Week 9 was a middling return for the Sleeper Page. Bo Nix did about who 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 of the other plays were misses. I was most surprised by Washington’s inability to force negative plays from Daniel Jones. So it goes. We try to make good choices, but so often variance gets the last laugh.
Let’s see what Week 10 has for us. All players in this article are rostered in under 50% of Yahoo leagues.
TE Mike Gesicki at Ravens (36%)
Wide receiver injuries have been a major story in the fantasy season. And it’s important to remember that when wideouts get hurt, often it’s the non-wideouts who step forward in their absence. Cade Otton has written that story in Tampa Bay, and Gesicki also wants to wave hello.
Gesicki is coming off 7-73-0 and 5-100-2 lines the last two weeks, spiking his production with Tee Higgins unavailable. Higgins is unlikely to play Thursday against Baltimore. The Ravens’ secondary has been more leaky to wide receivers, but it’s also a plus matchup for opposing tight ends. I’ll be proactive with my Gesicki usage in Week 10, even if it means I’m deploying more than one tight end.
QB Aaron Rodgers at Cardinals (49%)
Rodgers hasn’t been great in his first real New York season, but he hasn’t been terrible either. He usually finishes in the 10-20 range among quarterbacks when all the points are added up. But he did have his sharpest game of the season a week ago, throwing for three touchdowns and finally breaking the 20-point barrier against the Texans. That graded out as the QB10 for the week.
Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams both scored in that game (Wilson had a pair, including the incredible catch of the year), a good sign that the Jets are steering into 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 any week. But I’ll be stunned if he doesn’t have multiple touchdown passes in this spot. The Cardinals help the case, 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 maintained a share of the work even after Cook returned, picking up touchdowns and cracking double-digit fantasy points in two of the last three games. Josh Allen’s rushing touchdowns have evaporated this year (15 in 2023, just three this year), which gives a longshot pick like Davis a better chance to get home. And Davis’ glittering metrics in the passing game could lead to an expanded 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 the San Francisco offense. The Niners are also hoping to have Jauan Jennings back, and he’s theoretically ahead of Pearsall in the pecking order. At least the game has a 1 p.m. ET start time, so we’ll be able to make decisions before most of the games start.
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Even as the Niners heal up, they should have a role for Pearsall. He collected 77 total yards in his last game, including a nifty 39-yard rush. And the Tampa Bay secondary has allowed the sixth-most points to opposing wide receivers; DeAndre Hopkins ripped this unit up for three hours Monday night. With four teams on bye and injuries all over the map, Pearsall could make sense for fantasy managers desperate for a flex play.
WR Ray-Ray McLeod at Saints (17%)
McLoud has been on the periphery of fantasy value all year, used regularly but not quite enough to push into fantasy consideration. But the Falcons have two key injuries in their passing game this week: Drake London (hip) and Kyle Pitts (hamstring). If either of those players is scratched, or even limited, McLoud takes a step up in value against a reeling New Orleans defense that just traded its signature cornerback.
WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine at Chargers (4%)
His seasonal stats almost look like a typo — 10 catches, four touchdowns. Everybody have a good laugh. But the scores have all come in the past four weeks, and NWI’s yardage has increased in every game over that span. With DeAndre Hopkins gone, Westbrook-Ikhine is someone Tennessee counts on — his snap share has been over 90% in the last two weeks. Now the Chargers present a nasty matchup for Week 10, sure. But with Minnesota, Houston and Jacksonville matchups not far behind, remember the Titan.
New York Giants D/ST vs. Panthers (Germany game; 42%)
The New York offense has not been reliable this year, but the Giants do one thing extremely well — they get after the opposing quarterback. It doesn’t matter if you prefer new-school or old-school stats — the Giants rank first in sacks and first in disruption rate, and it’s glorious that they can do this without over-reliance on blitzing. Now Big Blue takes aim at Bryce Young, one of the least-experienced quarterbacks in the league. Expect some negative plays to flow on Sunday morning.
