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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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.