Broncos fantasy football outlook for Week 10 against the Eagles

The Denver Broncos won for the second time in row last week with a convincing 30-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys. It was a shocking win to be sure, and they finish up their games against the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles coming to town on Sunday.

After last week’s performance, Broncos skill position players look much more attractive to Fantasy GMs. Can they make it back-to-back weeks?

Here is advice for fantasy GMs considering starting Broncos players in Week 10.

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Teddy Bridgewater – QB2 with upside/streaming option

The Broncos offense was humming last week against the Cowboys, but Teddy Bridgewater didn’t have to do much as a passer. With the rushing attack leading the way, Bridgewater had to play safe and efficiently when he went to the air. He did just that, leading to a Broncos victory but it wasn’t a great day for his fantasy numbers.

The Eagles tout the No. 23 defense in the league overall in terms of yards given up in 2021. Their pass defense is the middle of the pack with 2,121 yards given up with 16 touchdowns allowed and just six interceptions. You can move the ball against this team with 117 first downs allowed so far this year, and they do not get stiffer in the red zone. The Eagles are both in the bottom 10 in passing touchdowns allowed and in the bottom five of rushing touchdowns allowed in 2021.

Bridgewater should be able to get after this defense if the game plan calls for it. Last week, the plan was to run the ball and play efficiently with the passing game. If they do the same thing this week, it means Bridgewater would have a pedestrian day – and a Broncos win. That uncertainty, even in this good matchup, makes him a QB2 with upside or a streaming option in Week 10.

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Melvin Gordon – flex | Javonte Williams – flex

I can’t believe offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur finally used his running backs the right way last week against the Cowboys. I’ve been waiting for this day and it happened last Sunday, and it was glorious. So, will Shurmur do it again?

Fantasy GMs have to love what they saw from Javonte Williams last week. He was the “Rookie of the Week” in the NFL and registered the first 100-yard rushing game of his career in Week 9. It would be wise to continue to feed him as they did against Dallas. As a runner, Williams gets stronger as the game goes on. His tough, no-nonsense running style gives the team an identity of toughness that has been sorely missing.

Melvin Gordon is still playing good football. He’s scoring touchdown, aiding his fantasy value, because he’s not blazing up the stat sheet in terms of yards per carry. However, he’s getting a lot of touches and that eventually translates into fantasy points. Both Williams and Gordon are flex options with upside in Week 10. It all comes down to whether or not Shurmur will use them enough – again.

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Jerry Jeudy – WR2/flex | Courtland Sutton – WR3/flex | Tim Patrick – WR3/flex

If the rushing attack does the heavy lifting, there might not be as much here for the wide receivers as fantasy GMs want. There’s also the Darius Slay factor to worry about. Slay, if healthy (he’s got a hamstring injury from last week against the Chargers) is quietly having a Pro Bowl season. Each week for the Eagles, Slay will put one top receiver on an island and shut him down. Who is that going to be for the Broncos?

Jerry Jeudy is Bridgewater’s favorite target, so maybe the Eagles decide to take the talented second-year receiver away from the veteran quarterback. Jeudy will be tough to contain but Slay has previously held guys like Tyreek Hill (one catch, 14 yards) and Mike Evans (two catches, 27 yards) down earlier this season.

Courtland Sutton was corralled by the Cowboys defense last week. He wasn’t that involved in the game plan, mainly because he wasn’t getting open enough for Bridgewater. The Eagles may decide though to give Sutton the veteran treatment most defenses do as they consider him the No. 1 receiver for the Broncos.

Tim Patrick is the third option, but he might be the best option for fantasy GMs in Week 10. He’s not going to draw the coverage like the other two, but when he does Patrick makes them pay (see his touchdown grab last week against rising star CB Trevon Diggs). If the Eagles had out-of-the-box thinking, they might want to think about taking Patrick away.

The matchup is there for the passing game to have success – except for the guy Slay is covering. Again, Slay must be healthy and has been limited in practice this week with that hamstring injury. If he’s out, then it’s game on for the Broncos passing game.

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Noah Fant – TE1 with upside

The Eagles defense gives it up to tight ends. They lead the league with 69 missed tackles this year, and the Eagles don’t blitz that often (only 16.5 percent of the time). That means quarterbacks have time, they can find tight ends, and the Eagles will miss plenty of tackles after the catch.

Fant returns this week for the Broncos, and fantasy GMs can plug him right into the lineup. No, he’s still not going to block effectively but he should be able to do damage as a receiver – and that’s what you get points for anyway. Of the 16 passing touchdowns they’ve surrendered in 2021, half of them have been to tight ends. Yes, eight touchdowns given up to tight ends – that’s a red alert for everyone to start Fant as a TE1 with upside to finish as the best tight end of the week.

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Broncos Defense – Low-end D1

If the Broncos can get the level of production from the pass rush they did against the Cowboys, then Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will turn the ball over. Hurts only has four interceptions in 2021, but he’s fumbled the ball five times.

He’s the team’s leading rusher, so Hurts will take off to run if the opportunity arises. When he does, Hurts gets careless with the ball and can lose the rock. The Broncos defense must keep this in mind when in chase mode. Don’t just tackle him and get him to the ground, punch at the ball and see if it comes out.

Nobody on the Eagles offense is that scary outside of rookie wide receiver DeVonta Smith. He’s got blazing speed, and the Broncos may decide to bracket him so they don’t give up the big play. We’ll see how effective they can be against the Eagles – this team will NOT go down without a fight. However, I see the Broncos coming out on top in part due to the way the defense should be able to get it done.

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For more of my fantasy football work, check out Footballguys.com.

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