Matchups to target for Week 10 in fantasy football

Week 9 of the NFL and fantasy football season was so bizarre and frustrating that I am so ready to just move on. If you feel the same way, you’re in luck. Every Monday here at FTN Fantasy I’ll take an early look at some of the most favorable matchups in fantasy football for the week ahead. 

Let’s look ahead at Week 10.

Tampa Bay WRs vs. Washington Football Team

The Buccaneers were on bye in Week 9, but we sure could have used their firepower on offense. Seemingly every single week in NFL DFS, the winning lineup has a stack of this passing game, and there is a good chance that happens again this weekend. Fresh off the bye, Tampa Bay could have Antonio Brown, who missed the last two games, back from his ankle injury. He would get a good matchup if so, facing a bad Washington secondary that is coughing up the third-highest passing touchdown rate in the NFL through nine weeks of play (6.6%). Meanwhile, no team in football is coughing up more points per drive than Washington (2.78), while teams are scoring points on just over 49% of drives against this team. They are also allowing the second-most touchdowns to opposing receivers on the left side of the formation (0.6), though they have been even worse against receivers on the right side of the formation, coughing up the second-most yards (70.9) and third-most receptions per game (4.8). That bodes well for Brown and Mike Evans, who primarily line up on the perimeter for Tampa Bay. If Brown isn’t quite ready to return, Chris Godwin becomes a DFS building block. With Brown out of the lineup over the last two weeks, Godwin has hauled in 16-of-23 targets for 251 yards and a pair of scores.

Carson Wentz vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Carson Wentz is coming off an awesome outing Thursday night, completing 22-of-30 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns. Outside of the occasional head-scratching decision each week, Wentz has played pretty well this season. He’s top 12 in fantasy points per dropback, and although the Jacksonville defense is coming off the game of its life against Buffalo, I think that had more to do with the issues Buffalo has up front on the offensive line. The Colts’ offensive line, meanwhile, is back at full strength and has returned to a dominant unit. And prior to Sunday, the Jaguars had been an awful defense against the deep ball, which has been a huge part of Wentz’s game this season. 13% of his pass attempts have traveled 20 yards or more, while his five deep passing scores are tied for the second-most in football. Jacksonville, meanwhile, is surrendering 7.9 yards per attempt, the second-worst mark in the league.

Rams RBs vs. San Francisco 49ers

With the game getting out of hand Sunday night, Darrell Henderson only saw 11 carries against the Titans. He was productive, totaling 55 yards on those totes but ultimately, it was a down game. Still, outside of some garbage time, Henderson still dominated the snaps over Sony Michel. Henderson did leave for a moment with an ankle injury but returned to the game shortly after. Assuming Henderson is good for Week 10, he should remain an outstanding play against a struggling 49ers run defense that just allowed three touchdowns to James Conner on Sunday. They are now coughing up 1.5 rushing scores per game, the third-most in football, while 50% of the touchdowns scored against them have come via the run, the second-highest mark in the league. 

Broncos TEs vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Noah Fant didn’t play Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19 during the week. In his absence, Albert Okwuegbunam got the start, and although he left with a knee injury, he still logged just over 80% of the offensive snaps. Whoever is the starting tight end for the Broncos this week is in a great spot, facing an Eagles defense that just allowed both of Los Angeles’ backup tight ends to find the end zone against them last week. Since Week 3, Philadelphia has allowed nine touchdowns to the tight end position and are now bottom three in fantasy points per game allowed to the position. 

Marvin Jones vs. Indianapolis Colts

Marvin Jones and the Jacksonville passing game have been awful for most of the season, but I am still interested in giving Jones a look this week. Yes, Dan Arnold and Jamal Agnew have taken a ton of targets lately, but Jones has a great opportunity this week. He faces a struggling Colts secondary that is allowing seventh-most fantasy points per game to opposing wideouts. For the season, a whopping 88.4% of the touchdowns scored against Indianapolis this season have come through the air, easily the highest rate in the NFL. They have also really struggled to defend opposing top wide receivers, making this a very nice get-right spot for Jones and potentially even Trevor Lawrence, just as long as his ankle is OK.