We are only hours away from the start of week 10, but we can’t relax yet. With all of the relevant injury designations, weather and news, we have to stay focused. This article will cover the NFL week 10 injuries, news, and final lineups. This information will be continuously updated until the 1:00 PM EST kickoffs.
Last Updated: 11/11 12:50 PM EST
Sam Darnold, NYJ, QB – OUT
Ryan Tannehill, MIA, QB – OUT
Josh Allen, BUF, QB – OUT
Derek Anderson, BUF, QB – OUT
Sony Michel, NE, RB – Active
Chris Carson, SEA, RB – Questionable (unlikely)
Giovani Bernard, CIN, RB – Active
Kerryon Johnson, DET, RB – Active
Chris Thompson, WAS, RB – OUT
Chris Ivory, BUF, RB – OUT
Ronald Jones, TB, RB – OUT
A.J. Green, CIN, WR – OUT
Sammy Watkins, KC, WR – OUT
Randall Cobb, GB, WR – Questionable
Jamison Crowder, WAS, WR – OUT
Tajae Sharpe, TEN, WR – Active
Robbie Anderson, NYJ, WR – OUT
Rob Gronkowski, NE, TE – OUT
David Njoku, CLE, TE – Active
Erik Swoope, IND, TE – OUT
Charles Clay, BUF, TE – OUT
Tyler Kroft, CIN, TE – OUT
Jermaine Gresham, ARZ, TE – Active
Darqueze Dennard, CIN, CB – OUT
Vontez Burfict, CIN, LB – OUT
Denzel Ward, CLE, CB – Questionable (likely)
Darius Slay, DET, CB – OUT
Ezekiel Ansah, DET, DE – Questionable
Kevin King, GB, CB – OUT
Bryan Bulaga, GB, T – Questionable
A.J. Bouye, JAX, CB – OUT
Eric Berry, KC, SS – OUT
Justin Houston, KC, LB – Active
Joey Bosa, LAC, DE – OUT
Kiko Alonso, MIA, LB – Questionable
Marcus Davenport, NO, DE – OUT
K.J. Wright, SEA, LB – Questionable
D.J. Fluker, SEA, G – Questionable
Vinny Curry, TB, DE – OUT
Jack Conklin, TEN, T – OUT
Trent Williams, WAS, T – OUT
Morgan Moses, WAS, T – Active
Last Updated: 11/11 12:50 PM EST
According to NFL Weather, none of the games on the Sunday main slate will likely be impacted. Only one game could potentially be affected by winds, and that’s Detroit-Chicago, where the winds will be an estimated 15 mph.
Last Updated: 11/11 12:50 PM EST
Last Updated: 11/11 12:50 PM EST
Quarterbacks:
Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson,
Josh McCown
If you’ve been playing seasonal or daily fantasy the past three years, or even if you’re just an avid Football viewer, you know that Russell Wilson is dramatically better in the second half of the season. The table below illustrates just how different Wilson has been in the second half of the season since 2015.
While 2017 doesn’t completely support my case, it doesn’t matter because he’s still giving you a 21 point average as a sub $8,000 quarterback. Even though the passing volume isn’t high, the Seahawks are throwing the ball in the redzone, and Wilson is converting his opportunities into touchdowns. Wilson is both cash- and GPP-viable, and he’ll be the quarterback on my small, single-entry lineups.
Josh McCown is my cash game quarterback for one reason, his price. When you get a competent quarterback at $6,000 it allows you to fit in whoever you want (within reason). For example, I’m paying up for two stud running backs and living in the mid-tier at wide receiver because of McCown. While he doesn’t have a good matchup, there’s enough volume for him to produce. Sam Darnold has never attempted less than 21 passes this season and is averaging 32 attempts per game thus far. Last season, in games in which McCown attempted at least 25 passes, he averaged 18.62 points. As cash players, we don’t need him to even hit that average to make value. Not to mention, McCown had five rushing touchdowns and averaged 9.5 rushing yards a game in 2017.
UPDATE: My analysis for Russell Wilson convinced me to use him as my cash game quarterback instead of Josh McCown. It came down to sacrificing at either the quarterback or tight end position, and with the volatility of tight ends and the importance of getting a quarterback that can score 20 points, I chose to sacrifice at tight end. Andrew Luck is now my preferred quarterback in my single entry GPP lineups. His price doesn’t make me change the overall build of my roster, and he will be less than three percent owned against this Jacksonville defense. It also helped that Eric Ebron was already my GPP tight end, so the stack factor came into play with Luck.
Running Backs:
Kareem Hunt, Melvin Gordon, Leonard Fournette,
Nick Chubb Dion Lewis
Kareem Hunt and Melvin Gordon need no explanation. Most players will have to choose one, but playing McCown allows me to have both. Each player is in a great spot against terrible defenses, and are big favorites in terms of the spread. Not to mention, they also play a pivotal role in their team’s passing game.
Leonard Fournette is strictly a GPP play. One more time for good measure, please do not put yourself through the hell of playing Fournette in a cash game. However, if you want a cheaper, lower-owned running back that can produce like the top players, Fournette is your guy, and here’s why. Since Doug Marrone has been a head coach, his teams average 31 rushes for 151 yards and one touchdown when coming off a bye week. In 2017, although Fournette did not play in that game, Chris Ivory had 20 carries and three catches.
To this point, in games in which Fournette gets at least 20 carries, he averages 109 rushing yards. And, when he gets three or more catches in addition to those 20 carries, he averages 129 total yards. When you combine Marrone’s tendency to run the ball after a bye with the fact that Fournette practiced in full all week, all signs point to Fournette getting every opportunity to produce this week, and likely doing so.
Nick Chubb, in my opinion, is the best sub-$7,000 running back on FanDuel. Since taking the starting role, he’s averaging 19 carries and 76 yards rushing. While he is splitting time with another player, their roles are more defined than other running back tandems in his price range like Mark Ingram, Jordan Howard or Aaron Jones. Howard has become more consistent as of late, and Jones is clearly the better back for Green Bay, but Jones has not carried the ball more than 14 times all season, and Howard only has two games in which his carries have eclipsed Chubb’s average.
UPDATE: If you’ve been following my work, you know I have certain when in doubt, or, default rules to follow. One of them is as follows: play the cheap, chalky running back in cash games. This week, the running back that fits that criteria is Dion Lewis. I don’t particularly love him as a flex play, but he made my transition from McCown to Wilson easy, and will give me some protection in case he’s upwards of 30 percent owned in my 50/50’s.
Wide Receivers:
Josh Gordon, Cooper Kupp, Tyler Lockett, Larry Fitzgerald, Kenny Golladay Christian Kirk
As stated earlier, the mid-tier is where I’m living when it comes to receivers on both lineups. Josh Gordon, at $6,700, is my most expensive receiver and has the potential to be the number one player at the position this weekend. All offseason, Bill Belichik had to hear about how benching Malcolm Butler cost him the Superbowl. In case you haven’t noticed, Butler has been terrible this season, as he’s constantly getting beat deep and on double moves. Now that Josh Gordon is officially not on the injury report and has the trust of Tom Brady, I expect him to completely destroy Butler this Sunday.
Cooper Kupp and Larry Fitzgerald round out my cash game receiving core. Kupp is so damn consistent no matter the matchup or gameflow. With the exception of the Broncos game, where he got hurt in the first quarter, Kupp has scored at least 9.3 fantasy points in every game this season. And in his worst outing, excluding the Broncos game, the Rams beat their opponent by 34 points and he was just shy of producing cash value. Fitzgerald is straight forward as well. He’s a sub-$6,000 receiver with a fantastic opportunity against the Chiefs and will likely be trailing the entire game. I expect the Cardinals to rely on their best players coming off the bye in this order: David Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk.
Lockett and Kirk are not cash-viable because of the limited amount of targets they see consistently. However, they do get targeted down the field and provide real upside for a discounted price. Sure, you can make an argument for any cheap receiver in GPP’s, but both Lockett and Kirk have the right role to both make big plays and provide you with the upside you need out of a GPP receiver.
UPDATE: My cash game receiving core hasn’t changed. Kenny Golladay is now the third receiver on my GPP lineup because at the same $5,800 price tage, he offers more upside than Larry Fitzgerald. There is also some information swirling that Golladay is more inclined to perform since this is a homecoming for the Chicago native. I don’t love using narratives for the majority of my analysis, but in a GPP, it’s enough to pivot from Fitzgerald.
UPDATE: I’m considering pivoting from Larry Ftizgerald down to Marques-Valdes Scantling. He’s $400 cheaper, which doesn’t do anything for my lineup specifically, but is slated to be very popular. My default rule about cheap, chalky wide receivers is to fade them. Like last week, not having Courtland Sutton didn’t keep you from cashing in any contest. And, cheap, chalky wide receivers are never as highly owned as cheap, chalky running backs.
UPDATE: I will not be pivoting from Larry Fitzgerald to Marques-Valdes Scantling.
Tight Ends:
O.J. Howard,
Eric Ebron, Jordan Reed
Unless you’re paying up for Travis Kelce or Zach Ertz, you’re taking a risk at the tight end position. However, Howard and Ebron have their own level of consistency. With Howard, it’s his rapport with Ryan Fitzpatrick and the kind of targets he’s seeing. For example, Howard leads the NFL in yards per target. That’s among all eligible pass-catchers, not just tight ends. He’s also a monster in the redzone with his size, speed and athletic ability.
Eric Ebron emerged early in the season as a consistent play, and that perception should not be different. He had one down game against Buffalo and that’s about it. Even in the game in which Jack Doyle returned to action, he still scored over 10 FanDuel points and was on the field for over 50% of offensive snaps. I see Andrew Luck targeting both Doyle and Ebron this Sunday to stay away from Jacksonville’s outside defenders. Either are a fine play, but I prefer Ebron, given his touchdown production and rapport with Luck near the endzone.
UPDATE: The last pivot that allowed me to move up to Wilson from McCown was downgrading at tight end. I have moved from O.J. Howard to Jordan Reed in my cash games. Tampa Bay is one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL and with the all of the injuries dismantling Washington’s receiving core, he’s in line to get a substantial amount of targets. Reed has been targeted 31 times in four games, including one game with 12 targets. He’s not a total “punt play” at tight end, and that’s why I landed on Reed and chose not to go all the way down to a player like Logan Thomas.
Defense/Special Teams:
Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints
If Nathan Peterman is confirmed as the starter for Sunday’s game against the Jets, I’ll likely find a way to fit them into my lineup. Until then, I like the Packers and the Saints. Miami is not as good as their 5-4 record indicates. The Green Bay secondary has improved their communication and play among their young starters and are among the league leaders in sack rate. At $3,900, they are great salary relief and can realistically post a double digit point outing. My love for the Saints exists because they are cheaper than the Packers, and I simply don’t believe in Andy Dalton without A.J. Green against this defense that can stop the run.
Last Updated: 11/11 12:30 PM EST
This is the second time all season I’ll be using one cash-game lineup. With four teams on bye and some anemic offenses still in the player pool, there wasn’t a need for me to create a second cash lineup. The second lineup is being used in all my single-entry contests between 100-1,176 people.
Featured Image Courtesy of Roto Street Journal
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