The Cincinnati Bengals are responsible for several of the top scams in fantasy football this season — not the least of which is placeholder quarterback Joe Flacco. At 40, he stubbornly keeps finishing among the top-8 scorers at his position. He’s also provided a desperately needed bailout for Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Chase Brown. We may only get another two games from Flacco before Joe Burrow returns, so let’s be sure to appreciate this legend while he’s still out there gunslinging.

As useful as Flacco has been, however, he is not actually the greatest fantasy scam the Bengals pulled in 2025.

We wish to direct your attention to the rich bounty of fantasy production offered by Cincinnati’s defense. To date, this team has allowed:

23 passing touchdowns, the highest total in the league
4 rushing yards per game, also league-worst
The sixth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks
By far the most fantasy points to opposing running backs
The most fantasy points to opposing tight ends by an absolutely hilarious margin, defying logic

It’s the final bullet we need to consider in greater depth, because it presents real opportunities in the weeks ahead. Cincinnati has somehow allowed 12 touchdowns to opposing tight ends through nine games. A full dozen, a crazy total.

Last year, when the Bengals also allowed the most fantasy points to tight ends, no defense in the league gave up 12 TDs to this position over the full season. In fact, we have to go all the way back to 2021 to find any defense allowing more than a dozen touchdowns to opposing tight ends.

At their current pace, Cincinnati is projected to give up 115 receptions, 1364 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns to the position. Outrageous numbers. Almost incomprehensible. If one player delivered those stats, it would easily be the greatest individual season by any tight end in NFL history.

Fantasy production allowed to specific positions can be fluky, of course, and the data can be more descriptive than predictive. But in the case of the Bengals and opposing tight ends, the numbers tell a story that aligns with both underlying stats and the experience of watching games. Cincinnati has exactly one defensive player who has excelled in coverage this season — third-year corner DJ Turner — while everyone else has been poor-to-dreadful. Turner leads the league in passes defended (14); he has the fourth-highest PFF coverage grade among all corners, and his passer rating against is 78.4. He is verifiably great.

Turner, however, is just one guy — and he’s never likely to shadow an opposing tight end. Every other member of this defense has been routinely cooked in coverage. Five different Cincinnati defensive players have allowed passer ratings north of 110. Cam Taylor-Britt is at 133.6. The missed tackle leaderboard is full of Bengals. It’s the primary reason plays like this have occurred with such frequency:

COLSTON LOVELAND ARE YOU KIDDING?

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/OMOzjsl6vC

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 2, 2025

Cincinnati visits Pittsburgh on Sunday, so let’s consider getting aggressive with any active Steelers tight end. Pat Freiermuth made a pair of house calls against the Bengals earlier this season. Collectively, Pittsburgh tight ends caught 11 passes for 141 yards and four TDs back in Week 7. We can’t promise a stat-for-stat repeat this weekend, but it’s likely to be fruitful.

If you’re looking for a weekly DFS tight end planner, here’s Cincinnati’s rest-of-season schedule:

Week 11: Pittsburgh
Week 12: New England
Week 13: Baltimore
Week 14: Buffalo
Week 15: Baltimore
Week 16: Miami
Week 17: Arizona
Week 18: Cleveland

Trey McBride has a very good chance to be the decisive player in Championship Week. Trade targets are rarely so obvious.

TreVeyon Henderson consolidating power in New England’s backfield

Six days ago, Henderson was widely regarded as a bust in our game — possibly one of the worst early-round rookies in recent fantasy history. He had one touchdown to his credit and a bunch of 2-yard gains on tape. He was struggling in pass protection, the one area in which he was supposed to be NFL-ready. He was having trouble shaking Terrell Jennings.

In the NFL, a lot can change in just one week. Henderson reached the end zone three times against New York on Thursday night, giving him five touchdowns in five days. Over his last two games, he’s delivered 243 scrimmage yards while playing 85.9% of the offensive snaps. Suddenly — and in defiance of everything — Henderson has seized control of New England’s backfield. If you burned a top-40 draft pick on him back in the summer, you are once again allowed to call yourself a genius.

The most encouraging aspect of Thursday night’s performance (and there were many) was Henderson’s dogged interior running, a trait he had not previously displayed:

.@TreVeyonH4 WON’T GO DOWN 😤

📺 Prime Video pic.twitter.com/UuCUU9eDWY

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 14, 2025

Sure, it was a zombie version of the Jets’ defense, but the rookie still exceeded expectations in a favorable matchup.

New England faces a layup line of vulnerable run defenses over the balance of the season — including the Bengals in Week 12 and the Giants the following Monday — so Henderson has a real chance to finish as one of the decisive players of 2025. He’ll still need to hold off Rhamondre Stevenson whenever the veteran returns from injury, but he’s built the strongest possible case to retain a featured role.

Wait, Ricky Pearsall was spotted where? At practice?

Yup, you read that subhead correctly. Pearsall was a limited participant in practice for the Niners on Wednesday, and apparently, he’s looking spry:

Report from the start of 49ers practice:

* Brock Purdy looks like he’s in line to start on Sunday
* Ricky Pearsall looked sharp, fast
* No Alfred Collins (hip) at the start of practice. He was mostly working out on a side field. Possible he joins the session later.

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) November 12, 2025

Excellent news all around. Brock Purdy returning in the same week as Pearsall seems like the fulfillment of some long-forgotten ancient prophecy. These two are expected to be good to go against Arizona on Sunday.

It’s understandable if you’ve forgotten all about Pearsall, but he produced a pair of 100-yard performances back in September before injuring his knee. A fully operational Pearsall would be a significant upgrade for San Francisco’s receiving room and your fantasy roster.

Bucky Irving, Chris Godwin are on the mend, too

Just an incredible return-to-practice week around the league. Irving and Godwin both practiced on a limited basis on Wednesday and Thursday, another welcome development. These may seem like names from Tampa Bay’s distant past, but no. We can’t yet rule them in for the matchup with Buffalo, but, delightfully, we also can’t yet rule them out.

The Bills’ defense has allowed 5.5 yards per rush to opposing ball-carriers, so this would definitely be a prime spot to deploy Bucky, even after the long layoff. Let’s hope Friday’s post-practice news is positive.

Luther Burden surge coming soon

Until last Sunday, Burden had been an exciting player only in concept. He was like a thought experiment, not an actual receiver. He barely saw the field. Burden had gained nearly 40% of his total yardage on a single (glorious) play and had not yet reached 20 snaps in any game.

But against the Giants, everything flipped. On a blustery afternoon, Bears receivers dropped an unacceptable number of passes. Olamide Zaccheaus was perhaps the worst offender, but he wasn’t alone. Burden, meanwhile, hauled in all three of his targets, including a critical 27-yard pickup on the game-winning drive:

This route by Luther Burden wow. Sells vertical. Quick in and out of the break great reactive catch.

Give this man more targets. #DaBears #Bears pic.twitter.com/NdwipjPaxw

— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) November 9, 2025

Just a filthy route, with YAC attached.

Burden also played a season-high 48.5% of the snaps against New York, a huge spike in usage. These days, it’s not simply fantasy analysts gassing up the rookie. The hype is coming from inside the house. Burden’s playmaking ability has not gone unnoticed by the coaching staff. He’s the sort of talent who makes sense as an easy-button option against a blitz-heavy Vikings defense. Add him today to beat the Week 12 rush.

Injured Chargers pass-catchers are back in business

Keenan Allen was the only key member of L.A.’s receiving corps who did not participate in practice to open the week, but he merely received a rest day — understandable for gentlemen of a certain age. Oronde Gadsden gave us a scare on Sunday when he suffered a knee/quad bruise, but he was actually a full participant on Wednesday, a great sign. Fire up Justin Herbert and everyone else attached to this team’s passing offense in Week 11 against the Jaguars.

Jacksonville has allowed the fifth-most passing yards per game and fourth-most passing scores this season. They trail only the Bengals in terms of fantasy production allowed to tight ends.

Chris Rodriguez, potential sneaky starter

Rodriguez exited last week’s loss with a shoulder issue, but he was practicing in full on Thursday. Just in case you missed it, Rodriguez drew the start against the Lions and dominated the early snaps and touches. He also scored the first touchdown for the Commanders, which he celebrated by giving a helpless photographer a near-death experience. Washington is facing a user-friendly Miami run defense in Madrid this week, so Rodriguez belongs on the flex/RB2 radar.