So you went through your fantasy football draft. You made a trade or two, picked up a guy off the waiver wire. But then before everything went live ... something didn't feel right. Maybe you had a player who was a game-time decision. Or there was a matchup that wasn't in your favor. Whatever the reason, you decided it was time to make a bold choice. You know what they say ... No Guts, No Glory. So this column is for you. Every week here, we'll salute the outside-the-box thinking that was rewarded with big fantasy production. Fortune favors the bold, so here's to you. We sent out the call early Monday morning, and here's what you came back with. Congratulations to those of you who are looking at a Week 10 win!
Ladies and gentlemen, Kirk Cousins has done it again. The Washington quarterback threw for 324 yards and four touchdown passes in a huge 47-14 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. We knew the Saints defense was bad, but sheesh! Cousins' 28.96 fantasy points in Week 10 put him at the top of the quarterback list in terms of fantasy scorin. It was the second time this season that he's been the highest scoring fantasy quarterback; he posted 30.18 fantasy points back in Week 7 against Tampa Bay (see: "You like that!?"). Cousins hooked up with tight end Jordan Reed for two scores, and enjoyed big scoring plays of 11 yards by wideout Jamison Crowder and 78 yards by running back Matt Jones (more on him later) in the game. Cousins is only owned in 5.3 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues so if you were one of the managers who had the guts to deploy him this week, well you deserve a pat on the back ... or at least a fantasy win. So nice work!
Remember all the way back in Week 2 when rookie running back Matt Jones went off for 146 total yards and two touchdowns, leading all fantasy running backs (except DeAngelo Williams) with 24.60 fantasy points? Well, since then Jones has collected a combined 20.1 fantasy points ... until now. Jones finished Week 10 as Washington's leading receiver with 131 yards in the passing game, including a 78-yard touchdown run on a screen play, and added 56 rushing yards. His 24.70 fantasy points against the Saints was the fourth-highest total among running backs for the week. Sigh. We know that Jones has all of the talent in the world, but his production has suffered because he's a member of a three-headed committee backfield running behind a shaky offensive line. He's owned in just 15.7 percent of NFL.com fantasy leagues and was probably only started in desperation situations, but for fantasy owners with enough guts to roll him out there in a great matchup, kudos to you. And, as the owner above tweeted, he started both Cousins and Jones. If that doesn't qualify as a winning combination I don't know what does!
So you were lucky enough to score Jeremy Langford off the waiver wire when Matt Forte went down a few weeks back. You enjoyed a nice Week 9 game (22.20 fantasy points) against the Chargers last week. But you saw a tough matchup in Week 10 against the Rams stout run defense and were looking at other options to start over the rookie running back. Your options were limited, and your gut told you to stick with him and to ride the wave. Well, your gut ended up being right, as it usually is, and Langford finished Sunday as the highest scoring running back in all of fantasy. His 30.20 points were a result of his two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving, and 182 yards from scrimmage. Langford goes from a risky play this week to being a no-brainer RB2 next week against Denver, so hang onto him and keep him in your starting lineup until Forte gets back.
No glory there. Like none, whatsoever. Cue sad trombone.
Matt Franciscovich is an associate fantasy editor at NFL.com. He can't stop listening to Borns lately. Hit him up on Twitter **@MattFranchise** for music recommendations and fantasy advice.
