The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Seattle Seahawks players heading into their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals to help you craft a winning lineup.
Sam Darnold, QB
This game is being played on Sunday, and that means you can pencil in Sam Darnold for multiple touchdown passes (he’s done it in five straight Sundays).
The first game against the Cardinals didn’t qualify as such (Thursday Night Football in Week 4), and he finished with an underwhelming stat line (242 pass yards and one touchdown). These pocket-locked QBs seem to have gotten better recently at weighing down their top teammates with targets (i.e., Joe Flacco, Michael Penix, and Matthew Stafford), and as long as Darnold is doing that, he’s on the QB1 radar.
He’s accounted for two of the three perfect passer ratings for a first half this season, a stat that speaks to his ability to carry out the pregame script.
The 300-yard bonus is on the radar for DFS players, and with the greatness of Jaxon Smith-Njigba on display weekly, Darnold slides into the back-end of the QB1 tier for me in Week 10.
Kenneth Walker III, RB
The Seahawks must feel as though they don’t know what they are going to get from Kenneth Walker III on a carry-to-carry basis, but we, as fantasy managers, are fairly certain of how the week is going to play out.
Seahawk Carries From 10 Yards Out or Closer
- Zach Charbonnet: 13
- Walker: 7
- Darnold: 3
- AJ Barner: 1
That’s a 29.2% carry share in those spots for Walker (49% in all other spots).
READ MORE: Soppe’s Week 10 Fantasy Football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em: Analysis for Every Player in Every Game
Walker has finished three of his past four games with 10-11 carries and hasn’t had more than two targets in a game since Week 1. In theory, you’re considering playing him for the single-play upside, but even that has disappeared (three straight games without a rush attempt picking up more than 16 yards).
I have Walker ranked ahead of Charbonnet this week and most weeks, but that’s more of an anti-Charbonnet stance.
Walker is my RB25 this week.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR
Smith-Njigba has cleared 20 PPR points in four straight games and has more games with a target share north of 37% than not this season.
How good is Lamb?
What about Malik Nabers?
Or maybe Adams?
Those are all receivers last season who averaged under 18.3 points per game, a number that currently sits as JSN’s second-worst output of this season. I’m running out of ways to amplify what he is doing weekly, and that makes me nervous as we enter Week 10.
MORE: Free Fantasy Start/Sit Lineup Optimizer
Tune in next week for the weekly segment of “how will Kyle fall over himself to praise Smith-Njigba?”.
AJ Barner, TE
The ever-popular TE sneak got you to the finish line if you played Barner on Sunday night, but the limited volume through the air remains a concern.
Only once this season has he earned 5+ targets in a game, and that’s saying something with Darnold playing at about as high a level as he is capable of. Smith-Njigba is the ace on this team and is the only Seahawk I’m comfortable with on a weekly basis.
I’d rather play Barner than the back-end of TE committees in Cleveland and Baltimore, but that doesn’t land him in my top 15 for Week 10.
