The tenth week of fantasy football is in the books. There were some clear busts, like Tony Romo only putting up 128 yards or Matt Forte with 49 total yards. There were some surprises, like Andre Brown putting up 115 yards and a touchdown in his first game of the season. I provide for you the week ten All Fantasy Team for the week’s top performers.
Quarterback: Drew Brees
On the big stage Sunday night against a Sean Lee-less Dallas Cowboys defense, Brees absolutely shredded. He connected on 34 of 41 pass attempts for 392 yards and four touchdowns. Brees would have cleared the 400 yard mark if Dallas would have been able to keep the game reachable, but with the way the running game was working for the New Orleans Saints, there was no reason to get away from it. On the season, only Peyton Manning has more fantasy points than Brees.
Wide Receivers: Tavon Austin & Demaryius Thomas
Week 10 is exactly what fantasy owners expected when they drafted Tavon Austin this year. Austin was the highest scoring player in fantasy this week with 48.4 points on a ridiculous 310 all purpose yards and three touchdowns. Austin showed why the St. Louis Rams traded up to get him with the eighth pick in last summer’s draft, flashing lighting speed and dynamic shifting ability. Before you go picking him off your waiver wire, read this.
Any given week any of the Denver Broncos wide receivers have a shot to be on this list. This week it appears Thomas won the rock, paper, scissors match as he caught seven of a team high 10 targets for 108 yards and three touchdowns. Even though the Broncos have to support four receiving options, you absolutely have to start each of them each week.
Running Backs: Marshawn Lynch & Mark Ingram
Lynch continued to run beast mode this week against a sinking Atlanta Falcons defense, putting up 145 yards on the ground, 16 through the air on three catches and a touchdown, as the Seattle Seahawks thoroughly avenged their loss in the playoffs last year. He now has rushed for 871 yards (second to LeSean McCoy) and is tied with Jamaal Charles for leading the running backs in fantasy scoring.
RB2 was a tough call this week as both Pierre Thomas and Ingram carved through the Cowboys defense like a hot knife through butter. Ultimately, Ingram got the nod despite scoring about one less fantasy point than Thomas, because I might not get another chance to do so, and the majority of his work came on the ground where he racked up 145 yards on 14 attempts (Thomas had 87 yards on 17 carries). Each had a touchdown on the ground.
Tight End: John Carlson
The three leading tight end scorers in fantasy this week were Carlson, Julius Thomas and Delanie Walker. Coincidentally, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both got their first win of the season. It certainly was a crazy weekend. Carlson took advantage of the Kyle Rudolph injury, catching all seven targets for 98 yards and a touchdown. With Christian Ponder’s inability to connect on the deep ball, Carlson could be an interesting pick up going forward.
Kicker: Steven Hauschka
Hauschka was cash money this weekend and outscored all kickers along with big names like LeSean McCoy, Jay Cutler, Philip Rivers and Pierre Garcon. Hauschka connected on all seven kicking attempts, including field goals from 39, 43, 44 and 53 yards. He actually scored more points than the entire Falcons team, and remains a great kicking option going forward.
Defense/Special Teams: St. Louis Rams
Where did that come from? I mean, I knew the Rams defense had potential, but I didn’t think they were capable of making the Indianapolis Colts look like the Jaguars. The Rams D/ST was second in fantasy scoring this week only to Tavon Austin, as they had three sacks, four interceptions, one fumble recovery and one touchdown. They also had 172 return yards and a second touchdown, meaning the D/ST outscored the entire Colts team.
As always, I welcome your comments. If you think I’m wrong, I’m willing to listen. Just back it up with some facts and solid evidence. Thanks for reading and good luck this season.
Dustin Manko is an author at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DustinManko, ”Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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