Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own brief take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in every so often over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
What follows is a brief look at all the games with how I'd react in my own lineups to injury developments or other news. The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those are the ones that subscribers are paying for. Sometimes players are very close in the rankings, and if I get questions like that, I'll offer opinions. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries/weather issues, etc.
Lions at Bears: Oh my! Debating Marvin Jones versus TreQuan Smith. I'm facing Drew Brees and already starting Michael Thomas. Something about starting both Saints wideouts against Brees is appealing, but I know that whenever I bench Jones he goes for 100 and 2 TDs. But probably not against the Bears defense. Chicago should have a lot of success in this one; Lions run defense is bad and secondary missing some key players. Not a great week to use Kerryon Johnson, with Bears tough on the run and getting Khalil Mack back.
Saints at Bengals: This is viewed as a letdown game for the Saints, which is possible. I'd feel better about it if the Bengals had A.J. Green, though. Great week to use Tyler Boyd and maybe Andy Dalton. Better week to use the Saints offense. Guess I talked myself into TreQuan Smith above. And if you have Mark Ingram, he should be better than he's been the last couple of weeks. I'm not personally daring enough to pull John Ross out of mothballs to use him, but maybe you consider him in a daily league; some chance he hits on a long score. Some appeal in C.J. Uzomah, too, although I can't forgive him for burning me a couple of weeks ago in a game I lost by a point. But somebody besides Boyd and Mixon has to catch passes.
Falcons at Browns: Pretty much a great week to use almost anyone you have on either of these teams. Neither one plays much defense. My initial Survivor Pick was Atlanta, but I don't like road teams and don't much like lousy defenses either. So I changed it. But Ryan, Coleman, Jones, Hooper and Ridley all look good. For Cleveland, I'm using Chubb, just hoping the game doesn't get away from him, and if you picked up Duke Johnson, this is the game you picked him up for. Njoku and Landry too.
Jaguars at Colts: It can be scary to use Leonard Fournette, who literally does limp off with injury whenever he's on the field this season. If you have a comparable option, maybe you wait and see Fournette get through a game healthy before using him. But not everyone has that luxury. I like the Colts running game, the passing not so much. Jacksonville's matchup best for the pass, and I'd consider Blake Bortles as a viable candidate for decent numbers, Moncrief and Westbrook at wideout. A good (and important) game in what remains a wide-open AFC South. 9-7 is very possibly going to win this division.
Cardinals at Kansas City: For Arizona, sign me up for Johnson, Fitzgerald and Kirk. They'll probably score 20 points in a double-digit loss. For Kansas City, Mahomes and Hunt and Kelce and Hill. Wary of Watkins with the foot injury, but wouldn't get too excited about Conley even if he's inactive. I used KC in Survivor last week, by the way, but they'd be great to use otherwise. Though I'd be taking the points, which was 18 last I knew. A lot to cover in the NFL.
Bills at Jets: It will be Josh McCown for the Jets, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately he won't have Robby Anderson, but at least there's Quincy Enunwa and Jermaine Kearse. The Bills unsurprisingly aren't excited about their quarterback options. Would have been nice to get Derek Anderson versus McCown battle, but he's out so it will either be Josh Allen, Nathan Peterman or Matt Barkley (who might actually be the best passer of the three right now). If I were using a Bill (I am not) it would be LeSean McCoy or their defense. Jets Defense looks great. Isaiah Crowell and Elijah McGuire maybe, but it is a committee.
Washington at Bucs: With Washington's line gutted by injury, there's risk in expecting too much out of their offense. But with the Bucs defense on the other side of the equation, there's risk in writing them off, too. I'm using Adrian Peterson and Jordan Reed. Less excited about the wideouts. For Tampa Bay, the Washington defense has played well, albeit not last week. But no reason not to use Fitzpatrick and his main targets, although I think I'm leaving DeSean Jackson on the bench; too boom or bust for my liking.
Patriots at Titans: So there's some chance we'll know today if Sony Michel and Rob Gronkowski will be available (if they travel with the team). Because New England has a bye next week, I could see them erring on the side of caution with at least one of them. For Tennessee, Dion Lewis and Corey Davis look like the most compelling options, although Davis will be dealing with Stephon Gilmore, who's playing very well. New England, Brady-Gordon-Edelman-White, and then Michel-Gronk, if active.
Chargers at Raiders: Well, I really need a good game out of Philip Rivers, seeing as I carelessly left Ben Roethlisberger on the bench despite being ranked higher. Chargers should pretty much do whatever they want against a Raiders team that has quit and should have lots of fans in attendance dressed as empty seats. For Oakland, uh, pretty much nobody short of maybe Jared Cook should actually be started here. For the Chargers, it's a Melvin Gordon game, but hopefully he'll leave enough to go around for Austin Ekeler and the passing game.
Dolphins at Packers: No Geronimo Allison. No confidence Randall Cobb will make it through a full game. No reason to think Adam Gase will feature Kenyan Drake. No doubt the Packers win this one bigger than big.
Seahawks at Rams: Chris Carson a gametime decision, and Pete Carroll says he got healthier during the week (while not practicing at all). OK Pete, thanks for the info, I'd use Mike Davis if I was going to use any Seattle running back. Fire up your Rams, even while conceding the Seattle defense has been playing well. I'd still use them all. Seattle passing game, matchup fine, featured receiver not happening; any one of the three wideouts could lead the way here.
Cowboys at Eagles: I made Philadelphia my Survivor Pick. Wary of divisional games against good defenses, but it's Week 10 and options are running short. Philadelphia should be good here, albeit maybe not putting up big offensive numbers. Dallas will probably be playing with some desperation, but that doesn't make their offense better, and Philadelphia's defense is solid. I'd roll with another good week out of Amari Cooper, though, and also the Eagles main pass catchers. Steering clear of Philly's running back committee.
Giants at 49ers: It's become fashionable to rip Eli Manning, and that's fair. He's old and slow and getting knocked around. But let's rip the people who have built this thing -- bad line, bad offensive schemes, over-reliance on talented skill players but underestimation of the importance of things like blocking and tackling. Anyway, San Francisco has a lot of defensive flaws, so Giants offense should have some success. And the 49ers might too, but I think Matt Breida and George Kittle are the extent of desirable options. Not required Monday viewing.
Enjoy the games.