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It’s official. Injuries are not planning on stopping.
With first round talents such as Aaron Rodgers and Arian Foster sidelined for Week 10, along with four more teams on a bye, fantasy owners need to find some sneaky plays that could be on the waiver wire. Here are the under the radar guys I like for Week 10.
Wait, it’s already Week 10? Sigh…
Doug Baldwin @ Atlanta Falcons: A lot of people had Baldwin pegged as a good play last week, and that paid off tremendously. The talented wideout hauled in six balls for 75 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, he saw a team-high 10 targets in the passing game. To put that into perspective, Golden Tate and Jermaine Kearse saw a combined five targets in this game. 40 percent of Russell Wilson’s passes went towards Baldwin, and keep in mind that Sidney Rice is out for the year, and Percy Harvin isn’t expected to make his debut this week. The matchup is incredible, as the Falcons have allowed the 33.19 fantasy points to opposing wideouts per game (9th-most). Only the Bills and Eagles have allowed more touchdowns to wideouts this season.
Shonn Greene vs Jacksonville Jaguars: I never thought I’d say this again, but I love Greene this week. The Titans recently stated they wanted to get him about 15 carries per game. He only saw nine in his return from injury last week, but he made the most of it, scoring a touchdown and totaling 66 yards. As expected, he was the short-yardage back, seeing three carries from inside the ten-yard line. Greene will get 12-15 carries against the 32nd-ranked run defense in football this week. The Jags have allowed a league-high 13 touchdowns on the ground, along with 161.8 yards per game to rushers. The Titans could be ahead early in this game, which could mean less Chris Johnson and more Greene.
Brian Hartline @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Hartline has been pretty useless lately, seeing just 11 targets and seven grabs over the last two weeks, but being the number two wide receiver could pay dividends for both he and fantasy owners. The Buccaneers have surrendered nine passing touchdowns over the last six games. Since Tampa Bay’s bye week, opposing number two receivers have led the team in receiving yards against the Buccaneers. Hartline is trusted by quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and with Mike Wallace likely to be blanketed by Darrelle Revis, Hartline should get plenty of looks. According to Pro Football Focus, wide receivers being covered by Revis have only been targeted 30 times. Look for Hartline to get plenty of opportunity.
Donald Brown vs St. Louis Rams: A tale of two YPC totals. The (so we thought) talented Trent Richardson continues to struggle, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry, while Brown, the backup, is outplaying him, averaging an impressive 6.3 yards per tote. Brown continues to play better than T-Rich, which has resulted in more playing time for the backup. Brown is seeing almost 30 snaps per game, and has carried the football 17 times over the last two weeks. He could be a sneaky play this week against a Rams defense that is getting torched on the ground, allowing the fifth-most fantasy points per game to opposing backs (25.11). 11 running backs have found the end zone against the Rams this season. Brown should get more opportunity each week Richardson struggles.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
