Fantasy football Week 10: Justin Fields, Justin Jefferson take over

Week 10 of the 2022 fantasy football season featured standout performances by Chicago quarterback Justin Fields and Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Which other developments from the week are worth reading into? Matt Bowen and Tristan H. Cockcroft offer their analysis.

---

Fields cannot be stopped

What a two-week — and, really five-week — stretch for the second-year quarterback, as Fields dominated on the ground and was plenty serviceable through the air yet again, totaling 39.38 fantasy points against a bad Lions defense. He has now scored at least that many fantasy points in consecutive games, joining Lamar Jackson, who did so in Weeks 2-3 of this year, as the only quarterbacks since at least 1950 to do so. Additionally, Fields followed up his record-setting 178 rushing yards of Week 9 with 147 on Sunday, that the seventh-best total by a quarterback in history. The Bears are making far greater use of his skills over the past month, and that bodes extremely well heading into another dream matchup with the Falcons in Week 11. He’s an unquestioned top-five positional play for me then, too. — Cockcroft

I’m with you here, Tristan. Fields will be in my top five, too. The rushing ability is electric, and the Bears are setting him on designed carries to get him loose in space. Zone-read, power schemes, more. And the pass game is developing with Fields in Chicago. The Bears quarterback has now thrown multiple touchdowns in his past three games, with schemed concepts in the red zone and scripted verticals. He’s a dynamic talent with high-level playmaking traits. — Bowen

Jefferson delivers in win over Bills

It’s difficult writing about Justin Jefferson without diving deeply into the absolutely bonkers finish to his team’s upset win over the Bills, a game his Vikings trailed 27-10 after nearly three full quarters but came back to win, 33-30, in overtime. Still, it was Jefferson’s exploits that made a huge difference in the outcome, including an unbelievable, game-saving catch in the fourth quarter — go check out the highlight reel (or my Twitter feed) for that one, it’s worth several watches — as well as a pair of key receptions that set up the decisive field goal. The final total was 35.3 PPR fantasy points on 16 targets, the fourth time this season alone he has exceeded 30 points, as Jefferson continues to flash best-in-the-game positional talents. He has a tough matchup up next in the Cowboys, but elite performers tend to elevate above those, and there’s little doubt in my mind that he’ll be one of the three highest scorers at his position from this point forward. — Cockcroft

Allen looks unbothered by injured elbow

Josh Allen attempted 43 passes in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings, completing 67.4% of those throws. And I really didn’t see a major impact from the elbow injury in this one when focusing on the pass game. Allen produced as a runner, too (84 yards on six carries), showcasing the physical element that is a major part of his profile. However, for the third straight week, Allen threw multiple interceptions, in addition to the fumbled snap on his own goal line that resulted in a game-changing moment. The turnovers, which have suddenly become a negative trend for Allen, have played a key role in the quarterback failing to top the 20-point fantasy scoring mark in two of his past three games. Allen will look to correct that in Week 11 versus the Cleveland defense. — Bowen

What I’m wondering now, considering the Bills now no longer have a share of the AFC East lead, in what’s actually a competitive division, is whether this game serves a wake-up call for Allen and his teammates. They’ve got a pair of easily winnable — and quite fantasy-friendly — games up next (Browns, Lions), in which they need W’s, before getting to contend with divisional competition, and considering Allen’s injury didn’t appear to be a panic-button thing after all — we both agree that his elbow was not the issue here — it’s easy to play the optimist’s part going forward. What if this is the first time in a long time that Allen is a legitimate fantasy buy-low? I look at his schedule and see a very real chance that, if the injury is truly behind him, he could respond to this sloppy loss with a monstrous hot streak. — Cockcroft

Watson busts out for the Packers

Well, that came out of nowhere, evidenced by Christian Watson being rostered in a mere 5.8% of ESPN leagues and started in 0.4%. Watson erupted for 32.7 PPR fantasy points, driven almost entirely by three touchdown receptions, in the Packers’ 31-28 win. That’s considerably more than he managed in his first six career NFL contests combined (26.7), and if it seemed like it came on a mere handful of throws, consider that he had eight targets, within range of the 14 he had in his first six contests. It was the first time this year that Aaron Rodgers flashed genuine, top-shelf chemistry with a particular receiver, unsurprising considering Watson’s season to date had been hampered by hamstring injuries (including an in-season setback) and then a concussion, but his healthy status Sunday gives Rodgers arguably his speediest target yet. Fantasy managers were very much on to this rookie from the point of his second-round selection on draft day, but now Watson appears to be paying dividends. He stepped up in the face of a brutal matchup, now gets an extremely favorable assignment in the Titans in Week 11, and might well be a weekly WR3 with upside going forward. — Cockcroft

Watson has the ability to change the Green Bay pass game, Tristan. It’s the deep ball element here that creates the outside one-on-one throws for Rodgers. And that’s simply been missing in this offense. Let’s see if the rookie can get loose again next week when Rodgers identifies the vertical matchup. — Bowen

Kmet is playing like a TE1

The red zone numbers are jumping here, as Cole Kmet has logged five touchdowns in his past three games, with four red zone scores. And those are designed concepts to get him the ball. Play-action and movement throws for Fields. The Bears also schemed up Kmet in Sunday’s loss to the Lions on a tendency breaker (off boot action) for a 50-yard score. With at least 22 or more PPR points in his past two games, plus the offensive deployment we are seeing in scoring position, I do see Kmet as a TE1 for the Week 11 matchup versus the Falcons’ defense. — Bowen

Other observations:

Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams: For the second time in three weeks, we’ll await midweek updates on the health of Kupp, as after he left Week 8 early with an ankle injury, he exited Sunday’s contest with another ankle issue. This time, unfortunately, he scored 2.9 PPR fantasy points on the 40 offensive snaps he played, his worst single-game score since he was shut out in Week 10 of 2019, as he and the Rams couldn’t get anything done with John Wolford under center. Monitor Kupp’s status throughout the week, but QB Matthew Stafford‘s health has a significant bearing as well, as Kupp has a tough assignment ahead against the Saints and Marshon Lattimore. — Cockcroft

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys: Lamb dropped a season-high 38.0 PPR points on the Packers’ defense in Week 10, working the middle of the voids and winning man matchups. Lamb was a volume target for Dak Prescott in this one too, catching 11 of 15 passes for 150 yards and two scores. And the 35-yard touchdown reception was set up by the route running of Lamb in a one-on-one versus Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander. Lamb and the Cowboys get the Vikings in Week 11. Lot of split-safety-zone looks there. Lamb will be a WR1 for that matchup. — Bowen

Rachaad White, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: White should be added in all scoring formats. The rookie, who is rostered in just 24.3% of ESPN leagues, posted season highs in the Week 10 win over Seattle, with 22 carries for 105 rushing yards. We saw a pretty even backfield split in this one with Leonard Fournette, with the veteran holding a 14-to-11 touch advantage before he left the game with a hip injury. Fournette’s status will need to be monitored here, but even if he’s back for the Week 12 game versus the Browns (Bucs are on a bye in Week 11), White simply plays at a faster clip. And his receiving skills add to his fantasy upside. — Bowen

Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions: There’s that high-volume game we came to love from St. Brown late last season and in the opening minutes of this season, as his 11 targets, 10 catches and 22.1 PPR fantasy points were all his most in a game since Week 2, before an ankle injury began to hinder him. St. Brown appeared fully healthy in this contest, and it’s great to see him again getting consistent looks from Jared Goff, who seems much more comfortable when he’s facing defenses that provide less pressure. That might not be so in upcoming matchups against the Jaguars (Week 13) or Jets (Week 15), but the former still grades a positive matchup on the coverage front, so there’s every reason to believe St. Brown should be a weekly WR1 for the duration. — Cockcroft

Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants: If you need a streaming option in Week 11, then I would take a look at Slayton. Rostered in 4.6% of ESPN leagues, Slayton has quietly put together three straight games of double-digit PPR production — in a very low-volume throwing offense. He’s a vertical target for quarterback Daniel Jones, as we saw his straight-line speed on the 54-yard catch-and-run score in Sunday’s win over Houston. With an upcoming matchup versus the Lions’ secondary, Slayton would fit as a WR3 in deeper leagues. — Bowen

Jeff Wilson Jr., RB, Miami Dolphins: He couldn’t have acclimated himself into the Dolphins’ offense much more effectively than he has after two weeks’ time, and considering his usage patterns, there’s a very real chance that Wilson could deliver unexpectedly consistent RB2 numbers for fantasy managers down the stretch. He played 60% of the Dolphins’ offensive snaps to Raheem Mostert’s 28%, had a 19-12 advantage over his competitor in terms of total touches, and was clocked with the fastest run of the two with his 19.7 mph touchdown scamper per Next Gen Stats. Wilson and his new teammates now do go into their bye week, but he’s a top-15 positional play for his Week 12 game against the Texans’ defense. He needs to be rostered in more than the 77.0% of leagues in which he is. — Cockcroft

Kadarius Toney, WR, Kansas City Chiefs: He’s one to stash, should you have most of your byes in your rearview, need receiver depth or merely have the open roster spot, as Toney’s Sunday was encouraging enough to vault him into the Chiefs’ receiver-go-round of fantasy relevance. Playing elevated numbers of offensive snaps (45%) and routes run (15), perhaps in part due to JuJu Smith-Schuster’s early injury exit, Toney scored 19.0 PPR fantasy points on five targets and two rushing attempts, including a 6-yard touchdown reception in which he tiptoed into the end zone, as well as a great sideline catch in the third quarter. Those should draw him more looks from Patrick Mahomes, and considering his massive upside, he’s worth an add everywhere. — Cockcroft

T.J. Hockenson, TE, Minnesota Vikings: Trust the target volume and the formation usage with Hockenson in a Minnesota scheme that upgrades his fantasy profile. In his two games with the Vikings, Hockenson has posted back-to-back weeks of double-digit PPR production, while catching 16 of 19 targets. And we’ve seen Hockenson deployed in the route tree from multiple alignments here. He’ll be a weekly TE1 for me — regardless of the matchup. — Bowen

Christian Kirk, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars: In what has been a largely up-and-down sophomore season for Trevor Lawrence, Kirk is one of the things that has gone consistently right. Kirk scored 31.5 PPR fantasy points, the second most in his career (37.8, Week 10 of 2019), on 12 targets, with a performance that continued to establish him as Lawrence’s go-to guy. He and the Jaguars now head to their bye week, but following that, he should be a locked-in WR2 considering his usage and skill set. — Cockcroft

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs: It seems that his time as the Chiefs’ lead back is over, after he played just 4 of 62 offensive snaps and saw a mere two targets, neither caught, with zero rushing attempts. Isiah Pacheco, meanwhile, played 57% of the snaps and had 16 carries, and he brings a more explosive element to the team’s backfield. It’s the second straight week coming out of the bye that Edwards-Helaire has been scarcely used, and fantasy managers in shallow leagues can freely move on and find a more productive replacement. — Cockcroft

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, WR, Tennessee Titans: The “out of nowhere” performance of Week 10, Westbrook-Ikhine, rostered in a mere 0.7% of ESPN leagues, exploded for 28.9 PPR fantasy points on eight targets, after having had six targets total in his previous five games played. He certainly benefited from the healthy return of Ryan Tannehill, but perhaps might be getting more looks after Robert Woods and Austin Hooper haven’t shown much in the receiving game. Treylon Burks’ return from injured reserve — he had 5.4 points on his six targets — creates some hesitation in rushing to add Westbrook-Ikhine, but their target shares are worth monitoring even in standard leagues in the next few weeks. — Cockcroft