Josh Gordon should be good for 100-yards and a TD this week. Photo via Patriots.com
Week 10 is already here and I’m back to give out more sleeper plays. My standard for a good fantasy game is around 100 total yards and/or a TD, and this is for PPR scoring. A game with a lot of catches helps too, obviously. Of course, the bar is a little lower for TEs.
I went 7-6 last week, and you can check out that article here. Week 9 wasn't great, so I'll try and improve on that this week. With the bye weeks upon us, I will continue to look for players that can help you, and are also widely available. These players are in no particular order.
QB
Baker Mayfield (CLE): The Falcons are allowing over 27FPTS/G to QBs over their last 4 games.
Marcus Mariota (TEN): The Patriots are giving up over 28FPTS/G to QBs over last 5 games, and he was good against Dallas in Week 9.
RB
Tevin Coleman (ATL): Coleman had a big game last week, and I like his chances to do it again. The Browns give up the most fantasy points to RBs over their last 5 games at almost 34FPTS/G.
Mark Ingram (NO): He’s been hard to trust with Kamara stealing all the goal line work as of late, but I like Ingram this week. The Bengals are giving up almost 33FPTS/G to RBs over their last 4. Fire up Ingram this week, he’s due.
Kenyan Drake (MIA): Drake has a terrific opportunity to put up some big numbers this week. He plays a Packers defense that’s giving up just under 30FPTS/G to RBs over their last 4. They should be playing from behind which should mean he sees a lot of work catching passes out of the backfield.
Leonard Fournette (JAX): He’s supposed to return this week, and boy do I need a big game from him. The matchup is tasty, so he just has to play a full game to come through. If he doesn’t have any setbacks this week at practice, start him.
WR
Amari Cooper (DAL): They’re forcing him the ball and there’s nothing scary about the matchup.
DeSean Jackson (TB): The Redskins are allowing over 48FPTS/G to WRs over their last 5 games, and I’m thinking Josh Norman will spend more time dealing with Mike Evans.
Calvin Ridley (ATL): This dude appears in my article almost every week, but that’s because he usually comes through. He was my player of the week in last week’s article and he made me look good, so I’ll give him another shot against the Browns defense.
Josh Gordon (NE): He's starting to get going, and the Titans can be exposed in the secondary.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling (GB): It's not the best matchup in the world, but he has been very good with limited opportunites.
TE
David Njoku (CLE): The Falcons are allowing 15FPTS/G to TEs over the last month, so he’s worth a shot.
Austin Hooper (ATL): The Browns aren’t very good at stopping TEs, so Hooper is a sneaky play with Cleveland allowing 30 catches to the TE position over their last 5 games.
What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's so much more to discuss! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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*ChatGPT assisted.
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