Ethan Haskell
Written By: DraftKings Playbook Manager
After another week of trusting a disappointing NFC West quarterback in Weeks 8 and 9, the field of QB options looks much more wide open in Week 10. Ben Roethlisberger faces the Jets who are allowing the most FPPG to opposing QBs this season and Big Ben has 12 touchdowns in his last two games. Mark Sanchez is a cheaper option filling in for Nick Foles, and his matchup against the Panthers D looks pretty good on paper as well. But the guy we're highlighting this week is Aaron Rodgers coming off of the bye week against the Bears defense. In Week 4, Rodgers eviscerated Chicago's secondary - throwing for 302 yards and 4 TDs en route to a 30 fantasy point game. Since then, the Bears defense has yet to hold a single opposing QB to under 250 yards passing and heading into their bye, they allowed a 354 yard, 5 TD performance to Tom Brady. Their secondary is trending in the wrong direction and those recent struggles have made them the 2nd most vulnerable defense in terms of fantasy points per game allowed to opposing quarterbacks. Rodgers price ($9400) makes him somewhat challenging to roster on DraftKings this week, but there should be enough value at other positions to fit him and one of his top receiving weapons into your lineups.
As far as who to pair with Rodgers on your DraftKings lineups this weekend, the options really come down to either Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb. Nelson ($7600 on DraftKings) is priced at $200 more than Cobb but you could make a reasonable argument for either one. Nelson will likely have to contend with rookie CB Kyle Fuller, who is expected to be good to go this weekend despite a nagging hip injury. Fuller has had some bright moments this season, but he struggled heavily against the Patriots and if he's not at 100%, Nelson should be able to torch him. In the Week 4 matchup between these teams, Fuller had success against Nelson - allowing 2 catches on 3 targets for just 4 total receiving yards although one of those receptions led to a Nelson TD. Jordy also moved around a lot that game and saw a number of Bears corners in coverage, which led to a final line of 10 catches for 108 yards and 2 TDs. Cobb had similar success in that game, hauling in 7 balls for 113 yards and 2 TDs of his own. Cobb primarily comes out of the slot, an area where the Bears have struggled a lot in coverage this week. So as far as deciding between the two, I'd argue there's some merit in trying to pair both with Rodgers this week given the success they've had against this defense in the past and the fact that Cobb and Nelson account for such a large percentage of the overall targets thrown by Rodgers. The price tags are pretty steep but again, there should be enough value in other positions to take advantage of this juicy matchup and have the upside of around 90 fantasy points from the three combined. That would be a pretty good starting point to any lineup trying to take down another $1 million first place prize on DraftKings in Week 10.
