THE SHADOW KNOWS Week 10 2021

THE SHADOW KNOWS: Week 10
One of the biggest cornerback vs. wide receiver battles of Week 9 took place in Los Angeles, when cornerback Jalen Ramsey and the Rams locked horns with wide receiver A.J. Brown and the Tennessee Titans.

The Titans won the game in emphatic fashion, but Brown didn't post huge numbers in the game-five catches for 42 yards, He also got into a dustup with Ramsey that earned both players offsetting taunting penalties. After the game, Brown told reporters that he wasn't having any of the chippiness that Ramsey is known for.

"I don't mind the chirping, but little things after the play, little dirty stuff, I'm not going for it," Brown said, via the Tennessean. "I'm a man first. I'm here to play football. I'm not trying to fight nobody. But I'm not taking s--- though. He knows me. He has my number if he wants to see me. That ain't no threat, I'm just saying - he knows me. If he wants to talk to me, get at me. He has my number."

Things don't get any easier for Brown in coverage this week. In Week 10. Brown and the Titans play host to the New Orleans Saints and cornerback Marshon Lattimore. Since signing a multi-year extension on September 12, Lattimore has played some of the best football of his career. But he told the Saints website that he still feels like he can improve his game.

"Picks for sure and just shutting down receivers all the way," Lattimore said. "I have been doing that, but not like I want too. I feel like there's another level I can go to. I'm just trying to work to get there."

As Brown showed with massive stat lines in Week 8 (8/133/1) and Week 9 (10/155/1), he's capable in any given game of taking over and posting week-winning numbers. But Lattimore has already held his own in coverage this year against the likes of Davante Adams, Terry McLaurin, DK Metcalf and Mike Evans.

Brown is still a must-start in fantasy leagues. But he's probably not winning any Week 10 matchups single-handedly.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (Shaquill Griffin vs. Michael Pittman)

After a dreadful start to the season (again), the Indianapolis Colts have gotten back into the AFC Wild Card race by winning three of four. The play of young wide receiver Michael Pittman has played a huge part in that hot streak, and teammate Jonathan Taylor recently talked up willingness to go after 50/50 balls on the field.

"It seems like Pitt, he just goes into kind of a beast mode kind of deal," running back Jonathan Taylor said. "When the ball's in his hands, he's like no one is stopping me, and if the ball's in the air, he's like, this ball is mine - or it's a PI. This is my ball."

Over the last three weeks, there is all of one wide receiver who has piled up more PPR points than Pittman-Cooper Kupp of the Rams. Pittman has 25 targets over that span and scored in all three games. He's as hot as any wideout in the league heading into a matchup with a Jaguars team allowing the ninth-most PPR points per game to receivers. Giddyup.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (Marvin Jones vs. Xavier Rhodes)
After starting off the 2021 season with 11 catches for 132 yards and two scores, Marvin Jones has spent most of the last two months on a milk carton. There was a temporary sighting in Week 6-a season high seven grabs for 100 yards and a score. But since then. Jones has eight grabs for 56 yards total. However, Lauren Auerbach of Fantrax thinks that this could be the week that Jones finally back on track.

"The Colts defense has recently struggled, with both the Titans and Jets scoring at least 30 points on them in consecutive weeks," she said. "Additionally, they've allowed a league-leading 15 receiving touchdowns to wideouts this season, as well as the fifth-most fantasy points to the position. Yes, both Jamal Agnew and Dan Arnold have out-targeted Jones in the past two weeks. But, we're here for bold predictions, and I think this is the week the veteran steps up and shines."

Auerbach predicted a 7/93/1 line for Jones in Week 10, which would be enough to send fantasy managers forced to start the 31-year-old into cartwheels. Still, the Colts have been kind to opposing wideouts this season, so there's at least some WR3 potential present with Jones-provided that Trevor Lawrence doesn't forget he's on the team again.

Carolina Panthers at Arizona Cardinals (Donte Jackson vs. DeAndre Hopkins)
It was pretty clear two weeks ago in Arizona's loss to the Green Bay Packers that star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins wasn't right. After that game, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury admitted (via NFL.com) that Hopkins just kind of re-inserted himself into the lineup late despite a bad hamstring.

"We wanted him to stay off the field, but he'd just run on," Kingsbury said. "He wants to play. He's super competitive. He made some plays there. We just want to be smart, but he was definitely hurting. "He had a hamstring issue, he's been dealing with it."

The problem for the Cardinals is that they have been "dealing" with this hamstring issue ever since-the 29-year-old missed last week's win over the San Francisco 49ers and hasn't practiced yet this week. It's still possible that Hopkins could play Sunday, and if he does you essentially have to start him, but the chips are stacked against a big Week 10. If Hopkins does sit out, Christian Kirk will probably draw Carolina's best corner (Donte Jackson) in coverage.

Philadelphia Eagles at Denver Broncos (Darius Slay vs. Courtland Sutton)
Darius Slay isn't just the Eagles best cornerback. He's also easily the elder statesman of that position group, and a player who has rebounded significantly after a woeful 2020 season. As Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told reporters (via Eagle Maven), Slay's value to the team goes beyond what he does between the lines on Sunday.

"What a valuable asset it is for the guy that you're trying to teach, to actually go and ask the guy that's been lining up in that position," said Sirianni. "It's such a big asset to have. When you made a lot of plays in this league and you've done it for a long time, your words carry more weight. That's definitely the case with Slay."

Slay has allowed three touchdown passes this year with a 67.9 completion percentage against and an 88.2 passer rating against, but the latter two stats s are actually significantly better than last year's numbers in those categories. Still, Slay isn't so stout in coverage that he adversely affects Courtland Sutton's fantasy value-at least not as much as the target share that Jerry Jeudy and Tim Patrick are commanding from Teddy Bridgewater in Denver.

Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers (Jalen Ramsey vs. Deebo Samuel)
Deebo Samuel is coming off easily the best eight-game stretch of his professional career. Through Week 9, Samuel is seventh in targets (81), second in receiving yards (882) and fourth in PPR fantasy points. But Samuel is coming off his second-lowest fantasy output of the season, and as Heath Cummings reported for CBS Sports the return of a healthy Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle could be a legitimate problem.

"In the 49ers' first game with Aiyuk, Samuel and Kittle all at full strength," he said, "we saw a very even target split. Samuel led the team with a 23.1% share, while Kittle and Aiyuk were right behind him at 20.5% each. This is quite a contrast from Samuel's 34% target share from Weeks 1-8."

As if a decreasing target share isn't enough problem, this week Samuel and the 49ers play host to the Los Angeles Rams and All-Everything cornerback Jalen Ramsey. If there's a bright side to Aiyuk and Kittle getting back to full strength it's that it makes it less likely the Rams will have Ramsey follow Samuel all game long, but the matchup still bumps Samuel into the bottom half of WR2 territory.