Sunday Night Fantasy Football Picks: Starts, Sits, Busts & Sleepers for Week 10
Sunday Night Football this week will have a lot of fantasy points scored because the game promises to be a barn burner. The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Las Vegas Raiders in their first of two meetings. For fantasy purposes, you cannot ask for a better Sunday Night matchup.
With a 52-point over/under total and implied team totals of 27.5 for Kansas City and 24.5 for Las Vegas, fantasy managers can expect a shootout on national TV. For redraft leagues, DFS, and DFS showdown tournaments, there are plenty of fantasy players that team managers can roster on their way to victory.
Luckily, we are here to provide you with the players you'll want to start, sit, or avoid altogether because they will bust. And because no good fantasy or DFS victory is possible without sleepers, we also have those for Sunday night.
SNF Fantasy Starts, Sits, Busts, and Sleepers for Week 10
Starts:
#1 - QB Patrick Mahomes
You don't want to be the fantasy manager that benched Patrick Mahomes. Sure, he's not playing like the 3rd round, too-early-for-quarterbacks fantasy picks that many are regretting now, but the biggest regret will be benching him when he inevitably goes off for five touchdown passes.
Patrick Mahomes has thrown as many TD passes at this point in the season as he had in 2019. He's thrown for only 153 yards fewer through 9 games as he did last year. Half his 10 interceptions went off Chiefs first. He needs to play better, but this isn't a supernova bursting. twitter.com/SportsDailyKC/…
#2 - QB Derek Carr
The Chiefs have a bad defense, and the Raiders (as well as the rest of the AFC West) are fighting for the playoffs. Carr will gun it out and gun it often against the Chiefs.
#3 - TE Darren Waller
The battle between the elite tight ends requires fantasy managers and DFS players to roster Waller in a dream matchup against the Chiefs' subpar secondary.
#4 - WR Tyreek Hill
Mr. Boom-or-bust will boom this week. Like everyone on this list, he is not someone any fantasy manager wants to leave on the bench, especially in an important matchup like this.
#5 - TE Travis Kelce
Travis Kelce is not providing the elite numbers fantasy managers are used to seeing this season. But he's trending upward after last week's five receptions, 68 yards, and one touchdown catch performance. The problem is the lack of yardage that provides a high floor for Kelce's fantasy value. Touchdowns are unpredictable, so Kelce needs to rack up yards and receptions to truly return to our good graces.
Lots of "what's wrong with Patrick Mahomes" talk lately. I decided to look at a different, but related question: What's wrong with Travis Kelce? At @nfloncbs:
cbssports.com/nfl/news/whats… https://t.co/EJ7SFaAHzU
Sits:
#1 - RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Things could change between now and Sunday night, but the Chiefs will most likely give Edwards-Helaire another week off before activating him from IR, even if he practiced in a limited capacity this week. You can't score points in fantasy (or real) football if you're on the IR. Keep an eye out, but expect CEH to be riding pine all Sunday night.
#2 - TE Foster Moreau
The Raiders' backup tight end had his moment in the sun when Darren Waller was out for Week 7. Now that Waller is back, Moreau is a prime sit candidate. Moving on.
Busts:
#1 - RB Darrel Williams
Williams ceded some touches to Derrick Gore, and that isn't good for everyone involved. He's someone you'd roster if you had no other options due to injuries or drafting too many New York Giants players, and now your whole fantasy team is on bye. Williams may have a nice fantasy day, but it's more probable that he will get you 9-10 fantasy points at best.
#2 - RB Derrick Gore
Derrick Gore is Frank Gore CGI-ed to look younger. "Deep Fake" Gore's workload is too inconsistent for fantasy managers to rely on. He's not worth a roster spot.
#3 - WR Bryan Edwards
Bryan Edwards is a fantasy draft season sleeper darling, but he doesn't get enough targets to warrant consideration. Until that suddenly changes, he's not worth a roster spot either.
#5 - RB Josh Jacobs
Josh Jacobs is a good back, but he cedes too much valuable pass-catching work to Kenyan Drake, who sees more work now that Jon Gruden is no longer head coach. Jacobs is not as valuable in PPR leagues or DFS tournaments.
Sleepers:
#1 - WR DeSean Jackson
Is a fantasy player a sleeper if everyone knows he just signed to immediately take the spot of a player that was recently cut? In his twilight years as an NFL player, DeSean Jackson will always be a sleeper candidate who will have one game of a 70-yard touchdown catch and then disappear the rest of the season.
Since he already had one boom game with his former team, the Los Angeles Rams, then maybe switching teams midseason resets that boom game clock back to 0. Jackson is worth a flier this week.
#2 - RB Kenyon Drake
Drake is a sleeper with solid potential to catch a touchdown pass from Derek Carr as a pass-catching specialist running back. His workload has increased under the new head coach, so he continues to be of value.
#3 - WR Hunter Renfrow
Renfrow has been consistent as they come this season, offering a low but solid floor. With Henry Ruggs's release, he didn't see a spike in targets last week, but that change could come slower than expected. Someone has to soak up all those targets that aren't going to Darren Waller. Renfrow is a solid fantasy sleeper pick for Sunday Night Football.
#4 - WR Mecole Hardman
Hardman is always a sleeper like that movie about that woman who's always the maid of honor, but never the bride. Hardman always entices fantasy managers with his speed and potential, but we never see it translate to anything viable. With the Chiefs desperate to find some offensive consistency, look for Hardman to find some fantasy success this Sunday night.
Also check out: Complete Thursday Night Football Schedule 2021