As we close in on the home stretch of the fantasy regular season, I have to say, this feels like one of the oddest years in recent history for fantasy football. I think a lot of it is probably the sheer amount of injuries to the quarterback position. The ripple effect has impacted a lot of wide receivers, tight ends and even running backs to some extent.
There have been 11 teams (by my counting) that have either lost their starting quarterback due to injury or changed quarterback unexpectedly. Roughly 34% of the starting quarterbacks are out of commission! No wonder we are finding consistency a little hard to come by this season!
Before I have a complete meltdown, let’s have a quick look back at last week’s picks before we peek ahead to week 10.
Week 9 Hits
Amari Cooper, WR CLE
Deshaun Watson finally returned to the starting lineup, and Cooper benefited from it. Amari finished up as WR4 on the week, according to the FantasyPros weekly stat tracker. He had five receptions on five targets for 139 yards and a touchdown. As long as Watson is starting, I think Cooper is a pretty safe bet for your lineups.
Marquis Brown, WR ARI
Sadly, as I had feared, the Cleveland Browns were just too much for Clayton Tune and the Cardinals. Brown did have eight targets but only finished with four receptions for 24 yards and no touchdown. I think brighter days are ahead for Hollywood, especially with the rumored return of Kyler Murray to the lineup.
Week 9 Misses
Rashee Rice, WR KC
By the letter of the law, Rice is a miss. He finished on 9.7 PPR points, and the cutoff is 10 points…sigh. It has been one of those years for the weekly article! In Week 8, I called for George Pickens to have a great game, and he finished with a touchdown and less than ten points. This week, Rashee did the same thing to me!
Rice continued to get more snaps last week in Germany but only managed two receptions on two targets. I do think he is trending in the right direction, but until there is some volume, he stays as a risky boom-bust flex option.
Tyler Lockett, WR SEA
The Seattle Seahawks got an absolute spanking at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. Frustratingly, Lockett did lead the team in targets with eight but only managed to haul in three receptions for 32 yards. Again, this feels like the right process and the wrong results. Lockett is getting the targets, and if he is healthy, I think you could do a lot worse than throwing him in your flex spot.
Darrell Henderson, RB LAR
I must admit, I sort of just assumed that Iron Man Matthew Stafford would force his way into the lineup and play last weekend. I was wrong! With Stafford missing the game, the Rams could not move the ball efficiently. The lack of a passing game just helped the Packers focus on shutting down the run game, and shut it down they did.
Henderson rushed ten times for only 19 yards. He chipped in two receptions for 16 yards but, sadly, no touchdown. The Rams are on bye this week, and they hope to have Kyren Williams back in week 11. On the bright side, it could be the last time you have to think about potentially starting Henderson this season.
Recap
I must confess to being somewhat disappointed in the year-long tally thus far. The list is sitting at 26 hits and 22 misses. It’s a tough spot. A 54% hit rate is not what I had hoped for at this stage of the season. I am not here to make excuses; I just want to be honest and transparent with the results!
As a reminder, I am using the FantasyPros Expert Consensus Ranking (ECR) as my guidelines each week. I will be picking wide receivers and running backs outside their top 24 to discuss. I will give a couple I like and maybe one or two I don’t and brief reasonings as to why. Hopefully, these studs give you more than 10 PPR points and will all end up in next week’s “hits” section!
Week 10
Jordan Addison, WR MIN (WR26) ⬆️
The Vikings are insane this season, and I am a lifelong Vikings fan saying this. We have been even more unlucky than most years, and that’s saying something! Having said all that, Josh Dobbs seems like a breath of fresh air for this beleaguered fanbase. The “Passtronaut” was forced into the starting lineup in his first week with the team after an unfortunate injury to rookie quarterback Jaren Hall. He came straight in and led the Vikings to a comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons. Not a bad start!
Justin Jefferson seems set to miss out again in Week 10, and the Vikings have shown they want to continue to be aggressive and try to win games. The New Orleans Saints are middle of the pack in most statistical categories against wide receivers. Addison has cracked double-digit fantasy points for five games in a row. I am gonna put Addison in my lineups almost everywhere I have him in Week 10.
Jahan Dotson, WR WAS (WR30) ⬆️
After all the depressing news in 2023, finally, there is a good news story! Jahan Dotson has seemingly returned from the dead these past few weeks. I was a big fan of Dotson after his rookie season and had high hopes for him this year. He seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth for the first six weeks of the season and was relegated to the bench in most dynasty leagues. However, in the last three weeks, he has come alive.
Jahan has had eight, ten, and eight targets in his last three outings and draws a decent matchup against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 10. The Seahawks are on the lower side of average this season against fantasy wide receivers, so if you are looking for upside this week, I think you could slot Dotson into your lineups.
Drake London, WR ATL (WR29) ⬆️
London missed last week’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings but appears to be trending in the right direction for a re-appearance for the Atlanta Falcons. Taylor Heinecke will continue to start for the time being, and the matchup is solid. The Cardinals have been pretty bad against fantasy wide receivers, and London is such a talented player I would take the chance on him if he is healthy enough to start. After being a full participant on Thursday, things are looking up; keep an eye on Friday’s practice report.
Jakobi Meyers, WR LV (WR35) ⬇️
Sadly, I am going to have to give Meyers a thumbs down for the week. It was very cool to see the resurgent Raiders battle to victory after being freed from the chains of Josh McDaniels inept leadership. Having said that, the quarterback play left much to be desired. Aidan O’Connell is the presumed starter again. He only managed 200 total passing yards and zero touchdowns against the woeful New York Giants.
The New York Jets, on the other hand, are an entirely different kettle of fish. They have been a top three-to-five ranked defense in most statistical categories against fantasy wide receivers this season. The Jets have only allowed one receiving touchdown to opposing wide receivers all year, yikes. I would strongly suggest letting Meyers ride the pine in week 10.
JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR NE (WR54) ⬆️
How the mighty have fallen! I remember when dynasty people loved to argue for days about whether JuJu was a top-12 dynasty wide receiver or not! I don’t think JuJu is much of anything to get excited about long-term in dynasty, but I do think you could do worse than rolling him out in Week 10.
Let me be clear: I do not think he is set for a week-winning performance this weekend. I think that if you are in a deeper league and struggling for options, he may just get enough volume to snag you double-digit fantasy points. Kendrick Bourne is on IR, and Parker hasn’t been seen in years. The options are limited, and the Colts are fairly middling as a pass defense. It is not a sexy pick, but we deep-league players need options, too!
Conclusion
There you have the lineup for Week 10, folks. I hope you have incredible luck in your start-sit decisions, and I hope we are talking about a clean sweep in next week’s recap!
If you want to chat fantasy football, you can always find me on X / Twitter @FFEvanlution. You can also check out my year-round dynasty fantasy football podcast (@DynastyDebates) on all major podcast listening platforms!
