Welcome to Week 10 of the NFL Season everyone! We are entering the final clutch stretch of the fantasy season that will determine the fate of our playoff lives! It’s also an interesting time because we still have a lot of fantasy relevant players that have yet to see their bye week, or who are currently on their bye week. We are also nearing the trading deadline for most of our leagues, this creates an interesting strategic dynamic this week. Are you a buyer or a seller? How tough is this week for you with several top options on bye? Are you scraping the remaining QB’s off the waiver wire just to stay afloat? I love this time of year! Let’s take a look at the practice reports this week and see if we have reinforcements incoming or if we are going to be losing even more weapons to the injured list.

Quarterback

Right off the top let’s get started with some good news! Kyler Murray has been designated to return and is expected to start this week for the Arizona Cardinals. While I would temper my expectations for Kyler in his first game back, this is great news for a feisty Cardinals team and likely helps the fantasy outlook for every other offensive player. 

Now, to the bad news, Daniel Jones in his return to action after the neck injury suffered a season ending knee injury on Sunday. This has thrust Tommy (not Danny) Devito into the starting role for the Giants. While DeVito did look better in his second game action of the year, this is still a significant downgrade for an already struggling offense. The Giants are going to be relying on Saquon even more than they already have been. 

In Los Angeles, the Rams released Brett Rypien and signed Carson Wentz to be Matt Stafford’s back-up. Now, there are a couple of ways to look at this. First, after seeing Rypien in action the team realized that he wasn’t developing and they needed a more competent back-up down the stretch. The second, is that the Rams aren’t being completely honest with us and Stafford’s injury is more severe than they are letting on. If this is the case they signed Wentz as a veteran presence who knows how to quickly get the ball into his playmakers hands. I’m not 100% sold on either one of these theories. We are going to have to wait until the Rams return from their bye to learn more.

In Cleveland, it looks like Watson is finally healthy. He returned to game action last week and is not listed on the team’s injury report this week. This is good news for all of the Browns pass catchers.

In Minnesota it looks like the Jaren Hall experiment is over before if ever really got a chance to begin. Hall was knocked out of Sunday’s game early, and Josh Dobbs stepped in and led the team to a very unlikely win. I expected Dobbs to get the starting job eventually, but I could not have predicted it to happen this quickly. I fully believe that Dobbs is an upgrade over Hall, but he will not provide as much of a boost to the skill players as Cousins provided.

Running Back

In Arizona we have a couple of names to look at. First James Conner has been designated to return, but has been a limited participant in practice this week. Emari Demercado has been a DNP this week with his toe injury. If Conner does not return this week, this is a backfield that I would look to avoid for fantasy. If Conner does come back, I am probably starting him, but with lowered expectations.

In Detroit, David Montgomery has been a full participant in practice this week. This is good news for him and his fantasy owners, but bad news for Jhamyr Gibbs owners. I expect Montgomery to step right back into the role he had previously, but expect Gibbs to be worked in a bit more than he had been previously. Montgomery will continue to be the short yardage and goal line back, and of the two I would prefer to start Montgomery.

For the Seahawks, Kenneth Walker continues to deal with a chest injury that has obviously been impacting his performance. He has a good matchup this week, but I would lower my expectations a bit with the emergence of Zach Charbonnet the past couple of weeks.

In Houston, Dameon Pierce has been a DNP in practice this week as he continues to deal with an ankle injury. If he doesn’t go Devin Singletary becomes an interesting option in the low RB2/Flex range.

In Green Bay we did not see Aaron Jones listed on the injury report. This is very good news after what we saw from him last week. It seems we may finally be able to rely on him again for fantasy.

Wide Receiver

Let’s start here with Justin Jefferson. The Vikings opened his 21 day practice window, but he is not expected to be back this week. He has stated that he does not want to come back until he is 100%, and he isn’t willing to put a timetable on it. I do expect him to play again this year, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t. Staying in Minnesota, KJ Osborn is still working his way through the concussion protocol, and I do not expect him to play this week. This should mean a big week for Jordan Addison and TK Hockenson.

In Cincinnati, the Bengals are dealing with injuries to both JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase was injured during the game on Sunday, and I expect him to play,  but he may not be as productive as we are used to seeing. Higgins on the other hand was injured during the first practice of the week, and I do not expect him to play. If Tyler Boyd is available in your leagues, I would try and pick him up for this week.

In San Francisco, Deebo Samuel returned to practice this week and is expected to be a full go this week. Brock Purdy gets his security blanket back. This is good news for the entire 49er offense because Purdy just looks more comfortable with Deebo on the field. I expect to see a nice bounceback week after a bit of a slump from the 49ers.

In Seattle, both Tyler Lockett and Jaxson Smith-Njigba are dealing with injuries this week. JSN was a DNP on Wednesday with a hip injury, while Lockett was a limited participant with his hamstring injury.

For the Commanders, Curtis Samuel was able to be a limited participant in practice and is trending in the right direction. This might be bad news for Jahan Dotson owners. The past two weeks with Samuel out, Dotson has had his best weeks of the year. It will be interesting to see if that continues with Samuel returning to the lineup.

In Detroit, newly acquired Donovan Peoples-Jones has been a limited participant in practice and his Lions debut is not a guarantee for this week. I think he is more likely than not to play, but it is a situation worth monitoring.

Arizona Cardinals receiver Michael Wilson continues to deal with a shoulder injury that kept him out of last week’s game. If he is able to go, I look forward to seeing how his rapport with Kyler is.

For the Packers, Christian Watson is dealing with both chest and back injuries. He was also evaluated for a concussion. I think he plays this week, but the Jordan Love issue remains so I would temper my expectations.

In Jacksonville, Zay Jones continues to deal with a knee injury, and I do not expect to see him again this week. Maybe the Jaguars figured out how to get Ridley involved without Jones on the field during their bye week?

For the Titans, Treylon Burks is working his way through the concussion protocol and has been a DNP all week. He is unlikely to play in what has been a disappointing season for the second year receiver.

In Houston, Robert Woods was able to get in a limited practice on Thursday after being a DNP on Wednesday. He is trending in the right direction, but is worth monitoring. If he doesn’t play expect Noah Brown to once again play in his role in the offense.

For the Colts, Josh Downs was a DNP on Wednesday, but will travel to Germany with the team. His situation is one that is very worth monitoring as he has emerged as one of the top pass catchers in Indianapolis.

Tight End

Starting in Indianapolis, Drew Ogeltree will not travel to Germany with the team. He is out for Sunday.

In Cleveland, David Njoku was a limited practice participant, but is expected to play through his knee injury.

Vikings Tight End TJ Hockenson is dealing with a rib injury, and has been a limited participant in practice. It won’t keep him out of the game, and with other injuries on the team he could be in line for a very big day.

Eagles TE Dallas Goedert was placed on IR, so if you are looking for help when they return from bye, I might put in a speculative waiver claim for Albert Okwuegbunam. He is an athletic specimen and I think the bye week might give the Eagles just enough time to get his unique skill set implemented into the offense.

That’s going to do it for this week’s recap. I hope that you can use this information to help make informed lineup decisions to help you dominate your fantasy matchups this week. As always, if you have roster management or team makeup questions about your fantasy rosters, please reach out to me on X(Twitter) @2fatguysff