The Yahoo team delivers their most steadfast fantasy football predictions for Week 10.
Deebo Samuel Sr. reminds us of his WR1 upside
Samuel Sr.’s production has been inconsistent and underwhelming, with an unreliable target share and recurring injury issues, but Week 10 is the perfect bounce back opportunity. Coming off the bye week, Samuel faces a Buccaneers defense that’s the fantasy equivalent of leaving a kid alone in a candy shop. The Bucs have allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing receivers and have been feasted on all year.
This matchup features one of the highest point totals of the week and with the return of Christian McCaffrey, expect the entire 49ers offense to benefit from volume. Strong usage of Samuel and high-upside opportunities could finally give fantasy managers the WR1 upside that was lacking in the first half of the season. — Tera Roberts
D’Andre Swift is a must-start
D’Andre Swift has been fantasy’s RB8 since Week 3 despite Caleb Williams’ struggles. The rookie QB has played far better at home this season, where the Bears are nearly touchdown favorites Sunday. Swift has averaged 108.6 yards from scrimmage and nearly a TD per game during wins this season, and game script should be positive this week.
The Patriots have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to running backs this year, and RBs have averaged 143.5 rushing yards against New England over the last four games. Swift finishes as a top-five fantasy back this week. — Dalton Del Don
George Kittle returns to the top five
You probably didn’t need anyone to nudge you toward starting Kittle this week, so I’m just here to make you feel even better about the decision. Kittle is about to face the same squishy Bucs zone coverage that enabled Travis Kelce to catch 14 passes on Monday night.
Overall, Tampa Bay has allowed the third-most passing yards per game on the season (255.9) and the third-most receiving touchdowns (18). Not surprisingly, they have been particularly generous to opposing tight ends, giving up the second-most receiving yards to the position (627) and the third-most fantasy points. Kittle is a near-lock to deliver another top-five positional finish, likely with his seventh score of the season. — Andy Behrens
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Ladd McConkey = the Chargers WR to start
The Chargers have continued their pass-heavy ways in recent weeks. Since returning from their Week 5 bye, Los Angeles ranks second in neutral pass rate, a far cry from what many feared this offense would be coming into the season. Justin Herbert has registered 18 deep attempts in that same span, a top mark among quarterbacks.
While guys like Josh Palmer and Quentin Johnston got into the end zone last week, make no mistake: Ladd McConkey is the top receiver on this team. The volume data and film both assert his fact. This week, the Chargers get a matchup with a Titans defense that is overall a strong unit, but teams have been more likely to throw against than run on them. — Matt Harmon
Give Jonnu Smith his flowers
Miami’s offense has a bunch of big names, a bunch of star power. I’m not here to promote those guys, but instead an under-appreciated player. Over the last four weeks, guess who leads the Dolphins in both targets (27) and receptions (21)? That would be tight end Jonnu Smith. Now only one of those four games really materialized into a fantasy-worthy outing, but this week Smith gets a Rams defense that’s been the sixth-easiest unit for tight ends to score against.
I know we’re all screaming for Tyreek Hill to get going or De’Von Achane to keep working his magic. But make some Monday night room for the emerging Smith, a common hot read for Miami. — Scott Pianowski
Fire up Tyrone Tracy Jr.
Tracy Jr. is set up for a big bounce-back week. In Week 9, Tracy earned just 69 scoreless yards on 17 touches. But the key takeaway from this game was Tracy’s role because it remained strong. He played 69% of the Giants snaps, his most in a game with Devin Singletary active this year. This led to Tracy earning 17 touches compared to just seven for Singletary.
Over the past two games, with Singletary back and healthy, Tracy has played 64% of the snaps and earned 40 opportunities. Singletary has seen just 12 opportunities during this stretch. This week, Tracy will take on the Panthers who allow the most rushing yards per game. Carolina allowed 215 total yards to Alvin Kamara last week. Tracy is a must start in this matchup, there’s a good chance he tops 100 total yards this week. — Sal Vetri