Week #10 of the NFL regular season is now in the books. There were some big surprises this week, and not all of them were good from a fantasy perspective. Before you forget about this week and start looking to the next one, be sure that you’ve looked at your fantasy roster to see which busts and diamonds we can gain any sort of info on. This way, our daily fantasy football rosters can be even stronger as we move closer to the postseason.
The Busts Were Clear Today
Jay Cutler, QB, Chicago Bears
Cutler hasn’t been a highly sought after fantasy QB for a while, but he is often used by those looking for cheap talent so that they can spend more money in other areas. This week was an especially poor one for Cutler, though. He threw just 182 yards and 1 touchdown. He was sacked 4 times, had 2 fumbles, and 1 of those fumbles was for a loss. Cutler isn’t a top rated QB, but he is typically someone that can be counted on for a few points. The Chicago offensive line is suffering quite a bit this year, and Cutler’s performance has declined even more than expected thanks to this.
Carlos Hyde, RB, San Francisco 49ers
Hyde has been a powerful choice at RB in the past, but this wasn’t the game to see if he was going to regain his past successes. On 13 attempts, Hyde had just 14 yards in rushing. His longest run was 5 yards. He wasn’t targeted passing, and had 0 touchdowns. Hyde was targeted once for a pass, but it was incomplete. Hyde was used heavily at first in this game, but there were no results to show for this. Arizona does have a strong defense, and QB Colin Kaepernick did have a decent passing game, and even had a rushing touchdown of his own. Hyde should improve in the coming weeks, but it’s best to be cautious with him moving forward.
Diamonds Came Out
Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans
Mariota is having a monster last few games. He threw for 295 yards this week, but the real fantasy value with Mariota was the fact that he threw 4 touchdowns. There were no interceptions and no fumbles, but he was sacked twice. Depending on the league that you play in, this might have driven his fantasy value down a little. Mariota also picked up 8 yards in rushing. Mariota is becoming far more consistent as the season goes by. He threw 26 passes this week and had 19 completions, which is one of his best percentages so far this season. We like Mariota a lot, and he continues to impress.
Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Diggs had the best performance of his career this week, catching 13 of 15 passes for a total of 164 yards. Last week was considered the best week of Diggs career before this where he went 13 for 14, but only had a total of 80 yards. There were no touchdowns, which would have boosted his fantasy worth a ton, but if this pace is continued, it is only a matter of time before that happens. The Vikings continue to struggle when it comes to putting points on the board, but Diggs has now shown us what he’s capable of. Don’t expect impressive numbers like 164 yards every week, but we do believe that it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing a high percentage of TDs from him.
Ryan Mathews, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Mathews had a strong game, his best by far of the season. He had 109 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. He was targeted for 2 passes and caught both for 30 yards. Up until this point in the season, Mathews has not shown nearly this kind of talent, averaging just 35.9 yards per game. He did have 5 TDs, and 2 during the same game, but this was still an exceptional game from him. Is he capable of repeating this? Maybe. That’s not a risk we’re confident enough to take yet.
