Welcome to Week 10’s start/sit column. Each week throughout the regular season, I will go over a few players at each major position and tell you whether you should make room in your lineup for them or pull them out of a starting spot. Players labeled “starts” are non-obvious options that either have a good matchup or are trending in the right direction, ranking higher for me than consensus this week. Players labeled “sits” are ones I have concerns about leading into the week but are in a significant amount starting lineups. This article is most helpful for those in full- or half-point PPR leagues.

As always, you should make the final call on all of your lineup decisions. This column is intended to be a piece of your research puzzle and/or a resource to highlight some specific names that may have been overlooked in my weekly rankings. Remember, the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, and New York Jets are on bye this week.

Without further ado, here is Start/Sit for Week 10:

QUARTERBACK

START: Drew Brees (QB - NO)

Let’s start with an about-face from last week’s article. I didn’t like the matchup Brees was facing against a Buccaneers team ranked No. 1 against fantasy quarterbacks entering Week 9. Then, well, Sunday Night Football happened. Brees demolished Tampa Bay to the tune of 222 yards and four touchdowns on 26-of-32 passing. Now, he returns home in a more favorable matchup against a 49ers team that has allowed four passing touchdowns in back-to-back weeks. San Francisco has allowed three 27-plus point fantasy performances to quarterbacks in their last five games, including 28.74 points to Russell Wilson two weeks ago and 28.9 points to Aaron Rodgers last week. The only quarterbacks the 49ers have held under 20 points since Week 4 are Jared Goff (15.92 points) and Cam Newton (2.82). The Saints are rolling now with all of their weapons back healthy, and Brees should continue his strong play.

START: Jared Goff (QB - LAR)

Speaking of Goff, things were really rough in the three weeks leading into Los Angeles’ bye. Goff completed only 58.3% of his passes and averaged 15 fantasy points per game in Weeks 6-8. But coming off the bye week he has a glorious matchup against the Seahawks, the absolute worst defense in the NFL. No team is allowing more fantasy points per game to quarterbacks than the Seahawks (27.0) and the Rams have had extra time to prepare. Given that they’re coming off of their bye, I expect Los Angeles to have a few more scripted plays than usual this week, which’ll be to Goff’s benefit. He’s a true QB1 in this matchup.

SIT: Matthew Stafford (QB - DET)

The Lions’ offense just looks different without Kenny Golladay—and not different in a good way. Although it’s possible the star receiver returns this week, it’s unlikely. The Lions are winless without him on the field and Stafford is averaging just 14.93 fantasy points per game in the three games his star receiver has missed this season. The Washington defense is a below-average matchup for fantasy quarterbacks to begin with, so given Stafford’s struggles, he’s a “sit” in single-QB leagues and a borderline top-20 quarterback overall in Week 10.

RUNNING BACK

START: J.D. McKissic (RB - WSH)

McKissic has finally graduated from his frequent appearance in my “Sneaky Starts” column to this space. Aside from being the player I yell about most often on the TDN Fantasy Podcast, McKissic is ranked as a low-end RB2 in my rankings this week. No running back ran more routes than McKissic last week, as he had a whopping 14 targets, catching nine for 65 yards. He’s averaging 11.8 fantasy points per game in his last five games and he’s somehow available in nearly two-thirds of leagues. He’s not only a must-add this week, but he should be in your starting lineup. His workload is incredibly consistent and he’s shown plenty of chemistry with Alex Smith, who certainly isn’t trying to push the ball down the field at this stage of his career.

START: Kareem Hunt (RB - CLE)

You might be saying “duh” to this one, but I want to make the point that Hunt is a “start” this week regardless of Nick Chubb’s status. Chubb could return to action this week, which may scare off some who are rostering Hunt. But surprisingly, Hunt has been better with Chubb on the field than with him on the sidelines this season. Hunt is averaging 17.4 fantasy points per game this season when Chubb plays and 13.6 fantasy points per game when he doesn’t. He also gets to play a Texans team allowing the second-most fantasy points per game to running backs this season. The matchup is great, and Hunt will be plenty productive even if Chubb is 100% ready to assume his old role. You can write Hunt’s name into your Week 10 lineup with a Sharpie.

SIT: Jonathan Taylor (RB - IND)

The matchup with Tennessee coupled with the state of the running back position right now makes Taylor enticing, but I’m not starting the rookie this week. After being second on the Colts in running back snaps two weeks ago, he fumbled and was third in snaps behind both Jordan Wilkins and Nyheim Hines this past week. We have no idea what his workload will be, but I do know that unless he scores, he won’t get enough touches to be fantasy-relevant on Thursday night. You probably have a better RB2 option, and definitely have better flex plays.

WIDE RECEIVER

START: Brandin Cooks (WR - HOU)

The fantasy community was about 50-50 when it came to starting Cooks last week despite a great matchup. Hopefully, those who sat him last week hop on board the hype train this week in another great matchup against Cleveland. The Browns are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season, more than the Jaguars, Packers and about equal with the Titans—the three teams Cooks has feasted on over his last four games. Cooks is averaging 20.6 fantasy points and nearly 10 targets per game over the last month. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a must-start top-15 wide receiver this week.

START: Jerry Jeudy (WR - DEN)

Did we just witness the Jeudy breakout game—a 7/125/1 stat line, all career highs—last week? I think we may have, especially with how often the Broncos are throwing right now—Drew Lock is averaging 43 pass attempts per game over the last three weeks. Jeudy has double-digit targets in back-to-back games and has at least 10 fantasy points in five of his last seven outings. The Raiders are not a matchup worth shying away from, as passing offenses have had plenty of recent success against them outside of the crazy weather game in Cleveland. Jeudy sneaks into WR2 territory in my rankings this week.

SIT: Henry Ruggs III (WR - LV)

There are legitimately 60 wide receivers I think are worthy of potentially being startable in fantasy this week, so I had to dig a little to find a must-sit. I settled on Ruggs, who’s still rostered in more than half of leagues and has a decent matchup against the Broncos this week. I’m perplexed by Ruggs’ lack of usage—particularly in the category of horizontal field stretcher—and how Nelson Agholor has so clearly jumped him on the depth chart. Ruggs is averaging only 3.5 targets and 2.5 touches per game so far in his rookie season. There is no upside here anymore (in 2020). He has one game with double-digit fantasy points (19.8, Week 5 vs. Chiefs) and is averaging 4.3 fantasy points per game in all other contests. He shouldn’t just be on your bench, he should be on your waiver wire.

TIGHT END

START: Austin Hooper (TE - CLE)

It’s looking more and more likely that Hooper is going to return to the field after missing some time recovering from an appendectomy. If Hooper is active, he should pick up right where he left off. Hooper was averaging 7.7 targets, 5.0 catches, and 11.8 fantasy points per game in his three games prior to the appendectomy. He now gets a matchup against a Texans team allowing the ninth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season with a rested, healthier passer in Baker Mayfield coming out of the bye. Hooper is ranked as my TE6 this week.

SIT: Tyler Higbee (TE - LAR)

It’s tempting to play any pass-catcher against the Seahawks, which is probably why I’ve been asked about Higbee so much already this week. While Seattle gives up the bulk of its points against true wide receivers, that’s not really the issue here. The problem is that Higbee hasn’t been good or used all that much this season. He’s averaging just 3.6 targets per game in 2020. Plus, aside from his 28.4-point performance in Week 2, he doesn’t have even nine fantasy points in any other game this season. He can’t be trusted.