Immediate fantasy football takeaways from NFL Week 11 Monday Night Football

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the New York Giants 30-10 on Monday Night Football. Tampa Bay scored on five of its first seven possessions. The Giants tried a variety of formations to trick the Buccaneers on their first drive, which led to points, but their last eight possessions all ended in either turnovers or punts. 

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Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties like offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.

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New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Mike Evans: 6 receptions, 73 yards, 1 TD (3 explosive plays)
• Chris Godwin: 6 receptions, 65 yards, 1 TD (5.0 aDOT)

Start Saquon Barkley: The former Offensive Rookie of the Year returned to the Giants lineup for the first time since Week 5. He took a few more drives off than usual but was still the Giants' clear lead back. He ran six times for 25 yards and caught another 6 passes for 31 yards. New York has an easier schedule the rest of the season, and he should touch the ball more in future games. He should be in fantasy starting lineups even if New York doesn’t increase his snaps. 

Devontae Booker was the clear backup but only touched the ball four times, most of which came late in the fourth quarter. It wouldn’t hurt to hold onto Booker with Barkley’s injury history, but he shouldn’t be anywhere close to fantasy starting lineups.

Start Rob Gronkowski: The veteran tight end only played in six offensive snaps since Week 3 prior to tonight. Similar to Barkley, he didn’t see as much time as he did at the start of the season when healthy, as there were stretches of the game where he was taken off the field in favor of Cameron Brate. That didn’t stop him from producing, as he caught six passes for 71 yards. Monitor his health, but chances are he can return to fantasy starting lineups.

Monitor the Kyle Rudolph injury: The Giants came into the game down a man at tight end, as Kaden Smith was limited all week with a knee injury and was inactive. New York elevated Chris Myarick off the practice squad Monday to be the third tight end. During the game, Rudolph suffered a knee injury and was ruled out. That all contributed to Evan Engram leading the skill players in offensive snaps. He only caught two passes for 12 yards in that time. He is a borderline fantasy starter and becomes a more tempting prospect if his backups remain hurt.

Don’t panic on Leonard Fournette: Fournette and backup Ronald Jones' fantasy value was relatively close Monday night, which hasn’t happened much this season. Fournette was the clear starter throughout the game, but Tampa Bay often used Jones when he was on the field, which resulted in a touchdown. It was also noteworthy that Fournette received all of the snaps during the Buccaneers' two-minute drill, which used to be Giovani Bernard’s role. The Buccaneers had a large enough lead that fourth-string Ke’Shawn Vaughn received the garbage time work. Fournette should be fine in future weeks while Jones can be left on the waiver wire.

Monitor Kadarius Toney‘s health: The Giants' first-round rookie suffered a quad contusion late in the game and didn’t return. He was the Giants' favorite target in the game, which led to seven receptions for 40 yards. New York also missed Sterling Shepard in the game. As long as one of the wide receivers remains hurt, it ensures Darius Slayton has a big role in the offense. Pharoh Cooper primarily took over for Toney to end this game. All of these backups should be avoided in the vast majority of leagues.