Fantasy Football, Start or Sit for Week 10

It’s that time of the week to start making final decisions on who’s going to start for you in Fantasy Football for Week 10 and who’s going to ride the fantasy bench!

Fantasy Football Week 10 brings a little bit of relief for a lot of owners who had to deal with the Bye-Pocolypse last week. True, there are still four teams in a bye week this time around and there are some studs that aren’t available but it was a lot tougher last week. Owners might have some tougher calls this week so let’s get into who should find their way into your lineup!

Fantasy Football Week 10 Start/Sit: Quarterback

Start Baker Mayfield, vs Atlanta Falcons

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about my man Baker but this week is a time where you can comfortably put him in as a starter. In his first game under Freddie Kitchens, Mayfield looked pretty solid.

He just missed throwing for 300 yards and found the end zone twice for the third straight week. His yards per attempt was up to 7.1 and his completion percentage of 69 percent was his highest in any start. Now he gets to face off against a defense that’s allowing the fourth most passing yards a game and a 102.5 passer rating on the season.

The Falcons have also allowed the third most fantasy points to quarterbacks and you have to expect the Browns to need to score a lot of points in this game. The Falcons score the fourth most points in the league so Mayfield is going to have the ball in his hands plenty of times this week.

Also Consider Starting – Mitchell Trubisky – vs Detroit Lions – Andrew Luck – vs Jacksonville Jaguars

Sit Andy Dalton, vs New Orleans Saints 

Maybe this call isn’t the boldest but I’m not willing to trust Dalton without A.J. Green, no matter what the opposing matchup is. We just saw the Saints defense get torched by Jared Goff and the Rams last week but to say there’s a massive difference in the Rams and Bengals is a large understatement.

It would be great to use Dalton since the Saints are giving up the second most pass yards per game and the second most points to quarterbacks but the Bengals are just too beat up.

The offense is down to Tyler Boyd, Joe Mixon, a third string tight end in C.J. Uzomah and a John Ross/Josh Malone combo for the other receivers. Better quarterbacks might be able to pull a solid fantasy game out of that matchup but I don’t think Dalton will be one of them.

Also Consider Sitting – Matthew Stafford – at Chicago Bears

Fantasy Football Week 10 Start/Sit: Running Back

Start Dion Lewis, vs New England Patriots 

We can honestly say that the Titans offense has been a disaster for the entire season to this point. Sure, they looked fine this past Monday night in Dallas but it still wasn’t an overall performance to write home about.

The one thing that was notable is the gap in touches and snaps for Dion Lewis compared to Derrick Henry. Playing on 80 percent of the snaps is always encouraging but the 23-6 touch ratio is what’s really exciting.

Lewis is clearly the man in the offense and gets a New England defense that looks good against running backs, almost inside of the top 10. The catch is the Pats have been vulnerable to pass catching running backs. Only seven teams have allowed more receptions and yards, in addition to only four teams allowing more touchdowns through the air.

In a game where the Titans might have to pass more than normal, Lewis is a great start this week.

Also Consider Starting – Aaron Jones – vs Miami Dolphins – Duke Johnson – vs Atlanta Falcons – Marlon Mack – vs Jacksonville Jaguars

Sit Kerryon Johnson, at Chicago Bears

As frustrating as it continues to be, Johnson is not a safe fantasy option again this week. We saw glimpses of his talent when Theo Riddick missed a couple games and there’s little doubt he’s the best running back on the team.

However, Riddick took a significant chunk of the passing game this past week with eight targets. Johnson still did see five targets but his snaps also dropped by near 30 percent. Even though Johnson has been used more in the red zone, LeGarrette Blount could still snipe the fantasy gold that is touchdowns.

If all that weren’t enough, the Bears have yet to allow a rushing touchdown on the season and have only allowed three through the air. I’ll pass on using Johnson unless a running back for Detroit is a surprise inactive on Sunday.

Also Consider Sitting – LeSean McCoy – at New York Jets – Mark Ingram – at Cincinnati Bengals

Fantasy Football Week 10 Start/Sit: Wide Receiver

Start Josh Gordon, at Tennessee Titans 

Owners aren’t going to need much encouragement after Gordon had a big game on Sunday Night Football but if I had a section that was a “Start of the Week”, Gordon would be it. First, he’s just continuing to be a bigger part of the offense in general.

He maintained a snap percentage of over 80 percent and saw double digit targets last week. Secondly, Tennessee is allowing the eighth most points to wide receivers overall. The last point is Malcolm Butler has been flat out awful this year, surrendering seven touchdowns in coverage this season.

Given how messy thing got between him and the Patriots over the benching in the Super Bowl, I have a sneaking suspicion that Bill Belichick is going to go out of his way to prove he was right in benching Butler.

That means Gordon is going have a field day here and I’m not going to miss the boat on it. We will see the best game he’s had in New England so far.

Also Consider Starting – Marquez Valdes-Scantling – vs Miami Dolphins – Tyrell Williams – at Oakland Raiders – Amari Cooper – at Philadelphia Eagles

Sit Golden Tate, vs Dallas Cowboys 

I’m fully aware this one could bite me in a big way but I’m of the opinion to take a wait and see approach with Tate since he’s on a new team. I really want to see what kind of role Tate is going to have before starting him with confidence.

The positive is he’s had some extra time to get used to the offense and work with Carson Wentz. The negative is Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz are accounting for 20 percent of the targets in this offense. Now, you could look at the target share and just saw that Tate is going to take the 20 percent that Nelson Agholor currently has.

You may well be right in that assumption and the Eagel might be more pass heavy than ever with the addition of Tate and a lack of a great running game. I would rather see what the Eagles have in store than start Tate for a potential 2/20/0 line, knowing the ceiling is much bigger than that.

Also Consider Sitting – Sterling Shepard – at San Francisco 49ers – Tyler Lockett – at Los Angeles Rams – T.Y. Hilton – vs Jacksonville Jaguars

Fantasy Football Week 10 Start/Sit: Tight End

Start Jack Doyle, vs Jacksonville Jaguars

This is simply a volume play because the matchup is frankly not good at all. The Jaguars rank ninth against the tight end position, having only allowed 333 yards and three touchdowns all season long.

Doyle just simply plays so many snaps and runs so many routes that it almost doesn’t matter what the matchup tells us. There’s a solid chance that Jalen Ramsey holds T.Y. Hilton in check, meaning Andrew Luck is going to need somewhere else to go in this game.

As my podcast partner Adam Pfeifer points out, Luck has loved his tight ends so far this season. Doyle has averaged a little over seven targets in his limited playing time this year and that’s all we can hoe for with tight ends.

Also Consider Starting – Ben Watson – at Cincinnati Bengals

Sit Rob Gronkowski, at Tennessee Titans 

Yes, I’m going into unthinkable territory and telling you to sit Gronk even if he plays. Something is not right with him this year, be it injuries or something else we don’t know about. Usually we don’t care about matchups with Gronk but I do when he’s been playing this poor.

He’s not found the end zone since Week 1(!) and has only been over 75 yards twice this season as well. He’s been a ver pedestrian option even when he’s played and one of the most befuddling stats of the entire season is he has exactly two red zone targets.

That’s not just the last game he played, that’s the number all season long. Both Phillip Dorsett and Cordarrelle Patterson have more than Gronk on the year.

Also Consider Sitting – Jordan Reed – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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