Fantasy Football Week 10 Rankings: Projections for Players with Matchups We Love

More so than in most weeks, nailing your matchups in Week 10 is vital. With six teams on bye and a ton of superstars unavailable, you can't afford to botch your lineup this week. 

But fear not, my brave fantasy aficionados, for below I've highlighted some of the most appealing matchups of the week in my weekly fantasy rankings. If a player has a soft matchup he's likely to exploit, you'll find him highlighted below. 

Schedule

Sunday, Nov. 9	Time (ET)
Monday, Nov. 10	Time (ET)
Kansas City at Buffalo	1 p.m.
Miami at Detroit	1 p.m.
Dallas at Jacksonville	1 p.m.
San Francisco at New Orleans	1 p.m.
Tennessee at Baltimore	1 p.m.
Pittsburgh at NY Jets	1 p.m.
Atlanta at Tampa Bay	1 p.m.
Denver at Oakland	4:05 p.m.
St. Louis at Arizona	4:25 p.m.
NY Giants at Seattle	4:25 p.m.
Chicago at Green Bay	8:30 p.m.
Carolina at Philadelphia	8:30 p.m.

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Aaron Rodgers	25
2	Peyton Manning	24
3	Ben Roethlisberger	22
4	Drew Brees	21
5	Russell Wilson	20
6	Matt Ryan	18
7	Jay Cutler	17
8	Cam Newton	16
9	Colin Kaepernick	16
10	Mark Sanchez	15
11	Carson Palmer	15
12	Tony Romo*	14
13	Joe Flacco	14
14	Matt Stafford	14
15	Eli Manning	13

Ben Roethlisberger might seem like a pretty obvious, trendy pick. After all, he has 862 passing yards and 12 touchdown passes in the past two weeks, which are Madden-on-easy-mode numbers. Obviously, that level of production isn't sustainable. 

Or is it?

This week, Big Ben faces a New York Jets defense that has allowed 24 passing touchdowns, six more than any other team in the league. They are giving up 20.7 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks per week, worst in the NFL, and have given up 21 or more fantasy points in six of nine games this season.

Sure, the Jets have played a lot of good quarterbacks, but they gave up 25 fantasy points to Kyle Orton in Week 8. Kyle Orton! There isn't a player with a better fantasy matchup this week than Big Ben.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Of course, Aaron Rodgers might make the case that Round 2 against the Chicago Bears is pretty favorable. Rodgers torched the Bears for 28 fantasy points in Week 4 and has been red-hot since, so surely he's eagerly anticipating a rematch against a defense that has given up 23 fantasy points to Ryan Tannehill and 34 points to Tom Brady in their past two games.

Rodgers' owners can relax this weekend—the fantasy points will be plentiful.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	DeMarco Murray	20
2	Marshawn Lynch	19
3	Matt Forte	19
4	LeSean McCoy	17
5	Ronnie Hillman	16
6	Jamaal Charles	16
7	Le'Veon Bell	15
8	Justin Forsett	15
9	Andre Ellington	14
10	Eddie Lacy	14
11	Lamar Miller*	14
12	Chris Ivory	13
13	Denard Robinson	13
14	Frank Gore	12
15	Rashad Jennings***	12
16	Joique Bell	12
17	Mark Ingram	11
18	Darren Sproles	9
19	Fred Jackson**	9
20	Reggie Bush	7
21	Steven Jackson	7
22	Doug Martin	6
23	Bobby Rainey	6
24	Lorenzo Taliaferro	5
25	Darren McFadden	5

There are plenty of reasons to love LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles this week.

Stud center Jason Kelce returned to the offensive line last week, and All-Pro guard Evan Mathis returns this week. With a new quarterback under center, Mark Sanchez, the team will likely turn to the ground game early to help ease Sanchez into the transition (though honestly, Sanchez probably isn't much of a downgrade from Nick Foles, if any at all).

But perhaps most importantly, the Carolina Panthers haven't been very good against the run. The Panthers are giving up 131.9 rushing yards per game, 26th in the NFL, and 21.2 fantasy points to opposing running backs per week, 30th in the league. 

The Shady and Sproles Show will be in full force on Monday night. 

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Denver's Ronnie Hillman has been a revelation since Montee Ball went down with an injury, with 61 total fantasy points in the past four games. Now he faces an Oakland Raiders defense that has given up 20 or more fantasy points to opposing running backs in six of eight games and 30 or more points three times. 

Oakland's run defense is bad enough when they can keep seven or eight men in the box. Against Denver's passing game, the Raiders are going to have to commit to stopping the pass and Hillman could find gaping holes in the ground game. Expect big things.

Finally, Justin Forsett has been one of fantasy's bigger surprises this year, and now he faces a Tennessee defense that was torched for 41 fantasy points—yes, you read that correctly—in Week 8 against the Houston Texans. 

Forsett is no Arian Foster, sure, but the Titans have given up 24 or more fantasy points to opposing backs in four of eight games this year. Forsett could have a huge contest.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Julio Jones	20
2	Jordy Nelson	18
3	Antonio Brown	17
4	Jeremy Maclin	17
5	Dez Bryant	16
6	Demaryius Thomas	16
7	Randall Cobb	15
8	Emmanuel Sanders	15
9	Brandon Marshall	14
10	Alshon Jeffery	14
11	Kelvin Benjamin	13
12	Sammy Watkins	12
13	Calvin Johnson*	12
14	Golden Tate	12
15	Steve Smith	11
16	Roddy White	10
17	Larry Fitzgerald	10
18	Mike Evans	10
19	Vincent Jackson	9
20	Michael Crabtree	8
21	Michael Floyd	8
22	Anquan Boldin	8
23	Torrey Smith	8
24	Terrance Williams	7
25	Kendall Wright	7
26	Mike Wallace	7
27	Percy Harvin	6
28	Martavis Bryant	6
29	Brandin Cooks	6
30	Eric Decker	6

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. One would imagine given their recent struggles, the Atlanta Falcons are looking upon a matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with great fondness.

When last these teams met in Week 3, Julio Jones scored a whopping 28 fantasy points and the Falcons won 56-14, the last victory for the Dirty Birds. That's one of the reasons I love Jones and Roddy White this week.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Sure, both players have been streaky this year, but the Bucs have consistently been terrible against opposing wide receivers, giving up 29.1 points to the position each week, easily the worst in the NFL. Start both with confidence and enjoy the show. 

Then there is Kelvin Benjamin, starting against Philadelphia's poor secondary. The Eagles have given up 19 or more fantasy points to opposing wideouts in six of eight games and 30 or more points four times. They've also given up 11 touchdowns to the position, a number eclipsed only by the Panthers (12), Bucs (13) and Houston Texans (13). 

Benjamin will be balling this week.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Julius Thomas	15
2	Jimmy Graham	14
3	Martellus Bennett	12
4	Travis Kelce	11
5	Larry Donnell	9
6	Heath Miller	9
7	Greg Olsen	9
8	Owen Daniels	8
9	Jason Witten	8
10	Mychal Rivera	8
11	Zach Ertz	7
12	Delanie Walker	6

This one might come as a little bit of a surprise. After all, the Seattle Seahawks are a tough opponent at home and are starting to tighten up a bit in the secondary. So why do I love Larry Donnell this week?

Well, while the Seahawks have been tough on opposing wide receivers in fantasy, they've been nothing but accommodating to opposing tight ends, giving up nine or more fantasy points to the position five times this season. Last week, Oakland's Mychal Rivera caught eight passes for 38 yards and two touchdowns against them.

Donnell has cooled off a bit after a fast start, but he did reach pay dirt against the Indianapolis Colts last week. Don't be surprised when he makes it two weeks in a row.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Defense	Projected Points
1	Buffalo Bills	15
2	Baltimore Ravens	13
3	Miami Dolphins	12
4	Arizona Cardinals	12
5	Pittsburgh Steelers	11
6	Detroit Lions	10
7	Seattle Seahawks	10
8	Dallas Cowboys	10
9	Kansas City Chiefs	8
10	Denver Broncos	8

When the Jacksonville Jaguars stop being a matchup made in heaven for opposing defenses, I'll stop picking their opponent for this section each and every week. Unfortunately, we haven't seen that happen yet.

The Jags are giving up 14.2 fantasy points per week to opposing defenses, worst in the NFL, and they've yet to give up less than seven fantasy points.

Perhaps things are getting better—in two of the last three weeks, they've kept the opposing defense under double-digit fantasy points, though they sandwiched that by giving up 26 points to the Miami Dolphins—but the Jags simply haven't been good enough to keep me from recommending the Dallas Cowboys defense in London. 

Kickers

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Dan Bailey	15
2	Justin Tucker	14
3	Cody Parkey	13
4	Shaun Suisham	13
5	Chandler Catanzaro	12
6	Dan Carpenter	11
7	Steven Hauschka	11
8	Graham Gano	10
9	Caleb Sturgis	10
10	Shayne Graham	9

Dan Bailey is third in fantasy points amongst kickers this season, and the Jags have given up 10.6 fantasy points to opposing kickers per week, 31st in the NFL. This is a pretty easy call to make. 

Besides, if there is something they can appreciate in London, it's a good kicking game. 

All point totals and points-against statistics via ESPN standard-scoring leagues. Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy questions and make some corny jokes, too. It's more fun than sitting down and scoring touchdowns with Anthony Fasano.