Yahoo DFS Football: Week 10 Picks

Yahoo DFS Football: Week 10 Picks

This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Football series.

The Sunday-only NFL main slate for Week 10 features 12 games, excluding the Broncos, Ravens, Texans and Vikings (bye), Panthers-Steelers (Thursday Night Football), and Giants-49ers (Monday Night Football). That's a lot of fantasy star power being taken off the table, but there are still plenty of options ready to pop in Sunday's games, including a pair of quarterbacks who dealt with injury issues earlier this season and two skill position guys that benefited from their teams' respective changes at offensive coordinator.

TOURNAMENTS (GPP – GUARANTEED PRIZE POOL)

QB: Marcus Mariota, TEN vs. NE ($22): Mariota probably won't finish among the few highest scoring quarterbacks this week, but he doesn't have to in order to provide value at this price. A better than average result is certainly on the table, however, given Mariota's rushing ability and the opposition. The Patriots not only allowed the seventh-most passing yards per game (274.2), but their 203 rushing yards allowed to the quarterback position are just four behind the league high shared by the Giants and Jaguars. Mariota's averaging over 30 rushing yards per game and his passing numbers have been trending up now that he's recovered from the elbow injury that bothered him earlier this season, so there's a nice buy-low opportunity here.

RB: Ezekiel Elliott, DAL at PHI ($25): On its face, using a running back against the league's second-best run defense (83.8 rushing yards per game) doesn't make much sense. Elliott's not just any running back, though, and the rare opportunity to get him for just $25 shouldn't be ignored just because he's facing a tough opponent. With over 80 scrimmage yards in all but one game this season and at least 17 touches in every game, Elliott has a higher floor than pretty much everyone in this price range. Given his ability to break off big runs, growing role as a receiver out of the backfield and heavy usage near the goal line, Elliott's ceiling isn't too shabby, either.

WR: Maurice Harris, WAS at TB ($14): Harris stepped up last week with 10 catches for 124 yards, and he should be similarly involved in Week 10 as Washington's de facto No. 1 wide receiver now that Paul Richardson needs season-ending shoulder surgery and Jamison Crowder's primed to miss a fifth consecutive contest due to his ankle injury. Tampa Bay's pass defense is third worst in the league with 307.1 passing yards allowed per game, and someone has to catch passes on the outside. After last week, Harris seems like the better choice over disappointing 2016 first-rounder Josh Doctson.

Other Against-the-Grainers

QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick (TB, $33); Josh Rosen (ARI, $22)
RB: Mike Davis (SEA, $16); Aaron Jones (GB, $19); Marlon Mack (IND, $25)
WR: Mike Evans (TB, $31); Corey Davis (TEN, $15); Doug Baldwin (SEA, $19)
TE: Vernon Davis (WAS, $12); Ben Watson (NO, $17)
DST: Buffalo Bills ($13); Green Bay Packers ($16)

CASH GAMES (H2H, 50/50s and DOUBLE UPS)

Quarterback

Carson Wentz, PHI vs. DAL ($31)

After an understandably shaky outing in his season debut, Wentz has returned to pre-injury form over his past five appearances, posting a 12:1 TD:INT while topping 300 passing yard three times and never dipping below 278. He's coming out of his bye week to host a Dallas team that's 0-4 on the road, and the Cowboys are also on a short week after just allowing two passing scores and a rushing score to Mariota in a loss on Monday Night Football.

Running Back

Duke Johnson, CLE vs. ATL ($17)

After flashing tremendous explosiveness in previous seasons, Johnson had been criminally underused by the old regime in Cleveland to begin the 2018 campaign. That trend reversed course last week, as promoted running backs coach Freddie Kitchens used his new position as offensive coordinator to put Johnson to good use, leading him to nine catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns out of the backfield. Atlanta has allowed league highs in catches (76) and receiving yards (658) to running backs this season, putting Johnson in position for an encore performance after last week's breakout.

Tevin Coleman, ATL at CLE ($21)

While Ito Smith remains involved in Atlanta's backfield, Coleman is getting the majority of touches in a split reminiscent to the one Devonta Freeman -- who's on IR with a knee injury -- and Coleman used to have in seasons past. Coleman's 13 carries and five catches last week resulted in 156 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns, and an even stronger performance could be on the horizon against a Browns defense that's given up a league-high 12 rushing touchdowns to the running back position while surrendering 138.9 yards per game on the ground.

Wide Receiver

Michael Thomas, NO at CIN ($39)

Thomas costs a pretty penny coming off a game in which he posted the NFL's highest receiving yardage total of the season with 211, but he should be worth it in this juicy matchup. While expecting him to top 200 yards again is optimistic, getting back over 100 shouldn't be a problem since the talented wide receiver averages 110. No defense has been worse against the pass than Cincinnati's, as the Bengals are surrendering a league-high 319.4 passing yards per game.

Tyler Boyd, CIN vs. NO ($30)

Boyd's already in the midst of a fantastic season, and his production should improve further with target hog A.J. Green expected to sit out due to a toe injury. The Bengals will have to pass early and often to keep up with the Saints' high-powered aerial attack, but luckily New Orleans' pass defense hasn't been much better than Cincinnati's, ranking 31st with 311.4 yards allowed per game through the air. With four performances over 18.0 fantasy points and another with 15.5 over his first eight games, Boyd's proven capable of capitalizing on favorable matchups this season.

Larry Fitzgerald, ARI at KC ($19)

Maybe the offensive coordinator was the problem all along in Arizona. An offense that looked inept under Mike McCoy for the first seven weeks found life with the guidance of new offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich in Week 8, and Fitzgerald led the charge with eight catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. With an extra week to prepare for the Chiefs after a Week 9 bye, Arizona's passing game should see plenty of volume after the Cardinals inevitably fall behind Kansas City's high-flying attack. Even if he doesn't stretch his touchdown streak to three games with a meaningful score, Fitzgerald will have a great chance to do so in garbage time.

Tight End

Jimmy Graham, GB vs. MIA ($18)

Even with last week's touchdown against New England, Graham's been strangely quiet in the red zone. After posting double-digit touchdowns for the fourth time in his career last season, the veteran tight end has just two scores at the halfway point in 2018. A second-half surge in that category should be expected with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers getting healthier, and a Dolphins team that's given up five touchdowns to tight ends -- one off the league lead -- will have a hard time keeping Graham out of the end zone.

Defense/Special Teams

Los Angeles Chargers, LAC at OAK ($15)

Oakland was held to a measly three points for the second time in three games by the 49ers of all teams last week. The Raiders also get sacked (25) and intercepted (eight) at rates putting them among the league's bottom 10. With Derwin James firmly in the running for Defensive Rookie of the Year at safety and pass rusher Joey Bosa inching closer to a return from his foot injury, the Chargers have more than enough talented pieces on this defense to stifle the Marshawn Lynch-less and Amari Cooper-less Raiders.

Honorable Mentions

QB: Tom Brady (NE, $34); Russell Wilson (SEA, $30)
RB: Melvin Gordon (LAC, $35); Kareem Hunt (KC, $34); Isaiah Crowell (NYJ, $16)
WR: Cooper Kupp (LAR, $25); Julio Jones (ATL, $33); Josh Gordon (NE, $21)
TE: Zach Ertz (PHI, $27); David Njoku (CLE, $14)
DST: New York Jets ($22); Chicago Bears ($20)

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Sasha Yodashkin plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: Youngsash, DraftKings: Yashdogg,Yahoo: Sasha, Fanball: Yashdogg.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sasha Yodashkin
Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.
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