There’s a good chance you’ll need some fantasy football help for Week 9. Six teams have a bye this week: Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers.
In the spirit of Halloween, I also include a treat in the form of a star player you can drop. This page will be constantly updated throughout Monday and Tuesday (if necessary) to reflect any new information from the games.
It’s also geared toward PPR leagues unless otherwise noted. All players included are rostered in fewer than 40% of leagues, per FantasyPros’ rostership data. All stats are credited to TruMedia unless otherwise noted.
Quarterbacks
Justin Fields shouldn’t be left on waivers.
- Rostered in 33.6% of leagues.
- Fantasy points over the last four weeks: 17.02, 18.34, 23.36, 26.04.
- Those last two games came against two above-average defenses in the Patriots and Cowboys.
- Fields is the overall QB6 in fantasy points per game since Week 5.
- He’s rushed for 60+ yards in each of the last three games.
- His next three games: Dolphins, Lions and Falcons
- All three teams are 24th or lower in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks.
Jimmy Garoppolo is a steady, high-floor option.
- Rostered in 35.9% of leagues.
- He’s averaging 15.4 fantasy points.
- Remove Week 3 and Week 4, and he’s scored between 16.3 and 18.02 fantasy points in his other five games.
- Garoppolo has a loaded arsenal of weapons to throw to—when everyone’s healthy.
- The 49ers are on their bye in Week 9.
- After that, San Francisco has the easiest remaining schedule for fantasy quarterbacks.
- That includes upcoming matchups with Arizona (Week 11), New Orleans (Week 12) and Miami (Week 13).
You can drop Russell Wilson (How about this for a bonus?).
- Rostered in 62.7% of leagues.
- Wilson’s thrown for 17+ points just twice this season.
- He’s scored more than once in just one game.
- Wilson’s on a bye in Week 9
- You don’t need to be reminded how bad the Broncos’ offense is, but here you go: Prior to Week 8, no team had scored fewer points per game than the Broncos.
Running Backs
Latavius Murray is worth a waiver add.
- Rostered in 36.7% of leagues.
- He’s scored in three of four games this season.
- Murray’s scored in his last two games with the Broncos.
- His usage isn’t great, but it’s better than most running backs you can get off waivers.
- He saw 27 snaps, 14 carries, 11 routes run and a target in London.
- Melvin Gordon saw 34 snaps, nine carries, 22 routes run and three targets.
- Gordon got more work than Murray in the first half.
- Murray is a risky flex play in a bad running back landscape in fantasy.
You can add Kenyan Drake, but he’s only valuable as long as JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards are out.
- Rostered in 24.7% of leagues.
- Dobbins will be out for the foreseeable future.
- Edwards tweaked his hamstring Thursday night.
- The team says it’s a minor injury.
- If Edwards plays—and he should—you can’t start Drake in Week 9.
- Drake saw 44 snaps and seven carries once Edwards left the game against the Buccaneers.
- Justice Hill still saw 16 snaps and four carries.
- Baltimore is a top-six team in run-play rate.
- Drake likely isn’t a starter in Week 9, but he should be scooped off waivers just in case.
Dontrell Hilliard is nothing more than Derrick Henry’s handcuff.
- Rostered in 9.8% of leagues.
- Hilliard scored 10.5 fantasy points on eight carries for 83 yards rushing.
- That was his third game over 10 points this season.
- The Titans faced the Texans who have allowed the most fantasy points and rushing yards to running backs.
- Hilliard has played 27% of the snaps, which is the most among all Tennessee backup running backs.
- Adding Hilliard is nothing more than adding insurance if Henry goes down.
- And believe it or not: Hilliard is not Henry. Your expectations should obviously be tempered.
Wide Receivers
Devin Duvernay is too touchdown dependent to start, but he’s worth an add.
- Rostered in 41.1% of leagues.
- Duvernay has five games of double-digit points this season.
- He scored a touchdown in four of those games, including a kick return in Week 2.
- If Rashod Bateman and/or Mark Andrews miss time with injuries, Duvernay could see an uptick in targets.
- Bateman left Thursday Night Football after aggravating his foot injury and will miss a few weeks, per reports.
- Andrews also left with a shoulder injury.
- Duvernay led Ravens wideouts in targets over the two weeks Bateman missed.
- Duvernay is mostly a low-floor option for now, yet he’s worth some waiver capital in Week 9.
Romeo Doubs shouldn’t be available on waivers anymore.
- Rostered in 46.4% of leagues.
- A week after scoring no fantasy points on four targets, Doubs scored 16.2 points on seven targets.
- That includes a sweet-looking 19-yard touchdown.
- Doubs led all Packers in targets.
- He’s played 89% of the snaps since Week 3.
- He’s second on the team in targets per game this season (6.1).
- Allen Lazard leads all Packers in targets per game (6.8), but he missed Week 8 with a shoulder injury.
- Doubs is clearly Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target when Lazard doesn’t play.
- Aside from Tennessee in Week 11, Doubs doesn’t have the friendliest upcoming schedule in fantasy.
- Between Week 9 and Week 13, the Packers face three teams inside the top-ten in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers.
- He’s not a must-add, though Doubs’ upside warrants a roster spot in all formats.
Don’t look now, but Darius Slayton is the Giants’ new WR1.
- Rostered in 4.6% of leagues.
- Slayton leads New York in targets per game since Week 5.
- In those four games, he’s eclipsed 11 fantasy points three times.
- He’s only scored once.
- Marcus Johnson has still out-snapped Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson.
- The Giants have a bye in Week 9.
- Two of Slayton’s best fantasy performances came against teams that were allowing bottom-ten points to wide receivers.
- His upcoming schedule is a roller coaster of friendly matchups (Washington twice) and not-so-friendly matchups (Dallas, Philadelphia).
- As long as New York is competitive, Slayton should be involved in the team’s passing attack.
- He deserves flex consideration until further notice.
Tyquan Thornton and Terrace Marshall are nothing more than watch-list candidates for now.
- Both are rostered in fewer than 5% of leagues.
- Both were treated as their team’s respective WR2 in Week 8.
- They were second in snaps, routes run and targets among wide receivers.
- Marshall saw nine targets in Carolina’s high-scoring overtime loss.
- Thornton saw two targets in New England’s low-scoring win.
- The Patriots had a positive game script for most of the game.
- Marshall scored a season-high 12.7 points against the Falcons.
- His role has increased drastically since Robbie Anderson’s trade to Arizona.
- Thornton has scored fewer than three points in three of his four games played.
- Only add one of them if you play in deeper leagues.
- Even then, you’d be hoping for their uninspiring passing games to suddenly click.
Do not pick up Damiere Byrd.
- Rostered in 0.0% of leagues.
- He scored 14.5 points in Week 7 and 15.7 in Week 8 but those numbers are severely inflated by touchdowns.
- In Week 7, he had one catch on one target for a 75-yard touchdown.
- In Week 8, he had three catches on six targets for 67 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown.
- Sure, he led all Atlanta wide receivers in targets, but this feels like a fluke.
- If anything, flag Byrd for your watch list.
Tight Ends
Greg Dulcich is a top waiver priority.
- Rostered in 37.5% of leagues.
- He led the Broncos with 87 receiving yards.
- He was second on the team in targets (5) behind Jerry Jeudy.
- Since taking his first snaps three weeks ago, Dulcich has averaged 11.8 fantasy points (Prior to Week 8, that would’ve been good for TE6).
- He’s only scored once.
- Of Denver’s nine remaining games, five of them are against teams that are top-five in fantasy points allowed to tight ends.
As long as Mark Andrews is out, Isaiah Likely is a worthy starter.
- Rostered in 3.4% of leagues.
- Likely ran more routes than any Raven in Week 8.
- He was also second on the team in targets.
- No team’s tight ends have a higher target share than Baltimore’s tight ends.
- Likely’s upcoming schedule isn’t great with a road game against the Saints next week and a bye in week 10.
- Keep an eye on Andrews’ health.
Don’t be fooled by Tyler Conklin’s huge game.
- Rostered in 14.1% of leagues.
- Conklin is TE6 in fantasy points.
- He scored 38 fantasy points in the first weeks.
- Between Week 4 and Week 7, he scored a total of 17.1 points.
- He caught two touchdowns on ten targets for 25.9 fantasy points in a Week 8 loss to New England.
- Zach Wilson attempted a season-high 41 passes… and completed a season-high 20 passes.
- The Jets could throw the ball even more in Week 9 against the Bills, thus boosting Conklin’s upside.
- No team has allowed fewer points to tight ends than Buffalo.
- You can leave Conklin on waivers.
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