Sneaky Starts: Week 10

Nov 12, 2015

All but the luckiest fantasy owners at some point need to find the proverbial diamond in the rough – a waiver wire or bench player capable of putting up some points in a pinch. This weekly feature is dedicated to that part of fantasy football. It's not pretty, but it's part of the game.

Last week’s Sneaky Starts featured Marcus Mariota (QB3), Derek Carr (QB5), Blake Bortles (QB9), Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB11), Jameis Winston (QB12), Jay Cutler (QB14), DeAngelo Williams (RB1), Karlos Williams (RB3), Darren McFadden (RB16), Antonio Andrews (RB17), Brandon LaFell (WR22), Dorial Green-Beckham (WR35) and Jacob Tamme (TE16) all posted starter- or flex-caliber numbers in Week 9.

Let’s take a look at the sneakiest of starts in Week 10:

Quarterbacks

Joe Flacco, Ravens (vs. JAX)
Flacco isn’t an exciting start, but he gets the job done. The Ravens are expected to score 26-27 points, so Flacco should account for a couple of touchdowns. He has scored at least 17.7 fantasy points in five of his last seven games.

Kirk Cousins, Redskins (vs. NO)
Cousins was a Sneaky Start last week against the Patriots, but despite 40 pass attempts and a fully healthy receiving corps, he only managed 217 yards and one touchdown to go along with one pick. In his previous four games, Cousins accounted for eight total touchdowns and his matchup with the Saints (#32 in QB aFPA) doesn’t get any better.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jets (vs. BUF)
Other than his injury-shorted Week 8 game against the Raiders, Fitzpatrick is averaging 249 yards and 2.0 TD per game. The Bills aren’t a great matchup, but Ryan Tannehill, Blake Bortles and Andy Dalton have averaged 245 yards and 1.7 TD in the last three games against Buffalo.