups. 

At wide receiver you cannot go wrong with just including a whole wide receiver room into one ranking, which brings the Steelers, Titans, Raiders, and 49ers to the top of the list. All four of these teams have great matchups, so look for guys like Diontae Johnson, AJ Brown, Hunter Renfrow, and Deebo Samuel to do well in the playoff stretch. 

When looking at the bad, there is a lot to take in. Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin comes in at first in playoff schedule difficulty, with the Giants, Colts, and Buccaneers following close behind him. 

The Buccaneers is one of the most concerning of all, with all three of their main wideouts seeing valuable target share numbers all throughout the season. Make sure to stay away from any of the guys on the Bucs. 

As far as kickers and defenses go, it is a pick up and play more than anything, where it is very easy to find value in kickers and defenses on the waiver wire. Some good kickers to look at include Chris Boswell, Dustin Hopkins, and Daniel Carlson while defenses include the Chargers and Cowboys. 

Feature photo by Tony Avelar / Associated Press