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Defense and kicker are two positions where fantasy managers can afford to chase matchups from one week to the next. Week 10 gives us several obvious spots to attack.
The Seattle Seahawks get a rookie making his first NFL start. The Los Angeles Rams get another one. The Jacksonville Jaguars face one of the league’s weakest offenses immediately after adding three defensive starters at the trade deadline.
At kicker, Brandon Aubrey sits atop PFN’s Week 10 rankings after three productive weeks, while Cam Little and Jake Bates offer strong alternatives.
PFN has Seattle as the No. 1 fantasy defense for Week 10, and the matchup is doing a lot of the work.
Las Vegas will start Fernando Mendoza against the Seahawks after trading Kirk Cousins to Minnesota. Mendoza was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and will make his first career start Sunday. Raiders general manager John Spytek officially named him the starter after the deadline.
That’s an uncomfortable debut opponent.
Seattle owns an 86.7 PFN Defense Impact grade, third-best in the NFL, and its 88.2 pass-defense grade also ranks near the top of the league.
The Seahawks aren’t being ranked first because they’ve dominated fantasy scoring every week. Max Chadwick noted that they’ve been a solid rather than overwhelming fantasy unit for most of the season.
They did score 10 fantasy points against Arizona last week, and the circumstances are even more appealing against Las Vegas. Mike Macdonald gets a rookie quarterback in his first start, while the Raiders are transitioning their offense immediately after moving Cousins.
PFN currently projects Seattle for 9.9 fantasy points as the DST1.
For managers who stream defenses, Seattle is the first place to look.
Jacksonville was already one of the NFL’s best defenses before the trade deadline. Then the Jaguars added Jordan Davis, Jessie Bates III, and Davon Godchaux.
The Jaguars acquired all three on Monday, adding Davis and Godchaux to the defensive line and Bates to the secondary. Jacksonville currently lists Davis as its starting nose tackle and Bates as a starting safety.
That strengthens a defense that already ranks fourth in PFN Defense Impact at 85.7.
Now Jacksonville gets Tennessee.
The Titans have struggled offensively throughout the season, which is enough for Chadwick to view Jacksonville as one of the safest defenses on the board even before accounting for the deadline additions.
PFN has the Jaguars at DST2 with a 9.1-point projection.
There could be some adjustment required for three newcomers joining the defense in the middle of a game week, but Jacksonville doesn’t need every acquisition playing a full workload for this to remain one of Week 10’s best matchups.
Kansas City checks in third against Atlanta.
The Falcons have allowed 7.6 fantasy points per game to opposing defenses, fifth-most in the NFL through Week 9. PFN currently projects Kansas City for 8.5 points as the DST3.
The Chiefs haven’t needed to be one of fantasy’s most dominant defenses for this recommendation to work. The appeal comes from pairing a useful Kansas City unit with an Atlanta offense that has repeatedly given opposing defenses opportunities.
Atlanta also traded Bates to Jacksonville at the deadline. That doesn’t directly affect its offense, but it further increases the possibility that Kansas City can control the game and force the Falcons into more obvious passing situations.
Baltimore has been much harder to trust this season.
Chadwick is willing to overlook that against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chargers entered Week 10 as the NFL’s only winless team and have been one of the most favorable offenses to target with a fantasy defense. Chadwick’s argument is straightforward: Los Angeles has been bad enough offensively that almost any usable defense deserves consideration against it.
Baltimore’s defense has been closer to average than elite this season, but this is a matchup-based ranking rather than a bet on what the Ravens have done through nine weeks.
That distinction matters at D/ST. Managers don’t have to believe Baltimore suddenly has one of the NFL’s five best defenses to use it against an offense that continues to create sacks, turnovers, and low-scoring opportunities for opponents.
The Rams get the other rookie quarterback making his first start in Week 10.
Arizona placed Gardner Minshew on injured reserve after he suffered an arm injury in Seattle, and the Cardinals have officially turned to Carson Beck against Los Angeles. Beck will make his first NFL start. Michael Wilson also landed on IR with a neck injury.
Los Angeles has been trending in the right direction defensively as well. The Rams allowed 13 points to Washington last week after holding Las Vegas to 17 in Week 8.
PFN’s full-season Defense Impact rankings have the Rams eighth at 80.6.
A rookie quarterback, a depleted Arizona receiving corps, and a Rams defense playing better football make this another strong streaming spot.
Minnesota remains difficult to bench even against Green Bay. The Vikings have the NFL’s highest PFN Defense Impact grade at 93.5, although Jordan Love and the Packers present a much tougher matchup than the teams faced by Seattle or Jacksonville.
Houston is another appealing option against Cleveland, while Buffalo draws a Jets offense that has struggled to consistently move the ball.
Green Bay gets Minnesota in Kirk Cousins’ first game back with the Vikings, and the Giants face Washington on Thursday night.
Pittsburgh rounds out Max’s top 12 against Cincinnati. That matchup carries considerably more risk with Joe Burrow playing at a high level, so the Steelers are better viewed as a lower-end option than the defenses at the top of the board.
Brandon Aubrey hasn’t spent the entire season as fantasy’s top kicker, but he enters Week 10 back where managers are accustomed to seeing him.
PFN ranks Aubrey at K1 with an 11.4-point projection against San Francisco. The 49ers have allowed 9.6 fantasy points per game to kickers, 11th-most in the NFL.
Chadwick’s interest also comes from Aubrey’s recent form.
Aubrey scored 14 fantasy points in Week 7, 13 in Week 8, and 10 in Week 9. His 37 points across that span led all kickers.
The Cowboys remain capable of consistently moving the ball into scoring range. San Francisco has a defense good enough to create stalled drives without making Dallas completely nonfunctional offensively, which is often the exact environment fantasy managers want for a kicker.
Touchdowns aren’t always ideal for kicker scoring. A Cowboys offense that repeatedly reaches the San Francisco side of the field but has to settle for three points would be perfect for Aubrey.
Cam Little is PFN’s K2 with a 10.5-point projection against Tennessee. The Titans are allowing 10.1 fantasy points per game to kickers, sixth-most in the league.
Little is coming off one of his best fantasy performances of the year and now gets to kick for a Jacksonville team expected to control its matchup.
The Jaguars don’t need to score touchdowns on every possession for Little to produce. In fact, a few Tennessee stops after Jacksonville crosses midfield would help his fantasy ceiling.
Jacksonville’s overall quality makes him one of the safer kicking options of Week 10.
Jake Bates sits at K3 with a 10.0-point projection against New England.
The matchup itself is relatively neutral. The Patriots are allowing 9.0 fantasy points per game to kickers, 15th-most in the NFL.
The reason to trust Bates is Detroit.
The Lions continue to field one of the NFL’s better offenses, giving Bates repeated opportunities for both field goals and extra points. He doesn’t require an unusually favorable opponent when the offense around him consistently creates scoring chances.
That keeps him firmly in the weekly starter tier.
Indianapolis has had plenty go wrong this season. Spencer Shrader has not been part of the problem.
Shrader leads all NFL kickers with 106 fantasy points through nine games. He has made 22 of 24 field-goal attempts, including three field goals against Dallas last week.
PFN has him at K4 with a 9.7-point projection against Miami.
The Dolphins aren’t an especially favorable kicker matchup, but Shrader has already proven that Indianapolis doesn’t have to be an elite offense for him to produce.
In some ways, the Colts’ offensive problems can help. An offense capable of advancing into scoring territory but unable to consistently finish drives creates plenty of field-goal attempts.
Ka’imi Fairbairn rounds out Max’s top five.
Fairbairn has 93 fantasy points in eight games, third-most among kickers this season, while converting 18 of 19 field-goal attempts.
PFN has him at K5 with a 9.4-point projection against Cleveland.
Houston’s offense has played much better recently, and the Texans should have opportunities to move the ball against the Browns. Fairbairn has also been accurate enough that fantasy managers don’t need an enormous volume of attempts for him to provide a useful score.
Will Reichard remains a top option despite a difficult matchup. Green Bay is allowing only 5.1 fantasy points per game to kickers, second-fewest in the NFL, but Minnesota’s move to Cousins should give the offense a better chance of consistently reaching scoring range. PFN currently has Reichard at K6.
Evan McPherson has one of the best matchups on the board. Pittsburgh has allowed 10.9 fantasy points per game to kickers, second-most in the league, which puts McPherson firmly in starting territory.
Brandon McManus, Eddy Piñeiro, Tyler Bass, Jason Myers, and Trey Smack round out Chadwick’s preferred group. Myers is particularly interesting because Seattle should have scoring opportunities against Las Vegas with Mendoza making his first start.
As usual with kicker, managers don’t need to become attached to the name on the roster. The offense, matchup, and expected scoring environment matter more than holding a kicker simply because he was drafted in September.
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