Before we get into my early Week 10 FanDuel lineup for 50/50s, Double-Ups and Head-to-Head games, let’s look back at last week.
We had six NFL teams on byes, including the Cardinals, Ravens, Lions, Texans, Chiefs and Seahawks, which means a lot to FanDuel owners this week.
In Week 10, we’ll be without just four teams, including the Falcons, Colts, Chargers and 49ers. So let’s take a much closer look at the level of talent at each position that’s returning from rest, and those that are not available in FanDuel lineups this week.
While we lose Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers and Andrew Luck this week, we get back Carson Palmer, Russell Wilson and Matthew Stafford. The running backs take a little hit, losing Devonta Freeman to a bye, but we get back Chris Johnson and Marshawn Lynch.
The wide receivers position gets a lot of top-heavy talent back, with Larry Fitzgerald, DeAndre Hopkins and Calvin Johnson returning. But they’re also losing Julio Jones and T.Y. Hilton.
The tight ends position adds two top seven tight ends, with Travis Kelce and Jimmy Graham coming back, and Antonio Gates is the only one we’re really losing. He could use some time to heal, of course.
We’re also getting back four of the top 13 kickers, led by Steven Hauschka and Justin Tucker, while only losing Matt Bryant and Josh Lambo. Among the defenses, we’re getting the Cardinals and Seahawks back in Week 10, and we’re only losing the Falcons as a top-12 defense.
The real shame is that offenses won’t have the Colts, Chargers and 49ers to pile points onto in Week 10.
Early Week 10 FanDuel Lineup
Again, this is an early lineup for cash games, and not for GPP tournaments, which needs a little more risk-taking in player selection.
Tom Brady, QB, New England at N.Y. Giants — $9,100: Not a lot of great matchups there for middle priced quarterbacks. Pretty much all of the really bad pass defenses are facing sketchy quarterbacks that cost too much anyway this week, like Kirk Cousins (vs. NO), Blake Bortles (at BAL), Brandon Weeden (at TB), Teddy Bridgewater (at OAK) and Landry Jones (vs. CLE). And you have to think Brady’s going to go off against the last team that killed their late-season undefeated hopes.
DeMarco Murray, RB, Philadelphia vs. Miami — $7,700: Murray is healthy, and he’s coming off his best game of the season, and he’ll face a Dolphins team that allowed 222 rushing yards and three touchdowns to Bills running backs in Week 10.
Doug Martin, RB, Tampa Bay vs. Dallas — $6,700: The Buccaneers offensive line isn’t quite the trainwreck it has been, and the Cowboys are allowing an NFL-high 23.50 Fantasy points to running backs this season.
Allen Robinson, WR, Jacksonville at Baltimore — $7,500: The Ravens’ pass defense is still so shaky, and they’ve allowed seven touchdown catches to wide receivers in their past three games.
Jarvis Landry, WR, Miami at Philadelphia – $7,000: Brandon Weeden’s wide receivers torched the Eagles for 251 yards and three touchdowns in Week 9. They have allowed the third-most Fantasy points to wide receivers this season. If I can’t load up on superstar WRs, I’ll grab high-volume players like Landry and Robinson.
James Jones, WR, Green Bay vs. Detroit — $5,700: While Jones hasn’t done much in a couple weeks, the Lions are weak against WRs, and they’re allowing the most points per game in the NFL.
Greg Olsen, TE, Carolina at Tennessee — $6,300: I’m not a huge fan of stacking in cash games, so I’m staying away from coupling Brady and Gronk here. But Olsen is $1,700 cheaper, and the Panthers face a Titans defense that has given up two touchdowns to tight ends in three different games this year, including Week 9 against New Orleans.
Stephen Gostkowski, K, New England — $5,100: I had money to spare, as this was my last position to fill, and I’ll take a top kicker that rarely misses on a stud offense. The only game this season in which he hasn’t kicked two or more field goals was the season opener against the Steelers.
Carolina Panthers DST at Tennessee — $4,700: It’s time we start believing in this Panthers team. Marcus Mariota has certainly been impressive, but I’ll go with a Panthers defense that is somehow the 10th-most expensive DST this week. They have 16 sacks in their past four games.
Hopefully, you can gain some advantage in your lineups by getting a good idea of what I’d do with my early Week 10 FanDuel lineup!
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