Josh Jordan

Fantasy football under-the-radar plays — Week 10

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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Nick Caserio's history of drafting injury prone players has become a problem. Composite Getty Image.

Nick Caserio was hired to serve as the general manager (GM) of the Texans on January 7, 2021. Some saw it as another nod to the organization's obsession with the Patriots. Others saw it as the team finally getting their guy after pursuing him previously. They were even hit with a tampering charge while trying to talk to him about the job. Since he's been on the job, there have been highs and lows.

Recently, the news about Kenyon Green and Derek Stingley Jr put a stain on his tenure. Green was placed on season-ending injured reserve (IR) and Stingley Jr is expected to be placed on IR, likely missing six to eight weeks, per Aaron Wilson. Both guys were Caserio's 2022 first rounders. Both guys are starting to look like busts and have fans a little more than just upset.

Green's case was curious because he was said to have needed surgery before he tore his labrum during the Saints preseason game. He had knee surgery this past offseason. There were knee injury concerns when he was coming out of A&M. Adding to his injuries, Green has played poorly. To make matters worse, the Chargers drafted fellow guard Zion Johnson two picks later. Johnson played all 17 games last season as a rookie at right guard and has moved to left guard this season. The pick used to draft Green was part of a trade back with the Eagles. They used the 13th overall pick to take Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis, a guy at a position this team could desperately use.

Stingley Jr was a highly touted recruit coming into LSU as a freshman. He played as well as any corner in the country that year. Oh, and they won a national title with arguably one of the best teams in college football history. His net two years in Baton Rouge were marred with injuries. Some believed his junior year was more him holding back to stay healthy for the draft. It worked because he was taken third overall, one spot ahead of Sauce Gardner. Gardner went on to be an All Pro as a rookie. While he's surrounded by more talent on the Jets' defense, people will forever link them because Stingley Jr hasn't lived up to expectations. He missed six games last season and is set to miss at least that many this season. When he has played, he's looked okay. “Okay” isn't what you want from a guy drafted third overall ahead of the other guy who was widely considered better than him.

For the 2021 draft, Caserio was handcuffed. He had no first or second rounders, and made a few trades that lessened his draft pool from eight to five picks. Of the five guys drafted that year, only Nico Collins seems to be a player. The 2022 draft was more productive. Although Green and Stingley Jr were the headliners and haven't played up to the hype, the others are carrying the load. Jalen Pitre and Dameon PIerce alone make that draft class dope. This past draft was seen as the one to save the franchise so to speak. Getting C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr got the team a franchise quarterback and edge rusher with picks two and three overall. The price paid to move back up to three was hefty and puts more scrutiny on Anderson Jr. They appear, so far, to have also found a couple other nice players. Tank Dell being the hidden gem of this class.

While people can't, and shouldn't, base Caserio's performance strictly off of the guys he's drafted, one must call it into question. The '21 draft was a wash. The '22 draft looks suspect, but has some redeeming qualities. The '23 draft will most likely be his saving grace. But should it? Former Texans GM Rick Smith nailed almost every first rounder he drafted. Even he was almost run out of town because folks didn't like what he did. Why should Caserio be any different? So what if he cleaned up the mess by the previous regime! That's what he was hired to do!

“Keep that same energy!” That phrase is used when people try to hold others to different standards. Where's that energy everyone had for Bill O'Brien, Jack Easterby, Rick Smith, Gary Kubiak, David Culley, and Lovie Smith? When others weren't performing well, their heads were called for. I see some people holding Caserio accountable. For the most part, it appears as if he's getting a bit of a pass. I'll be interested to see if this continues should the team has another subpar season. If that pick they traded to the Cardinals is another top 10 pick and the Browns pick the Texans own isn't...if Green can't come back and/or Stingley Jr doesn't show any signs of being a lockdown corner...then what? Let's hope none of this comes to fruition. If it does, we'll have to revisit this conversation.

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