Top five must-start WRs for fantasy football Week 10

A glorious week out on the gridiron approaches once more, accompanied this week by more devastating, long-term injury news for many of our favorite marquee fantasy players—Puka Nacua and Lamar Jackson, namely, here. The Jaguars are the cream rising to just about the top, here, and the Bengals are back in midseason form as fantasy darlings. Lots hasn’t gone right this year; lot’s still has plenty of time to correct or mutate or sharpen itself as we look to maximize the potential of our fantasy lineups, here with the fantasy playoffs just a month off, now.

And so—I’m here with the Five Lists of Five: Week 10 edition. The turning-point edition.

For the (somehow) newly-ordained: Soundbite-length blurbs with advanced analysis on my favorite plays of the week. We begin now with my Top five must-start wide receivers for fantasy football Week 10. Here are my other offerings in this edition:

• Top five must-start RBs for fantasy football Week 10
• Top five FLEX plays for fantasy football Week 10
• Top five sleepers and upside plays for fantasy football Week 10
• Top five streamer plays for fantasy football Week 10

All data provided by Fantasy Points Data Suite 2.0, unless otherwise noted.

Fantasy football Week 10: Top five wide receivers to smash-start

Parker Washington, JAX (at Titans)

Parker Washington has a knack for finding room against the coverages Tennessee likes to play. The Titans rank seventh in Cover 4 usage and fourth in Cover 6, and Washington has drawn a target on 27% of his routes against those two looks, producing 2.89 yards per route. That combination of target earning and efficiency makes him awfully attractive against a secondary that has allowed the eighth-highest explosive-pass rate.

Trevor Lawrence looks Washington’s way early and often: the receiver owns a 27.8% first-read share and has averaged 2.52 yards per route overall. Once the ball arrives, he’s gained 6.24 yards after the catch per reception. Jacksonville has leaned more heavily on multiple-tight-end sets since its bye, but Washington and Jakobi Meyers have remained the principal receivers in those formations. A second tight end on the field won’t divert Washington to the sideline.

The caution is volume. Jacksonville has averaged 30.8 Lawrence dropbacks per game, and Washington has caught two passes or fewer in three of his last five outings. I’m willing to accept that volatility against Tennessee’s coverage tendencies. His ability to earn targets against the Titans’ preferred looks gives him a route to a hefty afternoon without requiring Jacksonville to throw 40 times.

Christian Watson, GB (vs. Vikings)

Christian Watson tore through Minnesota for six catches, 147 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1. The rematch comes with an important warning: Green Bay completed seven passes of at least 20 yards that afternoon, and the Vikings allowed only nine such completions across their next seven games. Brian Flores has spent two months making sure opponents don’t repeat that party.

Jordan Love and Watson still have answers for the pressure. Minnesota blitzes on 72.5% of passing downs, the league’s highest rate. Love leads the NFL with 967 passing yards against the blitz and shares the lead with 10 touchdowns. Watson’s target share has climbed from 18% without a blitz to 31% against one. Give him a chance to turn a hot read into open grass and he can wreck a fantasy matchup in a hurry.

Green Bay also has more experienced options at guard than it did when Jacob Monk and Donovan Jennings made their first starts in the opener, although center Sean Rhyan’s ankle remains a consideration. We featured Watson in Week 7 and got a modest 10.7 PPR points; his subsequent explosions are why he’s back here. His connection with Love against pressure, plus the 171 yards he just hung on New England, earns him another start.

Zay Flowers, BAL (vs. Chargers)

Zay Flowers deserves a better chance on this list than the one he got against Jacksonville, when he caught three passes for six yards. Baltimore designed 40% of its first reads for him in that game, but the intended involvement couldn’t rescue the passing offense. Enter Jacoby Brissett, who should have a clear assignment in his first Ravens start: find No. 4.

The Chargers have played Cover 3 on 32% of their defensive dropbacks, their most-used coverage. Flowers has produced 3.47 yards per route against Cover 3 this season and has lined up in the slot for 63% of his routes over the last three games. That movement should give Baltimore ways to get him into a part of the field Los Angeles has struggled to defend.

There’s still a real quarterback adjustment to navigate. Across 296 career routes without Lamar Jackson, Flowers has commanded 29.6% of Baltimore’s targets but averaged 1.76 yards per route. The volume survived; the production fell short of what fantasy managers expect from him. Brissett has to deliver those targets accurately and on time. I’m betting on the coverage fit and Flowers’ commanding role, while keeping the uncertainty of a new quarterback in view.

Tetairoa McMillan, CAR (at Saints)

We went to Tetairoa McMillan in Week 7 expecting a WR2 finish with room for more. Four catches for 40 yards and eight PPR points didn’t get us there. I’m returning to him because Carolina has since found a quicker way to get Bryce Young’s passes out, and New Orleans offers the Panthers a chance to use it.

Against Denver last week, Young released the ball in an average of 2.56 seconds, his fastest mark of the season, and faced pressure on 34.9% of his dropbacks, his second-lowest rate of the year. McMillan has outtargeted Jalen Coker 23–14 over the last three weeks. The Saints’ 32% pressure rate ranks among the league’s lowest, which could give Young the time to find his lead receiver without asking him to hold the ball indefinitely.

New Orleans has used single-high coverage on 64.4% of its dropbacks. McMillan has drawn a target on 23% of his routes against single-high and produced 1.95 yards per route. His overall efficiency has cooled since Week 7 (1.47 yards per route), so this is a matchup-based rebound call rather than a celebration of his recent output. Carolina guard Damien Lewis practiced fully Friday, a welcome development for Young’s protection.

Germie Bernard, PIT (at Bengals)

Pittsburgh rookie Germie Bernard does some of his best work inside, and Cincinnati has invited opponents to throw there. The Bengals have faced 43.2% of their pass attempts between the numbers, the league’s highest rate, and have allowed 10.6 yards per target to slot receivers. Bernard has aligned in the slot on 51.5% of his snaps, earning a target on 21% of his routes and gaining 1.76 yards per route from that alignment. Outside, those figures fall to 18.9% and 0.97.

Bernard’s route tree gives him a practical way to reach that vulnerable area. His average target has traveled just 4.8 yards downfield, screens account for 21.4% of his targets, and he’s gained 61.6% of his receiving yardage after the catch. In PPR, a handful of quick completions can put him to work before he starts adding yards through traffic.

Cincinnati adjusted after halftime in the first meeting, lifting its man-coverage rate from 36.4% to 64.7% and its blitz rate from 9.5% to 33.3%. Aaron Rodgers and Bernard will have to answer if the Bengals turn up that pressure again. I like Bernard as a matchup-driven WR3 whose reception opportunities can reward a start even without a long touchdown.