Week 10 kicks off with a crucial game between two New York-based AFC East teams as the Buffalo Bills will head downstate, and to be completely accurate to New Jersey, to take on the New York Jets at Metlife Stadium. For fantasy purposes, there's a lot to be excited for in this game. Plus, it's the much anticpated debut of the "Color Rush" alternate uniforms for each team. Hey, as long as it's easy on the eyes and means more touchdowns for everyone, we're cool with it. Anyway, we preview all of the fantasy-relevant players in our game preview below. Let Week 10 commence!
Buffalo Bills at New York Jets: 8:25pm ET only on NFL Network
Bills:
He's baaaackkk! Taylor returned to action last week and ignited the Bills offense as they dropped 33 points on the Dolphins. While he didn't set the stat sheets on fire himself, Taylor clearly raises the performance of those around him, and last week was able to make Sammy Watkins a star. The Jets aren't the easiest matchup, as the team currently boasts the top run defense in the NFL, and Watkins will take his turn on Revis Island, but Taylor is still a low-end QB1 this week with the myriad injuries around the league at the position.
While LeSean McCoy is optimistic he will be able to suit up against the Jets after suffering a shoulder injury last Sunday, head coach Rex Ryan said this week that he's "not sure" how significant of a role Shady will play if active. It doesn't sound too severe, and although he's listed as probable his status remains up in the air for now. The situation needs to be closely monitored. If McCoy does play, it will be tough sledding against the Jets top run defense.
Williams has had an amazing rookie campaign. He has scored at least one touchdown in every game that he's played in (including two last week) and manages to put up great fantasy totals even when he's splitting the workload with LeSean McCoy. If McCoy is active, Williams remains a flex play, but if McCoy sits, Williams' value gets a boost into low-end RB2 territory against a Jets defensive unit that has surrendered just 484 rush yards and one rushing touchdown all season.
Despite dealing with an ankle injury, Watkins finally realized his full potential for the first time this season against Miami last week. As mentioned above, Watkins has already booked his ticket to Revis Island for Thursday night's contest, but the second-year wideout says he's looking forward to the matchup. He should be confident coming off of a 168-yard, one touchdown performance last week against Miami. We saw Allen Robinson pile up 121 yards against Revis last week, so it's not out of the question to think Watkins can produce numbers worthy of a fantasy start if you really need him.
The Bills hung 33 points on the Dolphins last week but Charles Clay had just one catch for six yards. Yikes. That puts the Buffalo tight end at 32 total yards in his last two games combined. You'd think something has to give soon, especially since Darrelle Revis will be focused on shutting down Sammy Watkins. Taylor and Clay seemingly had a connection at the start of the season, so we're holding out hope that the old flame is still burning. Still, Clay ranks as our TE15 for Week 10 so you can probably do better.
Jets:
Fitzpatrick has been a consistent fantasy scorer all season, save for Week 8 when he left the game in the first quarter with a hand injury. This guy is tough, as he played through torn thumb ligaments in his non-throwing hand last week and led his Jets to a win over the Jaguars. He'll continue to play through the injury and as long as he's on the field he's a safe start in fantasy. There's nothing about the Bills defense that should scare you away from the Amish Rifle this week and as long as his top targets, Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, are running routes, Fitzpatrick remains a top-10 fantasy quarterback.
Ivory has had three straight games where his yardage totals have been pedestrian, but some of that can be attributed to the fact that All-Pro center Nick Mangold hasn't played a full game since Week 6. But Mangold is slated to start Thursday night which bodes well for Ivory. And even though the Jets feature back hasn't been gaining a lot of yards recently, he has still scored three times in his last three games which is all we as fantasy owners really care about. Plus, the Bills defense offers a favorable matchup since the unit has allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to running backs over the last four weeks. Ivory is a top-10 option at home on Thursday night.
Marshall has posted double-digit fantasy totals in all but one game this season, and with 730 receiving yards and five touchdowns he stands as the WR8 for the year. He's received 38 percent of the Jets wide receiver targets this season and is averaging over 10 targets per game. Marshall is a low-end WR1 play each and every week, as long as Ryan Fitzpatrick is under center. Plus, the Bills defense ranks in the bottom half of the league in terms of fantasy points allowed to the wide receiver position.
Some might argue that Decker is one of the most efficient fantasy scoring wide receivers in the league, and they wouldn't be wrong. He's gotten into the end zone in all but two games this year and has hauled in just over 66 percent of his 54 targets to this point. While he's not seeing the same share of targets that Brandon Marshall is, he remains a top 25 fantasy wideout and has a great matchup against the Bills on Thursday night. As is the case with Marshall, Decker is an every-week starter as long as the Amish Rifle is firing.
Following a few underwhelming performances against New England and Oakland, this unit bounced back in a big way last week with six sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries against the Jaguars. In a Thursday night game at home, there's no real reason you should leave the Jets defense on your bench.
Matt Franciscovich is an associate fantasy editor at NFL.com. You can follow him on Twitter **@MattFranchise**.
