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Craig Rondinone's sneaky fantasy football starts, pivot plays and post-waiver waiver pickups for Week 10 lineups. Start 'em as under-the-radar fantasy sleepers.
The push for the playoffs starts this week for millions of fantasy football general managers – unless your team is the Detroit Lions of your league.
Four more teams are on bye this week, so the player pool is thinner than a Slim Jim. If one of your superstar starters might not play this week due to injury and bench is weak, you will need to do a deep dive on your fantasy waiver wire for an emergency stand in. Let me see if I can be of any assistance with this!
Without further ado, here are my sneaky starts, pivot plays and post-waiver pickups for Week 10 – and the questionable superstars who you might need to replace at the last minute in your fantasy lineup:
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Sneaky Pickups and Starts for Week 10
If Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa (finger) cannot pass the ball on Sunday, you could pick up and play….
Taylor Heinicke, Washington Football Team (QB) vs. TB
Heinicke has had more moments of mediocrity than flashes of brilliance since being pressed into starting signal caller duty thanks to Ryan Fitzpatrick’s injury. His 3-to-6 TD-to-INT ratio over the last month has brought his fantasy value crashing down to earth after he appeared to be a fantasy savior in September. The NFL and its defensive coordinators do not take long to figure quarterbacks out after they play a couple games.
What I like about Heinicke this week is that Washington is coming off a bye. He has had a week to recharge his batteries, and Washington’s offensive coaches have had an extra week to devise ways to make Heinicke a fantasy force again. I also like his matchup this week. Tampa Bay’s pass defense has steadily improved as its ranking has gone from dead last to 20th over the past several weeks, but whose wouldn’t when facing the pass offenses of New Orleans, Chicago, Philadelphia and Miami over the past four games? The Buccaneers secondary is vulnerable, and Heinicke will take his shots via the air with Terry McLaurin and with his own scramble-savvy legs. Do no be bashful about picking him up if Tua leaves you short at the QB position this weekend.
If Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins (hamstring) is ruled out before Sunday’s kickoff, you could pick up and play….
Russell Gage, Atlanta Falcons (WR) at DAL
Gage has had a quiet season to say the least, so it goes without saying he is probably available in your league. He has been a major disappointment on an Atlanta team that handed him the No. 2 WR job on a silver platter and then watched top target Calvin Ridley bow out so he could address his mental needs. All Gage has done is manage a 16-159-1 while Cordarrelle Patterson has resurrected his career and become the playmaker everyone thought he would be nine years and five teams ago.
There is fantasy hope for Gage, however. The 6-2 Dallas Cowboys defensive backfield has been the Achilles heel of the team this season. The team ranks 25th against the pass, and is the same team that made New York Giants rookie Kadarius Toney look like he deserved a 99 rating in Madden ’22 when he torched the secondary for 10 catches and 189 yards a few games ago. The Cowboys should come out firing after last week’s debacle against Denver, so do not be surprised if this becomes a shootout that Atlanta is on the wrong side of for most of the game. If my prediction is spot on, Gage should be able to add up some garbage-time yardage and fourth-quarter PPR points, thanks to come-from-behind catches. His best three games of the season have all come on the road and he was targeted 21 times in that three-pack of contests.
If New England’s Damien Harris (concussion) cannot clear his cobwebs by Sunday, you could pick up and play…
Eno Benjamin, Arizona Cardinals (RB) vs. CAR
Arizona’s top tailback this season has been James Conner, who has been finding the end zone (11 TD) as often as CeeDee Lamb finds himself getting fined. Conner’s compadre, Chase Edmonds, is out for the next month due to a high-ankle sprain. Arizona head honcho Kliff Kingsbury will want to keep Conner fresh for the stretch drive and knows he has a bit of an injury history, so third-string back Benjamin should get plenty of playing time this week.
Benjamin is an unheralded seventh-round pick from 2020 who did nothing in the NFL until he rushed nine times for 39 yards and a 21-yard touchdown last week after Edmonds went down. The game script should be very favorable for Benjamin this Sunday. Arizona is hosting a Carolina team that will be trotting out a backup quarterback, so the Cardinals should be able to build a lead and run a ton in the second half. If the game gets out of hand, Benjamin will be the one doing mop-up duty and racking up yards against a tired Panthers defense. Take a flyer on the wire and pick him up.
If Indianapolis’ T.Y. Hilton (concussion) misses another game, you could pick up and play….
Jamal Agnew, Jacksonville Jaguars (WR) at IND
Gone are the days when Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell ruled the receiver roost in Jacksonville. Now the Jaguars are left with offseason signee Marvin Jones looking a step slow, and slot receiver Laviska Shenault being the king of the meaningless seven-yard catch. It has gotten so bad that journeyman tight end Dan Arnold, who was not even with the team at the start of the season, has become the main man in the passing plans by default.
With only one score in eight games, Agnew is the poster boy for touchdowns about as much as Aaron Rodgers is the poster boy for COVID vaccines. That said, Agnew gets looked at by Trevor Lawrence a bunch (30 times over last four games). Agnew should get open against Indianapolis’ 23rd-ranked pass defense this weekend. The Colts have allowed New York’s Elijah Moore, Tennessee’s A.J. Brown, and San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel to have monster games against them the past three weeks. Agnew might not go sick like that trio, but six receptions for 80 yards and a possible TD is certainly reasonable.
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