Who To Start And Sit In Week 10 Of Fantasy Football

You thought you did well in surviving six teams on bye last week, but I’m here to break it to you that it’s happening again. The NFL is driven by gambling and fantasy football, yet they’ve shafted both parties with less opportunity in back-to-back weeks. The London game isn’t even on early enough for us to enjoy in 12 straight hours of football. With four or five weeks left in your regular season, I’m sure you’ll take whatever you can get.

Below is a list of guys I’m focused on for one reason or another this week. They’re especially important in daily fantasy sports leagues like DraftKings. If you’re curious about guys you don’t see listed here, you can always find me on Twitter (@MrT_BroBible) to ask questions, but remember to mention league specifics like PPR.

You Know Who You Should Start?

Mark Sanchez (QB – Philadelphia Eagles)
‎I never thought I’d lead off a fantasy advice column telling you to start Mark Sanchez, but here we are. The Sanchize took over in Philadelphia after the injury to Nick Foles last week and looks pretty good. Admittedly, he was going up against two backup cornerbacks from Houston, but also one of the interceptions wasn’t his fault. He won’t be facing elite defensive backs again this week since Carolina is allowing the eighth-most points to fantasy quarterbacks and spent the week making changes to their secondary. Sanchez has more offensive weapons around him than he ever did in New York and he has a coach who’s known as an offensive genius. You should feel confident in starting him this weekend.

Bobby Rainey (RB – Tampa Bay)
It’s not a great week for chasing cheap running backs, but you’ll need options with six teams on the bye. One option could be Rainey, who looked good rushing for 87 yards last weekend. He could’ve had more had Tampa Bay not gotten away from the run after halftime. The last time I recommended Rainey was also against Atlanta, who continues to be the most porous defense fantasy running backs can face. I don’t like that Josh McCown is back at QB for Tampa Bay, but the situation is right as long as Doug Martin continues to be sidelined. (Frankly he’s so ineffective I hope Tampa Bay just makes him third string for the rest of the year.) Charles Sims isn’t ready to take a full workload yet, so it’s Rainey’s time to shine.

Juwan Thompson (RB – Denver)
Denver’s currently favored by 11.5 points in Oakland this weekend with a total of 49. Do the math and Vegas expects Denver to score approximately 30 points this week, which may even be too few. Operating as the team’s primary goal line back, Thompson should see some work near the end zone as Denver consistently scores, plus he could see some run if the game becomes a blowout. Given the high likelihood of that, you can take a chance with Thompson if you’re desperate this week.

Martavis Bryant (WR – Pittsburgh)
Of course you want to start a guy who has scored five touchdowns in three weeks against the worst passing defense in the league, but there’s more to it. Just kidding. There’s really not more to it although the touchdown performance will likely regress to the mean, but his yardage should increase as he sees increased snaps after learning more of the offense.

Allen Robinson (WR – Jacksonville)
Robinson’s owners probably took a chance with him last week because of his recent production and the six teams being off. Robinson disappointed with only four catches for 35 yards, but it’s time to fire him back in the lineup this week. It looks as if Tony Romo will gut through his injury this weekend, which means Dallas’ offense should be more effective this week than last. That should leave Jacksonville trailing and needing to throw, but Cecil Shorts isn’t currently practicing and Marquise Lee is also banged-up. That means Robinson has been getting all the reps in practice that he can handle and should return to form this weekend.

Mychal Rivera (TE – Oakland)
Rivera has seen a lot of the ball in the last two weeks, making 15 catches in that time frame. Granted last week’s catches didn’t amount that many yards, but he was still seeing the ball. As mentioned above, Oakland will likely be playing catch-up with Denver and this should allow Rivera to accumulate stats against a defense allowing an average of 69 yards and one touchdown per game to tight ends in the last four.

You Know Who You Should Sit?

Ryan Tannehill (QB – Miami)
Not many good quarterbacks face bad situations this week, but Philip Rivers, Tom Brady, and Andrew Luck are on the bye this week. Tannehill has been really good in recent weeks, averaging 251 yards throwing, 48 yards rushing, and two passing touchdowns a game. Those numbers should decrease in Sunday’s defensive struggle against the Lions, who have limited fantasy QBs to the second fewest points allowed. You’d be better off this week with options like Sanchez, Michael Vick, or Derek Carr as he chases stats in garbage time.

Reggie Bush (RB – Detroit)
Bush hasn’t been his electric self for the last four games as he injured his ankle, rested it, re-injured it, and then rested it again. The bye week should help his ankle’s health, but Miami’s defense won’t. The Dolphins have held RBs to less than 90 yards rushing in four of their last five games, which should be a sign of caution for starting Bush. Things look worse when you throw in his regular time-share with Joique Bell and Detroit’s likelihood of getting Theo Riddick more involved after how good he’s looked recently.

Tre Mason (RB – St. Louis)
Mason’s owners were very happy that the team went back to featuring him last week against San Francisco. Mason’s 19 carries were the most he had all season and while the yardage wasn’t great, it signaled there was possibly light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel’s not over yet unfortunately since the Cardinals, this week’s opponent, are the second best defense at limiting fantasy RBs. There’s also the possibility that Arizona gets ahead of St. Louis early, forcing them to play catch-up and thus changing out Mason for the better pass-catcher in Benny Cunningham

Golden Tate (WR – Detroit)
People were attacking Tate in the trade market last week like he was a top five wide receiver. That might’ve been the case with Calvin Johnson out, but Tate should fall back to earth some this week. He only averaged 67 yards per game without any touchdowns when Calvin was at full strength to begin the season. Now Calvin is back and Detroit is facing Miami’s #1 ranked pass defense. Those two items don’t bode well for a huge week from Tate. You could possibly do better.

Marques Colston (WR – New Orleans)
If I told you a receiver was averaging 47.5 yards a game and hasn’t scored but one touchdown all year, you probably wouldn’t be getting excited about his prospects. That’s where Colston sits in games that Jimmy Graham hasn’t played this year. The Saints’ offense still isn’t firing on all cylinders, but it’s clear Colston is nothing more than a Jimmy Graham handcuff at this point. You’d be better firing off a lesser named receiver like Robinson, Andre Holmes, or Justin Hunter in search of points this week instead of the old man.

Vernon Davis (TE – San Francisco)
I can’t explain why Davis has only seen one red zone target this year after killing it in the red zone historically, but it’s the case. Davis has only grabbed 7 balls total in his last three games and now faces a defense allowing the second fewest points to fantasy tight ends. Look elsewhere.