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.

Best Week 10 fantasy football matchups

Tyler Shough vs. the Panthers

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.

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.

The Panthers allowed:

• 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.

Zach Charbonnet at the Raiders

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.

Tetairoa McMillan at the Saints

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.

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.

Worst Week 10 fantasy football matchups

Tony Pollard vs. the Jaguars

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.

Tyler Allgeier vs. the Rams

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.