Fabs Five Week 10 Storylines: Christian McCaffrey Returns For Fantasy Football Fans

Michael Fabiano | Nov 11, 2024

49ers running back Christian McCaffrey returned for fantasy managers this week. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Week 10 started with a bang, as Ja’Marr Chase went bananas for 55.4 fantasy points. And as we headed into Sunday night, no wideout was within 29 points of him (and you’ll never believe who is second … Marquez Valdes-Scantling)! Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson also went off on Thursday night, and no quarterback in the Sunday afternoon games beat their 33.7 points and 32.9 points, respectively. Jalen Hurts came close, with 29.7 points.

Oh, and speaking of 29.7 points, that was more than the entire Cowboys offense (27.6) scored in Philadelphia’s blowout win over Jerry’s sad and pathetic bunch of Pokes.

With that said, here’s my Fabs’ Five Storylines from Week 10 that stood out the most. For all of the latest news and fantasy advice, check out Fantasy Dirt five days a week!

Christian McCaffrey returns to action

He’s back! The No. 1 overall pick in fantasy drafts finally played in his first game of the year, and he made an immediate impact. He played 56 snaps, touched the football 19 times (six catches) and scored 16.7 points in a win over the Buccaneers. There was no splitting of the touches in his first game either, as Jordan Mason and Isaac Guerendo combined for just two touches. As long as he’s healthy, McCaffrey should be a top-10 fantasy running back (at worst) for the rest of the season. He’ll get a plus matchup against the Seahawks in Week 11.

No Dak, not fantasy points for Cowboys

As a die-hard Cowboys fan for more than 40 years, I don’t mind saying it … this team sucks. And without Dak Prescott, this team sucks for fantasy purposes too.

Cooper Rush threw for 45 yards and lost two fumbles in his first start, and he was pulled for Trey Lance late in the game. CeeDee Lamb had six catches for 21 yards and was the second-highest-scoring Cowboys player with 8.4 points. Rico Dowdle led the team with a paltry 8.6 points. I’m not going to list the rest, because you get the point. While things should get better for Lamb, I’d be looking to trade any Cowboys I might get any sort of value for (including Lamb).

Vikings, Falcons disappoint managers

You have heard me talk about fantasy games that have gone “sideways,” and that was the case in two games in particular this week. The Jaguars came in as one of the worst teams in the league against quarterbacks and wide receivers, but it held Sam Darnold to 6.5 points and Justin Jefferson to 9.8 points. Jordan Addison was worse, scoring just 4.9 points

Heading into the week, the Jaguars had allowed 14-plus points to 10 wide receivers. That list includes seven who have scored 18-plus points and four with more than 20 points

In New Orleans, the Saints offense and defense were chock full of injuries, making all the Atlanta assets attractive. It didn’t work out. While Bijan Robinson went off for 29.4 points, Kirk Cousins was held to 10.2 points and Kyle Pitts scored just 9.5 points. Oh, and let me know if you had this on your fantasy bingo card … Drake London and Darnell Mooney were outscored by … Marquez Valdes-Scantling! Atlanta’s DST and Younghoe Koo also tanked.

As Vince Lombardi once famously said, “What the hell is going on out there?”

The Bears offense is in hibernation

Remember a few weeks ago when Caleb Williams the Bears offense was clicking on all cylinders? Seems like years ago at this point. Williams was awful again against the Patriots, completing 53.5% of his passes and scoring a season-low 6.3 points. He has now scored single digits in three straight games after posting 23-plus points in his previous two.

Williams’ decline has killed the value of almost all the Bears, too. DJ Moore has scored no more than 7.3 points in four straight games, including 5.7 points this week. Keenan Allen has scored double digits once in his last four games, and Rome Odunze has one such stat line in the last six games. Cole Kmet has scored 7.7 total points in his last three games!

With a tough matchup against the Packers, who will be fresh off a bye, up next, D’Andre Swift might be the only Bear who fantasy fans can start with any confidence in Week 11.

Big-name fantasy tight ends are back

The tight end position has been tough to navigate for a lot of the season, but we’re starting to see the big names put up big numbers. Travis Kelce has been white hot, scoring 20-plus points in three straight games, during which time he’s been targeted 40 times. We’ve also gotten Mark Andrews back, as he posted 18.8 points on Thursday night and has scored 14-plus points in four of his last five games. George Kittle keeps cooking, posting another nice stat line (14.7 points) in a win over the Buccaneers, and T.J. Hockenson looked great in his second game back from a knee injury. He saw nine targets, caught eight passes and put up 15.2 points against the Jaguars. Trey McBride had 71 yards and 11.1 points, and even Dallas Goedert scored a touchdown in his first game back from an injured hamstring.  

With Brock Bowers, David Njoku and Tucker Kraft coming back from byes, the tight end spot is probably as deep as it’s been all season. That’s good news for the stretch run.