Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Here are some of the top sleepers to consider for fantasy football in Week 10.
Amid a season full of injuries and surprise performances, finding the right fantasy football sleepers continues to be a major part of the process toward building a competitive team.
There are four teams on a bye in Week 10, including the Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks.
Be sure to check out The Huddle’s weekly PPR projections and rankings as well as the start/bench list to help formulate the best lineup possible.
The odds are majorly stacked against Jones as he fights for his NFL future.
The saga of New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has been a divisive one after the sixth-year quarterback was given a four-year, $160 million contract extension after the 2022 season. With a history of neck injuries and coming off a torn ACL that ended his 2023 season after just six games, there are a slew of questions when it comes to his value – both in fantasy football leagues and to the Giants organization.
In 2022 – Jones’ fourth season – he finally showed the kind of production the Giants had been looking for. In 16 games, Jones threw for 3,205 yards and 15 touchdowns and, more importantly for fantasy managers, rushed 120 times for 708 yards and seven more TDs. In terms of fantasy points per game, those were top-10 numbers in 2022. However, it didn’t last.
In six games last season prior to his injury, Jones threw for just 909 yards with two TD passes and six interceptions and looked awful as he was sacked 30 times behind a makeshift offensive line. At that rate, had he played the entire season, he would have been sacked 85 times, blowing past the current single-season high of 76 by Houston’s David Carr in 2002.
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The Giants made a lot of moves in the offseason to shore up the offensive line and used the the ninth overall pick to select wide receiver Malik Nabers. Nabers will be the first legitimate top-end receiver Jones has played with during his Giants career. The additions to the offense may merely negate the decision not to keep running back Saquon Barkley, who left for division-rival Philadelphia in free agency. Not only was Barkley the backbone of the Giants running game, he also was critical as a receiver coming out of the backfield.
The Giants didn’t get involved in the quarterback frenzy atop the first round of this year’s draft, but they did hedge their bets by signing quarterback Drew Lock to back up Jones. After placing too much trust in Jones heading into last season, which led to short-lived Tommy DeVito era in New York, the Giants aren’t taking that chance again in the event Jones stinks up the joint this season.
Jones, who isn’t expected to land on the Physically Unable to Perform list, is currently mired in ADP rankings in the 25-30 range, depending on your source of choice – a ranking that would leave him undrafted in 12-team leagues with two quarterbacks.
He does bring a bit of upside with his running ability, although that’s now in doubt following ACL reconstruction. The reality is Jones has thrown just 62 touchdown passes with 40 interceptions in 60 career games with the Giants. Worse yet, he’s coming off the poorest season of career, posting a passer rating of just 70.5 – the lowest of his career by almost 10 points.
The biggest issue with Jones is the onerous hit the Giants take on the salary cap for his contract extension. Last year, he counted just $15.44 million against the salary cap. This year, that number jumps to $47.86, and the Giants can’t release him because he would count for $47.11 million as a post-June 1 dead-cap hit.
Although he has flashed ability at times to be a decent NFL quarterback, it hasn’t been enough to warrant endorsing him as a player you want on your fantasy roster.
Drafting these three players could sink your fantasy season.
There are always players that the fantasy football “experts” pump up. It’s kind of an individual version of the Dallas Cowboys – always a perennial Super Bowl favorite despite not making it past the divisional round in the last 28 seasons. These players are consistently touted prior to drafts and rarely live up to the hype.
This year’s fantasy ADP rankings have some players who are a consensus pick at where they’re ranked but have no legitimate rationale to be where they’re slotted. Here are the three players you should avoid until the point someone else takes them too early.
Sifting through the mess that is New York’s cast of receivers.
Despite reaching the postseason for the first time since 2016 (and winning a playoff game for the first time since 2011), last year’s New York Giants featured one of the NFL’s most anemic passing attacks. They finished 26th in passing yards (185.7 per game) and tied for 24th in TDs (17), and yet they still allowed the fifth-most sacks (49).
Injuries bore some of the blame as both Wan’Dale Robinson (knee) and Sterling Shepard (knee) were lost to ACL injuries, and 2021 high-priced free-agent signee Kenny Golladay was a massive bust, forcing the team to rely on the likes of Darius Slayton, Richie James, and Isaiah Hodgins.
Of the six wideouts mentioned above, four return — Golladay was released, and James signed with the Kansas City Chiefs — and two more were added as the G-Men signed Parris Campbell and drafted Jalin Hyatt. Add it up and you have an absolute mess. While the preseason will hopefully sort some of it out, let’s take a sneak peek at what you might expect from New York’s receivers in 2023.
NFL free agency will drastically help reshape the fantasy football landscape as the new league year begins.
Now that NFL free agency is upon us, we’ll run through the fantasy football outlooks for trades, re-signings, midrange players, and tag recipients.
This analysis will be updated as players sign/re-sign in free agency, so be sure to check back regularly.
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The veteran tight end gets to start anew in a the Big Apple.
The Las Vegas Raiders dealt tight end Darren Waller to the New York Giants on Tuesday, freeing up some cap space, adding a 2023 third-round draft choice, and sending the star pass catcher outside of the conference.
The Giants bolster their weaponry for quarterback Daniel Jones one week after locking him up with a massive contract. Waller is effectively the WR1 of this offense for the time being.
New York has no one of note in the passing game after the failed Kenny Golladay experiment, even though he remains under contract. Former first-rounder Kadarius Toney wore out his welcome almost immediately, getting dealt to the Kansas City Chiefs for the same third-round pick (No. 100) that eventually would bring Waller to town. Wideouts Richie James and Darius Slayton both are scheduled to hit free agency on Wednesday.
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Entering his age-31 season, Waller was a late bloomer. His career began unceremoniously as he battled drug addiction with the Baltimore Ravens before exploding in 2019 during his second year with the Raiders (90-1,145-3). He went on to set an even higher bar for himself the following season (107-1,196-9) but has been capped at 20 appearances over the past two campaigns due to injuries.
If healthy, the talent is there for Waller to lead this offense through the air. The free-agent pool of wide receivers is basically just a bunch of guys this year, but nearly anyone is an upgrade over what currently is on the roster. Look for at least one fairly high pick to be devoted to the position. Either way, there’s still plenty to go around for Waller to see more than 100 targets.
While serving as offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills, current Giants head coach Brian Daboll helped get the most from tight end Dawson Knox, though he and Waller are quite different in terms of their style. The latter is more of a vertical guy whose downfield movement skills allow him to be treated more like a slot receiver than an inline Y tight end. Waller wasn’t a good fit for what the Raiders were looking for from the position, and he’ll be utilized by the G-Men in a more natural way for his talents.
Assuming he can remain healthy, which is a little bit of a leap of faith at this stage of his career, Waller offers midrange No. 1 TE value in almost every fantasy format. The position is extremely volatile from season to season, and it’s one of the uncommon times in conventional leagues where drafting a second tight end is not only worthwhile but strongly advised.
In 2023, the draft class for tight ends is extremely deep, so replacing Waller could go in a number of directions.
Can the Lions make Daniel Jones a QB1 in Week 11?
Every week, at least one player becomes my fascination of whether he’s worthy of a fantasy football start as a streamer. The decision can be a mental wrestling match, but for the purpose of brevity, only one player can be chosen as the fantasy football gamble of the week.
Tracking my predictions: 2-7-1
Win: Player produces ≥ 75% of projected fantasy points
Loss: Player produces >75% of projected fantasy points
Tie: Player is ejected, leaves with an injury, or lands on COVID-19 list after publishing
2021 record: 8-9-1
2020 record: 5-10-1
Something tells me I made this reference before, but this season’s series feels like I’ve been a poker player on tilt. Every single time I invest in a player, situation or matchup in this space, it seems as though I’m chasing the next week to catch up. It’s easy to lose track of the fact that every single player in this series is a gamble and not a lock, so I need to occasionally remind myself this is intended to be much closer to Keno than video poker or blackjack.
Lamenting aside, we’ll dive right into Week 11’s player rather than dwell on why I was brash (read as “stupid”) enough to roll with a Carolina Panthers receiver last week.
Jones isn’t an option for the faint of heart. He has 20 or more fantasy points in two of the last three games but just 10.8 points sandwiched in between. Jones’ role has been mostly that of a game manager in 2022, and he has thrown zero TD passes in four of nine contests.
The one thing head coach Brian Daboll rarely has been given enough credit for in his coaching career is molding his play designs and the implementation of such to the strengths of his personnel. Prior to the ascension of Josh Allen into a star quarterback, Buffalo’s offense was heavily reliant on the running game, because that’s where the talent was centralized. Daboll’s previous stops also showcase his understanding of how to best utilize his available assets.
We’re seeing it play out in real time with the Giants. This team has one of the best running backs on this side of the Milky Way, and New York’s receiving corps is among the least impressive in the league. Rather than having Jones sling it like he has something to prove — which he still does — Daboll’s understanding of this has created a more efficient version of Jones. That’s not necessarily the best thing in fantasy, but it follows a proven blueprint.
Playing within bounds of a system that is deliberately catered to the confines its personnel can occasionally result in massive spikes in production, as we’ve seen with the inconsistency in Jones’ fantasy offerings.
The sheer volatility will scare off most risk-averse owners, and that’s quite all right. In Week 11, Jones has a chance to exploit a Detroit defense that ranks as the worst unit in football vs. quarterbacks. No team has given up more fantasy points on the year, and much of the success is due to four rushing TDs allowed.
Despite allowing those ground scores to QBs — which plays strongly into Jones’ style of play — this remains the top matchup even when those touchdowns are pulled out of the stats against Detroit. The Lions rank as the best opponent for efficiency for generating fantasy points. This opponent is the seventh easiest for yardage per game through the air and No. 5 in touchdown efficiency allowed.
Six quarterbacks have racked up at least 22.6 fantasy points against the Lions, and four of those efforts went into the 30s. Dak Prescott is the only mildly mobile quarterback who didn’t manage relevant stats on the ground. Jalen Hurts (17-90-1), Geno Smith (7-49-1), and Justin Fields (13-147-2) all racked up points, and even a geriatric Aaron Rodgers (4-40-0) turned back the clock a few years vs. this group.
The matchup profiles well for a gamble on Jones in a week in which three viable starting QBs are on bye. This week, trust him vs. Detroit’s laughable defense of the position.
My projection: 21-for-29, 215 yards, 1 TD pass, 55 rushing yards, 1 TD (26.25 fantasy points)
Analyzing New York Giants QB Daniel Jones’ 2021 fantasy football ADP and where you should target him in your drafts.
Expectations will be high for New York Giants third-year QB Daniel Jones with star RB Saquon Barkley back in action this season. Below, we look at Daniel Jones‘ 2021 fantasy football average draft position (ADP) and where you should draft him.
Jones was initially drafted by the Giants with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was the second quarterback off the board and immediately joined a roster with superstar RB Barkley.
When Barkley was healthy during his rookie campaign, Jones totaled 24 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. The Giants were 3-9 in his starts. It was a rough rookie season that was compounded by a tough second season without Barkley.
However, entering his third year, Jones has weapons and experience, a perfect combination for a breakout season.
(ADP data courtesy of MyFantasyLeague.com)
As expected, Jones isn’t being drafted in the first nine rounds. In 12-team leagues, he’s likely not being drafted at all as he’s currently the 31st quarterback bring taken off the board.
Jones has gone as high as No. 22 and as low as No. 317. The 22 was likely a two-QB league in which Jones was taken near the end of the highly valued starting quarterbacks.
Oddly enough, there are only three Giants taken ahead of Jones, so not much is expected of New York this season.
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Games: 14
Passing yards: 2,943
Touchdowns: 12 (11 passing)
Interceptions: 10
Jones isn’t flying off the boards. That’s certainly not a shocker. In dynasty leagues, keeper leagues and one-QB leagues, Jones offers little upside.
He should be taken in most drafts as a competent backup option with reasonable yet capped upside. In two-QB leagues, he should be a third- or fourth-round pick.
Jones should build on his rookie season, not his second season. He has the star power to help him this time around, especially with WR Kenny Golladay as an option.
Jones could shock people this year, but in one-quarterback leagues, he’s still not a great option. Draft him in the last few rounds as a backup and much higher in two-QB leagues.
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