4 FanDuel NFL Studs for Week 10

Spending your available salary in any DFS lineup on a stud can make or break your lineup. These high-salaried players will take up the majority of your budget, so it’s critical to carefully consider which ones you’ll want for each slate. Whether it’s trying to capture a safe floor in a cash game or chasing a huge game to help you win a tournament, nailing the expensive players is one of the keys to making winning NFL lineups on FanDuel.

We're into the double-digit weeks of the NFL season, so let's see what stars look good for Week 10.

Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills

FanDuel Salary: $8,700
Projected Points: 26.5

As those of us who have watched Ted Lasso know, the goldfish is the happiest animal on Earth. That's because a goldfish has a 10-second memory. The "be a goldfish" mantra would also be a good one for daily fantasy players to adopt as part of their process.

We need to be a goldfish to forget about Josh Allen's performance last week. It's not a stretch to say that everyone expected him to tear up the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. Instead, he put up his worst fantasy performance of the season. He is still the QB3 in points per game and should be able to come back with a strong game on Sunday.

Allen offers a rare combination of skills that are so useful in fantasy. The Buffalo Bills have a very high pass rate, ranking second in the league. They also like to play at a nice pace, as they are eighth in seconds per play when the game is close.

The other thing that separates Allen from other quarterbacks is his rushing production. Despite the poor game last week, he still ran for 50 yards. This was his sixth game this season where he added at least four fantasy points on the ground, the equivalent of an extra passing touchdown. It's hard to spend $8,300 on someone like Tom Brady -- who will get next to nothing on the ground -- when Allen's salary is only $400 more and comes with a boosted floor/ceiling combination because of rushing.

The Bills get a chance to bounce back against the New York Jets this week. The Jets are bad in most aspects of football, including pass defense. According to numberFire's metrics, their schedule-adjusted pass defense is 30th in the league. In fantasy points allowed per drop back, they are 25th, and they haven't faced a quarterback nearly as good as Josh Allen.

Buffalo's implied team total is over 30 points, which is a great indicator of fantasy points for a quarterback. Allen's 26.5-point projection is way out in front of all the other quarterbacks, so we should feel comfortable going back to him this week.

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

FanDuel Salary: $9,400
Projected Points: 18.8

The top of running back in terms of salaries feels like a bit of a changing of the guard. Sophomore Jonathan Taylor and rookie Najee Harris sit ahead of running backs who have been drafted in the first round of fantasy drafts the past few seasons. These salaries are high, but they are based on merit -- especially in Taylor's case.

Taylor currently only trails Derrick Henry in half-PPR points per game. The Indianapolis Colts' offense struggled out of the gate with Carson Wentz and some offensive line injuries, and since they've gotten healthier, Taylor has taken off. He has at least 16.5 FanDuel points in every game since Week 3 and has at least one touchdown in all of those games.

The only concern on Taylor coming into the season was his involvement in the passing game. He has at least three catches in five different games this season. It's not to the same level as some other backs, but most other backs don't have Taylor's ability to break big plays. Taylor has three plays that have gained over 70 yards this season.

Taylor and the Colts play host to the Jaguars on the fast track in Indianapolis. Jacksonville's rush defense is ranked 23rd in the league by our metrics. They are also 26th in adjusted fantasy points per running back carry.

Taylor should dominate in this game, as he looks to keep ascending to be in the conversation of best backs in the league.

Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

FanDuel Salary: $7,800
Projected Points: 14.4

As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers keep chugging along, so does Chris Godwin. He's quietly a top-10 wide receiver in half-PPR points per game this season. We can expect similar production from him this week.

Godwin has benefited from the absence of Antonio Brown. He's had a 23% target share when Brown has been out of the lineup and has gone over 100 yards with a touchdown in the last two games without AB. With Brown looking like he'll miss again, Godwin should continue to see a lot of action.

The Bucs love to pass in most situations, as they are first in adjusted past rate this season. This should continue against their opponents this week. They'll face a Washington Football Team defense that ranks 8th against the run but 29th against the pass, so Tampa may be even more pass-happy than normal.

The Washington defense was expected to be a strength this season, but they haven't been able to limit wide receivers. They are 29th in adjusted fantasy points allowed on a per-target basis. If Tom Brady keeps humming along like he has been this season, he can pick apart this defense with Godwin getting on the end of a lot of those passes.

Given his role in the offense without Antonio Brown, and some of the league's best receivers not being on the main slate, you could argue that Godwin is the best play on the board at the position this week. That's especially true if Aaron Rodgers is unable to return, which would hurt Davante Adams quite a bit.

Either way, rolling out Chris Godwin this week is a good strategy. Note that Godwin did unexpectedly miss practice on Wednesday, though, so we'll have to keep an eye on his status this week.

Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons

FanDuel Salary: $6,900
Projected Points: 12.9

The tight end position is once again a barren wasteland on the main slate this week. The likes of Travis Kelce, Darren Waller, George Kittle, and Mark Andrews are all off the main slate, leaving us with few, if any, good options. So we might as well look at one of the best pure athletes at the position.

Kyle Pitts has had his ups and downs throughout the season, which should be expected for a rookie tight end. If you compare him to other rookies at the position, he's having a great season. Per Ben Gretch, Pitts currently has the same number of receiving yards that Rob Gronkowski had in his rookie season -- but in half of the games.

We expected Pitts to go nuclear without Calvin Ridley in the lineup, and it hasn't quite happened like that. He should be due for some positive regression, though, as he has caught just 5 of 13 targets since Ridley has been away from the team. He also should be due for positive regression when it comes to scoring touchdowns, as he has just one this season but is tied for second in red zone targets among tight ends.

The Atlanta Falcons will need Pitts this week, too, as they are on the road versus the Dallas Cowboys in the highest-total game on the main slate. Dallas has not been particularly good at defending tight ends this season, sitting 25th in adjusted fantasy points per target allowed to the position. Atlanta should be looking to get Pitts going in this game.

With the lack of good options, many fantasy managers will probably look to use less salary, so Pitts may be a good way to get contrarian on this slate.

Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.