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Fantasy Football Week 10 Rankings: Projections for Players with Matchups We Love
November 9, 2018
It's Week 10 of the 2018 fantasy football season. Do you know where your studs are?
Hopefully, they had some kind of exposure to Thursday night's fantasy feast. There were 10 touchdowns scored in the Pittsburgh Steelers' 52-21 drubbing of the Carolina Panthers, five coming from Ben Roethlisberger passes and all three Carolina scores involving Christian McCaffrey.
If this was a sign of things to come, fantasy owners should be in for a treat.
Below we'll look at the top 10 rankings at each offensive position, then break down a player at every spot with matchups we're looking to exploit.
Quarterbacks
1. Patrick Mahomes, KC (vs. ARI)
2. Drew Brees, NO (at CIN)
3. Aaron Rodgers, GB (vs. MIA)
4. Tom Brady, NE (at TEN)
5. Matt Ryan, ATL (at CLE)
6. Philip Rivers, LAC (at OAK)
7. Andy Dalton, CIN (vs. NO)
8. Carson Wentz, PHI (vs. DAL)
9. Jared Goff, LAR (vs. SEA)
10. Ryan Fitzpatrick, TB (vs. WAS)
While consistency continues to elude Andy Dalton, he's still capable of top-three production on his best weeks. Despite being without A.J. Green, Dalton is primed for one of his monstrous performances.
New Orleans' defense is dreadful against the pass. The Saints sit 29th in total passing yards allowed, 30th in yards per attempt and tied for 26th in touchdowns. No unit surrenders more fantasy points to quarterbacks than this one. Three different passers have torched them for at least 370 yards and three scores, including Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Dalton has already faced the second- and third-most generous defenses to fantasy quarterbacks. In Week 4, he dropped 337 yards and three scores on the Falcons. In Week 8, he went for 280 yards and two scores against the Bucs.
We'll say Dalton lands right in between here, throwing for 308 yards and two touchdowns while avoiding an interception for the fourth time this season.
Running Backs
1. Todd Gurley, LAR (vs. SEA)
2. Kareem Hunt, KC (vs. ARI)
3. Saquon Barkley, NYG (at SF)
4. Alvin Kamara, NO (at CIN)
5. Melvin Gordon, LAC (at OAK)
6. David Johnson, ARI (at KC)
7. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (at PHI)
8. James White, NE (at TEN)
9. Joe Mixon, CIN (vs. NO)
10. Tevin Coleman, ATL (at CLE)
Melvin Gordon storms into Week 10 searing hot. Oakland, meanwhile, is as frigid as it gets.
Three of the last four times Gordon has played—he missed Week 7 with a hamstring strain—he's cleared 100 rushing yards. What makes that number even more impressive is that he did so without ever receiving more than 18 carries. Oh, and in the only contest he fell short of that mark (Week 5 against these same Raiders), he totaled 120 scrimmage yards and a touchdown.
Now, about those Raiders. Things are...bleak. Oakland's defense was the unfortunate talk of the town in Week 9 for allowing third-stringer Nick Mullens to pass for 262 yards (on 16-of-22 accuracy) and three scores in his first NFL appearance. But overlooked in that tilt was the fact this unit was also gouged for 143 yards and a score on the ground.
That said, it makes sense no one talked about this rush defense coming out of the contest. It was essentially another day at the office, as Oakland has surrendered a league-worst 144.5 rushing yards per game and nine rushing touchdowns through eight games.
Gordon owners, it's time to get giddy about what this weekend could entail. Look for a final line in the range of 93 rushing yards, 34 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Wide Receivers
1. Michael Thomas, NO (at CIN)
2. Odell Beckham Jr., NYG (at SF)
3. Julio Jones, ATL (at CLE)
4. Davante Adams, GB (vs. MIA)
5. Mike Evans, TB (vs. WAS)
6. Keenan Allen, LAC (at OAK)
7. Tyler Boyd, CIN (vs. NO)
8. Jarvis Landry, CLE (vs. ATL)
9. Tyreek Hill, KC (vs. ARI)
10. Robert Woods, LAR (vs. SEA)
Julio Jones is so good—this is the part where you respond, How good is he?—Julio Jones is so good that he maintained major fantasy relevance through his first seven games without finding the end zone. Well, he finally got over the hump last week while delivering his fifth 100-yard performance in eight chances.
He's incredible, and he should keep looking that way against a Cleveland defense ranked 28th in completions and 31st in passing yards. This statistical nugget should particularly interest Jones' owners—the Browns allow the 10th-most fantasy points to wide receivers even though they're tied for the 11th-fewest passing touchdowns. In other words, even if Jones can't start a scoring streak, he could still have a huge day.
For the most part, elite wideouts have tortured this defense. Antonio Brown collected 15 catches and three touchdowns over two meetings. Michael Thomas enjoyed a ridiculous 12-catch, two-score day against it. Amari Cooper had eight grabs for 128 yards and a score. Mike Evans turned 11 targets into seven receptions for 107 yards.
It's hard to even imagine Jones disappointing here, so we won't bother to try. Instead, we'll pencil him in for eight receptions, 112 yards and his second score of 2018.
Tight Ends
1. Travis Kelce, KC (vs. ARI)
2. Zach Ertz, PHI (vs. DAL)
3. Rob Gronkowski, NE (at TEN)
4. George Kittle, SF (vs. NYG)
5. Trey Burton, CHI (vs. DET)
6. Jimmy Graham, GB (vs. MIA)
7. O.J. Howard, TB (vs. WAS)
8. David Njoku, CLE (vs. ATL)
9. Evan Engram, NYG (at SF)
10. Jack Doyle, IND (vs. JAX)
Hopefully, you've gotten over David Njoku's Week 8 goose egg by now. The sooner you can get that out of your memory, the faster you'll find out he's both trending the right direction and entering a favorable matchup.
We'll let ESPN's Matthew Berry take it from here:
"[Njoku] still has at least four catches and 50 yards in five of his past six games. The only other tight ends with five such games since Week 4? Travis Kelce and George Kittle. I expect Njoku to make it six of the past seven after a matchup with a Falcons team that gives up the eighth-most TE completions per game this season (5.3)."
We're counting on big things from Njoku, like six grabs for 56 yards and a score.
Statistics used courtesy of NFL.com and ESPN.com. Fantasy scoring information obtained via Yahoo Sports.