Top daily fantasy football plays for Week 10 of the NFL season

SB Nation will be bringing you the top Daily Fantasy options each week through the regular season and into the playoffs. We have a small sample size of which offenses look good to target, and others we should avoid until further notice. As for who should be in your lineups, here are the top value plays of the week, with an eye toward low ownership and high upside.

It’s an absolute dream matchup for Stafford, yet he comes in as the third-highest quarterback on DraftKings. One wonders if he would have swapped places with top-priced QB Dak Prescott if Stafford’s Week 9 gem was on Sunday and the Ezekiel Elliott news came out before pricing was released. Basically, Stafford is underpriced for his matchup and recent production, a fact that DFS player should exploit.

For the reasons listed above, Stafford figures to be the most-owned quarterback on the board, which makes Goff a nice tournament pivot at $100 less. Not that Goff won’t be similarly high-owned, but the difference between him and Stafford ought to be enough to justify the pivot. Goff is coming off a four-touchdown game and could come close to repeating it against a poor Texans pass defense.

It’s always a little dicey recommending Big Ben on the road. But with two weeks to heal up and prepare, and facing the truly dreadful Colts pass defense, Roethlisberger looks as good a play as he has been all season. The only concern here is that Le’Veon Bell has such a good matchup that Roethlisberger might not be needed as much. But part of what makes Bell so attractive is the Colts’ 32nd-ranked defense against pass-catching backs, so Roethlisberger could soak up yards and touchdowns just through short passes to Bell.

McCown finally got a significant price bump this week, as he moves out of the 5K range for the first time this season. And deservedly so, as McCown continues to put up solid numbers. With a passing and rushing touchdown in Week 9 against the Bills, McCown made it six straight weeks with multiple touchdowns. The Buccaneers sport one of the most torchable pass defenses in the league and the Jets will be without Matt Forte, putting more onus on McCown to deliver.

On the other side of the ball in Tampa we have a REVENGE GAME! as Fitzy takes on his former team. At first blush, this seems like a bad week to target Fitzpatrick, with Mike Evans serving a one-game suspension. But the Bucs still have DeSean Jackson, Adam Humphries and Cameron Brate, making Fitzpatrick a sneaky, cheap option.

Normally, we’d be all aboard a matchup against the 49ers defense, but things are falling apart in the Giants’ locker room and it’s hard to know where the team’s head and heart are going to be this Sunday. If the Giants come out focused and angry, Eli might actually be a solid play. If the Giants mail it in, Manning might not see the second half. Too risky to call here.

Also consider: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys; Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills; Case Keenum, Minnesota Vikings.

You don’t hear a lot about him because he plays for an 0-8 team, but Hyde has been one of the more productive backs in the league this year, with the second-most targets and third-most catches at the position. With Pierre Garcon and George Kittle out of action, even more burden falls on Hyde to produce. That’s a great thing this week against a Giants team ranked near the bottom of the league in run defense and coming very close to quitting on their season. The 49ers will never get a better chance to win than this week and Hyde figures to play a major role in it.

The Packers are another team that really struggles against the run, ranking in the bottom third in overall DVOA and pass-catching backs in particular. Like Hyde in San Francisco, Howard benefits from playing on a team that thinks run first. Howard has been around 20 carries a game all year and he should see that kind of volume again. The Packers are coming off a short week and the Bears are off the bye, which favors the Bears run game even more than usual.

Jeremy Hill has been ruled out of this week’s game, which should allow Mixon to pick some extra carries and targets. Mixon’s carries have been increasing each of the past three weeks, but what could make him particularly valuable this week are his targets. Mixon has been getting around three or four a game the past three weeks. If that number increases this week, it should be noted that the Titans are a bottom-five defense against pass-catching backs.

The Giants as a team are imploding, but Darkwa is showing signs of life. When he gets a large dose of carries, he’s able to produce. The hope this week is that the Giants give Darkwa a 15-20 carry game, which he should convert into fantasy-friendly numbers against arguably the worst run defense in the league.

Matt Forte has been ruled out of Sunday’s game, which vaults Powell into a prime volume spot against the lowly Bucs. Powell had the game of the year against Jacksonville (32 DK points) when Forte was out in Week 4, so even with Elijah McGuire expected to carve out his own role, Powell is capable of a massive output as the lead man.

Morris is likely to get the start in the first of six games without Ezekiel Elliott, but this figures to be a true RBBC with Darren McFadden and Rod Smith. At $5,500, and with so much value on the board, it’s hard to trust a back who might lose out to a “hot hand” scenario.

Also consider: Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars; Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints; Jerick McKinnon, Minnesota Vikings.

Jones was cleared to play on Friday and as frustrating as he and the Falcons’ offense have been this season, there’s no denying that Jones is starting to make some serious noise, with games of 24 and 20 DK points in the past three weeks. The Cowboys do not have a scary secondary and the Falcons will likely look to put the ball in the air with Devonta Freeman unable to get things going. Jones’ injury designation is going to pull his ownership way down, making him a tremendous pivot off Antonio Brown.

And while we’re on the subject of big-play receivers with injury designations who are expected to play Sunday… Bryant is likely to see a much-lower ownership after not practicing until Friday. But he is expected to go, and with Elliott suspended, a greater share of the offense is going to head his way. That should be fantasy gold against Robert Alford, who is ranked near the bottom of the league in terms of yards allowed.

Another beneficiary of pricing coming out before the Monday night game is Jones, who exploded for 32 DK points against the Packers and only saw his salary raise $100. He is now an absolute bargain at $6,200 considering his heavy involvement (11 targets in consecutive games) and the matchup against the terrible Browns at home. Even his ownership should stay somewhat low with Golden Tate still the more recognizable name in the offense.

Woods had the breakout game of the week against the Giants, scoring twice and running circles around the demoralized defense. The Texans’ defense isn’t in that much better shape since losing J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus. Woods has been a steady performer for weeks in this offense and should continue to get looks, yards and scores.

If Mike Evans had been suspended before pricing came out, Humphries would not be $3,100. Humphries had a decent role in the offense early in the season but has tailed off the past three weeks. However, with Evans out and Ryan Fitzpatrick in, Humphries could be in store for a large role this week. When Fitzpatrick played the final 2½ quarters against the Cardinals in Week 6, Humphries had seven targets and caught six. A game like that against the Jets would easily pay off his salary, while opening up all sorts of roster possibilities in the high end.

In just about any other matchup, I’d be all for unveiling Benjamin playing his first game with his new team. But Benjamin is going to have to contend with Marshon Lattimore and that screams stay away, especially since we don’t really know how Benjamin and Tyrod Taylor are going to fare together.

Also consider: Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers; Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings; Robby Anderson, New York Jets.

Rudolph seems underpriced considering his consistent 7-9 targets per game in a matchup with a team ranked near the bottom of the league in defense against the tight end position. His ownership is also expected to be on the low side, making him a terrific tournament option.

Brate’s ownership will not be low, thanks to a solid matchup and certain target richness thanks to Evans’ suspension. Brate and Fitzpatrick also have a terrific small sample together, as Brate caught 4 of 4 passes, including a touchdown, in the Week 6 game where Fitzpatrick replaced an injured Jameis Winston.

Ebron is back among the land of the living after a nice showing on Monday night. Ebron caught just three passes, but it felt like 30 considering what a non-factor he’s been most of the year. If that game has turned his corner, then this week could be smash city against the league’s worst tight end defense.

The Cowboys generally give up decent production to tight ends and Hooper has seen six targets in back-to-back games. He’s got some upside potential at a discount price.

The Giants are right there with the Browns in terms of allowing massive production to tight ends. With George Kittle ruled out, Celek is the main receiving option this week. The Giants are also in tank territory, which should give C.J. Beathard extra time to locate his new tight end. We could see Celek pay off his salary at 7 or 8K this week.

Given all he’s done over the past few weeks, Doyle should be a popular play, even at his hugely inflated salary. And that makes him a must-fade, especially against a Steelers defense that is the anti-Giants.

Also consider: Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys; Hunter Henry, San Diego Chargers; Tyler Kroft, Cincinnati Bengals.

Detroit Lions vs. Cleveland Browns ($3,800 DK, $5,300 FD)

Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts ($3,700 DK, $4,600 FD)

Los Angeles Rams vs. Houston Texans ($3,600 DK, $5,400 FD)

Minnesota Vikings at Washington ($3,100 DK, $4,800 FD)

Discount Darling: San Francisco 49ers vs. New York Giants ($2,600 DK, $4,300 FD)

Avoid: Giants at 49ers ($3,200 DK, $4,400 FD)