Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 10

The 2021 NFL season is already halfway over as we head into Week 10.  Benjamin (@FFRabbitDad) and Brendan (@obryanbren) are back with more players to take a look at when setting your fantasy football lineups. Check it all out here in our unique Start or Sit Faceoff, for this week with Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 10.

Benjamin: Another week, another chance to win. That’s what’s coming to you. Teddy Bridgewater performed well, again, as did Robert Woods. The Eagles’ backfield is a mess and no one can figure out who to target in Jacksonville. Oh, and Pat Freiermuth looks great catching all those lobs from Ben Roethlisberger. To put it simply, things were crazy this past week. Crazy can be good, however. Let’s get this Week 10 party started!

Brendan: Well, Week 9 was a bit crazy. In one of my lineups, if you were to tell me that James Conner would have scored that many points, I would have automatically assumed that I won that matchup. However, Week 9 had other plans and the combination of Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, Darren Waller, and Amari Cooper scored less than Conner’s output. Freaking crazy talk! I am very much looking forward to putting Week 9 behind us and hopefully,Week 10 comes back a little closer to normal.

Quarterbacks

Start: Teddy Bridgewater – Matt Ryan

Brendan: I think one of the quietest stories over the past few weeks, is the very serviceable performances from Bridgewater. He’s averaging over 200 yards passing with at least one touchdown and no interceptions. It’s not going to blow the doors off of anyone, but he’s been solid and producing serviceable fantasy numbers. He’s playing an Eagles defense that has been giving up quite a few yards to quarterbacks over the last few weeks. On the season they have been giving up only 18 points per game to opposing quarterbacks, but have blow-up games frequently. Bridgewater isn’t going to go off suddenly for 30+ points, but he’s going to provide you with solid numbers. If you need a solid starting quarterback this week, Bridgewater’s your guy.

Benjamin: Love the Bridgewater pick! His success from last week leads to my choice this week: Matt Ryan. Shocking the Saints with an upset victory, Ryan threw for two scores and 343 yards – his highest yardage total of the 2021 season – and even managed a rushing score. He did all this without his superstar wideout, Calvin Ridley. Spreading the ball around not only gives Ryan more options, but it doesn’t allow the defense to focus on one or two receiving options. The Dallas defense will have their hands full this week trying to figure out where the ball will go. They have the 4th highest D-PAC score in the NFL against fantasy quarterbacks. Ryan will make for a great streaming option in week 10.

Sit: Baker Mayfield – Carson Wentz

Brendan: Remarkably the decision to sit Baker shouldn’t be related to the trade of Odell Beckham Jr. This is purely a scheme and matchup-based decision. The Browns run the ball a ton, and they have shown recently that if their starting backs are out, they still will continue to run the ball. They also have a very difficult matchup this week with the Patriots’ defense. The Patriots are only giving up 14.13 points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season. I expect the Browns to continue to run the ball a ton, and Baker to find it very difficult to throw the ball on the Patriots this week. Avoid Baker this week and going forward in the future.

Benjamin: It was tough for me to choose a quarterback this week. So many of the middle and lower-tier guys have wonderful matchups, so I had to dig a little bit for this selection. In 2020, Wentz completed just 52.5 % of his passes and was sacked six times against the Ravens. Indianapolis isn’t playing Baltimore this week so why is that significant? Joe Cullen, the defensive line coach for Baltimore last season, is the defensive coordinator for Jacksonville this year. Cullen should have the same plan in place to hurry Wentz’s decision-making and, ultimately, keep him off his game. All of that, plus the touchdown-less day from Josh Allen last week, are the reasons I’d look elsewhere for a quarterback in Week 10.

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Running Backs

Start: Melvin Gordon – James Conner

Benjamin: There’s always going to be a share between Gordon and Javonte Williams. Last week, both runners were highly successful with Gordon’s touchdown giving him the edge in fantasy. The Denver running attack should feast again this week against the Eagles who had given up over 100 rushing yards to running backs in five straight games before their one-sided victory over Detroit in week eight. The Eagles also sport the 8th highest D-PAC score, allowing opposing running backs to score more than 28 fantasy points per game. You could go easily with either Denver runner this week, but the edge goes to Gordon, for me.

Brendan: What an outing for Conner last week. Edmonds went down and Conner took over that backfield for the Cardinals. He ended the game having 96 yards and two touchdowns rushing the ball and five receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown through the air. That’s about as productive as you can be for a running back. I do expect Eno Benjamin to pick up some of the work this week out of the backfield, but make no mistake, Conner will be the lead back in this explosive offense. 

Sit: Antonio Gibson – Elijah Mitchell

Brendan: Gibson has pure and simply been a disappointment this season. He was quite the offseason darling, and I fell for some of it as well. He’s been injured for quite a few weeks now, but his output has been horrible. In the last few weeks, he has not topped 60 yards rushing and has not scored a touchdown in three weeks. He also has a bad matchup this week going against the Bucs who are only giving up 22 points per game to opposing rushing attacks. I have seen in a few of my leagues, Gibson owners already starting to sit him, which is super painful judging on where you probably had to draft it. If you haven’t put him on your bench yet, this week will be the week.

Benjamin: Mitchell has seen a lot of ups and downs in his rookie campaign. He’s had three games of over 100 yards rushing but in his other three games, he failed to eclipse 45 yards rushing. Their Week 10 opponents, the Rams, haven’t allowed a running back to surpass 57 yards on the ground since week four. Over the last three weeks, the Rams are only allowing 3.15 YPC to running backs. The return of Jeff Wilson will affect his numbers, too. For now, I’m taking the wait-and-see approach to Mitchell in fantasy.

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Wide Receivers

Start: Hunter Renfrow – Jarvis Landry

Benjamin: Renfrow is the most experienced and reliable target for Derek Carr and the Raiders. He has seen eight or more targets in four of his last five games and he’s caught at least five balls in all but one game this season. With the departure of Henry Ruggs and the huge chance of a high-scoring affair with Kansas City, the target share for Renfrow looks to be locked in from here on out. There will be lots of opportunities for Renfrow this week and I’ll be starting him anywhere I can.

Brendan: I know I said earlier to bench Baker, but he will have to throw the ball and someone will have to catch the ball.  With OBJ no longer on the team, expect Landry to be Baker’s best friend. The Patriots, on the season, have been tough to opposing wide receivers, allowing 33.72 points pre-game to the opposing receiving corps. However, they have been giving up decent numbers over the last few weeks. Keenan Allen went 6-77-1 a few weeks back and the game before that, the Jets had a decent outing. I expect Landry to have a solid outing this week and have a top 15 level day.

Sit: Elijah Moore – D.J. Moore

Benjamin: The Jets’ rookie wideout had a stellar breakout performance last Thursday and we’re likely to see more of that in the future – just not the immediate future. A lot of that was a result of the 32 point lead the Colts manufactured by the late third quarter and while Buffalo usually doesn’t have trouble scoring points, it’s unlikely we see another early blowout. Plus, Buffalo, with the second toughest D-PAC Score against wide receivers, hasn’t surrendered a touchdown to the position since week five. I’m leaving Moore on the bench until next week.

Brendan: This Panthers’ offense started off on fire at the beginning of the year, then it looks like opposing defenses caught up to them and Sam Darnold. Moore has not scored a touchdown in five games and is averaging 55 yards per game. I do believe that is what you can refer to as being a “slump.” Now with Darnold being ruled out for Sunday, we’re looking at P.J. Walker as the starting quarterback. If you are thinking P.J. who? You aren’t the only one. Maybe the Panthers see a Mike White kind of performance out of P.J. and maybe P.J. to D.J. will be a recipe for something great, but I’m not buying it. Sit Moore this week if you can.

Tight Ends

Start: Dan Arnold – Noah Fant

Benjamin: Not only is Arnold a popular pick-up this week, he actually has flex consideration outside of tight end premium leagues. With 17 targets and 12 catches in the last two games, he has definitely taken a significant role in the Jacksonville passing attack. His matchup this week is wonderful, as he’ll be heading to Indianapolis. Last week, Tyler Kroft and Ryan Griffin combined for six catches, 66 receiving yards, and a score. Arnold is the man to start this week at tight end.

Brendan: The Eagles are one of the worst teams in the NFL against the tight end. They have the second-highest D-PAC score of 6.93 and allow nearly 19 points per game to opposing tight ends. You might need to watch his injury status going into the game, but he’s due for a big game against this Eagles defense. 

Sit: Zach Ertz – Dallas Goedert

Brendan: Ertz has been a pretty solid start since joining the Cardinals. He’s getting targets and finding the end zone. However, the Panthers are pretty solid against opposing tight ends with a D-PAC score of 4.23 and only allowing 11.37 points per game to opposing tight ends. With Murray’s status once again up in the air for this week’s game, I would be looking at other options at tight end.

Benjamin: The biggest knock on Goedert is simple: his quarterback. Jalen Hurts is a fine fantasy quarterback but he restricts all his options with his poor passing and propensity to run with the ball. With Zach Ertz gone, Goedert should be seeing targets left, right, and center. The Hurts experiment has been great for fantasy, but change could be coming. Until it does, I don’t think I can suggest to anyone that Goedert is a solid fantasy play.

Don’t forget to hit us up on Twitter with any of your lineup questions. You can find Benjamin @FFRabbitDad and Brendan @OBryanBren. You have a question, we will give you some guidance. After all, we want you to win!

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