Week 10 fantasy football rankings: Bank on Brees

Week 10 fantasy football rankings: Bank on Brees
Photo via: Saints/Facebook

These are my very early ranks, so keep in mind I post these on Thursday. Make sure you check the injury report on Sunday for players that have missed practice. If it doesn't look like a player will play this week, I typically won't rank him. Keep in mind, these are PPR rankings, and don't forget to set your lineup for Thursday Night Football.

If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up on Twitter. Be sure to check out my show MoneyLine with Jerry Bo on ESPN 97.5FM. We're on every Sunday morning from 10-noon, and we'll talk a lot of fantasy football and NFL gambling getting you ready for kickoff every Sunday.

@JoshJordan975

@Moneyline975

@JerryBoKnowz

QB

Rodgers should bounce back after a tough loss against the Chargers. Photo by Andy Lyons/GettyImages

1 Lamar Jackson

2 Drew Brees

3 Patrick Mahomes

4 Russell Wilson

5 Aaron Rodgers

6 Philip Rivers

7 Kyler Murray

8 Dak Prescott

9 Jimmy Garoppolo

10 Jameis Winston

11 Josh Allen

12 Matt Ryan

13 Jared Goff

14 Matthew Stafford

15 Derek Carr

RB

Feed Zeke...Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

1 Christian McCaffrey

2 Saquon Barkley

3 Ezekiel Elliott

4 Dalvin Cook

5 Aaron Jones

6 Alvin Kamara

7 Josh Jacobs

8 Mark Ingram

9 Derrick Henry

10 Marlon Mack

11 Melvin Gordon

12 Le'Veon Bell

13 Nick Chubb

14 Jaylen Samuels

15 Chris Carson

16 Austin Ekeler

17 Tevin Coleman

18 David Johnson

19 Todd Gurley

20 David Montgomery

21 Damien Williams

22 Devin Singletary

23 Devonta Freeman

24 Ronald Jones

25 Latavius Murray

26 Jamaal Williams

27 Matt Breida

28 J.D. McKissic

29 Joe Mixon

30 Tarik Cohen

WR

Thomas comes in at No.1 this week. Photo by New Orleans Saints/Facebook

1 Michael Thomas

2 Chris Godwin

3 Amari Cooper

4 Julio Jones

5 Cooper Kupp

6 Tyreek Hill

7 Mike Evans

8 Tyler Lockett

9 Keenan Allen

10 Davante Adams

11 Stefon Diggs

12 Kenny Golladay

13 Emmanuel Sanders

14 Allen Robinson

15 D.J. Moore

16 John Brown

17 Mike Williams

18 Golden Tate

19 Calvin Ridley

20 Christian Kirk

21 Michael Gallup

22 Odell Beckham Jr

23 Marvin Jones

24 Zach Pascall

25 Sammy Watkins

26 Jamison Crowder

27 Devante Parker

28 Robert Woods

29 Marquise Brown

30 JuJu Smith-Schuster

31 Tyler Boyd

32 Larry Fitzgerald

33 D.K. Metcalf

34 Tyrell Williams

35 Danny Amendola

36 Jarvis Landry

TE

It's hard not to like Henry against the Raiders. Photo via:Chargers/Facebook

1 George Kittle

2 Travis Kelce

3 Hunter Henry

4 Austin Hooper

5 Darren Waller

6 Mark Andrews

7 Greg Olsen

8 Gerald Everett

9 Jared Cook

10 Jonnu Smith

11 Jack Doyle

12 Jason Witten

13 T.J. Hockenson

14 Mike Gesicki

15 Vance McDonald

DEF

1 Ravens

2 Colts

3 Bills

4 Saints

5 Bears

6 Cowboys

7 Rams

8 Giants

9 Chargers

10 49ers

11 Steelers

12 Vikings

13 Packers

14 Lions

15 Browns

KICKER

1 Justin Tucker

2 Wil Lutz

3 Robbie Gould

4 Harrison Butker

5 Brett Maher

6 Zane Gonzalez

7 Michael Badgley

8 Greg Zuerlein

9 Matt Gay

10 Mason Crosby

11 Matt Prater

12 Adam Vinatieri

13 Joey Slye

14 Dan Bailey

15 Steven Hauschka

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The Astros' offense needs a reset. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Major League Baseball’s regular season is 162 games long. You can think of 18 games as the first inning of the season, 18 times nine equaling 162. While the Astros 8-10 record is not good, it’s far from disastrous. Think of it as them being behind 1-0 after the first inning. It is pretty remarkable that they have yet to win consecutive games. Even during last year’s 7-19 stink bomb of a start the Astros twice managed to win two in a row.

The Astros’ offensive woes are plentiful. Oddly enough as impotent as they’ve been, the Astros have yet to be shutout. But in half their games they have scored exactly one or two runs. Basically, most of them stink thus far. Exemptions go to Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, but it’s not like either of them has been outstanding. It’s still early enough that one big series can dramatically alter the numbers, but the Astros badly need Yordan Alvarez to pick up his production. Yordan enters the weekend batting just .224 with a .695 OPS and just four extra base hits. Yainer rhymes with minor. As in minor leagues, where Diaz belongs at his current level of performance. That is not saying Diaz should be sent down, just that any random AAA catcher called up couldn’t have done much worse to this point. Diaz isn’t hitting Altuve’s weight, a woeful .130 with seven hits in 57 at bats. Diaz simply remains too undisciplined at the plate swinging at too many balls. He’s drawn three walks. And now to Christian Walker, who thus far has delivered return on investment for his three year 60 million dollar contract about as strong as the stock market’s performance in Tariff Time. Walker’s .154 batting average and .482 OPS are very Astro Jose Abreu-like. Walker’s23 strikeouts in 65 at bats jump off the page. He has often looked befuddled in the batter's box. Walker is definitely pressing and frustrated, wanting to perform better for his new team. Jeremy Pena goes into the weekend batting .215 and has one hit in 13 at bats with runners in scoring position. Brendan Rodgers, Jake Meyers, and Chas McCormick all have weak stat lines, with little reason to expect quality offensive output from any of them. Cam Smith is at .200 with a yucky .591 OPS but he’s obviously a young stud work in progress thrown into the deep end of the pool.

All batting orders are top-heavy, the Astros’ on paper more so than many. As I set forth on one of our Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts this week, the first inning should be a team’s best offensive inning. It’s the only frame in which a team gets to dictate who comes up from the start with the batters lined up just as the manager slots them. Add to that, the first inning is a good time to get to a starting pitcher before he settles in. The Astros have scored a pitiful three first inning runs in 18 games, and in two of the games they pushed one across in the first, it turned out to be the only Astro run of the game. Improvement needs to come internally from the big league roster. It’s not as if the Astros have a meaningful prospect at AAA Sugar Land who looks ready to help. Entering play Thursday the Space Cowboys’ team average was .186. Second base hopeful Brice Matthews is nowhere close, batting .180 and striking out left and right. Outfielder Jacob Melton opened three for 17 following the back injury-delayed start to his season.

As exasperating and boring as the offense has been for so many, grading needs to occur on a curve. So, while the Astros’ team batting average is a joke at .216, know that at close of business Wednesday the entire American League was batting just .232. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers scored eight fewer runs over their first 18 games than did the Astros, though that is skewed by the Astros’ one 14-run outburst against the Angels.

Familiar faces return

This weekend the Astros play host to the San Diego Padres at Daikin Park. The Friars are off to a fabulous start at 15-4. The Padres being here creates a mini reunion as both Martin Maldonado and Yuli Gurriel are on their roster. In a telling fact, Maldonado would have the third-highest batting average on the Astros if on the team with his current numbers. Maldonado is hitting .250 with seven hits in 28 at bats. The last season he finished above .200 was 2020. The only season in his career Maldonado topped .234 was his rookie season with a .266 mark in 2012.

Gurriel was last good in 2021 when he won the American League batting title at .319. He fell off a cliff from there, though perked up to have a fine postseason in the Astros’ 2022 run to World Series title number two. “La Pina” is batting .115 with just three hits in 26 at bats. Gurriel may be released soon, and approaching his 41st birthday June 9, that would probably be the end of the line. Short-timer Astro Jason Heyward is also on the Padres, and batting .190.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

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