Kirk Cousins has the weapons to thrive in Minnesota, but a tough Packers matchup has me tempering expectations for Week 10
The quarterback position got a massive shakeup this week. First, we learned that Matthew Stafford had lost Puka Nacua for at least the next month. Then we found out Michael Wilson was out for the season and Gardner Minshew was hurt and would be replaced by Carson Beck. On Tuesday, we saw Kirk Cousins traded to the Vikings, opening the door for Fernand Mendoza to make his debut. Oh yeah, and Malik Willis is heading to Injured Reserve as well. And Jacoby Brissett is starting for the Ravens this week. Caught up?
The main takeaway from all these moves is that there are very few typical starters that we would call sits. Matthew Stafford is the only real example, though Patrick Mahomes and Jayden Daniels are very borderline starts as well. Other than that, if you have been starting someone, you should probably keep starting them.
Of the guys who changed situations this week, Cousins is the most difficult projection. He knows the system, but he hasn't been with the team. He has Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, but he also has a very difficult matchup against the Packers. I am being cautious this week and don't rank him as highly as I did most weeks with the Raiders. But I wanted to touch on this because it is a very low-confidence projection and ranking. Cousins does have huge upside virtually every week with the Vikings. This week's projection has a wide error band because we don't have any data on Cousins with the 2026 Vikings and the Packers defense has been playing lights out. But I fully expect that within a few weeks, we will be more confident and Cousins will be a borderline QB1.
Let's get to the rest of the preview:
Week 10 QB Preview
- -7.8% -- The Vikings have the 22nd pass rate over expected, while the Raiders have the fifth. A big part of Cousins' Fantasy success will rely on that number going up.
- 41.4 -- Jacoby Brissett averaged 41.4 dropbacks per game in Arizona. That number could fall significantly in Baltimore.
- 11.1% -- Jordan Love has an 11.1% explosive per dropback rate. Only Josh Allen has a better mark.
- 20 -- Bo Nix is up to 20 designed runs this year; only Josh Allen has more.
- 21 -- The Raiders have given up at least 21 Fantasy points to seven straight quarterbacks.
- 228 -- Matthew Stafford has not thrown for more than 228 yards in a game in a month.
QB Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Adds/Streamers (QB Preview)
Projections powered by Sportsline
Projections powered by Sportsline
QB Preview
Heath's projections
My full set of Week 10 Fantasy football projections for every position is here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 10. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available and will be updated throughout the week as I make changes.
