Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

With just two teams (the New York Giants and Houston Texans) on the bye this week, the player pool that fantasy owners have to choose from is the largest it has been since week 3. That’s good news as it gives you plenty of options to go with for your starting line-up; however, that’s bad news because it gives you plenty of options to go with for your starting line-up. Helping to make your decisions easier, the Bruno Boys present the Fantasy Football Week 10 Sit Ems.

QUARTERBACKS – SIT ‘EM

Kyle Orton (Denver Broncos) @ Washington

Following 6 straight weeks of double digit fantasy production, Kyle Orton has struggled in his two games since returning from the Broncos’ bye week. Against the Baltimore Ravens, he posted a mere 152 yards, and versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, he amassed just 221 yards and 3 INTs. In both games, Orton failed to find pay dirt. After weeks like those, you probably weren’t expecting for it to get much better against the “best” pass defense in the NFL (160 yards per game, 7 TDs in 8 games), but if you were, be warned as the Redskins have been great at not allowing the big plays to occur through the air (6th in the NFL with 17 plays of 20+ yards). Orton and the Broncos could struggle getting it going offensively.

Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers) vs. Philadelphia

Surrounding himself with big targets in Vincent Jackson, Malcom Floyd, and Antonio Gates has done wonders for Rivers’ fantasy prospects in 2009. However, while Rivers has undoubtedly been a top-10 fantasy QB, a top-5 option in many weeks, he has to go up against a Philadelphia Eagles defense that is fuming after losing to their division rival, the Dallas Cowboys. Second in the NFL in sacks with 27, tied for second in INTs with 15, and 11th with 205 passing yards per game allowed, the Eagles have been a top-5 defense versus the pass this season. Even though the Chargers’ offense can definitely be stellar, Rivers could struggle to get things going this weekend versus Philly.

RUNNING BACKS – SIT ‘EM

Ryan Grant (Green Bay Packers) vs. Dallas

Grant is a mid-level RB2, who is a must start with good match-ups (see week 9 against Tampa Bay). The Cowboys, however, don’t fit that mold. Dallas only allows 102.9 rushing yards per game, which is bad news for a running back that has just one 100-yard game on the year, and rank 4th in the NFL having given up only 3 rushing TDs this entire season. While this game could be a shoot out, we expect it to be QB Aaron Rodgers and the WR corps to put up the numbers for Green Bay instead of the Packers run game.

Ladell Betts (Washington Redskins) vs. Denver

Ladell Betts may be this week’s hot waiver wire pick-up, but his match-up against the Broncos isn’t exactly a good one. Denver has only given up 3 rushing scores this season, and the Redskins offense is stagnant to say the least, posting just 14.1 points a game. While Betts has some potential as a receiver out of the backfield, we don’t believe he is a worthy start against one of the better defenses this season (even with the last two losses the Broncos have), especially since he’s working with a slight ankle sprain that he suffered in the Redskins’ week 9 match-up with the Atlanta Falcons.

Marion Barber (Dallas Cowboys) @ Green Bay

It’s hard to know what to make of the Barbarian this season. He runs hard every time that he’s in, but that just hasn’t been on a consistent enough basis this season. With Tashard Choice and Felix Jones stealing a handful of carries, Barber has cemented himself as an RB3 with the potential to go for 10-12 fantasy points each week. The Pack’s rush defense, which is 9th in the league, has easily been good enough to comfortably sit Marion Barber on your team’s La-Z-Boy and not think twice about it in week 10.

Potential Bust Pick of the Week:

Cedric Benson (Cincinnati Bengals) @ Pittsburgh

Yes, Benson has cemented himself as a must-start week in and week out. However, his match-up with the Pittsburgh Steelers is far from ideal. The Steelers are the best rush defense in the NFL by a lot (better than their foe Cincy by 13 rush yards per game), so while it’s tough to sit Benson, he could definitely struggle in the Steel City. Looking at Benson’s total body of work in 2009, it’s amazing that he failed so miserably with the Chicago Bears. He has been perhaps the most consistent on a week-to-week basis as anyone, but he may fall short of expectations this weekend.