Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em Week 10

Welcome to another edition of our weekly fantasy football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em. In this series, we’re here to help you set your lineups and put yourself in a position to win your fantasy football matchups each week. With nine weeks in the books, it’s time to take a look at Week 10 of the 2023 NFL and fantasy football season.

These players will be those “less-obvious” players that you’re on the fence about starting as your WR3 or Flex type of options. Nobody needs to tell you to start Patrick Mahomes or Christian McCaffrey.

Week 10 bye weeks: Chiefs, Dolphins, Eagles, and Rams

Week 10 Starts

Bryce Young QB – Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears

I know what you might be thinking, “…but Bryce Young has not been good lately!”, and I am right there with you. However, he has been a decent fantasy football producer in the right matchup. More importantly, this is in fact a great matchup against a Bears defense that is giving up over 20 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks and has a fourth-highest D-PAC Score of 6.31. In other words, they are consistently giving up a lot of points to quarterbacks.

Needless to say, the Bears’ defense has been giving up a ton of yards through the air and on the ground to opposing quarterbacks. Ultimately, I expect Young to have a big day.

Sam Howell QB – Washington Commanders @ Seattle Seahawks

If you’re looking for a sure-fire quarterback start in Week 10, this is the guy. In the past five weeks, Sam Howell has 10 passing touchdowns, three multi-score games, and three games with at least 325 passing yards and 302 passing yards per contest. Additionally, in four of those five games, he’s also thrown the ball at least 42 times so he’s getting lots of work.

This week, a date in Seattle is up next for Howell and the Commanders. The Seahawks have stalled backup quarterbacks in recent weeks, inflating their defensive acumen. Before their Week 5 bye, they were surrendering 305.25 passing yards per game and a completion rate of 68.5. This past week, they allowed 78.8% of passes to be completed. Finally, they’ve also got the 12-best D-PAC Score against the position, so I want Howell in my lineups this week.

Rhamondre Stevenson RB – New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts

Riding the Rhamondre Stevenson rollercoaster this season has been an interesting ride. He’s had stellar performances, like last week where he ripped off a 64-yard touchdown, or total stinkers like in week five when he had 8 touches for 24 yards (woof). However, I think this week he’s going to have another starter-worthy performance against a Colts defense giving up over 25 points per game to running backs this season. With a struggling offense, the Patriots need to fully lean into Stevenson and I believe they will do that this week.

Tyler Allgeier RB – Atlanta Falcons @ Arizona Cardinals

We all enjoy ragging on Arthur Smith and his questionable decision-making when it comes to playcalling. We’re not NFL coaches, but we’d like to think we could be. His actions, however, have kept Tyler Allgeier as a fantasy go-to for the majority of the season. Allgeier is averaging 14.2 carries across his last five games and has caught five of six passes in his last three outings.

Going up against the Cardinals this week, we know there are going to be a lot of chances to run the ball. Arizona has allowed 1158 rushing yards (third most), 12 rushing scores (fourth most), and 77 rushing first downs (most) this season. They’re also the third most profitable team against the position (8.75) based on our free fantasy football tool, the D-PAC Score.

With some of the heavy-hitting running backs on bye this week, Allgeier will produce a safe enough floor for fantasy. Unless Arthur Smith reads this, then all bets are off.

DeAndre Hopkins WR – Tennessee Titans @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Titans seem to be a team in transition with Will Levis being named the starter and it seemingly like Tayjee Spears getting more and more touches each week. Old man DeAndre Hopkins however, continues to be the primary target in the receiving game, being targeted 11 times last week. He didn’t put up the yards or the touchdowns, but can’t argue that target share. This week he is facing a Tampa Bay defense giving up over 43 points per game to wide receivers. Overall, with that target share and the number of points the Bucs are giving up, I’d be starting Hopkins this week.

Courtland Sutton WR – Denver Broncos @ Buffalo Bills

As the clear first passing option, Courtland Sutton leads the Broncos with 46 targets, 33 receptions, 380 receiving yards, and six touchdowns. He has also scored in five of his last six games. In a big prime-time game coming up, the Broncos should have extra confidence in Sutton. In night games, he catches 65.2% of his targets (56.5 in all other games) and averages 6.9 targets and 4.5 catches per game (6.3 and 3.6 in others) over his career.

Buffalo will next play host to Sutton and the Broncos and they haven’t been the scariest passing defense this year. They currently hold the third most profitable D-PAC score against wide receivers (14.16) this season and have allowed seven pass catchers with three or more receptions in the last five games to achieve at least 13 yards per catch. Against a team that could light up the scoreboard with 30+ points in any contest, Sutton and the Broncos will have to utilize the passing game to stay competitive in Week 10. Ultimately, in a pinch, you could probably even start Jerry Jeudy.

Week 10 Sits

Deshaun Watson QB – Cleveland Browns  @ Baltimore Ravens

Deshaun Watson had a solid performance last week coming back from injury. He completed 19 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. He was also able to put up 22 yards on the ground, which helped to pad some of those fantasy points. However, the Cleveland Browns have been a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when they play a home game versus away. They have been playing well at home, but not so much on the road. Not only that, Baltimore is playing like the best team in the league right now and only allowing a tick over 10 points per game to opposing quarterbacks and a league-low 2.27 D-PAC Score. It’s going to be a defensive slugfest in Baltimore this weekend and tough sledding for both offenses.

Derek Carr QB – New Orleans Saints @ Minnesota Vikings

The Saints have been playing quite well recently with back-to-back wins, five passing total touchdowns in those two games, and averaging 28.7 points per game across their last three. However, they’ve done that against three teams that all rank in the top 10 most fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks.

Minnesota has been steadily causing headaches for quarterbacks in the last few weeks. They haven’t allowed multiple passing touchdowns since Patrick Mahomes (2) in Week 5 and only five passing scores since Week 3.

In what is likely to be a low-scoring battle, there are very few pieces I would put my trust in for fantasy football. Carr is not one of them.

James Cook RB – Buffalo Bills vs. Denver Broncos

James Cook is much like this Buffalo Bills team, all the signs point to that they should be really good, but something in their performance is just lacking. For Cook specifically, that has mostly been an opportunity as some weeks he is just not part of the game plan like last week when he only saw six touches for 20 yards. This can be very frustrating for Cook managers, as when given the opportunity he has shown he can produce.

However, for whatever reason the Bills get away from the running game, and Cook’s involvement diminishes. Until the Bills show they can commit to getting Cook the ball, and have a better matchup against the run, I am putting Cook on the bench.

Baltimore Running Backs vs. Cleveland Browns

There are two glaring bullet points to this call. One is the unpredictability of the workload. Last week, Keaton Mitchell led the team with 138 rushing yards after having no carries all year before that. Justice Hill has the best production with 4.7 yards per carry in the last four games but he’s only been given double-digit carries twice all season. Gus Edwards leads the team in carries but he’s barely managing 4.1 yards per attempt and he usually needs a touchdown or two to be worth starting for fantasy football purposes. Additionally, you’ve got Lamar Jackson who could own the backfield any given week. All in all, there are too many parts to this running game for me to feel comfortable.

Furthermore, we have the Browns coming to town. They have the third-worst D-PAC Score against running backs (4.2) and are allowing 3.7 yards per carry (tied for fifth lowest). Personally, I’m staying away from these runners if I can. Edwards could be worthwhile, but only if he scores.

Jakobi Meyers WR – Las Vegas Raiders vs. New York Jets

The Jets have not had a ton going for them the last few weeks, but one thing you can give them is that their defense is strong against the passing game. The Raiders are facing the Jets this week and have a very unsettled quarterback situation. Last week they benched Jimmy Garoppolo in favor of Brian Hoyer, who promptly received an injury designation and rookie Aidan O’Connell got the starting nod. O’Connell was serviceable as a starting quarterback, who navigated a mistake-free outing and threw for 209 yards, but didn’t exactly light the world on fire. Playing the formidable Jets defense and with a rookie quarterback, I do not expect much of anything for the Raiders wide receivers, especially Jakobi Meyers. I would firmly plant him on your bench.

George Pickens WR – Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers

With Diontae Johnson not available, George Pickens was starting to look like the target hog we all wanted him to be. In those four games, he saw 8.25 targets, 21 yards per catch, and 89.25 receiving yards per game with two 100+ yards affairs. With a healthy Johnson, his numbers deflate to 6.25 targets, 12.6 yards per catch, and 41 yards per game.

This week’s matchup against Green Bay isn’t very promising. The Packers are fine, from a defensive standpoint. The real problem is that they aren’t forcing teams to have to push with the pass, averaging just 15 points in their previous four games. In turn, opposing offenses have averaged just 196.1 passing yards per game this season because they don’t need to pass the ball.

Many of us have been hoping for a sophomore breakout from Pickens, but it hasn’t happened and it likely won’t in this kind of situation. He’ll be on my fantasy bench until further notice.

Cole Kmet TE – Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers

Much like Dalton Schultz, Cole Kmet put up some really good numbers last week against the Saints, bringing in six receptions for 55 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a matchup-winning performance in this era of mediocre tight-end performances. However, this week he faces a defense in the Panthers that is much better against opposing tight ends, than the Saints’ defense. Giving up only 7 fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends, I would look at other options to start at tight end this week.

Chigoziem Okonkwo TE – Tennessee Titans @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There was a lot of buzz about Chigoziem Okonkwo going into the 2023 campaign with his athleticism and lack of receiving weapons in Tennessee. It hasn’t converted into the kind of fantasy production we were hoping for. He’s been consistent with 3.4 catches per game and at least three grabs in seven of the last eight games. He hasn’t scored or eclipsed 35 receiving yards in a game this season.

The Tampa Bay defense is not one you want to target for tight ends. Through their first five games, they allowed 6.3 yards per catch and zero touchdowns. Last week’s game where Dalton Schultz hauled in 10 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown was more a result of the 470 yards and five passing scores that were thrown around and should be considered a fluke. Don’t go chasing that stat line with Okonkwo this week.

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

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