Week 9 was a mediocre return for the Sleeper Page. Bo Nix did what we expected, and Xavier Legette used touchdown deodorant to sneak into the top 25 at wide receiver. But even a cheap score couldn’t push Tyler Allgeier into the top 30 at running back, and most other plays were misses. I was most surprised by Washington’s inability to force negative plays from Daniel Jones. That’s how it goes. We try to make good choices, but so often variance has the last laugh.
Let’s see what week 10 has for us. All players in this article are listed in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues.
TE Mike Gesicki at Ravens (36%)
Wide receiver injuries have been a big story in the fantasy season. And it’s important to remember that when wideouts get hurt, it’s often the non-wideouts who step up in their absence. Cade Oton wrote that story in Tampa Bay, and Gesicki also wants to wave hello.
Gesicki has come off lines 7-73-0 and 5-100-2 over the past two weeks, increasing his production with Tee Higgins unavailable. Higgins is unlikely to play against Baltimore on Thursday. The Ravens’ secondary leaks more to wide receivers, but it’s also a plus for opposing tight ends. I will be proactive with my Gesicki usage in Week 10, even if it means using more than one tight end.
QB Aaron Rodgers at Cardinals (49%)
Rodgers wasn’t great in his first real season in New York, but he wasn’t terrible either. He usually finishes in the 10-20 range among quarterbacks when all points are added up. But he had his sharpest game of the season a week ago, throwing for three touchdowns and ultimately breaking the twenty-point mark against the Texans. That was rated as the QB10 for this week.
Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams both scored in that game (Wilson had a few, including the incredible catch of the year), a good sign that the Jets are bringing in their best players. New York’s offense likes to play at a deliberate pace, so I can never expect Rodgers to threaten 300 yards in a week. But I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t have several touchdown passes in this spot. The Cardinals are helping the cause as they rank 25th in pass defense DVOA.
RB Ray Davis at Colts (29%)
The highlight of his season came in Week 6, when James Cook couldn’t go and Davis posted 152 yards of offense. But Davis has kept up some of the work even after Cook returned, grabbing touchdowns and scoring double-digit fantasy points in two of the last three games. Josh Allen’s rushing touchdowns have evaporated this year (fifteen in 2023, just three this year), giving a distance player like Davis a better chance to get home. And Davis’ stellar stats in the passing game could lead to a bigger role down the road.
WR Ricky Pearsall at Buccaneers (32%)
This is more of a conditional recommendation. It’s possible Christian McCaffrey returns this week, which would change the shape of San Francisco’s offense. The Niners also hope to have Jauan Jennings back, and he is theoretically ahead of Pearsall in the pecking order. At least the game has a start time of 1:00 PM ET, so we can make decisions before most games start.
Even with the Niners healing, Pearsall should have a role. He racked up 77 total yards in his final game, including a handy 39-yard rush. And the Tampa Bay secondary has allowed the sixth-most points to opposing wide receivers; DeAndre Hopkins broke this device for three hours on Monday night. With four teams on the roster and injuries all over the map, Pearsall could make sense for fantasy managers desperate for a flexible game.
WR Ray-Ray McLeod at Saints (17%)
McLoud has been on the periphery of fantasy value all year and is used regularly, but not enough to be included in your lineups on a weekly basis. However, the Falcons have two key injuries in their passing game this week: Drake London (hip) and Kyle Pitts (hamstring). If any of these players are scratched or even limited, McLoud takes a step up in value against a faltering New Orleans defense that just traded away its signature cornerback.
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine at Chargers (4%)
His season stats almost look like a typo: 10 catches, four touchdowns. Everyone can have a good laugh about it. But the scores have all come in the last four weeks, and NWI’s scoring has increased in every game during that period. With DeAndre Hopkins gone, Westbrook-Ikhine is someone Tennessee is counting on — his snap share has been over 90% over the last two weeks. Now the Chargers certainly present a nasty matchup for Week 10. But with the games between Minnesota, Houston and Jacksonville not far behind, think of the Titan.
New York Giants D/ST vs. Panthers (Germany match; 42%)
New York’s offense hasn’t been reliable this year, but the Giants do one thing exceptionally well: they get after the opposing quarterback. It doesn’t matter whether you prefer new or old-fashioned metrics: the Giants rank first in sacks and first in upset rate, and it’s great that they can do this without being overly dependent on blitzing. Now Big Blue is targeting Bryce Young, one of the least experienced quarterbacks in the league. Expect some negative action on Sunday morning.
