Fantasy Football Week 10: Start or Sit Baker Mayfield, Philip Rivers, or Alex Smith?
Nine weeks are in the books, and fantasy football leagues are starting to take shape heading into week ten. We here at Football Absurdity try to help you make your weekly start or sit decisions by highlighting players that have an abnormally good, or abnormally bad matchup. We hope that we can help you make the proper start or sit decisions every week, like whether to start or sit Baker Mayfield, Philip Rivers, or Alex Smith.
Start or Sit Baker Mayfield versus Atlanta
Baker Mayfield seemingly always makes the start list of start or sit, and never graduates from that narrow band of streamable starters. Mayfield, currently available in 62% of Yahoo! leagues, has performed well over the last few games. He has averaged just about 261 passing yards as a starter and has multiple touchdowns in each of his last three games. The #6 quarterback by points per game over the last three weeks gets another great matchup with Atlanta. The Falcons allows the second-most fantasy points to quarterbacks and has given up at least 20.5 fantasy points in 4 points per passing touchdown leagues in six-of-seven games. If you’re playing the streaming game, you’ll have to boot Mayfield after this week, as he has his bye in week eleven. But for week 10, if you’re deciding to start or sit Baker Mayfield, do it with confidence.
Start or Sit Philip Rivers at Oakland
It’s surprising that Rivers ranks outside the top-twelve in fantasy points per game this year, as he seems to helm an extremely strong offense with the Chargers. The #13 QB in fantasy points per game has been somewhat solid, especially considering his low yardage totals. He hasn’t had a game without multiple touchdowns and has just three picks on the year. His ranking betrays how amazing he’s been, game-in, and game out. So why is he here? START HIM, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, START HIM. The Chargers get the beyond hapless Raiders this week, which means the list of quarterbacks I’d start over Rivers starts at Pat Mahomes and ends with Aaron Rodgers. It’ll be an incredible day for the #13 quarterback on the season, as he should finally break through the three passing touchdown barrier. It’s not even a thought about if you should start or sit Philip Rivers, he’s an auto-start.
Start or Sit Alex Smith at Tampa Bay
Alex Smith finally came through for fantasy owners last week, and all it took was, hold on… let me check these notes… the second worst defense against quarterbacks in the NFL. Last week’s QB14 luckily gets an even better matchup this week against the Buccaneers. That’s right, folks—the worst team at stopping opposing QBs in the NFL is next up on the docket for Mr. Game Manager. Every opposing QB except Nick Foles has managed at least 20 fantasy points against them in four-point per passing touchdown leagues, and the diminished offensive line likely means fewer Adrian Peterson runs. Alex Smith tied his season high in passes last week with 46, and he should get close to that again this week. The band of outcomes for Smith is narrow, but it includes being QB8 or so on the week. Not the best option, but he won’t kill you, either. He’s well worth a stream. There aren’t many more games where you can choose to start or sit Alex Smith, and if you don’t start him this week, there’s little reason to think you ever will.
These guys should all do well this week, but if you’re deciding who you should start or sit out of them, you should go with them in this order:
- Philip Rivers
- Baker Mayfield
- Alex Smith
If you need more help with your start or sit decisions, we can help you decide who to start with some of our other week ten start or sit articles below:
Start or Sit Matthew Stafford, Tom Brady, or Nick Mullens?
Start or Sit Jarvis Landry, Devin Funchess, or Sterling Shepard?
Start or Sit Quincy Enunwa, Marquise Goodwin, or Taylor Gabriel?
Start or Sit Austin Ekeler, Duke Johnson, or Ito Smith?
Start or Sit Peyton Barber, Kerryon Johnson, or Mike Davis?
Start or Sit C.J. Uzomah, Eric Ebron, or Zach Ertz?
Start or Sit Ben Watson, Greg Olsen, or Vernon Davis?
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