Which depth chart and Week 10 situation is worth considering for DFS?
- Bengals without A.J. Green, ideal Saints matchup
- Paul Richardson Jr to IR, Washington options with elite Tampa Bay matchup
- Lions without Golden Tate but underwhelming in Week 9
- Jets adding Quincy Enunwa back into the lineup
- Jaguars amalgam of all inexpensive options, strong Colts matchup
- Trusting even Corey Davis for the defunct Tennessee passing game? Patriots Matchup
- Raiders without Amari Cooper
- Dolphins with Kenny Stills back, even opportunity for DeVante Parker
James Brimacombe: With no A.J. Green and against the Saints, you have to consider Tyler Boyd. Boyd is having his breakout season as Dalton continues to feed him the football. Through eight games his 66 targets for 49/620/5 is no joke and he must be considered as a sneaky borderline WR1 against the Saints in a game that looks to be one of the highest scoring games on the weekend.
Corey Davis is the other name that I want to take shots on this week. He has had a hard time finding the end zone so far this season with only one score on the board. The Titans are now 4-4 on the season and will need Davis to step up for them to take a serious run at a playoff berth. The Titans will have a home game against the Patriots which should be in Davis favor and with Mariota coming off a big Monday Night Football performance against the Cowboys I hope the momentum carries on to the next week and the two can connect for a score.
Phil Alexander:
- Provided Jamison Crowder can't make it back this week, we need to take Maurice Harris seriously in Washington. Harris has been filling in for Crowder in the slot and broke out last week against the Falcons for a 12-10-124-0 receiving line. With Washington's offensive line in shambles, Alex Smith will be forced to continue getting the ball out quickly to Harris on high percentage routes. The injury to Richardson also makes the entire pie a little bigger for Washington's receivers. While Harris is easily the better projected point per dollar play, Josh Doctson possesses higher theoretical upside. He led Washington in routes run last week and scored his first touchdown of the season. Unlike Harris, Doctson doesn't warrant cash game consideration, but he's a fine GPP play given the matchup with Tampa Bay's historically bad pass defense.
- The matchup is certainly right for Tyler Boyd, but I wonder about A.J. Green's injury tanking the Bengals offense as a whole. Even with added targets, will Boyd have the same room to operate without defenses having to account for an all-world receiver on the outside? Boyd will have elevated tournament ownership since everyone will assume he will absorb Green's massive target share and his price is all the way up to $7,500. It's still early in the week to zero in on exposure, but Boyd has the look of a tournament fade.
Justin Howe: Losing Golden Tate was a huge deal for Matthew Stafford. This isn’t one of those fantasy situations where we can just slide Tate’s targets over to the No. 2 option; he’s a completely different weapon than Marvin Jones or Kenny Golladay are. Stafford relied heavily upon the small, shifty Tate on third and other clutch downs, typically underneath the secondary. Jones and Golladay are both downfield dominators, so their roles don’t seem to change much – nor do they replicate what Stafford needed from Tate. There will be a splash-play opportunity for those guys all year, but Tate’s loss leaves a big efficiency hole in the middle of this passing game. I don’t think Stafford will recover, at least in 2018.
The Saints are again awful against the pass, with only Marshon Lattimore playing well at cornerback – and even he’s been burnable. The Bengals will move Tyler Boyd all over the formation in Green’s absence, so he’ll get to sample a wide array of shaky and retread cover men. He’ll likely be forced 10 targets or more, and you have to love his volume potential in a likely shootout.
It’s a shame to see the Tampa Bay matchup wasted on such a low-impact passing game as Washington’s. But here we are, and there has to be somebody worthy of a big fantasy bump here. No one has given up more touchdowns than the Buccaneers – even though they’ve already had their bye – and only the Raiders allow more net yards per attempt. Tight ends are averaging 71 yards a game against them, so Jordan Reed looks like the one to target. But on the outside, I guess it makes sense to push in some chips on Josh Doctson. He should inherit virtually all of Richardson’s deep game, and while he’s anything but efficient, he’s intriguing in the matchup.
BJ VanderWoude: With AJ Green out for at least this week, you have to look at Tyler Boyd as one of the top PP$ plays this week against a Saints defense that has let up a log of big games to opposing wide receivers. Boyd has scored 20+ (PPR) points in five of his last seven games and has earned the trust of Andy Dalton. Boyd will be a very popular play, so if you are looking to stack a player alongside Dalton that may not be as popular, look no further than Joe Mixon. Mixon has been very involved in the passing game this season, and his touches should only increase with Green out this week. I have very little faith in John Ross suddenly emerging in this offense, but I can also see why he would be an ideal play in GPP's with big fields. Ross's salary is so low across the industry that he can return solid GPP value with one long touchdown catch, which if he is going to return a 4x+ multiple on his salary, it is going to come from a deep touchdown catch. The Saints have been burned bad by speedy wide receivers, including DeSean Jackson (five catches, 146 yards, two touchdowns), John Brown (seven catches, 134 yards and a touchdown), Brandin Cooks (six catches, 114 yards and a touchdown) and Calvin Ridley (seven catches, 146 yards and three touchdowns). Considering the Saints secondary, I will definitely reserve some exposure to Dalton/Mixon stacks as well as Dalton/Boyd and Dalton/Mixon/Boyd. So much of this offense is going to flow through those three players, it is an ideal time to include them in your lineups.
