To freak out, or to keep calm? That’s the question almost any fantasy manager will have about at least one player on their roster each week. It can be easy to overreact and lose control over a disappointing performance, but each week, we’ll dive into a few of fantasy football’s biggest names and help you decide if we should panic over a poor fantasy output or if we should stay the course and keep them in our lineups. Are there reasonable excuses for why the player had a down week or a few concerning performances? Is it an outlier, or is there something to their struggles and time to look for alternative options? That’s what we’ll aim to answer in Patience or Panic each week throughout the season.
You might be thinking, why is this being posted late in the week? Shouldn’t we decide to panic or be patient right after the previous week’s games? The goal is to look forward to the following week regarding lineup decisions, while being a few days removed from the emotions of a down performance.
After a Week 10 outing where the Broncos barely put up double-digit points, let’s dive into two members of their offense who have been giving their fantasy managers more than their share of frustration.
Courtland Sutton, Wide Receiver, Denver Broncos
The newly turned 30-year-old is coming off two games where he has a combined four receptions for 44 yards. The Texans were a tough matchup in Week 9, but it was concerning to see how much Sutton and the entire offense struggled at home against a Raiders defense that gives up the sixth-most fantasy points to wide receivers. Sutton’s targets have slowed down as well. Over the last four games, Wide Receiver Troy Franklin has out-targeted Sutton 37 to 26, according to JJ Zachariason, a considerable difference. It’s making a clear impact on Sutton’s final output too, as the SMU product is averaging just 9.1 PPR points over the last five games, compared to 16.1 during the first five games of the season.
Now the Chiefs come to town for a huge AFC West showdown in Week 11. Kansas City is no walk in the park for wide receivers, as they are the top schedule-adjusted defense against receivers over the past five weeks and number three for all of 2025, according to Tristan H. Cockroft of ESPN
The Chiefs have only given up 15 fantasy points to a receiver three times in 2025, and two of them were in Week 1. At least for this upcoming week, it looks like it’s time to hit the panic button on Sutton.
Verdict: Panic
Bo Nix, Quarterback, Denver Broncos
Even more of a reason to be concerned about Courtland Sutton is the play of his signal caller, Bo Nix. Maybe it’s a sophomore slump, but clearly Nix has not taken the expected step forward in his second season as the Broncos quarterback.
Outside of a wild fourth quarter against the Giants in Week 7 and a top-tier matchup versus the Cowboys a week later, Nix has been pretty pedestrian across October and November. Those games have inflated his numbers and make his fantasy bottom line not look as bad, but it may not be as easy for Nix to mask some of his shortcomings in a tough matchup against the Chiefs this week. Kansas City ranks 10th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks, coming in at -3.1, according to Cockroft.
The 25-year-old’s inaccuracy has been a particular point of concern. Nix has a 39% off-target rate on throws over 10 yards, putting him at 32nd in the NFL. His 37% off-target rate when he has a clean pocket on those throws is also 32nd, according to Broncos writer Joe Rowles.
Nix’s ADP back in draft season wasn’t just a dart throw type of pick either, as he was QB8 and had an overall ADP of 70 per Fantasy Pros. The higher investment he required may make it a little more difficult to bench him, but quarterback is probably the easiest position to find a replacement. I’m not giving up on Nix or saying he should be dropped, but for Week 11, let’s hit the panic button and see who may be a good alternative option.
Verdict: Panic
Alternative options:
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert could be a good direction to go with Nix’s tough assignment on Sunday. Herbert has seen his fair share of pressure this season with the offensive line injuries the Chargers have dealt with, but in Week 11, they face a Jaguars defense that has struggled to get to the quarterback. They rank in the bottom 10 in average number of sacks per game, and have given up at least 20 fantasy points to quarterbacks in each of the last five weeks, all according to Cockroft. Herbert was drafted as the QB14 on average, and had an ADP of about 40 picks later than Nix, so it’s reasonable that both Nix and Herbert could be on the same roster.
For Sutton, both he and Steelers WR DK Metcalf were taken around the 4-5 turn and could reasonably be on the same roster if you went WR heavy in that area of the draft. Metcalf has a way more enticing matchup against the Bengals, despite his two straight down weeks. Cincinnati has allowed the most passing touchdowns this season, according to Michael Florio of NFL.com. Combine that with Metcalf’s seven end zone targets, the most among Steelers pass catchers by five, and Metcalf could be in store for a nice bounce-back performance.
Jaguars WR Parker Washington and Raiders WR Tre Tucker also profile as potentially good alternatives to Sutton. It could be harder to stomach starting these guys over Sutton, considering they were both waiver wire adds, but Washington has turned into a full-time receiver for Jacksonville. We’ll see what happens with the status of Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 11, but regardless, the Chargers could be without starting slot CB Tarheeb Still, according to Matthew Freedman of Fantasy Life, which is where Washington mostly lines up. Tre Tucker has an attractive matchup against the Cowboys, who lead the NFL in being the largest fantasy boost to receivers. Also, Tucker was handed a 100% snap rate in Week 10 after the team traded Jakobi Meyers, all according to Freedman.
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