After an explosive Thursday night matchup between the Bengals and Ravens, Week 10 was relatively quiet from a fantasy-scoring standpoint. Even so, there are some performances and role changes to take note of. Let’s jump right in.
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Dynasty Fantasy Football Risers & Fallers
Dynasty Fantasy Football Risers
There was an expectation Sean Payton wanted to get rookie fifth-round pick Audric Estime going sooner rather than later. An early-season ankle injury put those plans on hold, but after working in sparingly over the past few weeks, things took a turn on Sunday. Estime carried the ball 14 times compared to just once for Javonte Williams and two for Jaleel McLaughlin.
The rookie gained 53 yards for an average of just 3.8 yards per carry, but he picked up some tough yardage, including a few short gains as the Broncos attempted to milk the clock before attempting a would-be game-winning field goal.
The bruising back also saw a 17-yard run called back for holding and required multiple defenders to bring him down. We’ve seen strong weeks from Williams, McLaughlin, and Tyler Badie, while Marvin Mims even saw a few carries out of the backfield this week, so we can’t be sure how things will look moving forward, but this feels like a potential turning point for Estime.
Step one: Secure the bag.
Step two: Post career highs in Germany.
After inking a four-year extension that only he and his agent could have seen coming, Chuba Hubbard treated himself to a career day with 28 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown, adding in four grabs for 16 yards. The contract alone gave Hubbard’s stock a boost but the 24.9 fantasy points shattered his ceiling.
Hubbard has now topped 20 points in back-to-back weeks and four times this season while sitting as the RB5 overall and RB14 in points per game (PPG). Jonathon Brooks will return soon and undoubtedly put a dent in Hubbard’s upside, but the Panthers have plans for him.
With Michael Pittman sidelined, Adonai Mitchell caught all six of his targets for 71 yards, the best output of his season. His 71 yards took a backseat to both Josh Downs and Alec Pierce, but Mitchell played the X-receiver role while Pierce slid into Pittman’s normal role.
Mitchell has played all over the formation this season, even running out of the slot when Downs missed time. This may be noteworthy, or it may not, but we know the talent is there with Mitchell. With a strong showing, there’s a chance he will keep this role going forward, especially if Pittman misses more time and Mitchell continues to take advantage. Either way, it’s good to see the young playmaker getting going.
Despite the struggles of Kirk Cousins, Darnell Mooney continues to eat in the Falcons’ revamped offense. On Sunday, Mooney caught five passes for 96 yards and 14.6 fantasy points, marking the sixth time this season he has cleared double-digit points.
Over the last three weeks, Mooney is averaging over 19 yards per catch and 17.6 fantasy PPG. He’s up to WR7 on the season and WR19 in PPG. He will continue to be a reliable fantasy start sit WR2/WR3 option as long as Cousins is behind center.
It’s been an incredible journey for Ricky Pearsall, who suffered a gunshot wound before playing a down in the NFL. After a relatively quiet first two games and a bye week, Pearsall notched 73 yards and his first career touchdown on four grabs.
With Brandon Aiyuk out for the season, the 49ers have shuffled the deck with Jauan Jennings playing outside and Pearsall getting more time in the slot. San Francisco still boasts a strong arsenal of weapons on offense, especially with the return of Christian McCaffrey, but Aiyuk’s injury opens more targets, regardless. Pearsall has an opportunity to be a major factor down the stretch.
It’s not exactly groundbreaking news to state that Bijan Robinson is an elite dynasty asset, but he wasn’t exactly performing as one through the first five weeks of the season. Although he was reliably averaging 13.5 PPG, we hadn’t seen any explosive outings that would swing a matchup. Over the last five weeks, however, Robinson has topped 20 points in all five games, averaging 24.7 fantasy points.
He torched the Saints’ defense on Sunday with 116 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, while chipping in 28 receiving yards on three catches, good for 29.4 fantasy points. The only downside is that Tyler Allgeier continues to eat into Robinson’s workload, recording 11 carries on Sunday, but Robinson is commanding enough work to remain elite.
Courtland Sutton has made a living as a viable fantasy start sit Flex play, but he’s often gotten a raw deal in Denver. He was trending towards being a high-end wide receiver with 1,112 yards in his second season before tearing his ACL and MCL in 2020. Since then, Sutton has been saddled with pedestrian passers, at best, as he worked to regain his form.
It feels like things are falling into place for Sutton. While it may be too little too late to change his career arc, he has re-established his fantasy relevance. He snagged six of his nine targets from Bo Nix at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, turning them into 70 yards, a touchdown and 19 fantasy points.
He snapped a two-game streak of 100+ yards, but Sutton is averaging 97.3 yards over his last three outings, along with 19.8 fantasy points while accumulating 30 targets in that timespan. Nix has answered a lot of questions this season and is bringing Sutton along with him. Broncos Country, let’s ride.
Is Calvin Ridley a stud? Is he washed? Is he somewhere in between? Was he ever that good? I’m not going to pretend I know the answers to all these questions, but ever since Ridley called out the Titans’ organization for his lack of involvement, things have shifted.
Ridley posted 84 yards and two scores for 25.4 fantasy points in Week 10, his best outing of the season. It’s his third game registering over 20 points, two of which have come in the last three weeks. He’s seen at least eight targets in each of his last five games and is the undisputed No. 1 WR with DeAndre Hopkins now residing in Kansas City. He may be inconsistent with some spike weeks and some down weeks, but his outlook is much brighter than it was a month ago.
Dynasty Fantasy Football Fallers
After Audric Estime landed on the risers list, it should come as no surprise to see Javonte Williams on the fallers list. Not mentioned there, however, is the fact Williams was the fourth player to take a handoff out of the backfield on Sunday. Jaleel McLaughlin drew the start and Williams rotated in next but did not receive a carry.
Estime and Marvin Mims both got work on the ground before Williams touched the ball. The Broncos highly value his pass protection and receiving abilities, so he will continue to see passing snaps, but with just one carry this week, Williams’ opportunities to take over the backfield may be in the rearview mirror. He will be a free agent after the season, but the running back market is impossible to predict these days.
Aaron Rodgers (QB – NYJ) & Davante Adams (WR – NYJ)
Is there anything more difficult than being a fan of the New York Jets? The Aaron Rodgers experiment appears to have been a massive failure, and it doesn’t seem there are any former friends left to bring aboard.
At least Davante Adams jumped on the sinking ship in time to pull Garrett Wilson under with him. Adams was targeted 13 times on Sunday, more than doubling Wilson’s total, resulting in six catches for 31 yards. Rodgers threw for 151 yards and delivered a blowout loss to the Cardinals. There’s not much left to do here but play out the string and move on.
Antonio Gibson was playing serious snaps earlier this season and even drew a start over Rhamondre Stevenson. Long gone are those days, as Gibson appears to have lost the No. 2 RB job to JaMychal Hasty. Following one carry for -1 yard in week 9, Gibson delivered five carries for 26 yards, his highest total since Week 5. His seven snaps were the fewest he’s played in a game this season. All the many believers in Gibson’s long-standing sleeper status can officially put those dreams to rest.
The news that Diontae Johnson was relieved of his duties with the Carolina Panthers should come with a sigh of relief. While he joins a terrific offense in the Baltimore Ravens, it’s unlikely Johnson will see the volume necessary for his separation skills to pay off. He only played five snaps on Thursday, so we can’t knock his six-yard performance.
Rashod Bateman has stepped up as the No. 2 WR in the offense to go with Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and the rushing prowess of Derrick Henry. Johnson has time to become a weapon in this offense and he will be a free agent after the year, but it’s difficult to see his value reaching anywhere near his peak in Pittsburgh again.
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