Fantasy Football: 'Bill' leads fades for Week 11 — and it might be time to bench him for good

Welcome to Week 11 of the fantasy fades and busts of the week! I am your host, Matt Okada, and will be bringing you half a dozen players to avoid each and every Thursday, throughout the fantasy season. Still looking for the perfect six-for-six! Let's get it!

As a note, just because a player earns a fade" or bust" designation doesn't automatically mean they should be benched - it depends on the rest of your roster or the options on your waiver wire. But you can expect them to fall short of expectations (when I get them right).

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Without further ado, here is my list for Week 11 of the 2025 season.

Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Fresh off a 22.92-point fantasy day with three touchdown passes, fading Baker Mayfield might seem like a bad idea. And in fairness, it might be - he often pulls out unsensibly impressive performances in extremely difficult situations. But the Bills defense has been a monster this season and Mayfield is still working without Mike Evans or Chris Godwin. Since Lamar Jackson hung 29.36 points on Buffalo in Week 1 (largely on rushing production), they have not allowed a single QB to top 15 fantasy points. And while they haven't faced the toughest slate of quarterbacks, they recently limited Drake Maye to 12.12 points and Patrick Mahomes to 11.50.

This game is also in Highmark Stadium, where the Bills are 4-1 and have allowed just 18.3 points per game to their opponents. If Mayfield can hit a couple of deep touchdowns to Emeka Egbuka or Tez Johnson, he might squeak together a decent day, but he's in danger of posting another dud like he did against the Lions (12.12 points) or Saints (4.08) entering his Week 9 bye.

What to do Mayfield is a fringe QB1, so if you don't have a great streaming option or a strong alternative starter, he's playable even in a tough matchup. But it would not be a stretch to play guys like Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers ahead of him ... or maybe even Marcus Mariota or J.J. McCarthy in great matchups.

RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders

It's been three weeks since we last included Jacory Croskey-Merritt in this column, but three months into the year, there are realistically going to be some repeats. Especially when fantasy managers continue to insist on starting a running back who's scored fewer than six fantasy points in five straight games. The argument for Bill" is that he's seeing double-digit opportunities most weeks, and has a good matchup against Miami in Madrid on Sunday.

The counterargument is that he hasn't done anything productive with those opportunities outside of Week 5, and that includes a 6.7-point game against Atlanta and a 3.8-point game against Dallas (both soft run defenses). Over the last five games, JCM has averaged 3.0 yards per carry and scored zero touchdowns, with three total receptions. That's simply not a recipe for success, especially with Chris Rodriguez, Jeremy McNichols and even Marcus Mariota siphoning away his upside.

What to do Stop starting Croskey-Merritt. Honestly, I consider him droppable in many leagues, but if you're going to hold him, it should be on your bench until he shows something better. He's a fringe RB2 in many weekly rankings, but I'd barely consider him a fringe RB3. Find another option.

RB Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks

Zach Charbonnet is probably the most touchdown-dependent fantasy starter consideration in the NFL, with 47% of his fantasy points this year coming from his six rushing touchdowns. He's only hit 50+ rushing yards once and has just seven receptions all season. And while the Rams finally allowed their first 2025 rushing touchdown to a running back in Week 10 - to Brian Robinson Jr. - it's still the first and only. None of Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey (twice), Derrick Henry or many others managed to find the end zone against this Los Angeles defense, which has consequently allowed the fewest fantasy points to the position all year.

While you could start Kenneth Walker III in a desperate situation, on the hopes of a big play or receiving volume, Charbonnet is an absolute no-go with the Rams stifling his one viable means of fantasy production.

What to do Sit Charbonnet. No seriously. Barring a 16-team league with four running back spots (which don't exist), you should be looking elsewhere in Week 11. I'd rather start either Giants running back, either Titans running back and probably also Tyler Allgeier. That's how bad it is.

WR Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings

After scoring double-digit fantasy points in his first four games back from suspension, Jordan Addison might feel like a locked-and-loaded starter in most leagues and lineups. Here's the problem. All four of those games came with Carson Wentz at quarterback, and Addison averaged 5.3 catches and 77.3 yards per game with a pair of touchdowns as a result. In J.J. McCarthy's two starts with Addison, the WR2 has averaged 2.5 catches and 41.5 yards per game, has not yet scored and has brought in just a third of his targets.

So while the matchup with Chicago looks very good on paper, we do not yet have any evidence that Addison can be trusted with McCarthy under center. Notably, McCarthy threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns against the Bears in their first meeting (and his NFL debut), and then WR2" Jalen Nailor caught just one pass for 28 yards.

What to do Addison isn't a must-bench" in fantasy this week, given his talent and the soft secondary in Chicago. But it would take a McCarthy breakout and probably some touchdown fortune for him to return WR2 value. Consider him more of a low-end WR3 with a risky floor.

WR Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions

Through the first seven weeks of the season, Jameson Williams had just two games with more than 5.3 fantasy points, and he had 1.5 points in Week 5 and a goose egg in Week 7, so he'd fallen to nearly unstartable range. But after logging 66+ yards and a touchdown in consecutive games, including a season-high 119 yards and 20.9 fantasy points last Sunday against the Commanders, fantasy managers will likely be tempted to start rolling him out again. I'd slow that roll, at least this week in Philadelphia.

The Eagles have been a tough matchup for wide receivers, and Jared Goff tends to struggle in tough matchups on the road. The glimmer of hope here would be that Dan Campbell's takeover as the play-caller in Week 10 was responsible for Williams' big day - but I'm attributing it more to the porous Washington secondary. Williams is one of fantasy's most volatile receivers and is on bust watch just about every week.

What to do If you need some upside in your lineup, have scoring bonuses for big plays or just don't have any better options, Williams can be started as a WR3. But with that potential ceiling comes a basement-level floor, so set your expectations accordingly.

TE Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions

I wanted to go with Cade Otton here, who gets an incredibly stingy Bills defense and stacks with our fade of Baker Mayfield. But he's not as widely started and we take legitimate stands here in the Yahoo fades and busts column! So instead, be wary of Sam LaPorta (in a sort-of-stack with Jameson Williams that should tell you how I feel about Jared Goff as well). Essentially, LaPorta is a touchdown-or-bust tight end these days, as he hasn't hit eight fantasy points in a game without a TD since Week 1.

And while he has scored three times in the last five games, two of those came in juicy matchups with the Bengals and Vikings. The Eagles, on the other hand, are a disaster for TEs - they've allowed one TD to the position all year (Evan Engram in Week 5) and held every other tight end they've faced below nine fantasy points. Touchdowns are flukey, and LaPorta could find one with a bit of luck, but that's a lot of eggs in a very small, fragile basket.

What to do Considering the depth of the tight end position - there isn't much - you may be forced to start Sam LaPorta regardless. But if you can find a good streaming option or waiver pickup, consider that route instead (a la, Oronde Gadsden II or Theo Johnson). And I'd avoid him in DFS lineups.