Fantasy Football: Keep, Trade, or Drop Week 11 NFL

As you push to be a playoff contender, or you are preparing for a rebuild, here are the players you should keep, trade, or drop for fantasy football.

Author:
Ryan Frederick
Publish date:
Nov 25, 2021 8:00 AM EST

Fantasy Football Week 11 Keep, Trade, Drop

As you push to be a playoff contender, or you are preparing for a rebuild, here are the players you should keep, trade, or drop for fantasy football.

With roughly two weeks left until trading is restricted across fantasy football until the offseason, we are going to start seeing some whacky trades happen as teams try to position themselves for a championship run. Next week, we will get desperate and wild as we enter the last week of trading for the 2021 season. However, today will be more thought-provoking ideas that will make you either roll the dice and play the odds or take a small shot in the dark that could pay off for you in the end and be a league-winning type of move for you.

TRADE AWAY: Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans

This one all depends on your intestinal fortitude and if you could handle the idea of trading away one of the most powerful running backs we have ever seen. Derrick henry continues to break the mold of the position. As one of the biggest bodies to ever play the position, it is hard to imagine that he continually breaks out for big games like he does, leading to last year's 2,000 yard rushing season and putting up nearly 1,000 in just eight games this year before his foot injury that has him sidelined until at least the first round of the playoffs. He will be 28 in January, and with the foot injury now, something to be mindful of going forward, it is plausible that now would be the time for you to sell Henry if you have the guts to pull the trigger. At some point, he will start to fall back down to earth, and now could be your time to capitalize while his value is still at or near the peak of where it will be.

TRADE FOR: Laviska Shenault JR., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

If you are in a good sot and looking for a cheap addition for your championship run, this could be the right move for you. Shenault seemed to have fallen out of favor with Jacksonville for some reason and was running routes behind Jamal Agnew and Dan Arnold. His fantasy value became almost nothing seemingly overnight. However, Agnew suffered an unfortunate season-ending hip injury that will alter the way the Jaguars use Shenault. Almost immediately, we started to see his usage climb back up again, and he led the team in catches in Week 11, which was the first time that had happened since Week 4. The fantasy managers that roster him are assuredly frustrated with his lack of consistency and overall usage in the offense. Trading for Shenault could be a trade worth exploring that could pay dividends for you down the stretch at little cost to your current roster or future draft capital.

KEEP: Cam Akers, RB, Los Angeles Rams

Seeing Akers here might be a bit of a shocker to see. Cam Akers hasn't played all year due to a ruptured Achilles, but what is the outlook on his return? Let's look at Emmanuel Sanders, who might be the best-case study of a successful Achilles return in recent NFL memory. At age 31, he ruptured his Achilles tendon in December of 2018 and was back on the field just eight months later when his original diagnosis was 11 to 12 months before seeing the field. According to a study done in 2017 by Selene Parekh, MD, MBA, Jay Shah, MBA, players who returned following an Achilles injury within nine months of the injury showed much more success in their returns than those who did not. Akers is well on his way to fit within that nine-month window, which will help fantasy managers get a solid gauge on Akers and a possible return for the 2022 NFL season. As we approach our trade deadlines in the 2021 season, though, a manager who is a contender will be looking for ways to set themselves up for 2022 by taking shots in the dark to help bolster their rosters going forward. Hold onto Akers until we have a firm grasp on what he looks like in his return, and if he looks solid in a potential playoff return, you could get a haul for him in the offseason.