Daily Fantasy Football: Week Ten at Yahoo

Rizzla shares his week ten Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football lineup for this weekend, playing for the NFL Yahoo Cup.

The ebbs and flows of the Daily Fantasy Football season and are not for the weakhearted and this was never more evident than in the production of the players I plugged in for week nines contest.

Week nine was not a kind one for my freeroll lineup.

DJ Moore reminded the fantasy world that he plays in a Cam Newton led offense, following up his breakout week eight with a two touch game that consisted of a sixteen yard reception and 32 yards on the ground.

Courtland Sutton sat by and witnessed Case Keenum’s love affair with tight end Jeff Heuerman intensify even further with Demaryius Thomas out of town, while Kirk Cousins threw for less than 200 yards in an easy win over the sputtering Detroit Lions. The biggest disappointment however was Tarik Cohen who managed just 13 yards on seven touches in a blowout win over the Buffalo Bills.

For this week’s NFL Yahoo Cup free roll I followed my usual strategy of filling defense, tight end and quarterback first by identifying the best potential values. The only player I sought out for this weeks lineup was Marquez Valdes-Scantling who I thought would be a solid value once again for week ten.

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: QB Carson Wentz ($31 Salary; 16th salary rank; 8th personal rank)

My eighth ranked quarterback for week ten, Carson Wentz, fresh off four straight QB1 outings, faces off against a Dallas Cowboys defense surrendering the 17th most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

While this does not look like a plus matchup on paper, the Cowboys numbers are a little skewed due to facing only two QB1’s so far this season. While top corner Byron Jones could present some issues for Alshon Jeffery, the Cowboys will be without top linebacker Sean Lee who excels at coverage in the middle of the field, a place where Zach Ertz and Golden Tate can do some serious damage.

Wentz looks like the biggest salary bargain this week at the quarterback position and will allow me to field some higher end plays at other positions.

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: RB Joe Mixon ($27 Salary; 9th salary rank; 6th personal rank)

My sixth overall running back for week ten, the RB6 in average fantasy points per game, Joe Mixon squares off against a New Orleans Saints defense allowing fifth fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs.

The Saints have been rock solid against the run this season allowing no more than 69 yards rushing to any running back they have faced this season. Mixon will likely have to get going early to see more than 60-70 yards on the ground but should be heavily involved in the passing game with AJ Green on the shelf.

The Saints have relinquished 5.6 receptions per game to opposing running backs, a weakness that should allow Mixon to cross 100 yards from scrimmage with a possible trip to the end zone.

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: RB Ezekiel Elliott ($25 Salary; 10th salary rank; 5th personal rank)

My fifth overall running back for week ten, Ezekiel Elliott squares off against a Philadelphia Eagles defense allowing the third fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. The Eagles run D looks good at first glance but a deeper analysis reveals that their numbers are buoyed by the fact that they have only faced two RB1’s all season.

They were able to hold Christian MccAffrey in check with 80 yards on 13 touches but surrendered a massive 130 rushing yards and a touchdown to Saquon Barkley in addition to nine receptions for 90 yards receiving.

The Eagles are relinquishing the seventh most receptions per game to enemy running backs with 6.8 per game and will be highly susceptible to Zeke’s prowess as a receiver.

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: WR Julio Jones ($33 Salary; 5th salary rank; 3rd personal rank)

My number three overall receiver for week ten, Julio Jones finally found the end zone in week nine and will look to make it two straight against a Cleveland Browns defense giving up the twelfth most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers.

Number two in receiving yards with a massive 30.5 percent target share, Julio Jones has amassed over 96 yards receiving in six of the eight games he has played this season and will look to make it seven out of nine in a game with one of the highest totals of the week (51).

At an NFL leading 3.61 yards per pass route Julio is destined to see another high volume, high production day against standout rookie cornerback Denzel Ward.

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling ($16 Salary; 40th salary rank; 26th personal rank)

Having already cemented himself as the number two wide receiver for Aaron Rodgers, Marquez Valdes-Scantling saw his fantasy value get a major boost with Geronimo Allison being placed on IR.

MVS has posted either 100 yards receiving or a touchdown in each of his last four contests and has produced comparably to some big time receivers over those contests in terms or air yards and targets as per Fantasy Zone’s James Koh:

MVS looks to have a tough matchup on paper against a Miami Dolphins defense that is allowing the tenth fewest points to the wide receiver position.

A deeper look at the numbers puzzles however as the Dolphins have given up big games to seven wide receivers so far on the season. MVS has proven that he can make the most out of a limited amount of targets and receptions as evidenced by his 11.2 yards per target (sixth in NFL) and 21.8 yards per reception marks (second in the NFL), and is ready to truly breakout with a larger weekly role.

I would have MVS much higher than the 26th overall I currently have him ranked at but I am waiting to see a rise in his weekly reception count before I bump him to top-15 territory.

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: TE Adam Humphries ($15 Salary; 54th salary rank; 33rd personal rank)

Plugging in Humphries a week after his surprise blow up game may seem a bit like chasing the ghosts of fantasy past but there are some interest piquing trends when it comes to Humphries and the Bucs offense.

Humphries saw 44 of 47 available pass routes in week nine while DeSean Jackson saw only 26 and Chris Godwin 25. Humphries is quietly second on the team in both targets and receptions and faces off against a Washington defense giving up the eleventh most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers.

Seeing more snaps than both Godwin and Jackson so far on the season and running most of them out of the slot, Humphries is primed for another big day against a Washington defense giving up a 70 percent completion percentage to short passes, with the highest number being over the middle at 72.13 percent.

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: TE David Njoku ($14 Salary; 14th salary rank; 5th personal rank)

David Njoku has seen his fantasy stock take a bit of a nosedive in recent weeks spurred mostly by his zero target week eight.

Week nine was no picnic either as he managed only 52 yards off of four receptions, but the positive takeaway there was that he found himself involved in the offense once again under Freddy Kitchens.

Njoku may now be no more than the third option in the offense behind Jarvis Landry and Duke Johnson, but with a home date against a Falcons offense in a game the Browns are expected to be trailing in (five point underdogs), Njoku could have one of the better games of his season.

In theory, with Deion Jones still on the shelf there should be no one to take Njoku out snap after snap, so Njoku will look to take advantage of some home cooking and keep up the trend of playing slightly better at home where he averages nine targets and 5.6 receptions per game vs 4.3 targets and three receptions per on the road (since Baker Mayfield took over as the Browns starter).

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: WR Jarvis Landry ($22 Salary; 19th salary rank; 13th personal rank)

Juice has another cake matchup this week, this time against an Atlanta Falcons defense surrendering the third most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. My thirteenth overall receiver for week ten, Jarvis Landry has been a massive disappointment this season despite having plus matchups in seven of his nine outings.

Landry has not been wanting for opportunities however, ranking second in the NFL with 100 targets and first with a massive 48.4 red zone target percentage, auspiciously signalling that some positive regression is en route.

Daily Fantasy Football Yahoo Picks: San Diego Chargers D/ST ($16 Salary, 9th salary rank)

If I ranked defensive units on a weekly basis the San Diego Chargers would be a top three play this week versus a pitiful Oakland Raiders offense relinquishing the eighth most fantasy points to opposing defenses. The tank mode Raiders have given up 3.1 sacks per game on the season, a number that has jumped to 4.7 over their last three contests.

The last time these two teams met in week five the Chargers found Derek Carr three times and picked him off once, generating a needle moving eleven fantasy points. The Chargers are a solid high floor, high upside defense that could as much as double their week five output against a Raiders offense still reeling from the losses of Amari Cooper and Marshawn Lynch.

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR each and every day as we get you set with all the latest DFS NFL and Fantasy Football news and analysis.