The Fantasy Footballers’ Starts of the Week for Week 10 (Fantasy Football)
The Fantasy Footballers podcast returned to full strength this weekend after Jason underwent successful butt hair removal surgery and found himself on the IR for several days last week. With his return, we are back to a full complement of Starts for your reading pleasure. Read on to find out who the Ballers are starting with confidence in this pivotal Week 10 slate of games, or click the link below to listen to the full Thursday episode:
Andy’s Starts of the Week
QB Brock Purdy @ DAL
Purdy enters Week 10 as the QB3 in FPPG at 21.4, and he has a great opportunity to build upon those numbers in a prime matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are 29th in fantasy points allowed to the QB position, and the massive 55.5-point O/U gives San Francisco a whopping 30-point implied team total. That is as high as you will ever see in an NFL game, so Purdy should absolutely smash this week despite having limited options to throw the football, too. Purdy is an elite QB1 play this week.
RB Chuba Hubbard @ NO
Chuba has been the picture of consistency for fantasy managers, finishing outside the Top-14 at RB just one time through eight games. Harder days may be ahead as Carolina’s schedule stiffens up and Jonathon Brooks returns from injury, but neither of those elements present an issue this week. Hubbard gets a matchup with the league’s 32nd-ranked defense in fantasy points allowed to RBs, and it remains to be seen what Brooks’ role will look like if he returns from injury this week. Even a 70% workload, which is what we saw earlier in the season when both were healthy, would be plenty of work for Chuba to return RB1 numbers in this matchup.
WR Garrett Wilson or Adonai Mitchell vs BUF
Ignoring the ineptitude of Joe Fagnano and Carson Wentz the past two weeks, the Buffalo Bills still present an excellent scoring environment for opposing fantasy WRs. This game has a 50.5-point over/under, and New York should be throwing plenty to try and keep pace with Josh Allen. Geno Smith isn’t perfect, but he is certainly better than the Fagnano and Wentz experiments of the past two weeks. Whoever is operating as the WR1 for New York this week should be in all fantasy lineups. Here’s what Buffalo’s defense had been allowing through the air prior to the duds of the last two weeks.
| Week | Opponent | Passing Yards Allowed |
| 1 | HOU | 274 |
| 2 | DET | 327 |
| 3 | LAC | 226 |
| 4 | NE | 269 |
| 5 | LAR | 383 |
| 6 | LVR | 313 |
| Bye | — | — |
| 8 | BAL | 91 |
| 9 | MIN | 139 |
TE Isaiah Likely vs WAS
Thursday night alert! Get Likely in your lineup immediately if he is not already. Washington continues to be the matchup you want to start your TEs against. On the season, they have allowed 16.0 fantasy points per game to the position. JJ McCarthy hasn’t been targeting Likely quite as often as Jameis Winston did, but Likely caught 11 passes for 94 yards and two TDs in Week 5 against this Commanders defense. We expect the Giants to feature Likely once again tonight, making him one of the best options at the TE position this week.
Jason’s Starts of the Week
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
QB Jared Goff vs NE
Goff was off last week as he disappointed his fantasy managers with a QB28 finish on just 5.3 FPTS after being highlighted as a Start of the Week. Like many of you, he cost me my matchup last week, and I am not happy about it. We are going right back to him this week, however, as he faces a New England defense that just got torched by Jordan Love and Green Bay to the tune of 372 passing yards and three TDs. The Patriots have allowed more passing yards this season than any other team in football, and this game sports a 51.5-point O/U. Goff should go right back into your lineup as a solid QB1 option. I am starting him over Jayden Daniels this week.
RB Ollie Gordon @ IND
Gordon has had a couple of pedestrian outings the last two weeks against solid run defenses, but he has maintained his stranglehold on the Miami backfield and should bounce back nicely against a soft Colts’ defense this week. Indianapolis ranks 30th in schedule-adjusted fantasy points to the position, and they have been getting especially gashed of late, allowing 100-yard rushing performances in consecutive weeks to Bhayshul Tuten and Javonte Williams. Gordon should return to high-end RB2 territory this week based on volume and terrific matchup.
WR Zay Flowers vs LAC
Flowers managers breathed a sigh of relief when Baltimore acquired Jacoby Brissett via trade last week, but unfortunately we still had to watch a full week of Joe Fagnano to remind us how bad things could be. This week, we’ll find out if the Brissett move provides the boost we’re all hoping it might. The Chargers secondary does not present much of a challenge, ranking 30th in schedule-adjusted fantasy points to WRs. Zay Flowers is a wonder to watch with the football in his hands, so if Brissett can get it to him (beyond the line of scrimmage) five or six times, Flowers can turn in a solid WR2 fantasy performance this week.
TE Tyler Warren vs MIA
The Colts traded away a giant chunk (42.4%) of their pass-catching pie at the trade deadline, with Keenan Allen and Josh Downs getting dealt to other clubs. That opens the opportunity for Warren’s already respectable 23.5% target share to grow even more. In a matchup against a Miami defense that’s had a hard time slowing down the TE position, that is a recipe for fantasy success. Start Warren as a solid TE1 this week with one of the safer floors at the position.
Mike’s Starts of the Week
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
QB Tyler Shough vs CAR
If you throw out Shough’s super-goose vs Minnesota, which is honestly fair – that defense is otherworldly, he has averaged 20.8 FPPG this year with five finishes inside the top 10. That would put him right around QB6 on the year, where I think he belongs for the rest of the season. This week is no different, with Shough facing a Carolina team he beat twice last season as a rookie. The 48.5-point O/U and 25.5-point implied team total for NO suggest Shough could be in for a big day passing the football. He is a QB1 this week and most weeks the rest of the way.
RB Derrick Henry vs LAC
The situation has been dire for Henry the past couple of weeks. He hasn’t topped 60 yards in a contest over the last four weeks, and he has averaged just 7.1 FPPG over that span. If Brissett can get the offense moving once again for Baltimore, Henry should also be a beneficiary. The Chargers’ defense, as luck would have it, cannot stop the run either. With the Ravens entering the game as 4.5-point home favorites, Henry should have plenty of chances to bounce back in this one and remind you why he was picked in the early rounds of drafts.
WR Jameson Williams vs NE
Much like the rest of the Lions’ offense last week, Jamo flopped in what should have been a good matchup. We are projecting the offense to bounce back as a whole, which could mean a boom week is on tap for Williams. Since Week 3, the Patriots have been easily the best matchup for opposing fantasy WRs, ranking 32nd in fantasy points allowed above expected at 9.6 per game. Williams is a boom/bust player; we have known this about him for a while, but the perfect matchup suggests this should more than likely be a boom week for the talented speedster.
TE Tyler Higbee @ ARI
Despite ample opportunity to produce, Higbee hasn’t posted more than 2.4 FPTS in a game since Week 5. Nonetheless, he profiles as a player who should get a heaping helping of targets this week thanks to injuries to several of his teammates. Despite the shorthandedness, the Rams still find themselves as 9.5-point favorites against Arizona, a team that allows fantasy points to pretty much everybody. You can take a chance on Higbee this week as a desperation TE1 option.