Week 10 of the 2022 season will be remembered for one of the best games we’ve seen in recent years, as the Vikings overcame a 27-10 deficit to beat the Bills 33-30 in overtime. The game was full of twists, turns, turnovers and plenty of drama, and it also included one of the best fantasy performances from a certain wideout.
Fantasy fans also saw the return of a superstar running back who actually looked the part for only the second time all season, and the continued rise to stardom of a certain quarterback who has gone from a dud to a true stud in the past five weeks. Unfortunately, the news wasn’t all good. Just ask any Cooper Kupp manager.
The week also brought with it some good stat lines from several “backup” fantasy quarterbacks like Matt Ryan, Trevor Lawrence, Ryan Tannehill, Kenny Pickett and Daniel Jones, who helped those managers clever enough to start them with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow on byes and Kyler Murray and Matthew Stafford out.
With that being said, let’s start our fantasy whip around Sunday’s action in the Windy City, where Justin Fields is making his case for a place among the elite.
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Justin Fields continues to roar in the stat sheets. The hottest quarterback in all of fantasy land remained on fire this weekend, scoring 39.4 fantasy points in a loss to the Lions. The mobile quarterback rushed for 147 yards and has now rushed for a combined 325 yards in his last two games. Fields also scored four total touchdowns (two rushing), and he’s now found the end zone 11 times in his last three games. His transition to an elite fantasy quarterback has been quick, as he averaged 9.4 points in his first four games (QB31) but has averaged 32.7 points in his last four contests (QB1). Fields is now a must-start quarterback in all leagues.
Cooper Kupp suffers right leg injury vs. Cardinals. The Rams offense is a total disaster, and things got even worse this week as Kupp injured his right leg. He was unable to put any weight on the leg, was taken to the locker room and didn’t return. With John Wolford under center, Kupp had three catches for minus-1 yards and put up a mere 2.9 fantasy points. It’s his worst stat line since 2017, when he scored 3.7 points in a win over the 49ers, and it’s the fewest points he’s scored in a game since 2019. If Kupp is forced to miss time (and again, the injury looked to be pretty bad), this offense could become almost completely fantasy irrelevant.
Justin Jefferson goes nuclear in a massive win. Jefferson was a one-man gang in Buffalo, catching 10 passes on a season-high 16 targets for 193 yards with one touchdown. His 35.3 fantasy points was second among wideouts heading into Sunday night, and he’s now hit the 30-point mark four times. Jefferson also made one of the most bananas catches you’ll ever see, jumping high in the air with a defender on him but still pulling the ball in with one hand to complete the reception (you’ll be able to find the incredible catch all over social media, including on my own Twitter feed). He'll face Dallas in Week 11.
Josh Allen looks like a fantasy mortal … again. The Allen soap opera started in the morning with his status being questioned due to an injured elbow, and it ended with another mistake-filled loss, this time to Minnesota. A week after throwing two interceptions in the red zone, Allen had two more picks, including another in the red zone, and lost a late fumble in the end zone that was recovered by the Vikings for a touchdown. While his fantasy point totals haven’t necessarily been bad, he’s been intercepted a very un-Allen-like six times in his last three games. He’s turned the ball over in eight of nine games overall and has thrown 10 picks (two more than he had in 2021). Allen has also lost three fumbles, which equals his total from all of last year. It's as bad as it gets for the stud quarterback.
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Hallelujah! Jonathan Taylor is back in fantasy land. It took him nine weeks, but we finally saw the Taylor we all picked with the No. 1 overall selection in drafts. He posted 147 yards on 22 carries and scored on a 66-yard run that was reminiscent of his 2021 campaign. His 24.3 fantasy points led all backs heading into Sunday night, and it’s his best stat line since a 27.5-point explosion way back in Week 1. With Matt Ryan back under center and new coach Jeff Saturday’s desire to run the ball, maybe we’ll start to see more performances like this from Taylor.
Patrick Mahomes throws four touchdown passes. Mahomes has been every bit a fantasy superstar in recent weeks, tossing four scoring passes while scoring 31.1 points in a win over the Jaguars. More impressive is that he did it without his No. 1 wideout, JuJu Smith-Schuster (injured in the game), and Mecole Hardman. In their absences, Mahomes connected with Kadarius Toney and Marquez Valdes-Scantling for two of his touchdowns. With Smith-Schuster’s status for Week 11 in question, both receivers (especially Toney) will be hot names on the waiver wire.
CeeDee Lamb leaves fantasy foes green with envy. Lamb entered the week with fewer than 13 fantasy points in three of his last four games, but he finished it with the best fantasy stat line of his career. The talented wideout caught 11 passes for 150 yards and scored two touchdowns, totaling 38 fantasy points, in what was a bad loss to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. That total was good enough to lead all receivers heading into the Sunday night game in San Francisco. Lamb should continue to post good numbers with Dak Prescott back under center, unless of course the Cowboys decide to sign Odell Beckham Jr. as a free agent.
Saquon Barkley posts Giant numbers vs. Houston. Barkley, who has been one of the season’s fantasy MVPs, was the latest running back to crush the Texans bad run defense. He rushed for 152 yards on a career-high 35 carries, found the end zone on a 2-yard run and posted 23 fantasy points in a win over Houston. His point total ranked fifth among backs heading into Sunday night, behind Jonathan Taylor, Aaron Jones, Dalvin Cook and James Conner. Barkley has now scored 15-plus points in all but one game, as he continues to shine under Brian Daboll.
Alvin Kamara posts another stinker for the Saints. Kamara was considered a lock, stock and barrel top-10 fantasy runner this week, as a plus matchup against the Steelers was on tap. Unfortunately, he failed to meet expectations with just 45 total yards and 7.5 fantasy points. Since his three-touchdown, 42.8-point explosion in Week 8, he has scored a combined 16.7 points in his last two games. While Kamara has had some nice games in the stat sheets, he’s also failed to score double digits four times in eight games. That’s not what you want from a “stud” back.
Russell Wilson is now fantasy waiver wire fodder. Wilson had been a huge dud to this point in the season, but a plus matchup against a Titans team riddled with injuries on the defensive side looked like a potential winner. The opposite was true, however. Wilson threw for 286 yards, but he was held to just one touchdown pass and threw a pick in a loss to the Titans. The veteran, who also fumbled three times (none lost), finished with a mere 14.5 fantasy points. He’s now failed to score even 15 points in four straight games and all but two games in 2022. It no longer matters who he’s playing, Wilson can’t be trusted in most traditional leagues.
Notes
- Rachaad White got the surprise start, ahead of Leonard Fournette, rushing for 105 yards on a team-high 22 carries in a win over the Seahawks in Germany. He looked good on several runs, averaging nearly five yards per tote, and is now a factor in the Bucs backfield. Fournette did see 14 carries and scored a touchdown in the contest, but he also left with an injured hip and did not come back. Tampa Bay is off next week, but White will be a hot name on waivers.
- The Dolphins offense is clicking on all cylinders, and Tua Tagovailoa is now a virtual must-start in most leagues. But while the pass attack has been great, it’s not the only part of the offense that’s been hot. The backfield, and more to the point Jeff Wilson Jr., has also been kind to fantasy managers. Wilson rushed for 119 yards and one touchdown against the Browns, scoring 22.3 points. He has now produced a combined 38.5 points in two games since being traded to the Dolphins, and his touch share has been better than Raheem Mostert’s. Wilson is looking like a weekly flex starter, even if he’s not a featured back.
- Najee Harris had his best game of the season on the ground, rushing for 99 yards while averaging nearly five yards per attempt. Unfortunately, it didn’t equate to fantasy success. Harris didn’t catch a pass on his one target, and he ultimately finished with 9.9 points. He’s averaging just 2.4 catches and is on pace for a mere 41 on the season. Harris had 74 receptions as a rookie. Simply put, he’s no longer startable in fantasy as more than a high flex option.
- Christian Watson had his coming-out party against the Cowboys, coming out of nowhere to score three touchdowns and 32.7 fantasy points. The rookie had scored 26.7 combined points in his previous six games combined! While it’ll be tough to figure out which Packers wideout will be the one to start on a week-to-week basis, Watson has certainly thrown his name in the fantasy hat. He'll be one of the hotter adds off the waiver wire heading into Week 11.
- Cole Kmet was mostly invisible in the stat sheets earlier this season, but he’s turned into Rob Gronkowski over the last three weeks. In that time, he’s put up five touchdowns and scored over 22 fantasy points twice. He did appear to hurt his leg late in the contest, but he’ll be a hot add off he waiver wire as long as he avoided a serious ailment. The Bears have a great matchup vs. Atlanta next on the schedule, and Fields has looked to Kmet far more often.
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Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for your late breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business to help you win a fantasy championship!
