NFL Week 10 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em

• Sit QB Aaron Rodgers: The former MVP hasn’t played at a fantasy-starter level all season and will have the odds stacked further against him against a strong Cowboys pass defense in Week 10.

• Start RB Cordarrelle Patterson: The Falcons running back is back in the starting lineup, and he faces a team that just allowed five touchdowns to a running back on a short week.

• Sit WR Mecole Hardman: Hardman has scored plenty of touchdowns in recent weeks but isn’t seeing much volume otherwise. He could see fewer snaps than usual against the Jaguars.

Estimated Reading Time: 10 mins

Deciding who to start or sit can be as easy as looking at the PFF rankings and starting the player ranked higher. This start’em, sit’em column digs a step deeper, looking into why someone you might typically start might not have a good week, or why someone overlooked might have a good week. In many cases, it’s the usual starters who should star, but we want to explore the borderline players, too.

QUARTERBACKS

START

Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers

Garoppolo has scored the seventh-most fantasy points among quarterbacks between Weeks 5 and 8.
His 0.51 fantasy points per dropback ranks 10th-best at the position this season.
Garoppolo isn’t known for making a lot of big throws, but his 4.8% big-time throw rate is tied for 11th-best this season.
The 49ers' offensive line has the fourth-largest advantage over the Chargers' defensive line on pass plays, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.
He is averaging 9.0 yards per attempt when he’s not under pressure, and 5.0 when he is.

Daniel Jones, New York Giants

Jones has scored the 10th-most fantasy points among quarterbacks between Weeks 4 and 8.
His 77.8% adjusted completion percentage is ninth-best among quarterbacks.
He ranks fourth in rushing attempts at the position in 2022.
The Giants' Week 10 matchup is the fourth-best for quarterbacks this week, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
Four of the past five quarterbacks to face the Texans have thrown for at least 240 yards, with the exception being Malik Willis.

SIT

Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings

Cousins has yet to finish as a top-five fantasy quarterback in any week this season.
The Vikings face the Bills, who have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.
Half of the teams to face Buffalo have been held under 200 passing yards. They’ve averaged just one touchdown against them per game.
The Bills' weakness on defense is the run game, which is something the Vikings will look to take advantage of.

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Rodgers has yet to finish as a top-10 fantasy quarterback in any week this season.
His 0.41 fantasy points per dropback puts him in the bottom half of the league after he ranked in the top three in that metric each of the past two seasons.
The Packers' matchup is the second-worst for quarterbacks in Week 10, according to PFF's strength of schedule tool.
Green Bay's offensive line is at the fifth-largest disadvantage of the week against the Cowboys’ defensive line on pass plays, according to PFF's offensive line/defensive line matchup chart.
Rodgers dominates man defenses but is only good against zone. His big-time throw rate has dropped from 10.2% to 5.1% over the past two seasons.
The Cowboys employ zone at the eighth-highest rate among the 32 teams.

RUNNING BACKS

START

Cordarrelle Patterson, Atlanta Falcons

Patterson has finished as a top-eight fantasy running back in three of his five games this year.
His 0.48 fantasy points per snap ranks sixth-best among running backs this season.
He’s gained a first down or a touchdown on 32.4% of his carries, which is the best rate at the position this season.
The Falcons face the Panthers, who have allowed the third-most fantasy points to running backs this season.
Atlanta eased Patterson back into action after he missed October due to injury, but he should see even more playing time than last week.
The Falcons are expected to win, which should allow them to run as often as they want to.