Tell your friends (just not your leaguemates until next week)

by Optimus Staff

Published On: November 7th, 2025

There has been a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of sports betting and gambling recently. Here at Optimus, the only gambling we do is in this article each week. 

a man wearing a hat is looking at his phone and says what did he sayyy??

Well… that’s not entirely true. We do have some incredible DFS and betting tools that you should absolutely check out, BUT that’s not why you are here!

Every Friday, our staff picks out a few players they are higher or lower on than consensus and gives you the all-important “why” behind it. As we have now passed the halfway point of the NFL season and are only five short weeks away from fantasy football playoffs, our gambles and your lineups are more important than ever. Let’s dive into this week’s higher/lower players.

Higher or Lower? Fantasy Football Players We’re Backing or Fading in Week 1o

Players We Are Higher On:

Harold Fannin, TE, Cleveland Browns

Consensus Rank: TE13

Nate’s Rank: TE9 (+4)

Embed from Getty Images

I don’t know what it will take to get people more excited about Browns TE Harold Fannin. While he is questionable heading into this weekend, if he’s playing, you had better be starting him. 

We’re not going to get this Cleveland offense confused with anything fun or exciting, because that’s just not true. However, the rookie bookend out of Bowling Green has been one of the few bright spots. He is currently second on the team in targets (50) behind WR Jerry Jeudy, and leads the team in receptions (38) and receiving yards (352). 

The Browns travel to MetLife Stadium this weekend to take on the awful New York Jets. This game will be ugly, but regardless, Fannin will see volume, because who else does rookie QB Dillon Gabriel have to throw to? This should be a solid backend TE1-tier week for the rookie against one of the few teams in the league worse than this own.    

Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions

Consensus: QB12

Kevin’s Rank: QB3 (+9)

Find me a better spot for Jared Goff than right here, along with a head coach in Dan Campbell, who is the puppet master of all narrative-driven football decisions. Sure, Goff is currently QB14 on the season, and he’s been a tricky week-to-week start most of the season. But after a brutal home loss to the Minnesota Vikings, what better than a date with the Washington Commanders to cure what ails the Lions? The Brian Flores-directed Vikings defense pressured Goff all day in Week 9; that won’t be the case this week, with the Commanders just a league-average team in pressure rate this season.

The Commanders allow the sixth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers, and the eighth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season, so that’s a trifecta we’ll be banking on here. You think the Lions have forgotten about their playoff loss to the Washington Commanders at home last season? I guarantee you Campbell and the Lions haven’t. If the Lions get up big to avenge their loss last season, the leash might be a little longer for Goff and company to keep the foot on the gas. He’s my QB3 this week and a must-start option.

Parker Washington, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Consensus: WR35

Lou’s Rank: WR25 (+10)

I don’t love the matchup – Houston is a brutal matchup for good passing games and Jacksonville definitely isn’t that. But really, that’s the only reason Washington isn’t significantly higher. Let’s look at the State of the Jags, shall we?

For a while bunch of reasons, Brian Thomas hasn’t Done The Thing this year the way he did last year. I won’t go into all that again. On top of that, he’s out this week. Rookie phenom Travis Hunter is on IR just as he was getting involved in the offense. We have newbie Jakobi Meyers in to take some pressure off, however, he’s been in town for roughly three days at this point. Trevor Lawrence is inaccurate at the best of times, so expect some time for Meyers to get up to speed. Dyami Brown has cleared the concussion protocol, but even so, he’s still Dyami Brown. Oh, and TE Brenton Strange is still on IR to boot.

So I ask you, “If not Parker Washington, then who?” There’s a good chance Washington will see 10+ targets again this week. I say again because it would be the third time this year he’s seen that many. I know, it’s weird to me, too, but it’s the Jaguars. Were you expecting normal?

It might be an ugly 7/59 day with a garbage-time TD, but that sort of line is good enough to get Washington from low WR3 to borderline WR2 on the week.

Players We Are Lower On:

TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots

Consensus Rank: RB19

Nate’s Rank: RB30 (-11)

Embed from Getty Images

I can’t quite make sense of the elevation of rookie Patriots RB TreVeyon Henderson heading into Week 10. While veteran back Rhaomndre Stevenson is out for a second straight week, that doesn’t mean much for Henderson, as we saw last week.

Sure, he finished as the half-PPR RB20 (10.7 fantasy points) last week, but against a run defense giving up an average of 21.1 FPPG in Atlanta. Their Week 10 opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has been much better against the run. Outside of a Week 7 drubbing from Detroit’s two-headed monster at RB, they are giving up 17.7 FPPG to RBs.

Henderson is likely to see a similar workload to last week, meaning he’ll likely split carries with RB Terrell Jennings. Henderson should see the bulk of the passing work as well, but unless he falls in the endzone, he’s unlikely to finish the week as anything higher than a mid-range RB3.   

D.K. Metcalf, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

Consensus: WR28

Kevin’s Rank: WR40 (-12)

This season, D.K. Metcalf has been the lone startable option for the fantasy football managers out of this Pittsburgh Steelers offense, and yeah, it feels a bit gross. Right now, he’s just outside the top-24 fantasy wide receivers at WR25, averaging 13.2 fantasy points per game. Metcalf has been very touchdown-dependent this season, with over 28% of his fantasy scoring coming from the touchdown. The average for a player varies, with 19-to-20% being the average for a wide receiver. Metcalf has the ninth-highest rate of any wide receiver with 25 or more targets this season, yet is on the 13th-highest scoring offense in the league with a very low target distribution. 

Only the Arizona Cardinals deliver more targets to the tight end position, and no team gives fewer targets to the wide receiver position than the Steelers have this season. It’s a hard nut to crack, expecting ceiling production for the first-year Steelers wide receiver. Last week in their win against the Colts, Metcalf had his worst performance of the season with just two receptions for six yards on four targets. Pittsburgh’s Week 10 opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers, allows the third-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers this season. Despite the Chargers playing heavy zone coverage this season, where Metcalf has been successful, all of the other contributing factors around Metcalf have him much lower than the consensus for Week 10.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders

Consensus Rank: RB30

Lou’s Rank: RB39 (-9)

I just have one question – why? Why is anyone ranking him that high? We have a team missing its starting QB to a dislocated elbow, an OK-at-best offensive line, in a matchup against an offensive powerhouse, and runs an almost even split between three running backs. I know, I remember JCM’s Week 5 blow-up, too. But we’ve had four full games since then, and he’s never finished higher than RB36 in that time.

In fact, he’s only finished higher than RB30 three times out of the nine games this year! If anything, RB39 feels more like his midpoint expectation than his floor. And in a game where Washington is likely to get down early and stay down, it’s more likely another RB will see most of the work. One who’s more involved in the passing game.

So do yourself a favor – don’t start JCM this week. Even if you’re desperate, there’s someone on the waiver wire who’s a more worthwhile start for you. There’s just gotta be.

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

There has been a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of sports betting and gambling recently. Here at Optimus, the only gambling we do is in this article each week. 

a man wearing a hat is looking at his phone and says what did he sayyy??

Well… that’s not entirely true. We do have some incredible DFS and betting tools that you should absolutely check out, BUT that’s not why you are here!

Every Friday, our staff picks out a few players they are higher or lower on than consensus and gives you the all-important “why” behind it. As we have now passed the halfway point of the NFL season and are only five short weeks away from fantasy football playoffs, our gambles and your lineups are more important than ever. Let’s dive into this week’s higher/lower players.

Higher or Lower? Fantasy Football Players We’re Backing or Fading in Week 1o

Players We Are Higher On:

Harold Fannin, TE, Cleveland Browns

Consensus Rank: TE13

Nate’s Rank: TE9 (+4)

Embed from Getty Images

I don’t know what it will take to get people more excited about Browns TE Harold Fannin. While he is questionable heading into this weekend, if he’s playing, you had better be starting him. 

We’re not going to get this Cleveland offense confused with anything fun or exciting, because that’s just not true. However, the rookie bookend out of Bowling Green has been one of the few bright spots. He is currently second on the team in targets (50) behind WR Jerry Jeudy, and leads the team in receptions (38) and receiving yards (352). 

The Browns travel to MetLife Stadium this weekend to take on the awful New York Jets. This game will be ugly, but regardless, Fannin will see volume, because who else does rookie QB Dillon Gabriel have to throw to? This should be a solid backend TE1-tier week for the rookie against one of the few teams in the league worse than this own.    

Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions

Consensus: QB12

Kevin’s Rank: QB3 (+9)

Find me a better spot for Jared Goff than right here, along with a head coach in Dan Campbell, who is the puppet master of all narrative-driven football decisions. Sure, Goff is currently QB14 on the season, and he’s been a tricky week-to-week start most of the season. But after a brutal home loss to the Minnesota Vikings, what better than a date with the Washington Commanders to cure what ails the Lions? The Brian Flores-directed Vikings defense pressured Goff all day in Week 9; that won’t be the case this week, with the Commanders just a league-average team in pressure rate this season.

The Commanders allow the sixth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers, and the eighth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season, so that’s a trifecta we’ll be banking on here. You think the Lions have forgotten about their playoff loss to the Washington Commanders at home last season? I guarantee you Campbell and the Lions haven’t. If the Lions get up big to avenge their loss last season, the leash might be a little longer for Goff and company to keep the foot on the gas. He’s my QB3 this week and a must-start option.

Parker Washington, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Consensus: WR35

Lou’s Rank: WR25 (+10)

I don’t love the matchup – Houston is a brutal matchup for good passing games and Jacksonville definitely isn’t that. But really, that’s the only reason Washington isn’t significantly higher. Let’s look at the State of the Jags, shall we?

For a while bunch of reasons, Brian Thomas hasn’t Done The Thing this year the way he did last year. I won’t go into all that again. On top of that, he’s out this week. Rookie phenom Travis Hunter is on IR just as he was getting involved in the offense. We have newbie Jakobi Meyers in to take some pressure off, however, he’s been in town for roughly three days at this point. Trevor Lawrence is inaccurate at the best of times, so expect some time for Meyers to get up to speed. Dyami Brown has cleared the concussion protocol, but even so, he’s still Dyami Brown. Oh, and TE Brenton Strange is still on IR to boot.

So I ask you, “If not Parker Washington, then who?” There’s a good chance Washington will see 10+ targets again this week. I say again because it would be the third time this year he’s seen that many. I know, it’s weird to me, too, but it’s the Jaguars. Were you expecting normal?

It might be an ugly 7/59 day with a garbage-time TD, but that sort of line is good enough to get Washington from low WR3 to borderline WR2 on the week.

Players We Are Lower On:

TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots

Consensus Rank: RB19

Nate’s Rank: RB30 (-11)

Embed from Getty Images

I can’t quite make sense of the elevation of rookie Patriots RB TreVeyon Henderson heading into Week 10. While veteran back Rhaomndre Stevenson is out for a second straight week, that doesn’t mean much for Henderson, as we saw last week.

Sure, he finished as the half-PPR RB20 (10.7 fantasy points) last week, but against a run defense giving up an average of 21.1 FPPG in Atlanta. Their Week 10 opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has been much better against the run. Outside of a Week 7 drubbing from Detroit’s two-headed monster at RB, they are giving up 17.7 FPPG to RBs.

Henderson is likely to see a similar workload to last week, meaning he’ll likely split carries with RB Terrell Jennings. Henderson should see the bulk of the passing work as well, but unless he falls in the endzone, he’s unlikely to finish the week as anything higher than a mid-range RB3.   

D.K. Metcalf, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

Consensus: WR28

Kevin’s Rank: WR40 (-12)

This season, D.K. Metcalf has been the lone startable option for the fantasy football managers out of this Pittsburgh Steelers offense, and yeah, it feels a bit gross. Right now, he’s just outside the top-24 fantasy wide receivers at WR25, averaging 13.2 fantasy points per game. Metcalf has been very touchdown-dependent this season, with over 28% of his fantasy scoring coming from the touchdown. The average for a player varies, with 19-to-20% being the average for a wide receiver. Metcalf has the ninth-highest rate of any wide receiver with 25 or more targets this season, yet is on the 13th-highest scoring offense in the league with a very low target distribution. 

Only the Arizona Cardinals deliver more targets to the tight end position, and no team gives fewer targets to the wide receiver position than the Steelers have this season. It’s a hard nut to crack, expecting ceiling production for the first-year Steelers wide receiver. Last week in their win against the Colts, Metcalf had his worst performance of the season with just two receptions for six yards on four targets. Pittsburgh’s Week 10 opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers, allows the third-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers this season. Despite the Chargers playing heavy zone coverage this season, where Metcalf has been successful, all of the other contributing factors around Metcalf have him much lower than the consensus for Week 10.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders

Consensus Rank: RB30

Lou’s Rank: RB39 (-9)

I just have one question – why? Why is anyone ranking him that high? We have a team missing its starting QB to a dislocated elbow, an OK-at-best offensive line, in a matchup against an offensive powerhouse, and runs an almost even split between three running backs. I know, I remember JCM’s Week 5 blow-up, too. But we’ve had four full games since then, and he’s never finished higher than RB36 in that time.

In fact, he’s only finished higher than RB30 three times out of the nine games this year! If anything, RB39 feels more like his midpoint expectation than his floor. And in a game where Washington is likely to get down early and stay down, it’s more likely another RB will see most of the work. One who’s more involved in the passing game.

So do yourself a favor – don’t start JCM this week. Even if you’re desperate, there’s someone on the waiver wire who’s a more worthwhile start for you. There’s just gotta be.

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

There has been a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of sports betting and gambling recently. Here at Optimus, the only gambling we do is in this article each week. 

a man wearing a hat is looking at his phone and says what did he sayyy??

Well… that’s not entirely true. We do have some incredible DFS and betting tools that you should absolutely check out, BUT that’s not why you are here!

Every Friday, our staff picks out a few players they are higher or lower on than consensus and gives you the all-important “why” behind it. As we have now passed the halfway point of the NFL season and are only five short weeks away from fantasy football playoffs, our gambles and your lineups are more important than ever. Let’s dive into this week’s higher/lower players.

Higher or Lower? Fantasy Football Players We’re Backing or Fading in Week 1o

Players We Are Higher On:

Harold Fannin, TE, Cleveland Browns

Consensus Rank: TE13

Nate’s Rank: TE9 (+4)

Embed from Getty Images

I don’t know what it will take to get people more excited about Browns TE Harold Fannin. While he is questionable heading into this weekend, if he’s playing, you had better be starting him. 

We’re not going to get this Cleveland offense confused with anything fun or exciting, because that’s just not true. However, the rookie bookend out of Bowling Green has been one of the few bright spots. He is currently second on the team in targets (50) behind WR Jerry Jeudy, and leads the team in receptions (38) and receiving yards (352). 

The Browns travel to MetLife Stadium this weekend to take on the awful New York Jets. This game will be ugly, but regardless, Fannin will see volume, because who else does rookie QB Dillon Gabriel have to throw to? This should be a solid backend TE1-tier week for the rookie against one of the few teams in the league worse than this own.    

Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions

Consensus: QB12

Kevin’s Rank: QB3 (+9)

Find me a better spot for Jared Goff than right here, along with a head coach in Dan Campbell, who is the puppet master of all narrative-driven football decisions. Sure, Goff is currently QB14 on the season, and he’s been a tricky week-to-week start most of the season. But after a brutal home loss to the Minnesota Vikings, what better than a date with the Washington Commanders to cure what ails the Lions? The Brian Flores-directed Vikings defense pressured Goff all day in Week 9; that won’t be the case this week, with the Commanders just a league-average team in pressure rate this season.

The Commanders allow the sixth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers, and the eighth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season, so that’s a trifecta we’ll be banking on here. You think the Lions have forgotten about their playoff loss to the Washington Commanders at home last season? I guarantee you Campbell and the Lions haven’t. If the Lions get up big to avenge their loss last season, the leash might be a little longer for Goff and company to keep the foot on the gas. He’s my QB3 this week and a must-start option.

Parker Washington, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Consensus: WR35

Lou’s Rank: WR25 (+10)

I don’t love the matchup – Houston is a brutal matchup for good passing games and Jacksonville definitely isn’t that. But really, that’s the only reason Washington isn’t significantly higher. Let’s look at the State of the Jags, shall we?

For a while bunch of reasons, Brian Thomas hasn’t Done The Thing this year the way he did last year. I won’t go into all that again. On top of that, he’s out this week. Rookie phenom Travis Hunter is on IR just as he was getting involved in the offense. We have newbie Jakobi Meyers in to take some pressure off, however, he’s been in town for roughly three days at this point. Trevor Lawrence is inaccurate at the best of times, so expect some time for Meyers to get up to speed. Dyami Brown has cleared the concussion protocol, but even so, he’s still Dyami Brown. Oh, and TE Brenton Strange is still on IR to boot.

So I ask you, “If not Parker Washington, then who?” There’s a good chance Washington will see 10+ targets again this week. I say again because it would be the third time this year he’s seen that many. I know, it’s weird to me, too, but it’s the Jaguars. Were you expecting normal?

It might be an ugly 7/59 day with a garbage-time TD, but that sort of line is good enough to get Washington from low WR3 to borderline WR2 on the week.

Players We Are Lower On:

TreVeyon Henderson, RB, New England Patriots

Consensus Rank: RB19

Nate’s Rank: RB30 (-11)

Embed from Getty Images

I can’t quite make sense of the elevation of rookie Patriots RB TreVeyon Henderson heading into Week 10. While veteran back Rhaomndre Stevenson is out for a second straight week, that doesn’t mean much for Henderson, as we saw last week.

Sure, he finished as the half-PPR RB20 (10.7 fantasy points) last week, but against a run defense giving up an average of 21.1 FPPG in Atlanta. Their Week 10 opponent, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has been much better against the run. Outside of a Week 7 drubbing from Detroit’s two-headed monster at RB, they are giving up 17.7 FPPG to RBs.

Henderson is likely to see a similar workload to last week, meaning he’ll likely split carries with RB Terrell Jennings. Henderson should see the bulk of the passing work as well, but unless he falls in the endzone, he’s unlikely to finish the week as anything higher than a mid-range RB3.   

D.K. Metcalf, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

Consensus: WR28

Kevin’s Rank: WR40 (-12)

This season, D.K. Metcalf has been the lone startable option for the fantasy football managers out of this Pittsburgh Steelers offense, and yeah, it feels a bit gross. Right now, he’s just outside the top-24 fantasy wide receivers at WR25, averaging 13.2 fantasy points per game. Metcalf has been very touchdown-dependent this season, with over 28% of his fantasy scoring coming from the touchdown. The average for a player varies, with 19-to-20% being the average for a wide receiver. Metcalf has the ninth-highest rate of any wide receiver with 25 or more targets this season, yet is on the 13th-highest scoring offense in the league with a very low target distribution. 

Only the Arizona Cardinals deliver more targets to the tight end position, and no team gives fewer targets to the wide receiver position than the Steelers have this season. It’s a hard nut to crack, expecting ceiling production for the first-year Steelers wide receiver. Last week in their win against the Colts, Metcalf had his worst performance of the season with just two receptions for six yards on four targets. Pittsburgh’s Week 10 opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers, allows the third-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers this season. Despite the Chargers playing heavy zone coverage this season, where Metcalf has been successful, all of the other contributing factors around Metcalf have him much lower than the consensus for Week 10.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders

Consensus Rank: RB30

Lou’s Rank: RB39 (-9)

I just have one question – why? Why is anyone ranking him that high? We have a team missing its starting QB to a dislocated elbow, an OK-at-best offensive line, in a matchup against an offensive powerhouse, and runs an almost even split between three running backs. I know, I remember JCM’s Week 5 blow-up, too. But we’ve had four full games since then, and he’s never finished higher than RB36 in that time.

In fact, he’s only finished higher than RB30 three times out of the nine games this year! If anything, RB39 feels more like his midpoint expectation than his floor. And in a game where Washington is likely to get down early and stay down, it’s more likely another RB will see most of the work. One who’s more involved in the passing game.

So do yourself a favor – don’t start JCM this week. Even if you’re desperate, there’s someone on the waiver wire who’s a more worthwhile start for you. There’s just gotta be.

For more advice, head over to our Discord channel and ask our analysts! For breaking news and injury updates, follow Optimus Fantasy News on Bluesky!

By Published On: November 7th, 2025

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