The Detroit Lions will face the Houston Texans in Week 10. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Lions skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 10 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jared Goff, QB
Since Week 3, Mason Rudolph has had the same number of pass attempts as Jared Goff despite making just three starts. Additionally, the recently benched, then starting again Joe Flacco has more.
The idea that Goff has completed over 81% of his passes in back-to-back-to-back weeks and ranks as QB19 in total points (QB22 per game) over that stretch is difficult to understand. However, Detroit has scripted him out of producing at all. That’s a problem considering that we all have the Lions labeled as the class of the NFC right now.
With Jameson Williams (suspension) back and a vulnerable Texans defense on the other side (24th in yards per completion and 32nd in pass touchdown rate), I again have a strong grade for the ever-efficient Goff. He looks a lot like 2023 Brock Purdy to me, and the floor that was created in such a season is comforting, even if the volume upside simply isn’t there.
If you roster Goff, you’re praying that the Texans activate Nico Collins this week, giving C.J. Stroud the ability to try to match this powerhouse blow for blow. He sits as my QB10 right now, but that’s atop a tier that extends to QB15 — and it wouldn’t take much to drop him.
David Montgomery, RB
David Montgomery has finished outside of the top 24 running backs just once this season and is coming off of his highest snap share of the season (58.2% in Lambeau with it raining sideways). I don’t think the uptick in playing time is anything to read into as the Lions play almost exclusively in weatherproof games, but his role as the drive finisher in one of the best offenses in the league has created a floor that few can match.
The Texans own the third-worst red-zone defense in the NFL, making them a poor candidate to slow down the machine that is the Lions (for people in my generation, that remains a weird sentence to type).
Jahmyr Gibbs, RB
Jahmyr Gibbs is producing despite not flashing the versatility we thought he’d need next to David Montgomery — the second-year back has failed to catch multiple passes in four of his past six games.
Weirdly, I’d spin the lack of passing game work as a positive looking forward, as it is a skill we know he has access to. Even without that to supplement his production, Gibbs has been a top-22 running back in every game this season, a run that includes three top-10 finishes.
Gibbs has scored five times in his past five games, and I think we get a sneak peek at the versatility that we believe he has in his bag. The Texans are the fourth-best run defense in terms of success rate against running backs this season. If the Lions unlock him this week, there’s no telling the type of run he can have down the stretch for fantasy teams this winter.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR
I can’t imagine I’m alone in considering Amon-Ra St. Brown as a Tier 1 fantasy asset and a true threat to top the position in terms of way-too-early 2025 rankings. St. Brown has scored in six straight regular-season games, something that the great Calvin Johnson never accomplished for this franchise.
Let St. Brown serve as a teaching point. The man is on the short list for the best fantasy receivers in the sport, and he only has one finish inside of the top 10 WRs this season. Of course, he has five top-15 performances, and that’s the lesson — being an elite fantasy option (at any position) doesn’t require the highest ceiling on the board.
St. Brown is as reliable a player as there is in the NFL right now, which is why the team with him in your league is sitting pretty through nine weeks.
Jameson Williams, WR
I’ll get to it more with Sam LaPorta, but Detroit’s offense has proven to be too efficient for its own good when it comes to our fantasy world. Of course, the Lions couldn’t care less how they score 40 points, which makes their potent offense frustrating.
Williams is set to return from a PED suspension that cost him a pair of games, though he needs to be more than active to earn my trust at this point. In the first two weeks of the season, the explosive playmaker was targeted on 24.7% of his routes, and “2024 breakout star” was written all over him.
Since then, however, that rate has dropped to 10.5%. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a pair of Kalif Raymond touchdowns, a game where David Montgomery ranked second on the team in receptions, and a week where Isaiah Williams ranked second in targets (don’t feel bad if you don’t know the name; before then, he had exactly zero looks).
I still like the idea of Jameson Williams and what he brings to an ultra-efficient offense. I fear that his field-stretching might mean more to Detroit’s offense than it does fantasy managers, but we get a chance to put that to the test on Sunday night against a defense that faces the fourth-most deep attempts per game (7.9).
Williams is on the low end of my Flex rankings this week, given the wide range of outcomes. Nevertheless, I would call his number if I felt as if I was an underdog in a specific matchup and could forgo some safety for upside.
Sam LaPorta, TE
Sam LaPorta is in one of the more confounding and frustrating situations in fantasy this season. He proved plenty capable of earning targets at a strong rate last season and ranks fifth among qualifiers at the position this season in PPR points per target.
If you gave me that last sentence back in August, I would have run to the third round and been thrilled with drafting Detroit’s young tight end at his Tier 1 cost at the position.
So far, that’s been a losing proposition, and I’m not sure that changes anytime soon. LaPorta doesn’t have a finish better than TE8 this season, and that’s because he has just 26 targets on his ledger.
The lack of opportunity isn’t due to a lack of efficiency or playing time, it’s simply the result of being attached to an elite offense that spreads the ball around and prefers to establish dominance with the run first and foremost. I remain bullish on the talent, but at this point, I’m starting him weekly because of the scoring equity that comes with this offense more so than my confidence in his involvement.
I labeled LaPorta as a high-floor option this summer with elite upside. He’s no longer either of those things, but that doesn’t mean you pivot — it means you adjust your expectations. Even with diminished thoughts, he’s a top-10 tight end, and there’s no reason to second-guess starting him on Sunday night with the Lions’ implied point total clearing 25 points this season.
Detroit Lions at Houston Texans Insights
Detroit Lions
Team: The Lions’ +110 point differential is fourth-best through eight games in franchise history (their best since posting a +144 margin in 1954).
QB: Jared Goff ranks first or second in the league in completion percentage, yards per pass, and passer rating – he faces a defense this week that has allowed a touchdown on a league-high 6.9% of passes.
Offense: The Lions turn the ball over just 0.63 times per game, which is fueling their league-best turnover margin (+1.38 per game).
Defense: The Lions are one of four defenses to rank in the top 10 in both blitz and pressure rate (Broncos, Browns, and Chiefs).
Fantasy: Jahmyr Gibbs is producing despite not flashing the versatility we thought he’d need next to David Montgomery – the second-year back has failed to catch multiple passes in four of his past six games.
Betting: The Lions have covered eight of their past nine indoor games, including three road games.
Houston Texans
Team: The Texans have converted just five of 14 red zone trips (35.7%) into touchdowns over their past three games, down from their 75% rate through Week 6 (12-of-16).
QB: C.J. Stroud will likely get Nico Collins back this week, a return that can’t come soon enough.
Offense: C.J. Stroud’s 17-game pace this season in games started by Nico Collins is 4,709 yards, a far cry from the version of him that we’ve seen over the past month (under 200 passing yards in three of four games and just one touchdown toss over his past three).
Defense: The Texans have the third-worst red zone defense in the NFL, allowing a touchdown on 69.6% of opponent trips (league average: 56.7%).
Fantasy: Joe Mixon appears to be aging in reverse.
- Week 6 at New England Patriots: 15 touches, 75.4% production over expectation
- Week 7 at Green Bay Packers: 27 touches, 21.3% production over expectation
- Week 8 vs. Indianapolis Colts: 29 touches, 9.1% production over expectation
- Week 9 at New York Jets: 24 touches, 10.4% production over expectation
He’s found paydirt in all four of those games. He’s a 20-plus yard rush in all four of those games. He’s cleared 100 rushing yards in all four of those games.
Betting: Five straight Texan home games (and eight of the past nine) have gone under the total.