Fantasy Football Week 11 Wide Receiver Who Should I Start? Courtland Sutton, Ricky Pearsall, Khalil Shakir, and More
Comparing Courtland Sutton to four players who he has been matched up with often on the FantasySP start/sit tool.
Courtland Sutton is the top receiver in Denver, but he has more competition for targets than he did last year, seeing second-year player Troy Franklin currently leading the team in targets, receptions, and touchdowns.
While we still think of Sutton as WR1, that could change if this trend continues the whole season. Sutton is very close in each category and leads the team in receiving yards, with Franklin 165 yards behind. There are questions about the pass-catching hierarchy in Denver.
With that, fantasy owners have been trying to figure out if Sutton can still reach that must-start level or if he will take a step back from his best. He is showing up all over our FantasySP start/sit tool.
Let's look at Sutton and four receivers who he has been compared to often on the start/sit tool. We'll do a head-to-head quick-hit exercise to determine the best starter in each situation. Most stats are from NFL.com.
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Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Sutton is on pace for around 70 catches, 1,000 yards, and seven touchdowns, each number falling just a hair short of last season, when Sutton finished in the top 15 in both standard and PPR scoring among WRs. He is again on track to finish among the fantasy starters, ranking in the top 20 in both formats.
And yet, it feels a little different because Franklin is putting up such strong numbers. No one on the team finished closer than 29 receptions, 65 targets, or 578 yards from Sutton in 2024; he dominated the work. With a guy like Franklin essentially matching him, it's fair to wonder if there will be enough to go around, as Bo Nix has been a below-average passer in his NFL time.
The Chiefs are right in the middle in yards per pass attempt allowed, but they have given up the third-fewest fantasy points per game to wide receivers. Four of the nine teams KC has faced failed to get 100 receiving yards from their receivers, and another three were below 115 yards.
A big part of that is volume, as Kansas City has faced the fourth-fewest pass attempts, but this was a high-level defense the past few seasons, and they're not a group to test often. This is a middling-or-worse matchup.
Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears
Addison had a strong start to his season after missing the first three games due to a suspension, topping 100 yards in two of those contests and scoring a touchdown in the other. He has been a little slower since then, averaging 36.3 yards per game in the next three games with one more score.
The matchup here is phenomenal, as the Bears have given up the third-most yards per pass attempt and the fourth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers. Chicago has one of the worst pass defenses in the league and has been beaten up all season.
Advice: Sutton is the better player, but Addison has the far better matchup. Since they both have quarterbacks who can struggle, it turns into a toss-up (Sutton has the better QB). Because the matchup is SO good, I will give the slight advantage to Addison in this one.
Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Johnston has been involved in the offense, but the problem is that he has to fight for targets with two other wide receivers and a rookie tight end who has become a regular contributor. That leaves Johnston with a bit of a low floor, though he has big-play ability and leads the team with six receiving touchdowns.
The Jaguars are right in the middle in yards per pass attempt allowed, and they have given up the 11th-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers; it's fair to call them a middling matchup. There's a little upside, but the Jags also have a good pass rush, and LA has two backup tackles, so Justin Herbert could be bothered all day.
Advice: Start Courtland Sutton over Quentin Johnston. The latter has more questions and a larger variance, making Sutton the better play.
Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers @ Arizona Cardinals
Pearsall hasn't played since Week 4 due to injury, but he returns for this one, along with his quarterback Brock Purdy, as the 49ers creep back toward something resembling health on offense (it won't happen on defense this year). In the four games he played, Pearsall averaged five receptions and 81.8 yards, twice topping 100.
The Cardinals are a tougher defensive team, as they have given up the eighth-fewest yards per pass attempt. They are right in the middle in terms of fantasy points given up to wide receivers: WRs have found volume, averaging 12.7 receptions and 153.1 yards, but they have scored just five touchdowns, and that production hasn't come from efficiency.
Advice: There's a lot of uncertainty around Pearsall after so much missed time, and there's a bit of reinjury risk, though it's likely he is healthy after six weeks off. With a bit of a tougher matchup and a lot of moving parts, it's probably safer to start Sutton today, though there is upside to San Francisco's passing game.
Khalil Shakir, Buffalo Bills vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Keon Coleman will reportedly be a healthy scratch this week, leaving Shakir as the top wide receiver. With tight end Dalton Kincaid out for this game, there will be a dearth of pass catchers, so Shakir might be a popular target. He leads the team in targets, receptions, and yards, showing up as their most consistent receiver.
Tampa Bay has given up the eighth-most yards per pass attempt while sitting right in the middle in fantasy points per game allowed to wide receivers. In two separate games, the opposing team's WRs combined for over 250 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and the Bucs have given up eight TDs to receivers.
Advice: The matchup here is good, not great, but Shakir should get plenty of looks with a few other guys out, giving him a nice fantasy outlook. Sutton has the higher ceiling, but I like Shakir's chances of finding success, so I'll give him the slight advantage this week.
