| | | | Tuesday, November 7, 2023 | | You know what might be the most frustrating storyline in football right now? If you bet on Garrett Wilson's elite talent coming into the 2023 season, you made a smart bet that has proven right, and you really don't have very much to show for it. | | I made a similar point to this last week, but it feels extremely salient again in light of another week where the Jets offense just continues to look largely hopeless. Wilson had seven catches for 80 yards – 15 PPR points! – in Monday's game, while the Jets offense managed just 270 yards and six points in a loss to the Chargers. That's a decent game, but it's pretty much been Wilson's peak so far this season – his highest-scoring game is 17.6 PPR points so far. | | But, if you watch Wilson, it's so undeniably clear that he's already one of the best wide receivers in football, and he's being held back by quarterback play that is miles away from even adequate most weeks. The bet you made before the season, that Wilson would build on an impressive rookie season and establish himself as a truly elite pass-catcher and playmaker, has proven right. And yet, when he has good games, he's maxing out in the mid-to-high-teens in PPR scoring, while a less talented player like Tank Dell already has three games with 20-plus PPR points. | | It makes watching Zach Wilson even more difficult every week, and makes the Jets complete unwillingness to apparently even entertain the idea of upgrading the QB spot completely baffling. You're really telling me Joshua Dobbs couldn't have made this team better? | | I'm sorry to start Week 10 on such a down note, but, if I'm being honest, there just isn't very much to be optimistic about around the NFL right now from a Fantasy perspective. Injuries have taken a huge toll on seemingly every position, but especially QB, while larger league-wide trends have continued to make it harder for offenses to create explosive plays even when there is high-level QB play available. It's all adding up to a Fantasy Football landscape that just isn't as appealing as we expected it to be. | | And that's especially true in Week 10, with the Dolphins, Chiefs, Eagles, and Rams on bye. You might be scraping the bottom of the barrel when setting your lineup this week, and the only solace you can really take is that there's a pretty good chance your opponent is dealing with the same issues. | | In the rest of today's newsletter, we've got Jamey Eisenberg's top waiver-wire targets plus a first look at my rankings, though I do want to make one thing clear: Given the uncertainty at so many positions, I definitely retain the right to adjust these rankings between now and when you have to lock your lineups. And I will. | | Let's get ready for Week 10: | | My Week 10 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | | | ➕Top Week 10 Waiver Wire Targets
| | | | Week 10 doesn't necessarily have any obvious plug-and-play starters available on the wire, but there is at least one young player I think is actually work getting excited about. Here are Jamey Eisenberg's top targets for Week 10: | | Jamey Eisenberg's top targets | | Keaton Mitchell, RB, Ravens (8%) – I've seen a lot of talk over the past 36 hours about keeping expectations in check for Mitchell ahead of this week's waiver-wire run, and I think that's reasonable advice. Mitchell saw his first real action in a blowout last week, and while he was involved in the second quarter, it's fair to wonder how much run he would have gotten if the Seahawks had kept things competitive. I'm ranking Mitchell as RB42 for Week 10, so I'm certainly not viewing him as a plug-and-play option coming off a 100-yard game. But if you're chasing upside, he's an incredibly fast young back who provides a home-run hitting element that no other RB in Baltimore can bring to the table. The Ravens were looking for running backs in the trade market before last week's deadline, per reports, which suggests they are looking for something more despite Gus Edwards ' solid season. Mitchell could be that something more, and there's at least a chance he has a De'Von Achane-esque impact on this offense with his big-play ability. I'm expecting him to run as the RB3 this week, but I also think it might be too late to put the toothpaste back in the tube here, and he might just be too dynamic to write out of the game plan. With no other plug-and-play starters really widely available, I'm willing to be somewhat aggressive with my bids for Mitchell on the chance he might end up a must-start back in an elite environment. Demario Douglas, WR, Patriots (47%) – I'm not sure there's much upside for Douglas in what remains a pretty bad Patriots offense with middling-at-best QB play. But if there is upside here, he's in line to tap into it, as he ran routes on 83% of the Patriots' pass plays in Week 9 and has a carry in three straight games – a sign that they understand getting the ball in his hands gives their offense a chance to make plays. He's in the WR4 range for me in Week 10, but there's upside here mostly due to the lack of other viable options in the Patriots passing game. Baker Mayfield, QB, Buccaneers (65%) – I don't think Mayfield has re-established himself as a possible franchise QB or anything this season, but he's definitely enjoying a resurgence with the Buccaneers' talented pass catchers, with his best touchdown rate since 2020. And the matchup in Week 10 against Tennessee is a pretty good one if you're looking for a streaming option, as they've allowed the sixth-highest yards per attempt through the air. Mayfield is a fine replacement for Patrick Mahomes, Tua Tagovailoa, or Jalen Hurts this week. Jonnu Smith, TE, Falcons (34%) – There's been a lot of jokes over the past couple of weeks about the Falcons' bizarre red zone usage, which has seen them use Smith as a passer on a trick play and then as a runner on an end around near the goal line. If I had Bijan Robinson on my team, I probably wouldn't be overcomplicating things like that, but I do think the general idea isn't necessarily a bad one: Smith really is a talented player with the ball in his hands. At his best, he's always been a YAC monster, and he reminded us of that Sunday with his 60-yard touchdown on a screen. He had done very little of late before Week 9 – he had 100 yards Sunday, and just 76 in the previous three games combined – but if you're looking for a tight end on the wire with Travis Kelce on bye and Dallas Goedert an IR candidate, Smith is probably the highest upside option who is widely available right now. Hunter Henry, TE, Patriots (55%) – Henry is what he is at this point. He has no games with more than 56 yards on the season, and none with more than 39 since Week 4. He's stuck in a bad offense, but it's a bad offense that probably needs to throw to him five-plus times most weeks to have a chance to move the ball, and that puts him in the low-end TE range – though I'd rather bet on Smith and his playmaking to unlock some upside rather than Henry's touchdown-or-bust profile. | | | | My Week 10 Rankings | | Week 10 QB Rankings | | "The QB position has been a problem all season, and not just for Fantasy. We're in a weird time in the NFL, where there's been a ton of turnover at the position over the past few years, with Hall of Famers (or fringe HOFers) like Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers and others retiring but not necessarily being replaced by young, can't-miss guys. Carson Wentz, Kyler Murray, Sam Darnold , and other top prospects from the last five years or so haven't even played this season, while other like Zach Wilson, Baker Mayfield, and even Bryce Young , this year's No. 1 pick, just haven't been able to elevate their offenses. It's led to something of a QB crisis across the NFL, and that's been exacerbated by just a ton of injuries at the position. | | We're feeling that especially in Week 10 of the NFL season, where we've got, by my count, nine teams expected to start someone other than their expected QB1 from Week 1; add in Patrick Mahomes, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, and Matthew Stafford being on bye, and the landscape at QB is especially bleak." | | | | Josh Allen vs. DENLamar Jackson vs. CLE Justin Herbert vs. DETJoe Burrow vs. HOU Jared Goff @LAC Trevor Lawrence vs. SFC.J. Stroud @CIN Dak Prescott vs. NYGDerek Carr @MIN Geno Smith vs. WAS Brock Purdy @JAXSam Howell @SEA | | Week 10 RB Rankings | | "Last week, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon sounded pretty optimistic about James Conner's chances of coming off IR when he was first eligible, saying, 'He's getting ready to go and he's excited to get back when he can get back and play.' Gannon even joked that Conner ' is getting faster' in his rehab from the injury, and it honestly sounded like Conner might have even been able to return last week if he hadn't been on IR. | | But the timing might be ideal for Conner's return this week, assuming it comes, because it coincides with Kyler Murray's expected return from the PUP list. Conner will have to be designated to return from IR before he can practice, but assuming that happens this week, Conner could be back with his starting QB, which should lift the entire Cardinals offense – even if my expectations for Murray in his first game back aren't incredibly high. | | But expectations for Conner? Pretty high, honestly. He's a fringe RB1 in my first run through rankings, and honestly, that might be pretty low. Assuming he's 100% recovered from the knee injury, Conner returns arguably having looked better than he ever had as a runner, averaging 5.4 yards per carry in an offense that was not necessarily doing him a ton of favors; the team's other running backs have combined for 3.3 yards per carry. Conner had six broken tackles on 68 carries, after just five on 183 carries last season, and the Cardinals were actually blocking pretty well for him, creating 4.0 yards per carry before contact." | | Christian McCaffrey @JAXAustin Ekeler vs. DET Alvin Kamara @MINTravis Etienne vs. SF Jonathan Taylor @NE Breece Hall @LVJoe Mixon vs. HOU Tony Pollard vs. NYGSaquon Barkley @DAL Josh Jacobs vs. NYJ Kenneth Walker vs. WASDerrick Henry @TB Rachaad White vs. TENBijan Robinson @ARIJames Conner vs. ATL Jahmyr Gibbs @LACDavid Montgomery @LAC Rhamondre Stevenson vs. IND Aaron Jones @PITJavonte Williams @BUF James Cook vs. DENAlexander Mattison vs. NO Devin Singletary @CIN Chuba Hubbard @CHI | | Week 10 WR Rankings | | "The wide receiver position is kind of in tough shape right now for Fantasy Football, and it's kind of hard to find reasons to be optimistic about things turning around. | | We got a good example of that in Monday's game between the Jets and Chargers, where injuries have really made it tough to have any optimism on either side. I mean, sure, Keenan Allen is still awesome, and he's tied to a very good QB and should be a no-doubt-about-it, must-start Fantasy option moving forward. But … that's it on the Chargers, with Mike Williams and Josh Palmer on IR and Quentin Johnston just so clearly not ready for primetime at this point. | | But the bigger issue was on the opposite side Monday night, where Garrett Wilson is so clearly one of the most talented wide receivers in the league and it just so clearly doesn't matter. Wilson had seven catches for 80 yards on 13 targets Monday, and it felt like a minor miracle he was even that good with the level of quarterback play the Jets are getting from Zach Wilson . Zach Wilson wasn't supposed to be the starting quarterback for the Jets, obviously, but he is, and the Jets let the deadline pass without making an upgrade, so we're stuck with Garrett Wilson being held back, with only the longshot of all longshot hopes that Rodgers might be able to come back at some point from his ruptured Achilles." | | Ja'Marr Chase vs. HOUStefon Diggs vs. DEN Amon-Ra St. Brown @LACCeeDee Lamb vs. NYGKeenan Allen vs. DET Tee Higgins vs. HOUChris Olave @MIN Adam Thielen @CHI Davante Adams vs. NYJGarrett Wilson @LVChris Godwin vs. TEN DeAndre Hopkins @TBTerry McLaurin @SEA Mike Evans vs. TEN Diontae Johnson vs. GBMichael Pittman @NE Zay Flowers vs. CLETank Dell @CINAmari Cooper @BAL D.J. Moore vs. CARTyler Lockett vs. WAS Christian Kirk vs. SF Brandon Aiyuk @JAXDeebo Samuel @JAX | | Week 10 TE Rankings | | "Before we get to the tight end rankings for Week 10 of the Fantasy Football season, a mea culpa: I led you down the wrong path with Trey McBride last week. He was a top-10 TE in my rankings, but finished with just three catches for 22 yards, good for a finish somewhere south of the top 10 – he was TE25, if you must know. | | To be fair, it wasn't McBride's fault. He was held back by some of the worst QB play of the season, as Clayton Tune completed just 11 of 20 passes for 58 yards in his first NFL start; that Tune was sacked on seven of 32 dropbacks by a vicious Browns pass rush certainly didn't help things. I assumed a level of competence from Tune that clearly wasn't there. | | But you know what? I'm going right back to McBride as a top-10 option for Week 10. It helps that Tune isn't expected to start for the Cardinals, with Kyler Murray expected to make his long-awaited return from a torn ACL Sunday against the Falcons. And, while I don't have super-high hopes for Murray in his first game back, I am more confident that he'll be able to reach that baseline of competence that Tune fell far short of, and with the state of the Cardinals pass-catchers, that should put McBride in line for a pretty solid role. I'd start him ahead of Kyle Pitts, David Njoku, Taysom Hill, and Jonnu Smith, at least." | | Mark Andrews vs. CLESam LaPorta @LAC T.J. Hockenson vs. NOEvan Engram vs. SF Dalton Kincaid vs. DEN Dalton Schultz @CINCole Kmet vs. CAR George Kittle @JAXJake Ferguson vs. NYGTrey McBride vs. ATLKyle Pitts @ARIDavid Njoku @BAL | | | | | | | | Attacking Third | | Fantasy Football Today Dynasty | Attacking Third, the leading women's soccer podcast and social brand is now a live studio show on CBS Sports Golazo Network! Every Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 4 PM ET, Attacking Third brings fans unparalleled coverage of all the top domestic and international women's soccer competitions. With a talented roster of women's soccer experts Attacking Third is can't-miss programming for soccer fans everywhere.
Listen Now
| | Can't get enough fantasy football? The Fantasy Football Today Dynasty podcast will help you dominate your league with in-depth Mock Drafts, risers & fallers, deep dynasty sleepers, NFL Draft prospect profiles and more.
Listen Now
|
| | | | |
|
|
