Fantasy football cheat sheet: Start, sit and more tips for Sunday Week 10

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[h=1]Fantasy football cheat sheet: Start, sit and more tips for Sunday[/h]
Joe Kaiser
ESPN PLUS


The fantasy playoffs aren't too far away and every week is just as important as ever. Let us help you roll out the best lineups possible in Week 10!

Pittsburgh's convincing 52-21 win over Carolina on Thursday night certainly got the scoring started, and you're in a good spot if you have Ben Roethlisberger, Christian McCaffrey, Antonio Brown or JuJu Smith-Schuster on your team. That said, there's still plenty of football left to be played this week.


The ESPN+ cheat sheet provides a rundown of the best tips from all of our ESPN+ fantasy football content. You'll find answers to the biggest questions of the week, along with injury updates, matchup advantages and wild-card plays from Eric Karabell, Tristan H. Cockcroft, Mike Clay, Al Zeidenfeld and KC Joyner. It's all the best advice in one handy article.


Here's what our experts are saying about Week 10 in the NFL:
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[h=2]Top tips[/h]
Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers


"Criticize him as an accumulator if you wish, as he has earned nearly 50 percent of his fantasy points when his Buccaneers have been trailing by at least one touchdown (71.0 out of 144.0), but Fitzpatrick is still getting the job done for fantasy," Cockcroft writes in his rundown of the best and worst matchups of the week. "One of the reasons is a deep group of receivers, as well as a greater tendency to lob the football deep. His 10.4 average depth of target is well above his career average of 8.5 -- and greater than his previous single-year high of 9.6 (2009) -- so there's a lot of reason to think he can still tally lofty yardage totals even if he's one of the riskier quarterbacks in terms of turnovers. ..."


The Los Angeles Chargers offense


"Last week in Seattle, Philip Rivers posted fewer than 20 points for only the third time this season, Melvin Gordon posted his second-lowest point total this season (not including the Week 7 game where he was inactive) and Tyrell Williams and Mike Williams caught a combined total of three passes (albeit two that resulted in touchdowns)," Joyner writes in his offensive line rankingscolumn. "Their ceilings should be a lot higher this week in a matchup against a Raiders defense that is a sieve in nearly every aspect. Oakland ranks 32nd in pass pressure rate (PPR, 19.6 percent), 31st in quarterback contact rate (QCR, 7.4 percent), 32nd in sack rate (1.9 percent) and 24th in yards per carry before first defensive contact (YBCT, 2.8).


"Those metrics could allow the Chargers players to reach their respective ceilings under most circumstances, but they reach peak value given that the Chargers' offense rates fourth in PPR (22.6), fourth in QCR (6.0) and first in my good blocking productivity (GBP) metric that measures overall rushing prowess (5.2). ..."


[h=2]Playing the matchups[/h]
<aside class="inline inline-photo full" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; height: 376.172px; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 221, 223); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; clear: both; margin: 6px 0px 18px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; width: 565px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px;">Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams


"The Seahawks defense has been much better than many people, myself included, thought they would be, given the losses they sustained both in the offseason as well as injuries in-season in 2018," Zeidenfeld notes in his best buys writeup. "However, they've been much stingier at home than on the road, as evidenced by their 67.3 percent completion rate allowed on the road compared with 59.8 percent in Seattle. Goff is averaging 27.4 points per game in Los Angeles this season and, combined with his tremendous numbers when opposing teams have scored 20-plus points per game and the Seahawks' projected score being 21 points, this is another week where I feel Goff is just too cheap to ignore for expected value."


Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers
"He's coming off a game in which he set season highs in terms of both carries (14) and targets (4), and he played on 58-plus percent of the Packers' snaps in both of the last two weeks, indicating that his role in the rushing game is only expanding," Cockcroft writes. "That will likely continue in a Week 10 game where the Packers should control the clock, against a Dolphins defense that has ceded the third-most RB fantasy points in PPR scoring this season (263.0). This defense has been especially susceptible to big plays by running backs, having allowed 10 runs this season of 20-plus yards, tied for second most in the league. Six of those scampers have occurred in the last four weeks, with similarly explosive back Kerryon Johnson accounting for two of them. Jones should have no problem putting up big yardage totals this week."


Josh Gordon, WR, New England Patriots
"Gordon has aligned wide to the left on 60 percent of his routes this season, which is where Butler has lined up on 79 percent of his coverage snaps," Clay writes in his best and worst receiver matchups write-up. "Butler has also shadowed twice, so it's possible he chases Gordon on an even larger percentage of his routes. Regardless, these two will see plenty of each other in Week 10. That is, of course, unless Butler is benched (as he was during last season's Super Bowl while a member of the Patriots).


"A benching is certainly warranted for Butler, who has unquestionably been one of the league's worst cornerbacks this season. The Titans defense has allowed an NFL-low 14 touchdowns (11 passing) this season and, incredibly, Butler is responsible for seven of those scores. Butler has allowed 39 receptions for 618 yards and the seven touchdowns -- all of which are highest at his position."


Tyler Lockett and David Moore, WRs, Seattle Seahawks
"What has happened to Marcus Peters?" Clay asks. "An absolute star during his time in Kansas City, Peters has been lit up in coverage with the Rams, including a shadow effort against Michael Thomas in Week 9 that led to a 200-yard effort from New Orleans' top receiver. That's been a theme this season for Peters, who has the fourth-worst coverage grade among 111 qualified corners at Pro Football Focus.


"Lockett ran nine of his 21 routes against Peters when these teams met back in Week 5. He put up 3 catches, 98 yards and 1 touchdown on 4 targets in that game. Touchdown machine Moore had a big day, as well, hauling in 3 of 4 targets for 38 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 15 routes. Peters was in coverage on all three touchdowns. Seattle's two perimeter receivers will also see Troy Hillin coverage. Hill is allowing a hefty 0.48 fantasy points per route this season after stepping in as Aqib Talib's replacement."


David Njoku, TE, Cleveland Browns
"While many will be hard-pressed to forget the doughnut Njoku posted two weeks ago, he's been extremely consistent since Baker Mayfield took over at quarterback, with 50-plus receiving yards in all but one of his last six games," Zeidenfeld notes. "Atlanta's defense encourages short passes to the middle of the field, which is exactly where Njoku likes to do his work. With the price remaining reasonable, he makes for a solid floor cash-game play -- with tournament upside if he gets into the end zone."


[h=2]Injury impact[/h]
A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals -- Green (toe) is expected to miss at least two games before being re-evaluated.


Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots -- Gronkowski (back/ankle) was a limited participant in Thursday's practice and is questionable to return to the field for Sunday's game at Tennessee. With the Patriots on a bye next week, there is some incentive for the Patriots to rest their star tight end for another week and have him return in Week 12.


Marlon Mack, RB, Indianapolis Colts -- Mack (foot) remained limited at practice Thursday and is questionable for Sunday's game against the Jaguars.


Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks -- Carson (hip) will be a game-time
decision Sunday against the Rams.


Chris Thompson, RB, Washington Redskins -- Thompson (ribs) has been ruled out for Sunday's game at Tampa Bay.


Jamison Crowder, WR, Washington Redskins -- Crowder (hamstring) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game at Tampa Bay. He hasn't played since Oct. 8.


George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers -- Kittle (chest) wore a blue non-contact jersey during his limited practice on Thursday. He is questionable for Monday's game against the Giants.


Kerryon Johnson, RB, Detroit Lions -- Johnson (ankle) was a limited participant in Thursday's practice and is questionable for Sunday's game at Chicago.
Sam Darnold, QB, New York Jets -- Darnold (foot) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Bills.


Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills -- Sean McDermott said Friday morning that Allen (elbow) will be limited at the Bills' final practice session of the week. The rookie quarterback and first-rounder is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Jets.


Robby Anderson, WR, New York Jets -- Anderson (ankle) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Bills.


Matt Bryant, K, Atlanta Falcons -- Bryant (hamstring) has been ruled out for Sunday's game at Cleveland.


[h=2]Lottery tickets[/h]

Baker Mayfield, QB, Cleveland Browns


"Mayfield is starting to hit his stride in terms of fantasy production with multiple touchdowns in each of the last three games," Zeidenfeld writes. "The Falcons' weaknesses on defense (allowing easy catches to running backs and the eighth-most TE catches per game) play right into what Cleveland does offensively. Did you notice the emergence of Duke Johnson Jr. in a new role with the new regime and the rise of David Njoku in this offense? The Falcons have allowed three-plus TD passes in the majority of their games this year and have allowed a 69.8 percent completion rate in 2018, both good signs for Mayfield in Week 10."


Dion Lewis, RB, Tennessee Titans


"Lewis has earned a merit-based promotion within the Titans backfield and seems to truly be a gameflow-independent running back, at least for the present," Zeidenfeld adds. "Last week against Dallas, he out-snapped Derrick Henry (59-14) in a game the Titans won by 14 points. In such a scenario, most would have predicted Henry to have picked up snaps and carries as the team grinded out a win. Lewis' ability in the passing game is also a boon in PPR formats, for obvious reasons. It's especially so this week against a New England side allowing the fifth-most RB receptions."


Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys


"Cooper found the end zone in his Dallas debut and is set up nicely for a big followup in Week 10," Clay points out. "Philadelphia's perimeter corners have struggled all season long and are allowing 31.8 fantasy points per game to outside receivers. That's second most in the league (Saints at 35.1), and that was with both starting perimeter cornerbacks healthy. Jalen Mills had been a liability opposite Darby, but is likely out this week with a foot injury. Cooper gets most of his run on the outside, so he'll see Darby and likely Rasul Douglason most of his routes this week. Upgrade him."


[h=2]Big question of the week[/h]
Was San Francisco QB Nick Mullens' tremendous NFL debut in Week 9 a sign of things to come, or a one-and-done type of performance?


"Hard to tell if his fantastic debut was legit or simply because the Oakland Raiders are just that terrible, but we should get some answers Monday night against the New York Giants. Oh wait, they are awful, too," Karabell writes in his stock watch column. "Then comes the bye week and the pitiful Buccaneers defense. Shootout! OK, add Mullens but do not presume he carries your fantasy team into December, where a pair of Seattle games loom. Frankly, we just cannot tell yet what we have, so adding him and cutting Stafford or Andy Daltonremains, I think, risky."
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