The Atlanta Falcons will face the New Orleans Saints in Week 10. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Falcons skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 10 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Kirk Cousins, QB
There’s just no way around it — Kirk Cousins is the rare pocket-locked QB that fantasy managers can count on. His first-quarter touchdown pass to Drake London was a great example of why, as he is putting his playmakers in a position to, well, make plays.
Kirk to London for the @AtlantaFalcons TD!
📺: #DALvsATL on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/FOZIladhpV— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024
Funny how that works, isn’t it? Cousins completed 12 of his 13 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns through four drives last week and could find such a rhythm this weekend against the second-worst yards-per-play defense in the league.
I’m not the least bit worried about this being a rematch of a game that saw Cousins struggle (21-of-35 for 238 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception) as these are two teams headed in opposite directions. Captain Kirk resides inside of my top 10 at the position this week, and I’m locking him in wherever I have him.
Bijan Robinson, RB
Bijan Robinson has four straight RB1 finishes, proving worthy of all of the expectations we’ve placed upon him. Unlike last season, the Falcons seem to appreciate what they have in their RB1. Their first three scripted plays last week:
- Nine-yard Robinson rush
- Five-yard Robinson rush
- One-yard Robinson reception
In the Week 4 win over the Saints, Atlanta ran rarely but effectively (15 attempts for 88 yards, 5.9 yards per carry), continuing a recent trend of Robinson having his way with the NFC South.
Production relative to expectation, divisional games:
- Week 18, 2023 at New Orleans Saints: +27.8%
- Week 4, 2024 vs. New Orleans Saints: +26.9%
- Week 5, 2024 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: +2%
- Week 6, 2024 at Carolina Panthers: +69.8%
- Week 8, 2024 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: +36.9%
Robinson is a Tier 1 running back for me in Week 10 and for the remainder of the season in an Atlanta offense that I trust week over week.
Tyler Allgeier, RB
Tyler Allgeier saw his snap share dip to 23.2% last week, down from the 36.7% rate in Week 8 against the Buccaneers. On the bright side, this is a divisional matchup, and the Falcons have been much more willing to give their RB2 more run in such spots — over 34% of snaps in every divisional game this season (under 24% in every other game).
That’s a nice note for hopeful Best Ball managers or people max entering DFS contests (41.2% of the snaps is Allgeier’s highwater mark for the season, which was in Week 4 against these Saints). However, season-long, we know what Allgeier is — an elite handcuff that is only on your roster as a bet against Bijan Robinson’s health.
Allgeier has one top 30 on his résumé this season, and I’d be surprised if he adds to that total this week.
Darnell Mooney, WR
Darnell Mooney, entering this season, averaged 735 receiving yards per 17 games, with a career-high four touchdown receptions in a season. Through nine weeks in 2024, he has 588 receiving yards and has caught five touchdowns.
Last week against the Cowboys, Mooney hauled in a 22-yard pass in the first quarter and found the end zone from 36 yards out due to a reckless blitz from Dallas. He’s on his way to a career season, and I don’t think it slows against the sixth-worst slot defense through nine weeks.
Mooney in the slot from Kirk Cousins, 2024:
- 18 catches
- 23 targets
- 214 yards
- 3 touchdowns
- 45.5% production over expectation
Mooney is putting together a strong year, with the Falcons ranking 22nd in pass rate over expectation. What if that rate trends toward the league average? Or better? Atlanta’s WR2 is a WR2 in most fantasy leagues — at the very least Mooney is a strong Flex play that you can trust.
Drake London, WR
Drake London caught a nine-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter last week against the Cowboys, saving you from a complete disaster — he left the game early with a hip-pointer and finished Week 9 with just two targets.
News coming out of Atlanta paints a rosy picture for their WR1 this week, and that’s encouraging given that London commanded a 35.3% target share when these teams first met in Week 4.
This Saints defense has struggled as much as anyone since that first game, and by trading Marshon Lattimore on Tuesday, things aren’t looking up (Kool-Aid McKinstry is dealing with a hamstring injury as well).
London isn’t Justin Jefferson, but Kirk Cousins is using him in a similar way. That means you lock him into starting lineups the second we get confirmation that he’s good to go.
Ray-Ray McCloud III, WR
The injury to Drake London is why Ray-Ray McLoud III is on fantasy radars this week, but it’s important to remember that the receiver position is nothing like the running back position. What Jordan Mason has done in San Francisco this season is great, though it’s not all that rare. Every season, we see backup running backs do a pretty good impersonation of the player he is replacing.
It’s rare to see that among pass catchers — it’s a numbers game. Generally speaking, one running back is featured, but three receivers can be a part of the weekly game plan. That means that the receiver who gets on the field as a result of an injury is, at best, the fourth-best option on the roster, whereas the backup running back is second-best.
That’s an overly complicated way of saying that the London injury doesn’t mean that any one receiver on this team sees a massive spike in their role. McCloud hasn’t been worth your while this season despite playing over 82% of the snaps in eight straight games, and I don’t expect that to change.
If I’m blindly betting on a quarterback/offense to add value to a profile, sign me up for Rashod Bateman or Noah Brown instead.
Kyle Pitts, TE
One week after Kyle Pitts landed a pair of long touchdowns, he earned one target in what looked, on paper, like a strong matchup against the Cowboys.
Ugh.
When my wife looks at me and asks why my eyes are bloodshot and points to gray hair, she knows the cause. Attempting to pin the tail on Pitts’ production is a struggle I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy, especially if you’re trying to live a balanced life.
So now what? What does Week 10 hold? These Saints kept Pitts off the stat sheet in the Week 4 meeting (three targets on 24 routes), but I’m smarter than that. I’m smarter than taking evidence and suggesting that it has anything to do with Pitts’ future.
Pitts’ two lowest route participation marks this season have come in the past two weeks, and that has me trending away from him this week, but I’d be lying if I said it was with great levels of confidence.
The Saints are taking on water and just allowed Ja’Tavion Sanders to turn five targets into 87 yards. Ruling Pitts out of lineups (season-long or DFS) isn’t my move, but neither is locking him in.
See why the gray hairs present themselves?
I have him ranked as my TE8 this week, understanding that a TE3 or TE23 finish is more likely. This is a bet against the direction of New Orleans more than anything — how lucky do you feel?
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints Insights
Atlanta Falcons
Team: The Falcons are averaging 13.8 plays per game of 10-plus yards, sixth most in the league and up 11% from a season ago.
QB: Football can be such a complicated game, but it can also be remarkably simple. Over his past two games, when Kirk Cousins has stayed in the pocket, he’s been as good as anyone in the league: 42-53 for 498 yards, seven touchdowns, and zero interceptions (145.4 passer rating).
Offense: Despite having a strong running game, no team runs play-action nearly as rarely as the Falcons (8.3% of offensive plays, the Cowboys rank 31st at 10.6%).
Defense: The Falcons own the lowest sack rate in the league (2.7% of opponent dropbacks, league average: 7.1%).
Fantasy: Darnell Mooney, entering this season, averaged 735 receiving yards per 17 games and had a career-high of four touchdown receptions in a season – through nine weeks, he has 588 receiving yards and has caught five touchdown passes.
Betting: The Falcons are 7-3 ATS (70%) in their past 10 divisional road games (2-0 ATS this season with over tickets cashing in both of those instances).
New Orleans Saints
Team: The Saints have lost seven straight games, their longest skid of the 2000s. Three of those losses have come by a field goal or less.
QB: Derek Carr threw five touchdown passes on 39 attempts through Week 2 – he’s thrown four touchdown passes on 120 attempts since.
Offense: Since Week 3, the Saints are the sixth worst offense in the league in terms of yards per play
Defense: The Saints have the sixth lowest opponent passer rating against (80.2, league average: 91.5).
Fantasy: Three times this season has a running back carried the rock 10 times while seeing at least eight targets in consecutive games:
- Alvin Kamara (Weeks 4-6)
- De’Von Achane (Weeks 8-9)
- Alvin Kamara (Weeks 8-9)
Betting: The Saints have seen their past five home games played within the division finish more than 16 points off of the spread (each of the past three by more than 20 points).