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.
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The Houston Astros have looked like one of baseball’s most dangerous teams in recent weeks, riding a hot streak fueled by dominant starting pitching and a red-hot offense that’s erupted for double-digit runs in four of their last eight games. But behind the current success, there are fair questions about whether this pace is truly sustainable as the grind of the season continues.
Yes, the Astros are winning — and winning big — but context matters. Many of their recent victories have come against struggling clubs like the White Sox and Athletics. Even matchups against the Twins and Guardians, while respectable, don’t exactly represent championship-caliber tests. That soft stretch of the schedule has certainly helped Houston pad its win column, but it may not be the best predictor of long-term performance. Houston will be tested in the upcoming series against the Phillies and Cubs.
On the pitching side, the numbers have been impressive, but how repeatable is it? With Lance McCullers Jr. sidelined for at least a couple of weeks, the Astros are relying on a patchwork rotation that includes unproven arms like Colton Gordon, Ryan Gusto, and Brandon Walter. While each has shown flashes, asking them to shoulder the load deep into the summer may be a tall order.
Offensively, Houston is firing on all cylinders. But scoring 10 or more runs every other game simply isn’t sustainable over a 162-game season. Regression is inevitable; the question is how the team responds when the bats cool down or the bullpen is asked to carry more weight.
Amid all this, rookie third baseman Cam Smith continues to shine. Just a few months into his major league career, Smith is producing at a level that suggests he’s not just a key piece of the future — he’s already one of the team’s most valuable players. His batting average sits just a point behind Jose Altuve’s, and his OPS is even higher. If the Astros were forced to choose two players to build around long-term, factoring in youth and contract status, the logical duo might be Smith and breakout pitcher Hunter Brown.
So what about the big picture? Is this team a true World Series contender?
Oddsmakers currently have Houston with the seventh-best odds to win it all, and only the Yankees and Tigers rank higher among American League teams. The core is still there, the experience is undeniable, and if the pitching continues to hold — especially with the anticipated return of Spencer Arrighetti and a healthy McCullers — the Astros have every reason to believe they’ll be in the mix deep into October.
But that’s a big “if.” The ceiling is still high, and with Cam Smith emerging as a star in real time, this team might just have another gear. Whether they can reach it when the competition stiffens, that remains to be seen.
There's so much more to cover! 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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