Week 10 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: I'm Sorry, Jeff Wilson
Week 10 of the NFL season is when most leagues set up their trade deadline. With that in mind, I recommend taking a look at Kyle Wood's Trade Targets article as he highlights some players you might want to consider trading for and trading away.
I want to talk about trading etiquette. Generally speaking, you've got to be very proactive as a trader. Communication is key. This means sending good offers. What is a good offer? If you need a RB and the other team doesn't have much RB depth, it's best to not send a trade offer without asking that manager if a certain RB is available. And if you need a RB and that team has an "extra" RB, see where their team is lacking and if you can adequately fill their need. Taking the extra minute to be considerate and thoughtful—both in fantasy and in life, friends—can be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful trade. I know, "be kind" isn't exactly groundbreaking advice, but you catch more flies with honey and all that.
For the rest of this Week 10 Cheat Sheet, I don't want to spend much time focusing on the marquee fantasy players across the league, and instead I want to focus on borderline players who are either at the end of your starting lineup, the end of your bench or near the top of a 12-team league's waiver wire.
Jamie Sabau/USA TODAY Sports
1. I'm Sorry, Wilson! I'm Sorry!
Although Raheem Mostert is the starter on paper, the Dolphins didn't trade for Jeff Wilson so he could ride the bench. And y'know, after touting Wilson a few times before the season and in the first couple weeks, I moved off Wilson in almost every league because I anticipated the return of Elijah Mitchell and then I assumed Christian McCaffrey would dominate the backfield. I wasn't precisely wrong, but sometimes talent prevails. The 49ers sent him to the Dolphins and there's definitely a second win in Wilson's sails.
Miami has a split backfield and we're looking for Wilson to outperform expectations again as he did in Week 9. In Week 10, Miami hosts Cleveland and my expectations are high. The Browns did well to slow down Joe Mixon in Week 8—and maybe that's why he was extra motivated last week. But in their previous three games before the Bengals, Cleveland allowed running backs to rush for 442 yards and six TDs with 23 receptions for 162 yards and another score. Gus Edwards, Rhamondre Stevenson and Austin Ekeler all scored two touchdowns in those games. I expect Wilson and Mostert to see a small uptick in opportunity, but let's not overstate the position: The Dolphins attack defenses with their two speedsters, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, first and foremost. We're just hoping for lots of efficiency and trips to the red zone to get Wilson into the end zone.
It's encouraging to me that Wilson jumped right in and saw 12 touches to Mostert's nine last week. We're expecting and hoping for that trend to continue. Wilson is tied for 27th in tackles avoided. He has 14 rushes for 10-plus yards (15th-most) and the third-best breakaway run percentage among running backs with at least 100 carries. As long as Tua Tagovailoa keeps him involved in the passing game, Wilson should keep a floor of at least 12 PPR points per game. And the extra cherry on top is that I predicted Wilson to be a waiver wire stash ahead of Week 1. And if you've been off the Wilson bandwagon all season, it's not too late to say you're sorry.
2. Week 10 Stick A Fork In 'Em
I'm starting a new recurring section. It’s a "safe to drop Player X,” but that's usually too easy. I'm going after players and teams here. I'm only going to target top 20 QBs, top 50 RBs, top 60 WRs and top 20 TEs.
RB Leonard Fournette, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Look, after a few weeks you were right to wait around for the Bucs offense to turn around. Now, over two months into the season, it's time to move on. It's been time. Last week's Stick A Fork In 'Em (SAFIE), Rams RB Darrell Henderson, wasn't all that bold. It was and will continue to be correct. But certainly not bold. This week, I think this SAFIE takes some guts. Over his last three games (9-19, 9-24-1, 8-19), Fournette has been about as effective as tripping forward at the line of scrimmage. He rushed for 127 yards in Week 1 and it's been downhill ever since. Yes, there have been bright spots (10 catches for 82 yards and a score in Week 5 and a three-game stretch from Weeks 4-6 with four total TDs). But he's been ice-cold since and the Bucs haven't been that much better. They've also opted to mix in Rachaad White and the rookie saw eight carries in Week 9, a season high. I don't know who's fault it is that the Bucs aren't any good. In last week's SAFIE, I lambasted Rams head coach Sean McVay and put it on him that Henderson et al. weren't playing well. With the Bucs, this feels like a team-wide failure although I suppose it all starts and ends with Tom Brady. Maybe he's been a little mopey because of all the personal crap going on with his life. He has a right to be but we need points! When a guy is your leader and he's not leading by example the way the team has come to expect, it's possible that everyone's mood is deflated. Like when E.T. got sick and the flowers started dying. I guess I'm saying Tom Brady is E.T. and the franchise is the flowers—this all makes sense in my head. The Bucs' flowers are wilting, bro. Gronk got it right and got out before everything fell apart.
4. Week 10 Friggin' Bums
Every week, I'll highlight eight players (two at each position) that I like who are rostered in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues. You can think of them as desperation plays or salary punts in DFS contests.
- QB Sam Ehlinger, IND (at LV)
- QB Kenny Pickett, PIT (vs. NO)
- RB Kenneth Gainwell, PHI (vs. WAS)
- RB Rachaad White, TB (vs. SEA)
- WR Parris Campbell, IND (vs. NO)
- WR Isaiah McKenzie, BUF (vs. MIN)
- TE Mike Gesicki, MIA (vs. CLE)
- TE Cade Otton, TB (vs. SEA)
5. Weekly SI Fantasy Must-Reads
Before setting your lineups, make sure you check out some of the world-class fantasy lowdown from our SI Fantasy analysts:
- Week 10 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: QB | RB | WR | TE | K/DST
- Week 10 Rankings
- Week 10 Projections
- Week 10 Defense vs. Position
- Week 10 Waiver Wire
- Week 10 Trade Targets
- Week 10 Dynasty Stock Watch
- Fantasy Fallout: Justin Fields Isn’t the Only Quarterback on the Run
- IDP Waiver Wire Report Week 10
- Top 10 Week 9 Fantasy Takeaways
- Early Week 10 Waiver Wire
6. FanNation Updates
Welcome to a new addition to the Cheat Sheet... Our friends at FanNation, who are closely tied with teams around the league, will be joining us with some late fantasy-related updates:
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns have ruled out both linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah with a knee injury and tight end David Njoku with a high ankle sprain. As a result, the Cleveland Browns passing game is likely to flow through receivers Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones who both had productive games against the Cincinnati Bengals without Njoku in the lineup. — Pete Smith | Browns Digest
Denver Broncos
The Broncos will be without wideout KJ Hamler, tight end Andrew Beck, and rush linebacker Baron Browning. Hamler and Browning’s absence will be noteworthy, as the former brings the deep-threat speed to the offense and the latter is Denver’s next-best pass rusher post-Bradley Chubb trade. Keep an eye on starting left tackle Cam Fleming, who is currently listed as questionable for Week 10 . — Chad Jensen | Mile High Huddle
Detroit Lions
The Lions have ruled out wide receiver Josh Reynolds ahead of the team’s Week 10 contest against the Chicago Bears. With the offense lacking a deep play threat, it may be time to consider the tight ends on Detroit’s roster for a flex position. James Mitchell earned his first career touchdown last week and could be in line for a big day against a depleted Bears defense. – John Maakaron | All Lions
Green Bay Packers
Running back Aaron Jones will start after missing the second half last week at Detroit. He’s topped 100 rushing yards in both games against the Cowboys, who have a suspect run defense.— Bill Huber | Packer Central: Jonathan Abram had right shoes to join Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars
With a weak Chiefs defense on the docket, the Jaguars are luckily set to have all of their offensive weapons on hand. Wide receiver Jamal Agnew wasn’t given a touch on offense last week but lost his injury status entirely this week, while tight end Evan Engram is on track to play after injuring his back last week. Engram was a consistent fixture in Jacksonville’s offense before last week’s injury, catching 19 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown in the previous four games.— John Shipley | Jaguar Report
Minnesota Vikings
Adam Thielen (ankle) is good to go after being limited on Wednesday, but he’s the fourth option on this offense behind Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook and T.J. Hockenson. If you start Thielen, you’re hoping for a red-zone touchdown. — Will Ragatz | Inside The Vikings
New York Giants
Believe it or not, there are seven other run defenses worse than the Giants’ 25th-ranked unit. One just so happens to belong to New York’s Week 10 opponent, the Houston Texans, who have allowed 180.6 rushing yards per game, dead last in the league. If you don’t think a post-bye week Saquon Barkley (shoulder), third in the NFL in rushing yards with 779, isn’t worthy of a start this week in your fantasy lineups, then we don’t know what else to tell you. . — Patricia Traina | Giants Country
Philadelphia Eagles
DeVonta Smith had a career day the last time the Eagles played Washington earlier in the season, with eight catches for 169 yards and a TD in a 24-8 victory -- Ed Cracz | Eagles Today
San Francisco 49ers
Arik Armstead (out) and Samson Ebukam (doubtful) each missed practice all week and will miss Sunday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Plus Javon Kinlaw remains on the Injured Reserve List at least for another week, which means the 49ers won’t have three of their four starting defensive linemen. This means Chargers running back Austin Ekeler should have a good game, and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert should remain upright. Unfortunately for him, he won’t have his two starting wide receivers – Keenan Allen and Mike Williams – so the 49ers pass defense should perform well. — Grant Cohn | All49ers
Tennessee Titans
Wide receiver Treylon Burks said he plans to play Sunday after four weeks on injured reserve with a turf toe issue. The first-round pick out of Arkansas caught 10 passes for 129 yards in three-plus games before he was injured. His return comes after Titans wide receivers had no receptions (five targets) in a loss to Kansas City . — David Boclair | All Titans
