Joshua Larky, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports Sat, November 14, 2026 at 1:02 AM UTC · 7 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fantasy football playoffs start in just over a month, making each remaining week critical for success.
This week, we once again have four bye weeks to worry about ( Bears , Broncos , Buccaneers , Eagles ), as well.
Every week, I'll continue to identify and write up players that are not obviously starts or sits. Regardless of matchup, you're starting someone like Christian McCaffrey every week, so I try to go a few layers deeper than your early-round fantasy studs.
Note: Projections refer to player props in the betting and prediction markets, which are a valuable reference tool for anyone playing fantasy football.
Through three games, Shough was the QB3 overall with 24 fantasy points per game. Since, Shough has given you just 16 fantasy points per game, good for QB17 during that stretch.
The past three games were particularly tough for Shough managers, as he faced the Steelers and Browns , with a bye week jammed between.
The good news? It's time to insert Shough back into your fantasy lineup with confidence.
Week 5: The mascot of the Arizona Cardinals, Big Red, performs before the game against the Detroit Lions at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Christian Petersen, Getty Images) Week 5: New England Patriots cheerleaders perform during the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium. (David Butler II, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 5: San Francisco 49ers fans cheer as Brock Purdy #13 leaves the field after defeating the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on October 11, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers, Getty Images) Week 5: A Seattle Seahawks fan cheers during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field on October 11, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers, Getty Images) Week 5: Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson does a Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. The Packers defeated the Bears, 31-7 . (Sarah Kloepping, Green Bay Press-Gazette) Week 5: Fans look on from the stands during the game between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. The game ended in a 27-27 tie . (Patrick Smith, Getty Images) Week 5: The mascot of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jaxson de Ville, performs before the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The Jaguars won the game, 19-17 . (Nathan Ray Seebeck, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 5: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform before the "Thursday Night Football" game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium on October 8, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Ron Jenkins, Getty Images) Week 5: Singer and songwriter Lainey Wilson dances with members of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders before the "Thursday Night Football" game between the Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium. (Ron Jenkins, Getty Images) Week 4: The San Francisco 49ers Gold Rush cheerleaders take the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Levi's Stadium. (Darren Yamashita, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 4: Seattle Seahawks fans hold cutouts of quarterback Sam Darnold prior to the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Lumen Field. (Joe Nicholson, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 4: Houston Texans mascot Toro and Superfan pose for a photo prior to the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Reliant Stadium. (Thomas Shea, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 4: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders perform before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Raymond James Stadium. (Jonathan Dyer, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 4: A young fan of the Baltimore Ravens looks on before the start of the game against the Tennessee Titans at M&T Bank Stadium. (Tommy Gilligan, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 4: Washington Commanders mascot Major Tuddy holds a camera during the second quarter of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England. (Kirby Lee, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) Week 3: Denver Broncos cheerleaders perform during the "Sunday Night Football" game against the Los Angeles Rams at Empower Field at Mile High.
Week 3: The Maracanã Stadium gets set to host the International Series game between the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Week 3: Corgi dog competitions take place during halftime of the game between the Detroit Lions and New York Jets at Ford Field.
Week 3: A fan looks on during warmups prior to the game between the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio.
Week 2: Singer Taylor Swift watches the game between the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Week 2: The Canadian and U.S. anthems are sung during a pregame ceremony before the "Thursday Night Football" game between Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills at new Highmark Stadium.
Week 1: Singer Taylor Swift and actor Tom Cruise attend the "Monday Night Football" game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium.
Week 1: Fans arrive ahead of the NFL game between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (in Melbourne, Australia. The 49ers won the first NFL game played in Australia, 27-7 .
Week 1: Kim Thayil of Soundgarden and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam perform during halftime of the 2026 NFL Kickoff Game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots at Lumen Field.
1 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: The mascot of the Arizona Cardinals, Big Red, performs before the game against the Detroit Lions at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Christian Petersen, Getty Images) 1 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: The mascot of the Arizona Cardinals, Big Red, performs before the game against the Detroit Lions at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Christian Petersen, Getty Images) 2 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: New England Patriots cheerleaders perform during the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium. (David Butler II, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 3 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: San Francisco 49ers fans cheer as Brock Purdy #13 leaves the field after defeating the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on October 11, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers, Getty Images) 4 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: A Seattle Seahawks fan cheers during the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field on October 11, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers, Getty Images) 5 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson does a Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. The Packers defeated the Bears, 31-7 . (Sarah Kloepping, Green Bay Press-Gazette) 6 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: Fans look on from the stands during the game between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. The game ended in a 27-27 tie . (Patrick Smith, Getty Images) 7 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: The mascot of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jaxson de Ville, performs before the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The Jaguars won the game, 19-17 . (Nathan Ray Seebeck, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 8 / 37 NFL Week 5 highlights, standout performances and reactions Week 5: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform before the "Thursday Night Football" game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium on October 8, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Ron Jenkins, Getty Images) 9 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 5: Singer and songwriter Lainey Wilson dances with members of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders before the "Thursday Night Football" game between the Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at AT&T Stadium. (Ron Jenkins, Getty Images) 10 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 4: The San Francisco 49ers Gold Rush cheerleaders take the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Levi's Stadium. (Darren Yamashita, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 11 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 4: Seattle Seahawks fans hold cutouts of quarterback Sam Darnold prior to the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Lumen Field. (Joe Nicholson, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 12 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 4: Houston Texans mascot Toro and Superfan pose for a photo prior to the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Reliant Stadium. (Thomas Shea, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 13 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 4: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders perform before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Raymond James Stadium. (Jonathan Dyer, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 14 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 4: A young fan of the Baltimore Ravens looks on before the start of the game against the Tennessee Titans at M&T Bank Stadium. (Tommy Gilligan, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 15 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 4: Washington Commanders mascot Major Tuddy holds a camera during the second quarter of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England. (Kirby Lee, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect) 16 / 37 Cheerleaders, celebrities, fans and mascots at NFL games during 2026 season Week 3: Denver Broncos cheerleaders perform during the "Sunday Night Football" game against the Los Angeles Rams at Empower Field at Mile High.
Week 3: The Maracanã Stadium gets set to host the International Series game between the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Week 3: Corgi dog competitions take place during halftime of the game between the Detroit Lions and New York Jets at Ford Field.
Week 3: A fan looks on during warmups prior to the game between the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio.
Week 2: Singer Taylor Swift watches the game between the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Week 2: The Canadian and U.S. anthems are sung during a pregame ceremony before the "Thursday Night Football" game between Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills at new Highmark Stadium.
Week 1: Singer Taylor Swift and actor Tom Cruise attend the "Monday Night Football" game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium.
Week 1: Fans arrive ahead of the NFL game between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (in Melbourne, Australia. The 49ers won the first NFL game played in Australia, 27-7 .
Week 1: Kim Thayil of Soundgarden and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam perform during halftime of the 2026 NFL Kickoff Game between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots at Lumen Field.
This matchup with Carolina has a hefty 48.5-point game total, and the Saints are slight 2.5-point favorites. That suggests a tight game with shootout potential.
Shough's pass yards projection here is 251.5 yards, while multiple passing touchdowns is currently juiced in betting markets, signaling that Vegas expects a strong passing performance overall. For context, Jordan Love's pass yards/pass touchdowns combination is worse than Shough's this week.
Each week, I stress that we should opponent-adjust when doing matchups analysis, and the Panthers are the perfect example of this. Your fantasy app likely shows Shough as having a below average matchup this week, though Carolina is actually one of the more favorable matchups once we opponent-adjust.
Four touchdowns to Caleb Williams in Week 1
20 fantasy points to Deshaun Watson in Week 3
More than 400 passing yards to Jared Goff in Week 4
288 passing yards and three touchdowns to Jordan Love in Week 8
237 yards and two touchdowns to the struggling Bo Nix in Week 9
There's really just three outlier games that make Carolina's total fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks a respectable number:
The Falcons duo of Cooper Rush and Jack Strand combined for negative fantasy points in Week 2
Tanner McKee struggled against Carolina in his first game of 2026
The Buccaneers ran for over 250 yards in Week 7, so Baker Mayfield only threw for 64 yards
In short, fire up Shough as a top-eight fantasy option against the Panthers this week.
Seattle draws the second-best rushing matchup of Week 10 against Las Vegas, a defense allowing a tasty 5.0 yards per carry to opposing backs. It's also the first start of Fernando Mendoza's career, so there's an elevated chance of a couple turnovers that result in great field position for the Seahawks .
The Seahawks are touchdown favorites, so game script should be favorable for the Seahawks running back duo. Looking at Charbonnet and Jadarian Price, the veteran has quickly taken over this backfield.
In Week 9, Charbonnet carried 16 times for 77 yards, while the rookie Price had just 24 yards on nine carries. While Price did have a slick four catches for 54 receiving yards in that game, Charbonnet actually ran almost twice as many routes, so we should expect bigger receiving games from the veteran moving forward.
Turning to the betting markets, Charbonnet is nearly 50-50 to score in this contest, and his total yards prop is quite high at 76.5 yards.
Consider Charbonnet a top-15 fantasy back in Week 10, as he should flirt with 20 touches against one of the more beatable run defenses in Las Vegas.
The second-year receiver draws the best outside matchup of Week 10 against the Saints.
Cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Martin Emerson have been getting cooked all season, and they most recently gave up over 200 yards on the outside to a considerably worse Browns passing attack.
The Saints pass rush has not gotten to the quarterback this year, as they are bottom-10 in pressure rate. Bryce Young, when given time, has been one of the NFL's best passers in 2026. When pressured, he turns into one of the worst.
McMillan already has three games this year with at least 10 targets, and he has a very strong chance to make that four games after this week. He's a fringe top-12 fantasy option at wide receiver.
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) reacts in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Kyle Pitts vs. the Chiefs You already know to start tight ends against the Lions every week, right? Good. I don't want to detail that matchup every article.
Anyway, Pitts has the third-best matchup this week against a Kansas City defense that has struggled to contain passes over the middle of the field. Pitts isn't always used like a classic tight end, which is why it's worth mentioning that the Chiefs have been vulnerable to slot receivers this season.
The game total here is reasonably high at 46.5 points, and the Falcons are only three-point underdogs. This could be a sneaky shootout game environment.
While it's been back-to-back quiet games for Pitts, the athletic tight end has still earned at least five targets in each of the past five games.
Think of Pitts as a back-end fantasy TE1 this week with serious upside given the matchup.
Pollard has been on a tear, with at least 135 total yards and multiple touchdowns in Weeks 7 and 8, prior to the team's Week 9 bye. Unfortunately, Pollard should remain parked on your fantasy bench in Week 10 against Jacksonville.
The Jaguars were already the best run defense in the NFL, and then they added DT Jordan Davis from the Eagles. The 6-foot-6, 336-pounder is one of the NFL's best run stoppers, and it's borderline unfair to pair with him Travon Walker, Josh Hines-Allen, and Arik Armstead.
The Titans are more than 10-point underdogs, and while the Titans are well-rested after their bye, the Jaguars are coming off a long break thanks to a cake walk on Thursday night against Joe Fagnano's Ravens.
I'd rather start the aforementioned Charbonnet or Woody Marks against a surprisingly beatable Browns run defense. Consensus rankings generally have Pollard higher than those two, and I'm here to tell you the public is wrong this week.
Jacoby Brissett is now on the Ravens and Gardner Minshew is undergoing season-ending elbow surgery. Round three rookie Carson Beck is suddenly thrust into NFL action against a tough Rams pass defense. And, star receiver Michael Wilson is also now out for the season due to a neck fracture.
As a result, the whole Cardinals offense should suffer, and their Vegas team total of 15 points is historically low. Allgeier's touchdown odds of 33% are hilariously low for a starting back projected for around 20 touches, and his total yards prop is just 56.5 yards.
For context, Steelers backup Rico Dowdle is projected for 49.5 total yards and a 36% chance of a touchdown. And I think we'd all agree that Dowdle is off the fantasy radar in Week 10.
Last week was the first time the Rams had a healthy Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett. The Commanders backs mustered just 44 yards on 15 carries, and overall Jayden Daniels and crew managed just 13 points.
Allgeier should be inefficient on his touches and probably won't score. He is outside the top-24 fantasy backs in Week 10 as a result.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 6 best and worst fantasy football matchups for Week 10
Source: Sports
