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Week 10 Review and What it Means Going Forward

By Ahaan S. Rungta
Week 12 players to drop Kareem Hunt

As regular seasons in fantasy football wind down and playoff pictures start to shape up, it is ever so important that you are up-to-date on the fantasy situation across the league. We have you covered with exactly that in the Week 10 fantasy football recap, featuring quarterback bouncebacks and busts, backfields that shared the limelight, and some wide receiver wins and woes. As usual, any rankings exclude Monday Night Football; they are as of the end Sunday Night Football.

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Week 10 News that Means Something in Week 11

Busy Backfields

Several backfields set fire to the fantasy football world in Week 10, some via committee. We present the most relevant storylines for fantasy managers to keep an eye on after Week 10.

Nyheim Hines, Jonathan Taylor (IND)

Fantasy managers of the Wisconsin product Jonathan Taylor continue to lament the rookie’s usage and production. On Thursday Night Football, it was birthday boy Nyheim Hines that led the Indianapolis Colts backfield in their big win against the Tennessee Titans. The Colts backfield continues to be a source of intrigue, with Taylor owners in shambles and Hines owners watching stocks rise. Here is a look at the usage of the tripod Colts backfield.

Snap shareRushingReceiving
Nyheim Hines56%12 carries, 70 yards, 1 TD5 catches (6 targets), 45 yards, 1 TD
Jonathan Taylor24%7 carries, 12 yards2 catches (2 targets), 25 yards
Jordan Wilkins20%8 carries, 28 yards0 catches (1 target)

* personal season-highs in bold

Taylor’s snap share and rushing volume were also season-lows for him and he has not scored more than 10 fantasy points since Week 6 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Wilkins has not been fantasy-relevant outside of Week 8 against the Detroit Lions, when he touched the ball 21 times and scored a touchdown. Hines was the PPR RB3 of Week 10. 

J.D. McKissic, Antonio Gibson (WSH)

The Washington Football Team had to play from behind early on with Alex Smith under center but that didn’t stop their backfield from being primary contributors in fantasy football, with J.D. McKissic leading the charge, particularly in PPR leagues. Here is a look at how the Washington backfield shaped out on the field in Week 10. 

Snap shareRushingReceiving
J.D. McKissic70%8 carries, 6 yards, 1 TD7 catches (15 targets), 43 yards
Antonio Gibson36%13 carries, 45 yards, 2 TD4 catches (4 targets), 20 yards
Peyton Barber12%2 carries, 7 yards1 catch (1 target), 7 yards

* personal season-highs in bold

In several platforms, McKissic has eligibility at both RB and WR, understandably so. His 15 targets led the team in Week 10 and his 7 catches was tied for the team lead. He also scored his first touchdown of the season in Week 10. McKissic has 16 catches on 29 targets for 108 receiving yards in his last 2 games. 

Josh Jacobs, Devontae Booker (LV)

After checking in with fantasy relevance and stealing some of the important carries from lead back Josh Jacobs in week 9, first-year Las Vegas Raider Devontae Booker was again in the fantasy football headlines in Week 10 — in fact, both members of the Raiders backfield put up RB1 numbers against the tough run defense of the Denver Broncos. After going up early on the struggling Broncos offense, Las Vegas turned their tempo quickly into a run-based game. As they chewed clock, they also expanded on their lead and finished the game throwing the ball only 25 times while running the ball 41 times. 

Jacobs, an early-round pick for all redraft leagues, carried the ball 21 times and totaled 136 scrimmage yards, including 2 touchdown carries. It was his third game this season scoring multiple touchdowns. Booker, after scoring his first touchdown of the season in Week 9, scored 2 more times in Week 10. He totaled 16 carries and 83 scrimmage yards. Both Jacobs and Booker did not take part heavily in the passing game but still finished as the RB2 and RB8 of the week in PPR scoring, respectively. 

The Raiders have several enticing running back matchups coming up. Owners of Raiders running backs shouldn’t use the blowout in Week 10 as a reason to think that Booker’s volume will remain sky-high. It remains to be seen if the Raiders plan to go back to a pass-heavy game against the daunting Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11. 

Chase Edmonds, Kenyan Drake (ARI)

After missing Week 9 due to an ankle injury, Kenyan Drake was back in the Arizona Cardinals starting lineup at running back. He was, overall, productive in standard scoring, carrying the ball 16 times for 100 yards and cashing in a 9-yard reception. Chase Edmonds reverted back to his usual workload, carrying the ball 8 times and making 3 catches. He totaled 77 scrimmage yards and barely beat out Drake in fantasy production in PPR scoring. 

However, neither Drake nor Edmonds were amongst the top 20 running backs of Week 10; instead, both rushing touchdowns from the Cardinals came via red zone sensation Kyler Murray, who now has 10 rushing touchdowns on the season. Edmonds and Drake have a combined 5 rushing touchdowns this season. 

Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt (CLE)

Early-round fantasy draft pick, Nick Chubb, came back from a knee injury to see the field for the first time since Week 4. He was back with efficiency behind a potent Cleveland Browns offensive line and took advantage of a matchup against the Houston Texans to rush for 126 yards on 19 carries, including a touchdown. In fact, if it were not for game clock gamesmanship, Chubb would have finished amongst the top running backs on the week as he was one step away from scoring multiple touchdowns for the third time this season.

Kareem Hunt continued to remain fantasy-relevant even with the return of Nick Chubb, as he was at the beginning of the season. He also carried the ball 19 times but only tallied 104 yards on the rushes. However, unlike Chubb, who made 0 catches, Hunt sprinkled in some PPR value, catching 3 passes for 28 yards. 

Chubb and Hunt were both top 15 PPR running backs in Week 10, even though Hunt did not find the end zone. 

Malcolm Brown, Darrell Henderson Jr. (LAR)

After naming Jared Goff as my love pick of the week against an embarrassing Seattle Seahawks pass defense, the Los Angeles Rams played a quality game through the air. Goff threw at a 73% completion rate for 302 passing yards. However, instead of Goff knifing through the Seattle secondary to reach his true fantasy potential, Sean McVay utilized his two-headed monster in the backfield to find the end zone. 

Darrell Henderson Jr. touched the ball only 8 times in the game and he only cashed in 33 scrimmage yards. However, one of his 7 carries was for a touchdown. Malcolm Brown also touched the ball only 8 times in the game for a total of 51 scrimmage yards, but 2 of his 6 rushes resulted in touchdowns. Brown finished the week as the PPR RB9 of the week. 

Damien Harris, Rex Burkhead (NE)

After some injury scares throughout the week for Alabama product Damien Harris, he was officially listed as active for what turned out to be an ugly-weather Sunday Night Football matchup against the elite defense of the Baltimore Ravens. Harris proved to be a bell cow back for the run-intensive New England Patriots. He took the volume of the carries but did not provide matching fantasy value in PPR formats due to the role of Rex Burkhead in New England’s passing game. Harris was, however, of sneaky relevance in leagues that reward first downs for running backs. Here is how the duo fared on Sunday Night Football for their fantasy managers. 

Snap shareRushingReceiving
Damien Harris56%22 carries, 121 yards0 catches (0 targets)
Rex Burkhead34%6 carries, 31 yards4 catches (5 targets), 35 yards, 2 TD

* personal season-highs in bold

The Patriots have won 2 games in a row and Burkhead has scored in both games in order to be fantasy-relevant in both weeks. In Week 10, one of his scores was via some trickery, with wide receiver Jakobi Meyers reliving his high school days by turning into a quarterback for one play. Burkhead finished as the PPR RB6 of the week. 

Quarterbacks: Bouncebacks & Busts

A few quarterbacks rebounded from interesting Week 9s to take the spotlight in the Sunday slate of Week 10 football. Who were they and how will their performances affect their fantasy profile moving forward? 

Bounceback: Matthew Stafford (DET)

The Detroit Lions veteran has given fantasy managers some scares in the last few weeks — first, he came into close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, then he dealt with neck issues. He has continued to not miss time, however, but in Week 9, he had season-lows across the board and was a fantasy disappointment, turning the ball over twice and not scoring. 

In Week 10 against the Washington Football Team, Stafford jumped out to a quick start and threw a 55-yard touchdown to Marvin Hall and a 27-yard touchdown to Marvin Jones to cash in scores early. Stafford finished the game with a 72.7% completion rate and 276 yards through the air. It was also just his third game without a turnover and the first of those games where he threw for 3 touchdowns. He finished the day as the QB6 of Week 10. 

Bust: Russell Wilson (SEA)

Once a 2020 NFL MVP frontrunner, Russell Wilson hasn’t exactly been cooking in his last couple of games. In Week 9 against the Buffalo Bills, he at least ran some sort of an offense in garbage time. In Week 10, fantasy managers got their worst game of the season from Wilson, who couldn’t find his receivers effectively and was rushed into poor decisions by Sean McVay’s squad. 

Week 10 ended up being Wilson’s first game of the season without multiple passing touchdowns — in fact, he scored 0 times. His 59.5% completion rate was also a season-low and for the second straight game, he fumbled the ball. It was his third game of the season with at least three turnovers. 

Bounceback: Tom Brady (TB)

After putting up one of the worst performances of his hall-of-fame NFL career in Week 9 in the wreckage against the New Orleans Saints, Tom Brady did what Tom Brady does after an embarrassing loss — he showed out. 

Coming into the game a career 7-1 following losses by at least 20 points, Brady looked to take advantage of the soft Carolina Panthers defense to bounce back. He responded by throwing for 341 yards through the air and utilized his receiving corps evenly in the process. He finished the game with 4 touchdowns (3 through the air, 1 via sneak) and found one of his three big-name wide receivers (Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Mike Evans) for 19 of his 28 completed passes. Brady was the QB1 of Week 10. 

Wide Receivers: Wins & Woes

The wide receiver continues to be the deepest position in fantasy football. Who were today’s heroes and a stunning close-to-zero?

Win: DeAndre Hopkins (ARI)

It would be criminal to name the segment after wins and not mention arguably the best wide receiver in our sport literally making a catch for the win. In perhaps the most iconic moment of the NFL season so far and the history of the Arizona Cardinals, DeAndre Hopkins caught a 43-yard Hail Mary from Kyler Murray to turn a loss into a walk-off win and did so by catching a jump ball in triple coverage over the Buffalo Bills’ best defensive trio. 

Hopkins finished the day as the PPR WR3 of Week 10 and a statline of 7 receptions on 12 targets for 127 receiving yards and 1 monumental touchdown score. It was a bounceback from a mostly quiet Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins. The jump ball, one for the ages, has Hopkins headed into a scintillating matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on pace for a career high in receptions. 

Woes: D.K. Metcalf (SEA)

As previously mentioned, Russell Wilson was not on his game. A big part of the stunted production? The Los Angeles Rams, the most consistent defense against wide receivers in the 2020 season, had the X-factor of the game: the still-elite Jalen Ramsey. 

Being shadowed by Ramsey for a majority of the game, D.K. Metcalf, coming into the game tied for the second-most receiving touchdowns in the NFL, was held to 0 fantasy points until the fourth quarter. And it was no ordinary goose-egg — through three quarters, Metcalf was targeted 0 times. Metcalf and his teammate, Tyler Lockett, both entered the game as top 5 PPR wide receivers. They both left the arena on Sunday empty-handed in terms of scores. 

Metcalf has been primary matchup-proof this season, going off on elite cornerback names like Stephon Gilmore and Tre’Davious White, but was humbled by Jalen Ramsey in Week 10 and finished the game with only 2 catches on 4 targets for 28 total receiving yards. Metcalf managers shouldn’t be concerned about his talent moving forward. He just ran into a different beast in Week 10. 

Win: Cole Beasley (BUF)

After two fantasy duds in Week 8 against the New England Patriots and Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks, Cole Beasley was back at it as a PPR machine in Week 10. He was targeted a season-high 13 times and made 11 catches, tied for a season-high. On those catches, he chased in 109 receiving yards, including a touchdown. It was Beasley’s second time on the season making a double-digit number of receptions. He finished as the PPR WR1 of the week. 

It is noteworthy that in the thriller between the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals, Beasley’s volume-heavy game did not take away from the consistent production of Stefon Diggs, who also finished amongst the top 5 wide receivers of Week 10 in PPR formats. 

What surprised you most about the Week 10 slate and what are your biggest takeaways headed into a pivotal Week 11 for fantasy leagues and playoff hopes?

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