Fantasy Football Sleepers: Week 10

Fantasy Football Sleepers: Week 10 

Ryan Tannehill (QB)- If you’re an Aaron Rodgers owner that’s desperate to plug a body into your lineup, Tannehill might be the solution for you. The Dolphins are at home hosting a Tennessee Titans defense that has already surrendered an NFL-worst 20 touchdown passes this season. That dysfunctional Titans secondary has also allowed at least 21 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in it’s last five games, and at least two touchdown passes in every road contest this season. Miami is fighting for the playoffs and coming off of a disappointing loss, so this is an important game for them to re-establish their offense. Meanwhile Tennessee could be looking ahead to a Week 11 bye and some well-needed rest.

Joe Flacco (QB)- Anyone that saw what Doug Martin did to the Oakland defense last week would naturally assume that Ray Rice is in for a huge game on Sunday. That probably is the case, but no doubt the Raiders have spent all week concentrating on repairing their run defense. Meanwhile, selling-out to stop the run will provide some nice play-action opportunities downfield for Joe Flacco and the passing attack. The Ravens have also been off for 14 days and get to host a Raiders squad that always seems to struggle in 1:00 PM kickoffs in the Eastern time zone.

Shane Vereen (RB)- Only the Houston Texans running backs have scored more fantasy points this season than New England’s rushers. For Week 10, the Patriots get the added bonus of hosting fantasy football’s lowest ranked rush defense, the Buffalo Bills. Stevan Ridley is surely a must-start, but Vereen will be worked into the mix as well. Vereen has been getting a handful of touches per game recently and even got a goal line touchdown in New England’s last contest.  This game is expected to be a high-scoring affair, so Vereen could see a season-high number of touches if the Patriots keep the pedal to the metal.

Daniel Thomas (RB)- It looks like Miami has quietly evolved into a committee out of the backfield. While Reggie Bush starts, Daniel Thomas has been seeing a significant amount of playing time as a rusher and receiver. In Week 9, Thomas actually saw more snaps (33) than Bush (28). For Week 10, the Dolphins play host to Tennessee’s 30th ranked fantasy rush defense and the bigger, more rugged Thomas is far more likely to see goal line duty.

Marcel Reece and Taiwan Jones (RB)- There’s been a ton of speculation this week as to how the new-look Oakland backfield will play out. Reece is huge (255 lbs.) with a soft set of hands and looked like a versatile weapon out of the backfield, similar to Mike Tolbert. Jones showed big-play ability in college and blazing speed at the NFL Combine. On the season, both backs have a grand total of one carry each, so there’s little to go by. Meanwhile, the once dominant Ravens defense has slipped to 25th in the league in allowing fantasy points to running backs, so there’s certainly some fantasy production to be gained in this game. The best bet here seems to be going with Reece as a PPR option. Taiwan Jones is a high-risk roll of the dice who should see a few more carries.

Emmanuel Sanders (WR)-  This popular pre-season sleeper pick hasn’t done much since Todd Haley‘s offense seems to feature Heath Miller much more as a downfield outlet than their third wide-out. But for Week 10, it looks like Sanders will be promoted to the number two slot, in place of the injured Antonio Brown (ankle) who isn’t expected to play. The Steelers also will have the first look at a mediocre Kansas City secondary that just cut their starting cornerback and has allowed six touchdowns to wide receivers over their last three game.

Danario Alexander (WR)- A virtual unknown before last week, Alexander looked pretty good getting his first significant playing time this season. He caught all three of his targets for 61 yards and has earned more playing time going forward. Robert Meachem (hamstring) hasn’t done much and could be limited this week, so Alexander should get  some downfield looks against a Tampa Bay secondary currently ranked 30th in the NFL, surrendering 28.4 fantasy points-per-game to opposing wide receivers.

Greg Olsen (TE)- Like most of the Panthers, it’s been a disappointing season for Olsen, who is averaging only 49 yards per game, with a single touchdown. But this seems like the kind of game where he could get back on track. The Denver Broncos have allowed the third most fantasy points to tight ends this season. In fact, over the last three games, opposing tight ends have put up an average of  10.6 receptions for 88 yards, with three touchdowns.

Jody Smith has been the #1 rated fantasy football analyst for four consecutive weeks at fantasypros.com.  His weekly rankings are constantly being updated, so check them often and join him for his weekly Gridironexperts fantasy football live chat Sunday at 11 AM Eastern.

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