Week 10 Bye Week Strategy: Colston Loveland Leads Week 10 Replacements
Danny Cross breaks down the best way to attack your roster holes from Week 10 and 11 byes in Fantasy Football.
Bad news for fantasy managers targeting the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys defenses during the bye weeks: Both of these historically bad units are off in Week 10, along with the Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans.
These four offenses account for a significant number of high-end fantasy assets, so let's take a look at the fantasy football bye week schedule for Week 10 and beyond with an eye on waiver wire fill-ins, trade targets and other options for both redraft and Guillotine Leagues™.
All roster rates denoted are from Yahoo leagues.
Fantasy Football Bye Week Schedule | Weeks 10-11
Here are the top fantasy players scheduled for byes in Weeks 10-11, with their FantasyLife rest-of-season positional rank listed.
MORE: Full NFL Bye Week Schedule
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Quarterback Bye Week Strategy for Week 10
Week 10 QB byes: Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Joe Flacco, Cam Ward
Week 11 QB byes: Daniel Jones, Tyler Shough
The Week 10 quarterback byes demonstrate the importance of staying ahead of the fantasy football bye week schedule. This week, the fantasy QB3 (Mahomes), QB11 (Prescott) and QB21 (Flacco, QB3 with Cincinnati) are off the fantasy grid.
Who's left on the wire:
After a suspicious, weeks-long injury saga, J.J. McCarthy (47%) returned last week to lead the Vikings to a huge road win over the Lions. The second-year QB threw two TD passes and ran for another while leading a low-volume passing attack (14-for-25, 143 yards). \McCarthy gets the privilege of Baltimore's third-worst defense in adjusted fantasy points allowed to QBs.
Aaron Rodgers (38%) has a tough road matchup with the Chargers this week, but he'll be very live in Weeks 11-12 with the Bengals coming to town, followed by a roadie against the Bears. Rodgers is QB20 on the season, but lit up the Bengals for four touchdowns and 24.6 fantasy points in Week 7.
STILL rostered too little: Jaxson Dart (77%) is now QB5 as a starter after yet another three-TD game. … Sam Darnold (60%) threw four touchdowns in the first half of Week 10 and continues to play like an MVP candidate even if the fantasy points (QB15) haven't directly followed.
Running Back Bye Week Strategy for Week 10
There are no red-alert running back waiver wire targets for Week 10, and the wire is looking thin with four teams on bye.
Week 10 RB byes: Javonte Williams, Chase Brown, Isiah Pacheco, Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears
Week 11 RB byes: Jonathan Taylor, Alvin Kamara
Who's left on the wire:
Quinshon Judkins was expected to rejoin Browns practice this week, throwing some cold water on those who added Dylan Sampson (17%) ahead of the team's bye week. Still, the fellow rookie appears to be the next man up after seeing all three RB carries and six targets after Judkins left Week 8 with a shoulder injury. Sampson produced an RB9 finish in Week 1 with Judkins out, handling 12 carries and catching 8-of-8 targets for 64 yards.
If available, Trey Benson (61%) is worth a roster spot coming out of the Cardinals' Monday night win over the Cowboys. The former second-rounder has missed five games after a meniscus trim but could return to the practice field this week or next. Arizona has been utilizing the likes of Bam Knight and Michael Carter with little success, leaving a James Conner-esque workload on the table for Benson when he returns. With the Bengals' horrific run defense on the Week 17 schedule, Benson could very well win fantasy titles in a couple of months.
With six weeks (!) to go before the fantasy playoffs, now is the time to start stashing potentially league-winning running back handcuffs. Blake Corum (10%) and Tyler Allgeier (34%) are the top names who could step directly into workhorse roles. Brian Robinson Jr. (24%) would likely do the same. These are quality backs in successful rushing offenses.
More RB handcuffs: Kenneth Gainwell (34%), Ray Davis (10%), Emanuel Wilson (8%), Bhayshul Tuten (32%), Tank Bigsby (28%), Samaje Perine (9%), Will Shipley (2%), DJ Giddens (1%)
Week 11 stash: Kenneth Gainwell (34%) will be worth a spot start in Week 11 against a Bengals unit that has given up 537 rushing yards over the last two weeks to the Jets and Bears.
Wide Receiver Bye Week Strategy for Week 10
Fantasy managers will be forced to make some gross moves in deeper leagues this week with so many top receivers on byes. Luckily, there are some lesser-rostered players available who have fallen into significant roles in recent weeks.
Week 10 WR byes: Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Calvin Ridley
Week 11 WR byes: Michael Pittman, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed
Troy Franklin (50%) didn't come through for fantasy managers a week after posting the overall WR1 finish, but saw another 10 targets and continued to be a factor in the red zone with a two-point conversion. Over the past three weeks, Franklin has led the team with a 24% target share with three TD catches and two two-point conversions. The second-year receiver has demonstrated reliable volume (7.1 targets per game) and big-play ability with four scores and three two-point conversions this year.
The impressive Indianapolis Colts offense has a lot of competition for targets, but there has been more work to go around in recent weeks. After beginning the season with a 0.9% pass rate over expected (16th) through Week 6, the team has aired it out with a league-leading 11.8% PROE over the past three games. Alec Pierce (36%) has been the main beneficiary from a volume perspective with 28 targets in that span, and Josh Downs (57%) has spiked TDs in his last three games (Downs missed Week 7 with a concussion).
Seahawks rookie WR Tory Horton (11%) has repeatedly flashed this season with five touchdowns (and a punt return TD) on just 22 targets. In Week 9, Horton caught all four of his targets and two scores, running routes on a season-high 83% of dropbacks with Cooper Kupp out injured. Seattle ranks second in dropback EPA and just torched the Commanders for 38 points behind Sam Darnold's four (first-half) TD passes. Seattle's trade for Rashid Shaheed dampens the near-term outlook here, but Horton is worth monitoring as long as Kupp is dealing with injuries.
Christian Watson (29%) has a tough matchup with Philly this week, but injuries to Tucker Kraft and Matthew Golden have severely trimmed the Green Bay receiving tree. The Packers in Week 11 visit the Giants, who have allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to wide receivers. Watson should be the 1B to Romeo Doubs for the foreseeable future.
Desperation plays: In the shadow of DJ Moore and Colston Loveland going nuts on the Bengals, Olamide Zaccheaus (3%) saw plenty of action, finishing with six catches on eight targets and a touchdown. The veteran is averaging a modest 8.0 PPR points per game but has posted double-digits in two straight … Christian Kirk (17%) continues to draw looks with eight targets in Week 9. He has yet to find the end zone but is Houston's clear No. 2 passing option with an 18% target share. … Darius Slayton (43%) has a 20% target share in Jaxson Dart's starts and will probably double his 7.9 average expected fantasy points if and when he ever scores a TD. Parker Washington (26%) has seen 19 targets over the last two games and has a clear path to volume in Jacksonville with Travis Hunter on IR.
Week 11 stashes: Tre Tucker (39%) gets a shot at the Dallas Cowboys' atrocious defense in Week 11 and a home matchup with the Browns after that. … Calvin Austin (11%) is tied for second in target share in Pittsburgh and gets to be part of the team's home matchup against the Bengals in Week 11. Austin missed Week 7 when Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes against Cincinnati.
Tight End Bye Week Strategy for Week 10
Tucker Kraft's season-ending ALC tear is brutal news for fantasy managers, who must continue to look for ascending rookies and second-year TEs during the bye weeks.
Week 10 TE byes: Jake Ferguson, Travis Kelce
Week 11 TE byes: Tyler Warren
Colston Loveland (42%) finally broke out in Week 9 with six catches on seven targets for 118 yards and two scores against the Bengals. Cole Kmet checked out early with a concussion, allowing Loveland a second-straight 75%+ route rate and season-high 22% target share. Loveland also saw a target on a failed two-point conversion. The No. 10 overall pick in last year's draft is a must-stash with a favorable schedule on tap for the next three weeks.
Luke Musgrave (10%) is set to take over for breakout TE Tucker Kraft, who suffered an ACL tear in Week 10. The 2023 early-second-round pick hasn't had much receiving duty over the past year-plus, but caught 34 balls on 46 targets for 352 yards and a TD as a rookie. He's worth an add to see how much of Kraft's workload funnels his way over the next couple of weeks. Musgrave caught a season-high three passes on three targets with Kraft out in Week 9.
Low-ceiling, TD-dependent options: Giants rookie Theo Johnson (41%) is up to five touchdowns on the year, with all five coming in Jaxson Dart's six starts. He gets a friendly matchup with the Bears in Week 10 … Seahawks second-year TE AJ Barner (11%) is also up to five scores this year after bogarting a rushing TD in the team's blowout win over the Commanders. He's the TE11 since Week 4, with only one clunker mixed in and a high of overall TE1 in Week 5. … David Njoku (55%) and Harold Fannin (45%) have earned reliable targets but are hindered by a low-ceiling offense. … Juwan Johnson (40%) posted a modest 3-31-1 line in Tyler Shough's first career start, accounting for a 17% target share (second on the team).
Week 11 stashes: Recall that in Week 7 the Aaron Rodgers managed to throw touchdown passes to three different tight ends against the Cincinnati Bengals, who have now allowed 10 scores to the position on the year. Pat Freiermuth (10%) and Jonnu Smith (18%) are the leading candidates to do damage with 14% target shares each. They each have 14 targets over the last three weeks.
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