Fantasy Football: Biggest Week 10 takeaways

Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger both succeeded when they weren't expected to, but Jeremy Langford and Matt Jones were the ones making the most noise. Scott White and Chris Towers share their biggest takeaways from Week 10.

When you saw the Cardinals were facing the Seahawks in Week 10 -- and in Seattle, no less -- you probably had the bright idea to sit all of the ones you own in Fantasy.

It's called playing the matchups and it's supposed to be foolproof.

Fool!

Don't you know that we're beyond that point with Carson Palmer, that the only two times he didn't throw for multiple scores, he threw for 352 and 421 yards, giving him a season low of 18 Fantasy points in standard CBSSports.com leagues, and that the only other quarterback who can say that this year is Tom Brady, who you'd of course never, ever bench?

You do now, because if you benched Palmer for Derek Carr, Blake Bortles or someone else you might have plucked off waivers in the last couple weeks, it may well be the reason you lost.

This isn't any sort of statement about the Seahawks' defensive prowess. Palmer's three touchdown passes against them were half of what they allowed in their first eight games combined, so they really are a bad matchup for quarterbacks. But their failure Sunday should serve as a reminder that some quarterbacks are simply matchup-proof.

It's a list that includes Brady and Palmer, as well as Andy Dalton and, yes, Aaron Rodgers. Ben Roethlisberger will surely join that illustrious group once we're convinced he'll stay on the field. Cam Newton probably deserves the distinction as well even though he accumulates his points in a less conventional way. Carr may well be there even if his Week 10 performance was a step back from the previous three, and Philip Rivers was there before his receiving corps began falling apart. Time will tell if he's still there. Drew Brees is also on the verge.

That's getting to be a pretty big number. Can there really be nine quarterbacks too productive to sit, and did I really just include one that I already said should have sat for Palmer? Well, yeah. It's pretty much a given that quarterback is going to be deep every year, even if we don't know exactly who's going to make it deep. And if you're that owner who has Palmer and Carr or any other two of those nine, it's an inefficient use of resources. Spare yourself the dilemma and trade one to the guy still rolling with Matt Ryan or Russell Wilson.

Now then, for the other the rest of what happened Sunday ...

1. Michael Floyd and Brandin Cooks are who we thought they were

Someone had to be on the receiving end of all of Palmer's numbers, and while Larry Fitzgerald was his normally productive self, Floyd was actually the bigger Fantasy contributor for the second straight game. He has topped 100 yards in back-to-back games and scored a total of five touchdowns in his last four -- and that's after having a combined two catches in the team's first three games. The Cardinals have confirmed he's back ahead of John Brown on the depth chart, so as long as Sunday's hamstring injury doesn't set him back, he's must-own. Cooks isn't as available, but he likewise was left for dead in some Fantasy leagues only to deliver five touchdowns in his last three games, topping 80 yards in four of his last six. He's a viable target both downfield and underneath for one of the game's prolific passers in Drew Brees, making his potential from week to week too high to pass up. -Scott White

2. Jeremy Langford is mini-Devonta Freeman

Sometimes all it takes is an opportunity. In Atlanta, Tevin Coleman was the running back to own before the season, but his rib injury opened up an opportunity, and Devonta Freeman hasn't looked back, totaling 1,035 yards and 10 touchdowns in seven games since taking over as the featured back. Langford won't have the same opportunity to take the job outright, given Matt Forte's presence, but he has shown similar potential in the last two games, racking up 324 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in that span. The Bears haven't ruled Forte out for the season with his knee injury, so you can't move forward expecting Langford to be a workhorse through Week 17. However, Forte is a free-agent-to-be and turns 30 in less than a month, so he clearly isn't the future at the position either. Langford has shown enough that the Bears can't bury him on the depth chart, which means he should remain viable even when Forte returns -Chris Towers

3. Davante Adams is Aaron Rodgers' go-to guy

Adams just became the fourth player to receive 20 or more targets in a game this season, and the others you know well: Antonio Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and Julio Jones. It's a rare feat and normally an indicative one, and with Aaron Rodgers struggling to get in sync with anybody, thanks in part to Randall Cobb's uncharacteristic play, we can assume it's indicative for Adams as well. He did, after all, have 11 targets, just one off Cobb's lead, Week 9 at Carolina, his first game back playing a major role after missing time with a sprained ankle. You would have liked to see him convert more of those targets into catches Sunday, but with James Jones fading into the background, it's clear Adams is going to keep getting chances working with a star quarterback on a pass-heavy offense. Looks like the Jordy Nelson role is his after all. -Scott White

4. Washington's backfield is still cloudy

For the first time since Week 4, Alfred Morris got more than 12 carries for the Redskins Sunday, and he responded with his most productive game since the opener. Morris rushed the ball 15 times for 92 yards, while adding three receptions for 14 yards in Washington's 47-14 win over the Saints. Matt Jones, however, was the star of the weekend for Washington, rushing for 56 yards on 11 carries and adding 131 receiving yards and a 78-yard touchdown on three receptions. Oh, and Chris Thompson also got in on the fun, abusing the Saints' defense for 77 yards on three touches, creating an unexpected turn of events where all three Washington running backs were Fantasy relevant. Don't expect that to be the case moving forward.On the Daily Fantasy Live show, we've taken to calling the Saints the Las Vegas Saints, because what happens against the Saints stays there. There are no trends against the Saints; there's just the Saints being awful at defense, so the fact that all three Washington running backs went off doesn't tell us anything about whether any of them are going to be worth starting moving forward. After Week 10, Morris has been on the field for 215 offensive plays, while Jones and Thompson have each logged 194. No other backfield has such an equitable share of the playing time, and that is the major impediment to Fantasy value for all three players. Jones probably has the best upside of the trio, with his ability to make an impact in both the passing and running game, but you shouldn't be relying on anyone here as a starter. -Chris Towers

5. Danny Amendola is a must-add player

Julian Edelman's foot injury isn't a minor one. In fact, it's reported to be the same one that cost Dez Bryant five games earlier this season, which means Amendola could be in for more performances like he had in Week 10, catching 10 passes for 79 yards -- and that was with Edelman still playing the first quarter. He may not be as skilled after the catch as Edelman, so you can't expect him to match his production yard for yard. The Patriots aren't going to stop throwing the ball, though, which means someone is going to have inherit Edelman's catches, and Amendola, given his history as a high-volume slot receiver with the Rams, is the perfect candidate. Brandon LaFell could help offset Edelman's numbers as well, but at 45 percent ownership, Amendola is the more available of the two and probably the more valuable as well. That's certainly true in PPR leagues. -Scott White

6. Ben Roethlisberger is a miracle worker

Ben Roethlisberger's foot injury was supposed to serve as a major impediment to the Steelers' offense, with unproven Landry Jones stepping into the starting role at least for Week 11 against the Browns. Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant owners had to be worried about how the absence of Roethlisberger would impact their players, especially heading into the bye in Week 11; would a bad week sink their season? Somehow, despite an injury that seemed destined to cost him multiple weeks, Roethlisberger was active and essentially got the start, as Jones left the game after one drive. And Roethlisberger, bum foot and all, balled out, tossing two touchdowns to Brown and one more to Bryant, who racked up 139 and 178 receiving yards, respectively. Roethlisberger's miraculous game might have saved countless seasons for Bryant and Brown owners -- or ruined them, if you started Jones with Roethlisberger on your bench, like I did in one league. I guess the good news is Roethlisberger pretty much put any concerns about the foot behind him with the game. -Chris Towers

7. The Chiefs passing game isn't getting any better

The irony here is that, Alex Smith, the man most responsible for the passing game's futility, has actually been fairly productive in Fantasy because of his ultra-cautious approach and modest rushing contributions, outscoring Matt Ryan, among others. But it's more about the effect he has on his receiving targets -- namely Travis Kelce and Jeremy Maclin, who both looked like must-start options earlier in the season. And maybe it's unfair to critique their numbers against a historically dominant Broncos defense, but when you saw the Chiefs were leading that game by as much as they were, you had to figure at least one of those two had done something of note. Futility isn't new for either. Week 10 marked Maclin's third straight game with less than 50 receiving yards, and Kelce has found the end zone once since Week 1. You should be looking to upgrade rather than keep playing the lottery with those two. -Scott White

8. Andy Reid is inscrutable

Any Fantasy player who has owned Jamaal Charles in recent years has found themselves absolutely dumbfounded at Andy Reid's usage of his star back. Charles, arguably the most dynamic running back in football, averaged just 13.7 carries and 3.9 targets per game last season, and had just 34 carries in his final three games before his injury this season. Charles' backup, little-heralded, undrafted rookie Charcandrick West, on the other hand, has been force fed since Charles' injury, totaling 66 carries and 16 targets over the team's last three games. West hasn't been bad in that time, averaging 4.2 yards per carry and making some plays in the passing game, but he hasn't been Jamaal Charles either. Part of this is just game script, as the Chiefs have won each of these three games pretty comfortably, but it is still hard to make sense of a world where Charcandrick West has as many 25-touch (carries + targets) games in four starts as Charles did in his last 27 games. This usage is terrific for anyone who managed to scoop West up in the aftermath of Charles' injury, but it makes Reid's usage of Charles over the last two years even harder to understand. -Chris Towers

9. Johnny Manziel may not be the worst thing for the Browns

Prior to Week 10, Manziel had made four NFL starts, and he didn't throw for more than 172 yards in any of them. So needless to say, his 372 passing yards against the Steelers were a welcome change of pace. Even better, he completed more than 70 percent of his passes, averaging 8.3 yards per attempt, to completely flip the script in terms of efficiency. Getting him out of the pocket to make throws on the run worked wonders for him in this game, and if it continues, it'll keep Gary Barnidge and Travis Benjamin productive no matter who's under center for the Browns. Manziel himself isn't any more intriguing to Fantasy owners than Josh McCown was, but this performance at least offers some hope that if the Browns decide to continue developing him rather than turn back to McCown during a lost season, the rest of the offense isn't doomed. Maybe selling high on Barnidge or Benjamin isn't the way to go. -Scott Whitesadf

10. Don't buy Zach Miller stock

No, not that Zach Miller, the one who was a useful Fantasy option once upon a time for the Raiders. No, this was the Zach Miller who had appeared in just 12 games since the 2010 season, totaling nine receptions in that span entering Week 10. Miller broke the hearts of Martellus Bennett owners across the nation by coming up with five receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Miller had just 528 career receiving yards entering the game, and had played just one-third of the team's offensive snaps entering the game. In a post-Gary Barnidge world, we can't just ignore every out-of-nowhere breakout star, but in this instance, with Bennett still firmly ahead of him on the depth chart, there is little reason to expect Miller to be a Fantasy relevant player moving forward. -Chris Towers