Sit Jake Bates in Week 10 if you have a real alternative — 4.8 projected points lands 2.7 under the K starter line.
- Projection
- 4.8 pts
- K rank
- #10
- Matchup
- vs NE
Jake Bates's fantasy role in Week 10
Jake Bates goes into Week 10 of the 2026 season as a matchup-dependent K option for the DET. He is rostered in 54% of leagues and actually started in 45% of them, and we rank him K10 on our own weekly board at 4.8 projected points.
Interest is climbing — roster rates moved up about 1% over the last week, which usually means managers are reacting to a bigger snap or target share.
No injury designation to work around right now, which keeps his projection honest.
Week 10 matchup breakdown
The matchup: vs NE. Our Pepper Meter heat rating for this spot is 1 out of 5, which is how we grade the combination of role, projection and opponent difficulty.
Against a typical starting K baseline of 7.5 points, his 4.8-point projection is 2.7 points short. That gap is the whole start/sit argument in one number.
How to play it
Sit Jake Bates in Week 10 if you have a real alternative — 4.8 projected points lands 2.7 under the K starter line.
If you are deciding between him and another K, compare projections first, then lean on the Pepper Meter heat rating as the tiebreaker.
Sally's take
Peppers & Picks ranks Jake Bates (DET K), our K10 this week for Week 10 of the 2026 NFL season vs NE, projecting 4.8 projected points with a mild Pepper Meter rating. Sally's honest about it: 2.7 points under the starter line isn't the ceiling she chases. At home against NE, I expect the game to stay competitive enough that his usage holds. He's still in 45% of lineups at 54% rostered, which is exactly the trap I'm trying to talk you out of. Sally keeps him at Mild until the usage says otherwise.
Tina's take
Peppers & Picks ranks Jake Bates (DET K), our K10 this week for Week 10 of the 2026 NFL season vs NE, projecting 4.8 projected points with a mild Pepper Meter rating. Tina would rather take the cheaper, steadier option than 2.7 points of shortfall. He's still in 45% of lineups at 54% rostered, which is exactly the trap I'm trying to talk you out of. Nothing in the projection defends him — 36% below positional par is a bench line for me. The Pepper Meter cools him to Mild, and that reading is doing its job.