All reports out of Pittsburgh suggest Ben Roethlisberger has continued to test negative for COVID-19 and is expected to be activated off the Reserve/COVID-19 list before the Steelers Week 10 game against the Bengals. While the Bengals aren't necessarily a bad matchup, there are still reasons to be concerned about Roethlisbeger.
For starters, Roethlisberger has just been OK so far in 2020. He's averaging 22 Fantasy points per game, which is tied with Lamar Jackson for 14th this season. His Week 9 performance against the Cowboys was the first time he'd reached 20 Fantasy points since Week 5. His 6.7 yards per pass attempt is more than a yard lower than his career average.
Roethlisberger has great weapons and the Bengals gave up massive performances to Barker Mayfield and Philip Rivers in recent weeks, so I'm not taking any streamers over Roethlisberger. But if you've carried two quarterbacks this season there's a good chance I'd rather start your other quarterback this week. You can check the projections below to make sure.
2 -- Cam Newton still only has two passing touchdowns this season.
8 -- Kyler Murray and Newton each have eight rushing touchdowns.
353 -- Carson Wentz leads the league with 353 intended air yards per game.
3.1 -- Ben Roethlisberger's 3.1 completed air yards per attempt ranks last among quarterbacks with at least 200 attempts.
65.6% -- According to Pro Football Reference, less than two-thirds of Drew Lock's throws have been on target. Only Newton has a worse rating.
104 -- Daniel Jones has been pressured on 104 of his drop backs, more than any other quarterback in the league.
41.25 -- Joe Burrow leads the NFL with more than 40 pass attempts per game.
The FFT team is debating Week 10 rankings as they go through each game, making start and sit calls for this week's games. Check it out below and subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts:
It's not a particularly great week for streamers, but Mayfield is a fine fill-in for Patrick Mahomes or Matt Ryan if you need him. The Texans defense has allowed 24.75 Fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. including 23 to Jake Luton last week. More importantly, against the Browns their offense should score enough to keep Mayfield passing.
The Bears couldn't run the ball with David Montgomery, who is second in the NFL in broken tackles. If Montgomery is out we may see 50 pass attempts for Foles against a Vikings defense that has allowed the third-most passing yards per game.
I don't really trust Luton yet, and I certainly won't start him in Week 11 against Pittsburgh. But then he gets the Browns, Vikings and Titans. If he holds up over the next two weeks, we'll view him as a top-15 quarterback for that three-game stretch.
Not much has changed from last week. Murray still isn't the most expensive quarterback on FanDuel, and he still profiles to be in a shootout. I'll play Murray in cash games and about 40% of my tournament lineups will feature either Murray or his opponent, Josh Allen.
It could be a stretch to call Watson contrarian. But I expect most eyeballs will go to the Cardinals and Bills game and you count on half the field trying to find a cheap quarterback. That could drop Watson's roster rate down around five percent, which would be amazing. He's scored at least 24 FanDuel points in four straight starts.
