2016 Fantasy Football Week 10 Rankings

It's hard to believe Trump is going to be our next president.  I mean, wow.

It's hard to believe my daughter is already a month old.  The first three weeks I got to spend at home with her and my wife, and it actually felt more like 3 months.  It was great.  But now I'm like, "Wow.  She's already a month old!".

It's also hard to believe we're already to Week 10 of the NFL season.  Now with only a handful of weeks left to try to get wins and into the fantasy playoffs, it's definitely crunch time.

And without any other sort of smooth transition, let's get right to the rankings!

BYE: Buffalo, Detroit, Indianapolis, Oakland 

QBs 1.Aaron Rodgers   2.Tom Brady  3.Ben Roethlisberger    4.Matt Ryan    5.Marcus Mariota  6.Drew Brees   7.Phillip Rivers   8.Carson Palmer 9.Cam Newton  10.Dak Prescott  11.Jameis Winston  12.Eli Manning  13.Russell Wilson  14.Joe Flacco 15.Jay Cutler 16.Andy Dalton  17.Kirk Cousins 18.Trevor Siemian   19.Blake Bortles  20.Carson Wentz Last week I was high on " QB Browns" (ESPN outside of top-20, ME #13), which ended up being Cody Kessler.  He had a solid first half against a banged up Dallas secondary, but he did nothing after halftime and finished just barely inside the top-20.  I was down on Matthew Stafford (ESPN #11, ME #16), who had been pretty terrible in his last two games and faced a tough Vikings defense that was licking their wounds after getting beat by the Bears on Monday Night Football.  An overtime touchdown moved him up as the #15 fantasy QB for the week (right about where I ranked him), but a regulation finish would have landed him as the worst starting QB for the week. I'm high on: Marcus Mariota (ESPN #11, ME #5) Here we go again.  I guess ESPN refuses to acknowledge the fact that Mariota has been a top-5 fantasy QB since Week 5, but I'm on board.  This week he faces a Green Bay secondary that is decimated by injuries and giving up decent numbers to fantasy QBs on the season.  I like the second year signal caller to be a top-5 fantasy QB against the Packers. I'm down on: Cam Newton (ESPN #4, ME #9)  Here's a guy I DON'T like as a top-5 play this week, but the ESPN experts sure do.  Cam was obviously a preseason #1 or 2 fantasy QB, but so far this season he's been outside of the top-10.  If you look at more recent play, he only has 1 touchdown in his last two games.  This week he faces a Kansas City defense that looks better and better each week, and this week they could get Justin Houston back (who they just activated off the PUP list).  You're probably starting him if you have him, but I don't see him as a no-brainer top-5 play this week. RBs 1.David Johnson  2.Ezekiel Elliott    3.Melvin Gordon 4.Le'Veon Bell   5.Jay Ajayi    6.DeMarco Murray   7.Lamar Miller 8.Matt Forte  9.Devonta Freeman 10.Jordan Howard   11.LeGarrette Blount  12.Jonathan Stewart  13.Devontae Booker  14.Spencer Ware  15.Todd Gurley  16.Mark Ingram   17.Giovani Bernard    18.Terrance West   19.Jeremy Hill    20.Doug Martin  21.Darren Sproles  22.Tim Hightower   23.Chris Ivory  24.Isaiah Crowell   25.Christine Michael     26.DuJuan Harris 27.Rashad Jennings   28.Kapri Bibbs  29.Matt Asiata   30.Rob Kelley    31.James Starks  32.James White   33.C.J. Prosise    34.Paul Perkins   35.Ryan Mathews      36.Jerick McKinnon     37.TJ Yeldon  38.Duke Johnson   39.Matt Jones  40.Kenneth Dixon  Last week I told you on Wednesday there was no way Spencer Ware was playing against the Jags, so I was expecting a huge workload for Charcandrick West (ESPN #19, ME #5).  I was right about Ware being out, but I was shocked to see that West only ended up with 16 touches.  He had some decent yardage and finished just inside the top-20 in a pretty lean week for RBs.  I was down on Mark Ingram (ESPN #14, ME #20), who had been benched early the week before in favor of Tim Hightower.  Turns out Hightower actually got more work, but Ingram made the bigger plays.  Both were top-10 fantasy RBs against the 49er run defense, but I was definitely wrong about ranking Ingram so low. I'm high on: Kapri Bibbs (ESPN #37, ME #28) With Devontae Booker underwhelming, coach Kubiak stated this week that Bibbs has earned more work.  Not many teams give up more fantasy points to the running back position than the Saints, and Kapri Bibbs could have a surprisingly big day this week. I'm down on: Christine Michael (ESPN #18, ME #25)  With less than 100 rushing yards in his last 3 games combined, I'm not as high on Michael as the ESPN guys.  This week the Seahawks travel to New England, who is fairly stingy against the run this year too (they've only given up 6 rushing TDs all season).  I think Seattle will play from behind and be forced to throw more in this game, and C.J. Prosise should be in the game more than Christine Michael.  He could really disappoint in Week 10. WRs 1.Antonio Brown 2.Julio Jones   3.Mike Evans   4.Odell Beckham, Jr.       5.Jordy Nelson 6.A.J. Green     7.Alshon Jeffery 8.Larry Fitzgerald    9.Dez Bryant  10.DeMaryius Thomas  11.Terrelle Pryor, Sr.  12.Brandon Marshall  13.Jordan Matthews  14.Allen Robinson   15.Kelvin Benjamin  16.Emmanuel Sanders   17.DeAndre Hopkins 18.Randall Cobb   19.Stefon Diggs  20.Ty Montgomery  21.Tyrell Williams  22.Davante Adams  23.Brandin Cooks  24.Jarvis Landry  25.Doug Baldwin  26.Mike Wallace 27.Michael Thomas  28.Rishard Matthews 29.Steve Smith, Sr. 30.Julian Edelman 31.Kenny Britt 32.John Brown 33.Cole Beasley 34.J.J. Nelson 35.Sterling Shephard 36.Corey Coleman  37.Jamison Crowder  38.Willie Snead  39.Marqise Lee 40.Quincy Enunwa 41.Mohamed Sanu  42.Dontrelle Inman 43.Will Fuller     44.Tyler Lockett  45.Cordarrelle Patterson I was high on Kendall Wright (ESPN #55, ME #35) against the Chargers, and I was surprised the ESPN experts were barely ranking him.  He only had 2 catches, but they were for 64 total yards.  He finished just outside of the top-40 WRs, but I think he should be at least considered well above where ESPN was ranking him last week (55th!).  I was down on DeVante Parker (ESPN #32, ME NOT RANKED), who had less than 3 fantasy points in 3 of his last 4 games.  He continued that trend, as he only caught 2 balls for a grand total of 8 yards against the Jets.  He isn't startable in fantasy right now. I'm high on: Terrelle Pryor, Sr. (ESPN #21, ME #11) He has either scored or eclipsed the 100 yard mark in 3 of his last 4 games.  He's a big part of this offense, and Baltimore actually gives up top-5 fantasy numbers to WRs this season.  I like Pryor as a WR1 this week. I'm down on: Jarvis Landry (ESPN #17, ME #24)  The guy typically gets plenty of targets, but he hasn't scored double-digit fantasy points since WEEK 3!  I can't see ranking him as highly as the experts have him until he starts producing like he has in the past. TEs 1.Rob Gronkowski         2.Greg Olsen  3.Jordan Reed    4.Tyler Eifert  5.Delanie Walker  6.Travis Kelce   7.Jimmy Graham   8.Antonio Gates  9.Kyle Rudolph 10.Zach Miller 11.Jason Witten     12.C.J. Fiedorowicz   13.Dennis Pitta    14.Cameron Brate  15.Zach Ertz 16.Lance Kendricks  Last week I gave you a guy under the radar in Lance Kendricks (ESPN #19, ME #12).  He had at least 7 targets in 3 of his last 4 games, and he ended up with 7 catches on 12 targets against Carolina!  He totaled 90 receiving yards and was the #13 fantasy TE for the week.  He actually dropped a touchdown in the endzone, which would have landed him closer to the top spot, but that's kind of how it goes for the Rams.  As for Antonio Gates (ESPN #6, ME #14), I continued to be down on him.  But Hunter Henry actually didn't play in this game, which was slightly unexpected.  Gates had 75 yards and a touchdown, so he was a top-5 play.  Whatever.  I guess I'll rank him now... This week my tight end rankings are essentially the same as ESPN's, so I'll move on to the defenses. DEF 1.Cardinals  2.Ravens  3.Panthers   4.Rams  5.Vikings   6.Chiefs     7.Redskins   8.Texans  9.Jets 10.Patriots 11.Chargers   12.Bears  Finally a week in which I made some decent defensive picks.  I was high on the Detroit Lions (ESPN #20, ME #10), as they faced a Viking offensive line that was getting destroyed as of late (and an offense that had only put up 10 points in each of its previous two games).  Well, Detroit held the Vikings to 16 points and ended up as a top-15 fantasy defense.  As for the Jets (ESPN #8 ME NOT RANKED), I just didn't see them as doing much against the Dolphins (who were coming off their bye week and had Jay Ajayi running all over everyone as of late).  Miami put up 27 points in this game, and the Jets forced zero turnovers and only sacked Tannehill once.  They were in the BOTTOM 5 fantasy defenses in Week 9.  THIS week I actually like this unit, as they face the Keenum turnover machine at home... I'm high on: Washington Redskins (ESPN #16, ME #7) Coming off their bye week, my Redskins are facing the Viking offense that has been terrible as of late (as mentioned last week).  Washington has at least 3 sacks in each of their last 4 games, and they've forced 11 turnovers in 8 games.  I'll probably be starting them on my own fantasy team this week, so I'll be upset for a lot of reasons if I'm wrong here.  But I like us to have a good day on the defensive side of the ball and hopefully come away with a victory. I'm down on: San Diego Chargers (ESPN #4, ME #11)  Sure they've been a top-5 fantasy defense over the last 4 weeks, but a lot of that is due to 3 defensive touchdowns (which are really hard to count on when you're starting a D).  The experts sure liked the Jets last week against the Dolphins, and they like the Chargers against them this week too.  Not me.  I think this will be a high scoring game, and I don't think San Diego will be a top-10 fantasy defense. Good luck to everyone in Week 10!   (Except you, Mike...) Cheers, Bart