2018 Fantasy Football Week 10 Rankings

I squeaked out a 148-143 victory in my money league last week, and I was sweating it out on Sunday night.  I needed just a handful of points from Tom Freaking Brady (his legal name), who apparently didn't want to score a touchdown.  Finally he hit Josh Gordon for a big play in the 4th quarter, and that solidified my win.  The next closest point total in my league was 117, so it was just one of those weeks where the top two teams faced each other.  I'm sure glad I ended up on the right end of the matchup, but that's how it goes in fantasy football some weeks.  You just have to make the most informed decision you can, and of course sometimes go with your gut.  This week, my gut is having a hard time with Tarik Cohen versus Matt Breida in my FLEX spot, and it'll likely come down to1:00pm on Sunday when I make the call.

Speaking of deadlines, the trade deadline is just a couple of days away in many leagues, so pay attention to that in case you're looking to make a last-minute move for a playoff push.  There are still three bye weeks (including this week), and that includes the Rams and Chiefs off in Week 12.  That's going to be a lot of fantasy production on the sidelines that week.

But back to this week.  Let's do the rankings!

BYE: Ravens, Broncos, Texans, Vikings

2018 Fantasy Football Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ - Expert Consensus Rankings

QUARTERBACKS
Last week I totally whiffed on my QB picks versus the experts.  I actually liked Flacco at home against the Steelers (+8), but he didn't finish anywhere near the top-12 where I had him.  A guy who actually did finish near the top-12 was Baker Mayfield, who I had 5 spots lower vs the ECR.  I didn't see him as a great play against an improved Kansas City defense, but he ended up with nearly 300 yards and a pair of scores on his way to a 13th place finish in Week 9.

As for this week, I'm currently 6 spots higher on Andrew Luck vs the ECR, though that might change come Sunday.  I just see him as a top-10 play no matter what defense he's facing, and the Jags will actually be without one of their star cornerbacks.  Luck will find a way to find like 3 of his tight ends in the endzone.  I continue to be down on Jared Goff (-4) even though he's been on fire the last couple of weeks.  He didn't have a great game in Seattle in Week 5 though, and I'm not sure he'll even throw for multiple touchdowns in this contest.  This feels more like a Gurley week where he has like 3 rushing touchdowns.  I'm also down on my guy Tom Brady, who hasn't been very Brady-like lately.  I'm starting him this week because I have Deshaun Watson on a bye, but I'll be plugging Deshaun back in there in Week 11 (when Brady is on his bye).  This might be a difficult start/sit dilemma for me in Weeks 12-16, but hopefully it'll be a good problem to have.

RUNNING BACKS

Also in that Browns/Chiefs game, I was down on Nick Chubb (-9).  I said I expected Duke Johnson to be more involved in this game, and he actually had more fantasy points than Chubb.  But surprisingly (at least to me), both RBs were in the top-12!  I was also down on Mark Ingram and Kerryon Johnson (-6 on each), and neither was even a top-30 fantasy RB in a week with 6 teams on a bye.  I was pretty high on Jamaal Williams (+8) and Kapri Bibbs (+9).  Jamaal finished right around where I ranked him, and Bibbs actually found the endzone and finished inside the top-20. As of right now, I'm high on Mike Davis (+7), but I'm also assuming Chris Carson misses this game due to injury.  I expect if that happens, the ECR might even surpass my ranking of Davis.  I'm also a little high on Giovani Bernard (+6), as I expect him to have gotten healthy over the bye week.  I think this game could get out of hand, and if the Bengals find themselves down a couple of touchdowns in the second half, we could see a lot of Bernard in the passing game/garbage time.  I'm down on Corey Clement (-14) because Josh Adams got involved in Week 8, and Sproles is expected back this week.  I think Smallwood will continue to get early down work and Clement could be the odd man out in this potential 4 man rotation.

WIDE RECEIVERS
I was ten spots higher than the experts on Marquez Valdes-Scantling when I put out my rankings on Wednesday, but the ECR caught up on Sunday with Geronimo Allison ruled out (ultimately I was just +3 vs ECR on MVS).  Still, I wanted to point out that he was in the top-20 again and actually had more fantasy points than Davante Adams against the Patriots.  With Allison now on the IR, I think MVS is a top-30 WR the rest of the season.  I was super high on Adam Humphries against the Panthers (+23).  He'd been getting a lot of targets, and I said he belonged in the top-50.  Well, he finished as the #2 fantasy WR in Week 9, so you could say I nailed that one! This week, I'm still high on Humphries (+12) because, well, ride the hot streak.  I'm also high on Dede Westbrook (+11), though it's hard to feel great about any Jag receivers.  I like Quincy Enunwa to easily finish in the top-40, and I'm currently 13 spots higher than the ECR on him too.  I have a feeling Josh McCown is going to pepper him with targets against the Bills this week.  I'm pretty much always down on DeSean Jackson versus the ECR (-6), and I'm actually down on Mohamed Sanu this week (-10).  This is a guy I was higher on earlier in the year, but lately it's been a ton of Julio with a little Calvin Ridley sprinkled in.  Matt Ryan is having a great year though, so I get ranking all three of those guys in the top-40.  I'm just not ranking Sanu that highly this week in Cleveland. TIGHT ENDS I ranked Jordan Reed as my #2 TE last week (+7 vs ECR), but he finished outside of the top-20 and actually had fewer fantasy points than Vernon Davis.  I'm playing against Reed this week in my money league though, so I'm doubling down and leaving him in my top-5 because now I feel like he's guaranteed to find the endzone (especially against Tampa Bay).  I was also high on Jordan Thomas last week (+10), and he scored for the second week in a row (and for the third time in two games).  I was down on Greg Olsen though (-7), and he's back into top-5 form. I was wrong there, but I've moved Olsen way up in my ROS Rankings, which I continue to update regularly!!!  If there's someone I'm down on this week, I'd say it's Jared Cook.  That guy is tough to trust, and I just wouldn't trust him as a top-10 option this week (or really any week right now). DEFENSES

Can we skip over my defense picks versus the ECR last week?  No?  OK...

I talked up Oakland's defense (+5), even though I was fully aware of how bad they were.  Well, maybe I wasn't completely aware because they were even worse than I could have imagined.  They gave up 34 points and had nothing on the defensive side of the stat sheet.  I was down on the Dolphins (-9) who looked absolutely terrible against the Texans in Week 8.  Well, they bounced back against the Jets and were one of the top fantasy defenses in Week 9.

This week, I have the Chargers in my top-5 (+3 vs ECR).  They held the Raiders to just 10 points in Week 5, and that was with Amari Cooper and a healthy Marshawn Lynch (neither of which are still a thing in Oakland).  I think this game is a blowout, and I like for the Charger defense to play well.  I'm down on the Packers (-4) because they're dealing with a ton of injuries on the defensive side of the ball.  I could very well be wrong about this one because Brocktober is continuing into November, but I'd have a hard time trusting Green Bay as a top-5 unit until they get healthier.

Good luck to everyone in Week 10!  

(Except you, Ruffo...)

Cheers,

Bart