Quarterback
Jameis Winston- If there was ever a matchup to trust Jameis Winston in cash games, it just might be this one against the Cardinals who I have picked on with a QB in cash games 50% of the time this season. This game has the best chance to fully shootout in my opinion, as both teams rank top-five in offensive pace this season. Getting Patrick Peterson back was never going to fully save this secondary, but he’s also looked really rusty in his return to the lineup. The Cardinals also run a very man-heavy defensive scheme which bodes well for Winston who has extremely positive historical splits vs man coverage compared to zone coverage — which Matt and I have pointed out on multiple pod’s this season.
Ryan Tannehill- Finally freed from the clutches of Adam Gase, Ryan Tannehill seems to have been unlocked in Tennessee topping 19 DK points in each game as a starter, with totals of 19, 23 and 28 — two of which consisting 300 yards passing. The Titans are going to have to throw the ball in this game against the Chiefs, it’s almost certain that they’re trailing listed as touchdown dogs at home with Patrick Mahomes returning to the lineup for Kansas City. His price hasn’t been fully adjusted based off his lackluster name value, and on a slate where I really want to jam in Christian McCaffrey and Michael Thomas (more below), taking the savings of Tannehill might be my preferred route come Sunday afternoon.
Note: There are a lot of good spend ups at QB this week with the likes of Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray and Drew Brees in addition to the two above. That being said, I have landed on one of Winston/Tannehill in pretty much all of my mock builds and those are the two in consideration for me personally right now.
Running Back
Christian McCaffrey- I don’t think I need to go into much detail here, McCaffrey put up another 40 fantasy points last week and is the lock and load top Running Back play once again this week. He has a much better matchup this week against the Packers who have forced usage towards RB’s given how well their secondary has played this season, and even though they bumped up McCaffrey’s price it isn’t high enough yet for me to consider fading him in cash games. A lot of people seem to be scared of his price tag, noting that he took a long run to the house late in last weeks game to pay off value. While beating salary based off long touchdowns isn’t the best way to do it, the ability to continually break off long runs like CMC is part of that makes him so good. You can’t just say, if he didn’t score that touchdown he wouldn’t have been a good play, because, well…he did score that touchdown and he has the ability to do it in this week’s game too.
Marlon Mack- I actually don’t think Mack will end up super high-owned come Sunday, but I don’t see how we ignore him against the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins are often losing, which has led them to facing the fourth-most rushing attempts in the NFL. This sets up as a game where the Colts should look to feed Mack a heavy workload, not only should they be winning, but Jacoby Brissett may not play…and if he does he will be extremely banged up. I could see Mack getting the ball 28+ times this weekend and he is affordable enough that you can fit him in alongside CMC should be save in the right places.
Muddled Mid-Tier- There’s a really big choice to make in the mid-tier, and it’s Devin Singletary vs David Montgomery. Singletary is coming off season-high usage while Montgomery has averaged over 20 touches per game over the last two weeks and draws the Lions who have been crushed in recent weeks by Dalvin Cook and Josh Jacobs on the ground. They have similar targets numbers as well, so even that can’t really be used as a tiebreaker. As of now, I’m slightly leaning towards Montgomery and I do think he will be a bit higher-owned, if that helps you make a decision too.
Ronald Jones- You’ll notice a theme of this article is prices that haven’s been adjusted for roles, and that holds true with Ronald Jones who is $4,300 on DraftKings despite seeing over 50% of the snaps along with 20 touches last week against the Seahawks. Bruce Arians himself came out and anointed him the lead back to the media, which means this is probably the cheapest we get RoJo at again this season, especially if he has a big game against Arizona…one of the worst run defenses in the NFL.
Wide Receiver
Michael Thomas- Can’t Guard Mike is going to dominate ownership at this position in Week 10, and is a tough fade at home against the Falcons. The Falcons have been one of the worst defenses in the NFL, and Thomas has been remarkably consistent topping 16 DK points in every game even with Drew Brees’ extended absence. I typically like to jam in two expensive RB’s each week, but due to some pretty bad pricing errors with the likes of Jones/Singletary and Montgomery, Thomas is actually the second guy I will be jamming into my optimal build.
Davante Adams- Adams and the Packers got embarrassed in Los Angeles last weekend, but set up in a supreme bounce-back spot at home against the Carolina Panthers. Now, the Panthers secondary has been sneaky good this season, but James Bradberry is ailing and questionable, which would give a big boost to Adams’ individual matchup should he miss. He’s also priced below $7,000 on DraftKings, which is incredibly too low for a player of Adams ability. I 100% plan on taking advantage of this price tag this weekend, and prefer him to higher-owned, more expensive options like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
Calvin Ridley- Ridley hauled in four of seven targets for 70 yards in his first game without Mohamed Sanu, and should see similar work this weekend against the Saints. We *should* expect Marshon Lattimore to be chase Julio Jones, leaving Ridley with the much better matchup. The Falcons are sizable underdogs in this game, so we should expect another pass-heavy game-script from them this week…indoors where Matt Ryan has always posted better numbers.
AJ Brown- Brown is extremely cheap, and presents us with an opportunity to stack with Ryan Tannehill. He’s seen 18 targets over the last three weeks, and should be in line for even more volume with both Delanie Walker and Corey Davis expected to miss this game. We are going to need value, and you can do worse than correlating Tanny with his number one receiver for less than $10,000 total on DraftKings.
Tight End
Outlook: Once again this week, it seems like we will be forced into the bargain bin for Tight Ends in cash games. I absolutely love Travis Kelce and Austin Hooper in tournaments, but jamming in Christian McCaffrey and Michael Thomas both won’t leave us with enough salary to get to them. Mike Gesicki and Rhett Ellison are both really cheap, and in line to see increased work this week due to injuries. The Dolphins will be without Preston Williams while the Giants are missing Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram. Most of my builds have come down to one of the two, and you also have OJ Howard for cheap as well in everyone’s favorite matchup for Tight Ends against the Cardinals.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
