Colts Fantasy Week 10: Who Starts at Titans?
The Indianapolis Colts have the distinction of kicking off the week of fantasy football as they travel to Nashville, Tenn., to take on AFC South Division rival Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football.
The Colts offense has been tough to figure out for fantasy owners, but they get a favorable matchup against a struggling Titans defense.
Passing game, rushing game, defense? Maybe all three? Here are the best starting Colts fantasy options for owners this week.
(Weekly positional rankings from FantasyPros.com, based on Half-PPR scoring. Ranks as of Thursday of game week.)
QB Philip Rivers
— Last game: 25-of-43 (58.1%), 227 yards, 1 TO = 7.0 FP
— Last three-game average: 25.7-of-40.0 (64.6%), 286.7 yards, 2.0 TD, 0.7 TO, 1.0 carries, -1.0 yards = 21.6 FP
— FantasyPros Week 10 Position Rank: QB24
— 2020 Titans vs. QBs: 22nd (20.9 FPPG)
Rivers has been so tough to predict, but he gets a favorable matchup this week.
Defensively, the Titans rank in the bottom half of the league in pass completion percentage allowed (20th, 67%), pass defense (27th, 275 YPG), passing touchdowns allowed (tied-28th, 19), and sacks (tied-29th, 10).
Seven of the eight opposing quarterbacks have had at least 250 passing yards against Tennessee’s defense (one had 249), all eight have had at least one TD, and all but one had multiple TDs.
In the two games prior to Sunday’s home loss to Baltimore, Rivers threw for three TDs each and averaged 28.9 fantasy points.
WR Zach Pascal
— Last game: 5 catches (6 targets), 55 yards = 8.0 FP
— Last three-game average: 4.0 catches (6.3 targets), 51.0 yards, 1 total TD = 9.1 FP
— FantasyPros Week 10 Position Rank: WR59
— 2020 Titans vs. WRs: 27th (28.3 FPPG)
Call me “Kenny Rogers,” ‘cause I’m goin’ gamblin’ on this one.
This is T.Y. Hilton’s receiver group, but it hasn’t stopped Pascal from being a consistent contributor. He leads the Colts in targets (40) and receiving yards (297), is second in receptions (24), and tied for second in receiving TDs (two). Since Week 4, Pascal has been targeted at least six times in all but one game, and he’s been targeted more than any other Colts since their bye week.
Hilton’s biggest value this year has been the attention he occupies from the defense and subsequently draws away from his fellow receivers. That could continue to be to Pascal’s benefit on Thursday night. Eight opposing receivers have reached at least 75 receiving yards against Tennessee, and 13 have had at least 10.0 fantasy points.
Colts Defense/Special Teams
— Last game: 266 yards allowed, 24 points allowed, 2 sacks, 1 takeaway
— Last three-game average: 330.0 yards allowed, 24.0 points allowed, 3.0 sacks, 1.3 takeaways, 1 total D/ST TDs
— FantasyPros Week 10 Position Rank: DST13
— 2020 Titans vs. DST: T-2nd (1.6 FPPG)
The Titans have a quality offense and are very balanced, but the Colts defense hasn’t had a bad day yet from a fantasy perspective. The Colts rank first in total defense (290 YPG) and opponent passer rating (78.5), and third against the pass (206.4 YPG), rush (83.6 YPG), and points allowed (20 PPG).
The Colts defense also has the most safeties (two), is tied for the most defensive/special teams TDs (four), is tied for the most interceptions (11), tied for the second-fewest TD passes (10) and runs (six) allowed, and is tied for 12th in sacks (20).
Boom or Bust
The “Boom” players are outside of the top 10 at their position in FantasyPros’ Week 10 rankings, yet have high upside this week. The ”Bust” players are inside the top 15 at their position, but could fall short of expectations.
Boom
— Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (QB15) vs. Los Angeles Chargers
— Kareem Hunt, Cleveland Browns (RB12) vs. Houston Texans
— Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams (WR12) vs. Seattle Seahawks
Bust
— Mike Davis, Carolina Panthers (RB11) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
— A.J. Brown, Tennessee Titans (WR11) vs. Indianapolis Colts
— Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings (WR13) @ Chicago Bears
Who I’m Adding This Week
Here are some players worth acquiring from the waiver wire. They are owned in 40% or less of Yahoo! leagues.
— WR Jakobi Meyers, New England Patriots (39%)
— RB Nyheim Hines, Indianapolis Colts (37%)
— WR Jalen Reagor, Philadelphia Eagles (26%)
— WR Dez Bryant, Baltimore Ravens (18%)
— WR Denzel Mims, New York Jets (5%)
Looking for a podcast? Check out the Bleav in Colts Podcast on the Bleav Podcast Network.
(Jake Arthur has covered the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts for nearly a decade and is a contributor for the team's official website, Colts.com. He’s on Twitter and Facebook @JakeArthurNFL, and his email is jakearthur0890@yahoo.com.)
