Your Week 10 Bye Week Guide

Colston Loveland’s breakout sets him up as a premier bye-week replacement for those roster holes in Weeks 10 and 11. Danny Cross runs through the best replacements at every position.

Week 10 is Rams Week In Dwain McFarland’s Rankings

Matthew Stafford is a mid-range QB1 in Week 10.

Stafford has roasted NFL secondaries over the first half of the season.

• Passing yards per game: 269 (first, min five games)
• Passing touchdowns per game: 2.6 (second)

The Rams are operating a perfectly balanced offense with a 0% dropback rate over expected (DBOE). They have perfectly married the run and pass games into a lethal combination that keeps defenses guessing, and Sean McVay continues to jam the fantasy-cheat-code buttons.

• Play action dropback rate: 33% (first)
• Shift-motion snaps: 62% (fifth)

Los Angeles ranks fifth in touchdowns per drive at 31% and fourth in red-zone trips at 38%. In 2025, they are a new team in the red zone thanks to the addition of Davante Adams, who leads the NFL with seven red zone scores and 15 endzone targets. Once inside the 20-yard line, 81% of their TDs have come via the pass.

When you add it all up, Stafford is the QB8 this season with 20.4 points per game.

The Rams carry the fourth-highest team total (26.5) against the 49ers this weekend.

Projection Model (using my PPR projections):

• Xfinity Best (ceiling): 22.7
• Median: 18.9
• Floor: 15.2

» Stafford is my QB7 this weekend.

Davante Adams is a top-six fantasy WR in Week 10. 

Early in the season, Adams was highly targeted, but he and Stafford were still working out the kinks. Through the first five games, Adams had a catchable target rate of 60%, 65th out of 77 WRs with at least 100 routes.

However, the connection has grown with Adams notching a 71% catchable target rate since Week 6. Over that span, the veteran has averaged 19.1 points per game with two top-six performances.

With small samples like this, it is hard to know if we are dealing with a trend or variance. The good news is Adams leads all receivers with eight touchdowns and ranks first in endzone targets with 1.9 per game. He is a massive part of one of the most potent passing attacks in the NFL.

The Rams boast the fourth-highest team total (26.5) and play a 49ers defense allowing the eighth-highest fantasy boost to WR corps at 2.9 points per game.

Projection Model:

• Xfinity Best (ceiling): 22.1
• Median: 14.9
• Floor: 10.8

» Adams is a mid-range WR1 with multi-TD upside.

Click below for all of Dwain McFarland’s Week 10 upgrades, downgrades, and SICKO STARTS! ⤵️

(Boldly) Predicting Week 10: Justin Herbert Goes Nuclear

It might not sound all that bold to hype up the fantasy QB4 on the season, but Justin Herbert's recent body of work deserves some attention. 

Jim Harbaugh's favorite person is the QB1 over the past four weeks, averaging 290 passing yards while throwing for 10 touchdowns and rushing for another. The team has gone 3-1 during this span, with Herbert passing for a season-high 420 yards and three TDs in a Week 7 loss to the Colts.

Since throttling down the passing offense in a Week 5 loss to the Commanders—wherein the team lost ascending rookie RB Omarion Hampton to an ankle injury—Los Angeles has leaned on Herbert and the team's impressive stable of pass-catchers to the tune of a 6.4% pass rate over expectation (fifth-highest). This four-game stretch happens to coincide with the emergence of rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden, who has racked up 377 yards and two TDs over the past four games.

Gadsden's rise has pushed the likes of Quentin Johnston (goose-egg in Week 8) and Keenan Allen (6-85-0 over his last two) down in the pecking order, but the offense has thrived with the addition of the 6-foot-5, 236-pound receiving TE. The team's passing volume is second only to the Bengals on the year, and Herbert's 7.9 YPA ranks seventh. To top it off, Herbert is rushing the ball more than ever, with 22 carries for 150 yards and a score over his last three contests. 

In Week 10, the Chargers host the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose defense has allowed the most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers per game, the fifth-most to QBs and third-most to tight ends. On the year, Pittsburgh has allowed the most passing yards per game (278.3) and 14 TDs through the air against only six on the ground. The defense has the eighth-worst success rate in the league. 

The Steelers are coming off a surprise win against the Colts, thanks in large part to turning over Daniel Jones five (!) times (three interceptions, two fumbles). But Jones still threw for a season-high 342 passing yards and a touchdown while rushing for another. After being docked one point five times, the resurgent QB still tallied 17.1 fantasy points. 

Herbert has had his share of struggles in the turnover department as well, throwing four picks in the past three games. His 7.43% sack rate ranks 25th among QBs (min. 100 plays), and the Chargers offensive line just lost star tackle Joe Alt for the season. The Steelers' defensive line will come after Herbert like it did Jones. 

But, again, the Pittsburgh secondary and Chargers' willingness to pass early and often is the fantasy antidote to these issues (as it was for the Colts). And if the Steelers don't manage to pressure Herbert and/or force turnovers, this passing unit could show off an even greater upside than we've seen in recent weeks. 

Bold prediction: Justin Herbert accounts for five TDs on Sunday night

Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds.

🔟 Things to know for the Week 10 slate. With key rankings answers, too!

📺 Breaking down every single Week 10 matchup. Smashes, fades and more.

🚑️ Bad news for Bucky and Godwin. Ugh—keep Tucker and Tez rostered.

🪓 What would the first five rounds look like if you drafted today? Let’s find out.

👀 If you wait one more week, this WR could be an elite buy-low target.

😆 Someone tell Romeo Doubs that Tucker Kraft is still alive. “He’s in a better place.”

👹 McCarthy looks possessed. Love the passion!

💥 Rico Dowdle is in a smash spot.

🂡 Brock Bowers is back and you can get a piece of him. Sort of.

🏈 If you need some streamers for Week 10, we’ve got you.

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