Fantasy Football Week 10: Flex Plays Belong to RBs and Opponents Show Why
Among the top 10 fantasy football flex spots for Week 10, running backs have taken six positions. Four of them get a defense that gives up more points to backs than most of the league, and the two receivers in the top four see heavy targets. That sums up the board to some extent, and the opponent is getting more focus than the playing position.
The ESPN flex board has 10 players, and the order follows the defenses they face.
Six Running Backs Fill the Top 10 Flex Spots
Kenneth Walker III of the Kansas City Chiefs leads with 26.13 points. Jahmyr Gibbs of the Detroit Lions is second at 23.86, Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals is third at 22.92, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seattle Seahawks is fourth at 22.30. Then come Christian McCaffrey, CeeDee Lamb, James Cook III, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Chuba Hubbard, and Kyren Williams, from 21.75 down to 18.64.
Six of the 10 are running backs. Four are receivers. ESPN grades four of the 10 as great, two as good, two as average, and two as poor. The grades are mainly based off of matchups, not the players.
Four Running Backs Get the Softest Defenses
Walker gets the Atlanta Falcons, tied for 29th in points allowed to backs. He has 872 rushing yards in eight games, second in the league, and 11 total touchdowns, tied with Gibbs for the most. ESPN projects 21 carries for 110 yards and a score. He scored three times in Week 9, a game that was covered in how the Chiefs are letting their biggest offensive asset down.
Hubbard gets the New Orleans Saints, who allow 28.6 points per game to backs, the most in the league. He has topped 20 touches in five of his last six games and caught 15 of 18 targets over his last three. ESPN projects 19 carries for 87 yards and a score.
McCaffrey gets the Dallas Cowboys, who allow 22.0 points per game to backs, the fourth most. He has scored in seven straight games and averages 4.5 yards per carry.
Cook gets the New York Jets, who give up the eighth-most points to backs. He carried 31 times in Week 9 and has scored in seven straight. ESPN projects 23 carries for 103 yards and a score.
St. Brown is the only receiver with a great grade. The New England Patriots rank 31st against receivers, and that is the whole reason.
The Two Receivers Who Beat the Trend
Chase is third at 22.92 on only an average grade. He has 73 targets, 53 catches, 647 yards, and seven scores in eight games. Last week, he caught 10 of 12 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown. He sees the ball too often to sit.
Smith-Njigba is fourth at 22.30 and leads this group with 99 targets, 71 catches, 1,036 yards and nine scores. Even in a quiet week, he drew 10 targets. The Las Vegas Raiders rank 26th against receivers at 23.6 points per game. The catch is at quarterback, where Seattle starts a backup again. If you have neither receiver on your team and need some help, the best Week 10 waiver wire receivers offers value.
The Injury List Sets the Order of Trust
Six of the 10 carry no injury tag. Walker, Gibbs, Chase, Lamb, Cook, and Williams are clean. Clean does not mean good. New England allows the fifth-fewest points to backs, and the San Francisco 49ers allow 211 passing yards per game with 11 passing scores, so Gibbs and Lamb both get poor grades.
Three sat out practice with no injury listed. Smith-Njigba, McCaffrey, and Hubbard look like they have rest days, and none carries a game status.
St. Brown is the real question. He is limited with a rib injury and carries a questionable tag, the same flag that ran through last week’s injury news on St. Brown and others.
Williams is the strangest name. The Arizona Cardinals are tied for 18th at 18.0 points per game to backs. His value comes from his own team. Puka Nacua is out for multiple weeks with a knee injury, so the Los Angeles Rams have to lean on the run.
Start the backs with soft defenses, take Chase and Smith-Njigba as the receivers worth the risk, and check St. Brown’s rib before you lock anything in.
The Last Word on Fantasy Football Week 10
Start the backs against the soft defenses. Walker, Hubbard, McCaffrey, and Cook all get teams that give up more points to backs than most of the league, and the projections already price that in. Chase and Smith-Njigba are the two receivers worth the risk. Check St. Brown’s rib before you lock anything in.
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