One-Hit Wonders or Here to Stay? Analyzing Week 10 Breakout Players: Will Levis, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Chuba Hubbard, T.J. Hockenson and More

Week 10 of the NFL regular season has wrapped up, and that means it’s time to get back to one of our fantasy football series.

This is the one-week wonder or here to stay series, where we’ll identify fantasy standouts from the previous week of play and then determine if they are here to stay or just a one-hit wonder. Here’s last week’s story. Also be sure to check out the panic meter series.

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Quarterbacks

Derek Carr and Will Levis are the two quarterbacks worth discussing after week 10.

Carr completed 16 of his 25 passes for 269 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in week 10. He added 17 rushing yards on four attempts and didn’t lose a fumble.

It was one of Carr’s better fantasy games this season, and easily his best since a hot start in weeks 1 and 2. The showing was impressive with several Saints’ playmakers out.

Carr has a pretty average grade on the FantasySP Strength of Schedule page, meaning there’s a mix of favorable and tougher matchups the rest of the season. Week 10 was a pretty favorable matchup for Carr, and I think that puts Carr into the here to stay category.

Sure, there’s some tougher matchups along the way, but I see a handful of matchups that I’d at least consider playing Carr in. The best part is, Carr is probably going to be available as a waiver option every week, so you can simply add and drop him as the matchups become favorable or tougher.

Levis returned from an injury and proceeded to throw for 175 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-23 passing. He didn’t throw a pick and added 41 rushing yards on five attempts. That all came against a pretty good Chargers’ defense.

It’s just one game, but with a very favorable schedule ahead, I’m more tempted to say Levis is here to stay as a fantasy option. Again, he’s just a streaming option at this point, but with so many great matchups and coming off a good showing, fantasy owners should feel somewhat confident in adding and starting him when a need arises.

Wide Receivers

Marquez Valdes-Scantling and John Metchie III are the wideouts we’ll discuss this week.

Valdes-Scantling was Carr’s top target in week 10. He caught all three of his targets for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

MVS joined the Saints a couple weeks back, and played 55% of the team’s offensive snaps this past week. With Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed out now, there’s a big need for pass catchers to step up, and MVS could definitely be one of them.

He’s not going to replicate his numbers he put up in week 10, but there’s a chance he starts to play more snaps, which will only boost his fantasy outlook. I’m not quite ready to add MVS in a standard league (unless you are absolutely desperate), but I’d add him in a bunch of deeper leagues. It’s more of a wait-and-see game to see if MVS can turn into a weekly fantasy starting option, but he needs to be watched very closely.

Metchie turned six targets into five catches, 74 yards and a touchdown in week 10. It was easily his best game of the season. He played over 60% of the offensive snaps for a second straight game.

I still lean toward saying this is a one-week outlier though. Nico Collins is due back soon, and he’ll dominate the passing game when he’s back on the field. There’s room for another pass catcher to step up, but playing behind Collins, Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz, it seems unlikely that Metchie would be able to keep things rolling.

He’s worth watching, but is more just an add and stash option in deeper leagues for me.

Running Backs

It was mostly the well-known fantasy backs that led the way in week 10. Chuba Hubbard and Austin Ekeler are the two backs I want to talk about.

Hubbard has been good all season and went for 169 total yards and a touchdown on 32 touches in week 10. The only negative was a lost fumble. 

It was his fourth game over 100 total yards this season, and he’s had over 70 yards in all but two games. With seven total touchdowns, Hubbard has quietly been one of the better fantasy backs this season.

Jonathon Brooks was expected to be back by now, but his NFL debut keeps getting pushed back. The Panthers also just locked Hubbard into a new deal, so even when Brooks is ready, don’t expect Hubbard to take a back seat.

The more likely scenario is probably that Hubbard continues serving as the team’s RB1 this season, with Brooks just getting his feet wet and ramping things up as the season rolls along.

That means Hubbard is here to stay, and I’ve changed my mind on trading him. I’d prefer to hang on to Hubbard, instead of trading him away. With a great schedule ahead, he might remain a weekly fantasy starter in all formats even if Brooks takes a few touches away.

Ekeler functioned as the lead Washington back with Brian Robinson out with an injury in week 10. Ekeler had 44 rushing yards and two scores on 13 carries, while catching one of his two targets for seven yards.

Ekeler played 70% of the offensive snaps, which means he should remain heavily involved when Robinson is back on the field again. I see it more likely that Jeremy McNichols or Chris Rodriguez lose their snaps and touches when Robinson is ready to return.

There’s some decent matchups coming up too, and Ekeler has produced solid fantasy numbers alongside Robinson at times this season. So I’d say Ekeler is here to stay as a fantasy asset, and should be a pretty solid flex-level option every week.

Tight Ends

Tanner Hudson and T.J. Hockenson are the tight ends I’d like to write about after week 10.

Hudson went for 42 yards and a touchdown on six receptions and seven targets back on Thursday night. It was easily his best game of the season.

After not playing much from weeks 1-8, Hudson has played 27 and then 35% of the team’s offensive snaps over the past two weeks.

Tee Higgins should be back for Cincy at some point, but if Hudson continues to see an increase in snaps, there’s no reason why he couldn’t become a fantasy asset. The only real issue is the tough upcoming schedule, but Hudson is at least a player to keep tabs on.

Hockenson has been a fantasy star in the past, but after returning from a big-time injury, many of us wondered if he could ever be the same player again.

The answer is yes. He caught eight of his nine targets in week 10 for 72 yards. Hockenson did all that despite only playing 46% of the team’s offensive snaps.

I’d like to see his snap percentage increase, but there’s no reason to doubt Hockenson can still contribute big fantasy totals every week. Justin Jefferson is the only proven pass catcher in the Vikings’ offense, and even he was below Hockenson as a producer this past week.

Hockenson is already back into must-start territory, regardless of the matchup ahead. He’s got a slightly better than average schedule ahead too, so expect more big games from Hock.