For the first time in the 2016 fantasy football season, the Sauce results have brought us even for the season. This was the best week yet, going 6-2 in week nine and actually hitting on our Le’Veon Bell prediction. I won’t gloat too much, because as the standings show, I’ve missed on as many as I’ve gotten right in our version of the bold predictions.
Still, being at .500 on the season has me feeling like Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott after a touchdown.
Week 9 results
Hot Sauce
Jameis Winston, TB – 23/37, 261 yards, 3 TDs. ON FIRE
Dak Prescott, DAL – 21/27, 247 yards, 3 TDs, 4 carries for 20 yards. ON FIRE
Allen Robinson, JAC – 7 catches on 11 targets for 76 yards, 1 TD. ON FIRE
Weak Sauce
Eli Manning, NYG – 22/36 for 257 yards 4 TDs and 2 INTs. BURNED (But Eli, tried to Eli).
Derek Carr, OAK – 20/31 for 184 yards and 0 TDs. ON FIRED
Le’Veon Bell, PIT – 14 carries for 32 yards, 6 catches for 38 yards. ON FIRE
Jay Ajayi, MIA – 24 carries for 111 yards, 3 catches for 19 yards, and 1 TD. BURNED
Marvin Jones, DET – 1 reception on 5 targets for 5 yards. ON FIRE
The Results
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Week 10 Hot Sauce – The Starters
Trevor Siemian, Denver Broncos @ New Orleans Saints
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Yes, there are a lot of things not to like about Trevor Siemian’s game. He doesn’t have a big arm and gets rid of the ball before allowing plays to develop. What I do like about him is he’s facing a New Orleans Saints defense that just allowed Colin Kaepernick to look like an All-Pro quarterback, throwing for nearly 400 yards.
Yes, you read that right.
If you’re in need of a week 10 quarterback stream, Siemian can be your guy. Against Oakland in week nine, he threw for 283 yards and two scores. This week he’ll surpass those totals in a shootout.
Flavorful Forecast: 350 yards, three touchdowns, one interception.
Devontae Booker, Denver Broncos @ New Orleans Saints
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Devontae Booker was a hot commodity in dynasty league rookie drafts this season. Many even predicted that he would force the Denver Broncos running back situation into a committee at some point in the 2016 season.
With C.J. Anderson out, he is now the lead back in an offense that is tailor-made for his one-cut ability. The question at this point is; can he handle a full-time workload?
Against New Orleans in week 10, he answers that question.
The New Orleans Saints are middle of the pack in rushing yards allowed, allowing 108.5/game. They have allowed 12 rushing touchdowns in eight games, which is tied for the second most in the NFL. Start Booker in the Superdome.
Flavorful Forecast: 18 touches for 120 total yards and two touchdowns.
Terrance West, Baltimore Ravens vs Cleveland Browns
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Terrance West has been up and down the last several weeks. In a good week nine matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers (allowing 4.2 yards per carry), West was only able to manage 1.4 YPC on 15 attempts. That’s in a game in which Baltimore led for much of the contest.
This week West and the Baltimore Ravens face the Cleveland Browns, a team that has given up the second most rushing yards in the NFL through nine weeks. The Browns have allowed 146.44 yards per game and 12 rushing touchdowns.
West will have to contend with rookie Kenneth Dixon for touches as Dixon is rumored to see more of the workload, but West should still get 15-plus touches in this contest.
Flavorful Forecast: 17 touches for 90 total yards and a touchdown.
J.J. Nelson, Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers
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This is a name most people may not be familiar with.
Coming into the 2016 season, J.J. Nelson was an afterthought in Arizona with a passing game featuring Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, and John Brown.
Fitzgerald is still Fitzgerald, even at this age. With Floyd being ineffective, and Brown suffering from concussions and injuries for much of the season, Nelson has stepped up. In weeks seven and eight, Nelson was targeted 19 times and caught 11 passes for 163 yards, and two touchdowns.
In week nine, the San Francisco 49ers allowed over 300 yards passing and three touchdowns to Drew Brees & Co. The Cardinals likely won’t have to air it out, but if they do, look for Nelson to have an impact.
Flavorful Forecast: Five catches for 85 yards, and one touchdown.
Mike Wallace, Baltimore Ravens vs Cleveland Browns
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Mike Wallace. What an enigma this guy has been throughout his career. He was stellar early on, when he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since then, and before arriving in Baltimore, he has been pretty average.
But Wallace has gone over 90 yards four times this season, including the last three games.
Cleveland is pretty bad on defense, and Wallace has been the biggest pass-catching threat Baltimore has to offer. He’s worth a start this week in every format.
Flavorful Forecast: Four catches for 120 yards, and one touchdown.
Week 10 Weak Sauce – The Sitters
Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins vs Minnesota Vikings
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We’ve seen this show all year long… The Minnesota Vikings are really good on defense. They are also really good against the pass.
In week nine, they held Marvin Jones to one catch for five yards. That’s really good. Only three times in 2016 have the Minnesota Vikings allowed a team to throw for more than 240 yards. On the season they’ve only allowed eight touchdown passes and are one of only four teams to have more interceptions than touchdowns allowed.
Kirk Cousins has been playing really well as of late, having thrown for 260 yards or more in four straight games. His last time out, Cousins threw for 458 yards and two touchdowns in an overtime game against the Cincinnati Bengals in London. While he has played well, he’s still prone to throw interceptions. His TD:INT ratio this year is 12:7.
I look for Minnesota to rebound after their third straight loss and put an end to Cousins’ statistical explosion.
Flavorless Forecast: 230 yards passing, one touchdown, two interceptions.
Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants
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Jeremy Hill has been good in 2016. He has also been not so good. Against the New York Giants in week 10, I expect the not-so-good Jeremy Hill to show up.
The New York Giants are currently 8th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed with just 3.6 yards per carry. He hasn’t been getting the majority of the work for the Bengals and I expect his yardage totals to be down this week.
Flavorless Forecast: 14 total touches for 48 yards and zero touchdowns.
LeGarrette Blount, New England Patriots vs Seattle Seahawks
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LeGarrette Blount leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns with nine. Even after a week off, he still leads the league in rushing touchdowns. He’s been really good this year and the New England Patriots are actually using the running game this season.
Against Seattle in week 10, I wouldn’t have such high hopes for him. The Seattle Seahawks have only allowed four rushing touchdowns in 2016 and allow 3.4 yards per carry.
Flavorless Forecast: 12 carries for 36 yards, zero touchdowns.
Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers vs Dallas Cowboys
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The Dallas Cowboys are the only team in the NFL to not allow a 100-yard rusher or 100-yard receiver in any game in 2016. I see that trend continuing against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dallas’ ball control style combined with their bend-but-don’t-break defense is going to limit the Steelers’ big-play ability, as well as the amount of plays they’ll be able to run.
In week nine, the Baltimore Ravens essentially shut off Antonio Brown and made Ben Roethlisberger go to his other options.
If the Cowboys use a similar game plan, and with the possibility that Morris Claiborne isn’t out as long as originally believed, the Dallas secondary could have its full compliment of talent available for this huge road game.
Flavorless Forecast: Four catches for 55 yards, zero touchdowns.
Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints vs Denver Broncos
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The Denver Broncos are really good against the pass. If you’ve read this column, we’ve gone over that a ton. While the Oakland Raiders won the game, the Broncos were able to keep Derek Carr and the Oakland passing offense in check.
Oakland’s top two targets — Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree — combined for only 83 yards on eight catches.
While New Orleans is a better passing offense, they’ve shifted their focus to a much more balanced offensive attack. The last couple of weeks they’ve been closer to a 50/50 rush/pass balance than anytime we’ve seen in the Sean Payton era (the Dallas effect). I expect them to employ more of the Oakland Raiders game plan against Denver and try to beat them on the ground.
Michael Thomas has been great in his rookie season and really stands out in the New Orleans Saints passing game, but I’d look for other options this week.
Flavorless Forecast: Four catches for 40 yards, and zero touchdowns.
Week 10 Waiver Wire Adds
Trevor Siemian, QB, Denver Broncos – QB Stream of the week. See above for further explanation.
Kapri Bibbs, RB, Denver Broncos – He got some runs against the Oakland Raiders, to the tune of 80 total yards and a touchdown. Has some explosive ability, though Booker is still the lead dog.
DuJuan Harris, RB, San Francisco 49ers – Though you may not want to start him this week against the Arizona Cardinals, he may be a good add and flex-play if Carlos Hyde’s shoulder injury lingers.
Robert Woods, WR, Buffalo Bills – 10 catches for 168 yards against the vaunted Seattle Seahawks defense. He’s shifty and someone in Buffalo needs to catch the ball.
Eli Rogers, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers – With the Baltimore Ravens shutting off Antonio Brown, Rogers saw 10 targets in week nine and converted that into six catches for 106 yards. He may get similar opportunities against Dallas in week 10, though he will have a much more difficult time against Dallas’ outstanding pair of slot corners, Orlando Scandrick and Anthony Brown.
Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles – Finally!!! On the season, Ertz has 247 yards receiving. On Sunday he went for 97 of those yards. With all of the problems in the Eagles’ wide receiver core, it doesn’t make sense they would under-utilize Ertz. Many people have likely given up on him already so you should be able to snatch him up.
