Top 25 quarterback rankings for Week 10 fantasy football

Update

Patrick Mahomes practiced in full and will start against the Titans with Malcolm Butler out. He’s moved up to QB3. I’m feeling even better about Kyler Murray with Kenyan Drake, David Johnson, Christian Kirk and Larry Fitzgerald all running routes against the weak Buds’ pass defense, so I moved him to QB5. Jacoby Brissett will sit, so Brian Hoyer gets the nod. Hoyer is much more risk/reward than Brissett, but I’m okay with the risk at home against the Dolphins and like him at QB14 as a solid streaming option. Kirk Cousins will likely have trouble against the Dallas defense in Dallas and without Adam Thielen, I’ve dropped him to QB19.

Welcome to Week 10, where the fantasy football party never ends. We’re in the thick of the bye weeks with six teams resting this week, then four teams in each of the next two weeks. If you need to make a run to squeak into the playoffs, this is the time to get your ducks in a row.

Bye Weeks

Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington

QBs on bye: Deshaun Watson, Gardner Minshew, Tom Brady, Carson Wentz, Brandon Allen, Case Keenum/Dwayne Haskins

Injury Report

Patrick Mahomes: According to Jay Glazer, doctors told Mahomes that he had a 40 percent chance of re-dislocating his knee cap inside of 21 days, but those odds go down to 10-15% after 21 days. Last Sunday was 17 days since his injury, and this Sunday will be 24. That timeframe should give him a better shot at playing this week, but there are no guarantees.

Jacoby Brissett: The Colts QB suffered a strained MCL against the Steelers on Sunday and has a chance to play this week against the Dolphins. He might go down to a game-time decision.

Matt Ryan: Falcons coach Dan Quinn believes Matt Ryan will be ready to go after getting two weeks rest for his ankle injury. Play him as usual.

Cam Newton: Newton doesn’t have a timetable for a return at this moment, and Kyle Allen was named the starter for Week 10

QB Ranking Tiers

Tier 1

I usually save Tier 1 for blow-up spots, and it looks like we have two this week. Lamar Jackson takes on a Bengals team that he already rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown against, and Drew Brees returns to the dome to meet a Falcons defense that allows the most fantasy points per pass attempt.

Tier 2

This tier has good fantasy quarterbacks in not perfect matchups, with Aaron Rodgers vs. Carolina, Patrick Mahomes at Tennessee (if he plays), Russell Wilson at San Francisco, Jameis Winston vs. Arizona, and Matt Ryan at New Orleans. All of these are must-plays, but only Winston gets a bump for his matchup.

Tier 3

Matthew Stafford has been on fire but travels to Chicago to take on a desperate Bears team. Thankfully for Stafford, the Bears defense, despite still being good, hasn’t played at nearly the level they did last season. The Lions are also playing up-tempo and throwing the ball often with their defense allowing big points and Kerryon Johnson on the shelf, so Stafford remains a good start.

Kyler Murray has had some tough matchups of late, but he gets a reprieve this week against Tampa Bay. The Bucs and Cardinals have the highest over/under of the week at DraftKings Sportsbook, as two weak defenses face off and should be a prime spot for fantasy points.

Dak Prescott heads home to take on a Vikings team that has been better against the run than the pass. He should continue to have good upside this week.

Phillip Rivers played well last week against the Packers, but Melvin Gordon grabbed the touchdowns, keeping Rivers down for fantasy. This week we may finally get a Rivers breakout game, as he takes on the Raiders, who have allowed 16 touchdown passes over the last five games.

QB Streamers

Whoever is playing the Dolphins is usually a good streamer, and this week that will be Brissett or Brian Hoyer. I’d throw either one out there this week behind an excellent offensive line at home.

Jimmy Garoppolo looked great last Thursday, and it could be a sign that Kyle Shanahan will put more on his plate. This week against Seattle, Garoppolo might have more forced onto his plate against a more than capable Seattle offense.

Ryan Tannehill hasn’t played as well as his fantasy points show, but he has been a significant upgrade over Marcus Mariota. He will return home to take on a Kansas City team that should push the scoring up, along with Tannehill’s workload.

Derek Carr has played well enough to be on permanent streamer alert, but his upside is capped against the Chargers pass defense that shut down Aaron Rodgers last week.