Fantasy Football Must Starts Week 10

By James Collier

Welcome to Week 10’s Must Starts! Read on for four players we think deserve to be in your fantasy lineups this week. 

A reminder of what we are looking for in a “Must Start”. We are trying to find you players that are undervalued in DFS or are being ranked too low by (Expert Consensus Rankings) ECR. So, while there will be some contrarian picks, there will also be some “good chalk”. 

Review of Last Week

We went three from four last week with my Brian Robinson replacement Austin Ekeler, Jayden Reed and Jakobi Meyers all smashing their ECR rankings. 

Let’s hope for the same again from this week’s selections. 

Khalil Shakir @ Indianapolis Colts

Shakir is probably the most consistent receiver in the NFL right now. He has 42 receptions on 45 targets, he’s the fantasy WR20 (PPR) and he’s ranked 24th in the NFL in receiving yards. 

He’s not always going to be a week to week stud for fantasy purposes with just five touchdowns so far in his NFL career. But he’s a solid bet for double digit returns and this is a plus matchup against Indianapolis. Shakir specialises in yards after the catch and only three teams have more missed tackles than the Colts so far this season.

With Keon Coleman out and Amari Cooper questionable, Josh Allen should continue to lean on Shakir as his number one target. This will lead to Shakir getting plenty of opportunities to exploit the weaknesses in the Colts defence and volume himself to a top end WR2 finish. 

ECR Rank (PPR): WR24

Parker Washington vs Minnesota Vikings (Kev White)

Struggling to fill a lineup due to bye weeks and injuries? Kev (@TheDynastyMind) might just have the perfect deep league pick for you. 

“I’m going deep in the wide receiver pool this week, opting for Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington, as my must start play in the flex position.

Washington will play an important role in a transitioning Jaguars offense, which could look different to previous weeks. Mac Jones is slated to start at quarterback, where he should have chemistry as the traditional QB2 working a ton in practice with the WR4 Washington. Also, if Gabe Davis returns it will slide Washington into a prominent slot role – with the Vikings giving up the most amount of fantasy points to the opposition at slot.

The Vikings are also the second worst side in the league against wide receivers as a whole, with the Jaguars as heavy underdogs it should lead to a positive game script for Washington and a high passing volume, creating more opportunities to succeed. Washington can be a fine flex play in deeper leagues or a solo play in DFS.”

ECR Ranking (PPR): WR51

Sam Darnold @ Jacksonville Jaguars (Lewis Wood)

Lewis (@ff_pancake) is also looking at the Vikings/Jags game for his pick of Sam Darnold. Be sure to check out his start/sits video featuring Darnold as his Quarterback Start via the tweet below. 

“It’s been a weird season for Sam Darnold. Through the first four games, he only finished outside the top 12 once. Through the next four, he’s only finished inside it once. The offense has stagnated, but there’s a real chance to get right this week against the worst passing defense in the league. The problem could be if they go up too early, but with all his weapons back and healthy, Darnold is a must start in week 10.”

ECR Ranking: QB7

Ladd McConkey vs Tennessee Titans (Tom Strachan)

Tom (@NFL_TStrack) rounds us off as usual with Chargers rookie Ladd McConkey. 

“In fantasy football sometimes volume can all that you need and that’s been something that hasn’t been hard to come by for Ladd McConkey. The former Georgia rookie is averaging 6.5 targets per game, second only to Malik Nabers’s 12.0 among rookies. McConkey is averaging an 87% route participation since the Week 5 bye and should be in for a strong week against a Titans team that allows a league-leading 0.26 targets per route run to slot receivers along with the eighth-highest catch rate. McConkey lacks the ceiling we’d truly hope for but in managed formats getting high floor players can be very helpful.”

ECR Ranking (PPR): WR22

Feature image credit: AP Photo

JAMES COLLIER

Lead Fantasy Football Analyst

A Washington fan since the early 2010’s, James had no choice but to turn to fantasy football in search of happiness – and it wasn’t long until it became an obsession. You can follow him on Twitter @jamesc294.

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