Fantasy Football Week 10 Rankings: Updated Overview for All Positions

Ugh.

No Andrew Luck or Tom Brady or Philip Rivers or Robert Griffin III.

Ugh!

No Arian Foster or Alfred Morris or T.Y. Hilton or DeSean Jackson or DeAndre Hopkins.

Ugh.

No Rob Gronkowski.

Ugh!

I found myself saying "ugh" a lot this week as I compiled the rankings, as fantasy owners faced another week with six teams on a bye. More so than in most weeks, getting your lineup just right is vital this week, as selecting the wrong option could be devastating without your normal stars available to bail you out. 

You may be saying "ugh" now, but follow my rankings and you won't be saying "ugh" next Sunday. Let's break down this week's smartest options for your lineup.

Notes: For a full explanation of the rankings, see here. Abridged version: Startability measures how smart it is to start a given player in a week rather than attempting to project how many points he will score. "Ability" measures a player's overall talent, proficiency at his position and ability to produce fantasy numbers. "Offense" measures how much that team's offense improves his fantasy stock. The overall "startability" grade is weighted. All point totals and points-against statistics via ESPN standard scoring leagues. 

Schedule

Thursday, Nov. 6	Time (ET)
Sunday, Nov. 9	Time (ET)
Monday, Nov. 10	Time (ET)
Cleveland at Cincinnati	8:25 p.m.
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	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Aaron Rodgers	49	22	14	9	A+ (94)
2	Peyton Manning	50	15	15	10	A+ (90)
3	Ben Roethlisberger	42	24	12	7	A (85)
4	Drew Brees	49	7	13	9	A- (78)
5	Russell Wilson	45	14	10	8	A- (77)
6	Matt Ryan	43	18	10	5	B+ (76)
7	Jay Cutler	42	13	13	8	B+ (76)
8	Cam Newton	44	22	6	5	B+ (76)
9	Colin Kaepernick	42	16	10	6	B (74)
10	Mark Sanchez	38	17	14	5	B (74)
11	Carson Palmer	38	15	11	7	B- (71)
12	Tony Romo*	40	11	11	7	C+ (69)
13	Joe Flacco	40	10	11	6	C (67)
14	Matt Stafford	44	5	11	5	C (65)
15	Andy Dalton	40	8	10	4	C- (62)
16	Eli Manning	40	5	10	6	C- (61)
17	Mike Glennon	35	14	8	4	C- (61)
18	Ryan Tannehill	39	4	9	6	D+ (58)

Ben Roethlisberger has traditionally been inconsistent for fantasy owners, but at some point you have to forget the past and focus on the 12 touchdown passes in the past two weeks!

The man is on fire, folks, and while there's no way he'll continue this torrid pace forever, there's plenty of reason to believe he can keep it going this week against a New York Jets team that has given up 24 passing touchdowns, six more than any other team in the league.

Ride this hot hand—Big Ben is set for a huge week. 

With so many QB1 options on bye this week, you might have to get a bit creative at the position. As you can see, I love both Mark Sanchez and Carson Palmer. 

The former plays under arguably the most quarterback-friendly system in the NFL. Let's be honest—Nick Foles is an average quarterback at best, yet he's posted solid if unspectacular fantasy numbers this season. Sanchez looked great in the preseason and posted 12 points after replacing the injured Foles on Sunday, which would have been 14 points had Josh Huff not let a pass go through his hands that was ultimately intercepted. 

He faces a Carolina Panthers defense allowing 17.6 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks per week, 25th in the NFL, so the man most famous for the Butt Fumble may soon enough win over fantasy players with a big week. 

And then there's Palmer, who has quietly—oh so quietly—scored at least 16 fantasy points in every start this season. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, given he has Michael Floyd, Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Ellington to utilize in the passing game. 

While the St. Louis Rams have been better against opposing quarterbacks of late, holding the last two they've faced to 10 points apiece, they've been burned in the past. If you're scouring waivers for a QB2 to fill in for your starter this week, you could do far worse than Palmer. 

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	DeMarco Murray	48	16	15	10	A+ (89)
2	Marshawn Lynch	49	18	14	8	A+ (89)
3	Matt Forte	48	16	14	10	A+ (88)
4	LeSean McCoy	48	21	12	7	A+ (88)
5	Ronnie Hillman	40	23	13	7	A (830
6	Jamaal Charles	49	8	14	10	A (81)
7	Le'Veon Bell	47	10	13	9	A (79)
8	Justin Forsett	37	20	12	8	A- (77)
9	Andre Ellington	44	10	12	8	A- (74)
10	Jeremy Hill**	38	15	12	5	B+ (70)
11	Eddie Lacy	42	11	10	7	B+ (70)
12	Lamar Miller*	41	9	12	8	B+ (70)
13	Darren Sproles*	39	21	7	3	B+ (70)
14	Chris Ivory	40	12	11	6	B (69)
15	Denard Robinson	40	10	10	7	B (67)
16	Frank Gore	39	13	9	5	B (66)
17	Rashad Jennings***	40	5	12	8	B (65)
18	Joique Bell	40	11	7	5	B- (63)
19	Mark Ingram	41	5	10	6	B- (62)
20	Ben Tate	34	18	5	5	B- (62)
21	Terrance West	34	18	4	5	C+ (61)
22	Doug Martin	35	23	2	2	C+ (61)
23	Bobby Rainey	35	23	2	2	C+ (61)
24	Fred Jackson**	38	5	10	7	C (60)
25	Lorenzo Taliaferro	33	20	5	2	C (60)
26	Reggie Bush	38	11	7	3	C (59)
27	Steven Jackson	34	15	5	3	C (57)
28	Darren McFadden	37	8	5	5	C (55)
29	Bishop Sankey	36	3	5	5	C (55)
30	Tre Mason	35	3	7	3	D+ (49)

Running back is a mess this week. An absolute mess. Foster is the big name missing, sure, but owners also won't be able to choose from Morris, Ahmad Bradshaw, Trent Richardson, Shane Vereen, Jerick McKinnon or Branden Oliver.

Not only that, but Giovani Bernard, Rashad Jennings and Lamar Miller could all be out of action due to injuries. Yikes. This is the type of week you pray you have two good starters and you let a WR hold down the flex spot. 

Still, there are some positives.

Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images

LeSean McCoy has rushed for a total of 349 yards the past three weeks as his offensive line continues to get healthy and he returns to his RB1 status. The aforementioned Miller has nine or more fantasy points in all but one game this season. Andre Ellington has a total of 45 fantasy points in his past three games. Justin Forsett hasn't dipped below nine fantasy points since Week 3. Mark Ingram has scored 23 fantasy points in each of his last two games. 

What's the moral of this story? You're either doing just fine at running back this week or you're screwed. 

If you find yourself in the latter camp, you may have to roll the dice this week. One player worth taking a risk on might be Terrance West, who led the Cleveland Browns in carries (15) and rushing yards (48) in Week 9. Facing a Cincinnati Bengals team allowing 19.8 fantasy points to opposing running backs per week, 26th in the NFL, West is probably your best bet in that backfield.

There are better bets out there, sure, but this week you may not have those options available to you.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Julio Jones	49	23	12	7	A+ (91)
2	A.J. Green	49	16	13	10	A+ (88)
3	Jordy Nelson	48	15	14	9	A (86)
4	Antonio Brown	48	15	13	10	A (86)
5	Jeremy Maclin	45	18	14	9	A (86)
6	Dez Bryant	49	15	13	9	A (86)
7	Demaryius Thomas	48	14	14	9	A (85)
8	Randall Cobb	45	15	14	9	A (83)
9	Emmanuel Sanders	44	14	15	9	A- (81)
10	Brandon Marshall	47	15	12	7	A- (81)
11	Alshon Jeffery	45	15	12	7	B+ (79)
12	Kelvin Benjamin	41	21	10	7	B+ (79)
13	Sammy Watkins	44	10	12	7	B (73)
14	Calvin Johnson*	47	8	12	5	B (72)
15	Golden Tate	43	8	12	8	B (71)
16	Steve Smith	42	11	12	6	B (71)
17	Roddy White	37	23	7	4	B (71)
18	Mohamed Sanu	39	16	8	7	B- (70)
19	Larry Fitzgerald	40	18	7	5	B- (70)
20	Mike Evans	40	16	8	5	C+ (69)
21	Vincent Jackson	44	16	5	4	C+ (69)
22	Michael Crabtree	40	18	8	3	C+ (69)
23	Michael Floyd	40	18	5	5	C (68)
24	Anquan Boldin	38	18	7	5	C (68)
25	Torrey Smith	40	11	10	6	C (67)
26	Terrance Williams	38	15	8	5	C (66)
27	Kendall Wright	37	20	5	4	C (66)
28	Mike Wallace	44	3	11	7	C (65)
29	Percy Harvin	42	12	5	5	C- (64)
30	Martavis Bryant	37	15	8	4	C- (64)
31	Brandin Cooks	38	10	11	4	D+ (63)
32	Eric Decker	38	12	5	5	D (60)
33	Rueben Randle	35	3	9	4	D- (51)
34	Odell Beckham Jr.	35	3	9	4	D- (51)
35	Andrew Hawkins	35	5	5	6	D- (51)

Whereas running back is thin this week, the top of the wide receiver rankings is full of players with really tasty matchups. Frankly, your top receivers should carry you this week.

While the Atlanta Falcons have been struggling, I really love Julio Jones and Roddy White this week. Their opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are giving up 29.1 fantasy points to opposing wide receivers per week, easily the worst mark in the NFL, and when these teams first met, Jones notched a whopping 28 points.

There are no sure bets in fantasy. But Jones and White are about as close as it gets at receiver this week.

Kelvin Benjamin might be a close second facing a Philadelphia Eagles defense that has allowed 19 or more fantasy points to opposing receivers in six of eight games. The Carolina Panthers aren't exactly brimming with talented options in the passing game beyond Benjamin, so he has WR1 upside this week and is an excellent WR2 option. 

A.J. Green returned to action last week and posted 10 fantasy points, so he should once agian be considered among the elite at wide receiver. His teammate Mohamed Sanu has earned weekly WR2 status as well, with eight or more fantasy points in six of his last seven games and double-digit points in five of seven. 

This doesn't appear to be a situation where he simply had value in Green's absence—Sanu is here to stay. 

Finally, suffering Calvin Johnson owners can rejoice, as Megatron is coming off a bye and all indications are that he'll be good to go this week. He said as much last week, so there's that. Don't fear Golden Tate taking a huge hit, either. Like Sanu, his production seems quite sustainable and he's carved a place for himself on the Detroit Lions offense.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
Rank	Player	Ability (0/50)	Matchup (0/25)	Offense (0/15)	Consistency (0/10)	OVERALL GRADE (0/100)
1	Julius Thomas	49	12	15	8	A+ (84)
2	Jimmy Graham	50	7	13	9	A (79)
3	Martellus Bennett	41	15	13	7	A (76)
4	Travis Kelce	42	10	10	7	A- (69)
5	Larry Donnell	37	18	9	5	A- (69)
6	Heath Miller	37	20	8	4	A- (69)
7	Greg Olsen	45	3	12	7	B+ (67)
8	Owen Daniels*	36	15	8	6	B (65)
9	Jason Witten	40	13	5	6	B (64)
10	Mychal Rivera	35	18	6	4	B- (63)
11	Jordan Cameron	40	15	5	2	B- (62)
12	Zach Ertz	40	10	7	4	C+ (61)
13	Delanie Walker	39	8	8	5	C (60)
14	Vernon Davis	40	5	5	2	C- (52)
15	Charles Clay	36	11	7	4	C- (51)

Tight end has been hit pretty hard this week as well, with Gronkowski, Antonio Gates, Dwayne Allen, Coby Fleener and Jordan Cameron out of action. That means you might need to get a bit creative this week. 

One intriguing option for desperate owners is Mychal Rivera, who has 15 receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns and now faces a Denver Broncos defense that has allowed 13 or more fantasy points to opposing tight ends in three of the last four weeks. 

Rivera is a huge boom-or-bust option for the week, but you could do far worse, especially at a position that is traditionally erratic anyway. 

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

The other player to consider is Miller, as he has been one of the beneficiaries of Big Ben's hot hand and faces the dreadful Jets secondary this week. Miller is just as big a boom-or-bush option—he scored a total of 31 points in Weeks 4 and 8 and has a total of 15 points in his seven other games—but if you are more comfortable with Big Ben throwing passes than Derek Carr, roll with Miller.

Defense/Special Teams

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

Kickers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Dan Bailey	Dallas Cowboys
2	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens
3	Cody Parkey	Philadelphia Eagles
4	Shaun Suisham	Pittsburgh Steelers
5	Chandler Catanzaro	Arizona Cardinals
6	Dan Carpenter	Buffalo Bills
7	Steven Hauschka	Seattle Seahawks
8	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers
9	Caleb Sturgis	Miami Dolphins
10	Shayne Graham	New Orleans Saints

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.