Welcome to Week 9 of the fantasy football season! I have some players here that I think you should start and some, well, I think you should sit. Don’t blindly grab the seats that are normally “occupied”. If you don’t have another player starting in his place, well, you do the math.
Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans
Malik Willis, Dolphins at Lions
Well, when I started Jacoby Brissett last week, I was worried about him being benched, but I didn’t expect Minshaw Mania to come back. This week, we have a similar situation as the Dolphins score on them, take the lead, and then have Willis do whatever it takes to get the team back. And we know Willis won’t be sitting in the chair. Well, he shouldn’t because he was playing well.
The Lions’ defense gives up the most fantasy points to quarterbacks, made up of the most passing yards and passing touchdowns. The analytics are slightly better than dead in all categories, but mostly in the bottom half of the league. The Lions have a strong run defense and score a lot of points on offense, making them an easy team to beat as their pass defense is generally weak.
Drew Lock, Seahawks at Cardinals
Lock has played this season since Sam Darnold was injured in Week 1 against the Patriots. He played well in that game and started against the same Cardinals defense in Week 2. He went 19-of-26 for 235 yards and three touchdowns in that game.
Only the Lions have allowed more fantasy points to quarterbacks than the Cardinals so far. And maybe this time Gardner Minshew would have given the Cardinals a little better chance than Jacoby Brissett to keep the game close, which would have helped Locke reach the top.
Geno Smith, Jets at Chiefs
Smith is a recent streamer, but he heads to Kansas City this week to take on a tough Chiefs pass defense. Kansas City is looking to get back on track after a devastating loss to the Broncos, and the Jets are a perfect matchup. The Chiefs’ pass defense allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks per game, and ranked 10th among all pass defense categories.
Tyler Shaw, Saints Browns
The Browns have allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season. They also allowed the sixth-fewest net yards per pass attempt and the fourth-worst completion percentage. Shaw has been inconsistent, but has upside. This match isn’t set to come down to that this week.
Jonah Coleman, Broncos vs. Panthers
The Broncos are going into this week’s home game against a Panthers team that has given up the second most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. The good news for fantasy is that we finally have some clarity in this Denver backfield. Second-year running back RJ Harvey is on IR for now and Week 1 starter JK Dobbins appears to have lost the lead back job to Coleman. This was evident against a good Chiefs defense last week when Coleman had 15 touchdowns for 104 total yards and a touchdown. He played ahead of Dobbins and had a much better matchup this week.
Woody Marks, Texans vs. Fillers
Marks took over as lead after David Montgomery left and it didn’t go so well for Fantasy. However, his usage remains strong with 17 and 20 touches in the last two matches. This week he gets a defense of the chargers that vibrate at home. We saw the Chargers give solid games to Emmanuel Wilson and JK Dobbins as well as the likes of Kenneth Walker, James Cook and the duo of Blake Corum and Kieran Williams. On the season, they have the eighth most rushing yards and fourth most rushing touchdowns allowed to a running back.
Ollie Gordon, Dolphins at Lions
I expect the Lions to come out on top in this one, pushing Malik Willis to throw more than usual. And while Gordon has had enough of a workload, he still has a tough matchup. The Lions are allowing just 3.5 yards per carry and have the sixth-fewest percentage of 10+ yards per carry. Gordon is good, and will no doubt lead back.
Rachel White, commanders at the Rams
The Rams have allowed two rushing touchdowns and just one game of 100+ yards rushing all season, and both were to the Bills’ James Cook in Week 5. White is the last man standing with injuries to Jacory Crosky Merritt and Jeremy McNichols, but Washington isn’t going to push him to be a bell cow. Austin Ekeler will continue to see work and they will likely put Robert Henry Jr. in there as well. This is not a situation I want to target.
KC Concepcion, Browns vs. Saints.
Concepcion now looks to be the Browns’ No. 1 receiver with a 25% first-read target rate to lead the team. He had a big game against the Titans two weeks ago, but was hampered by the Steelers, sacking Deshaun Watson eight times. This week should be a little easier against the Saints at home. New Orleans’ pass defense is middle of the road in fantasy points allowed by wide receivers, but they’ve allowed more yards per target to slot receivers in the past five games.
Malachi fields, giant eagles
Will JJ McCarthy continue his strong play this week in Philadelphia? Maybe, but I think either way it gives the receivers a chance to make explosive plays. And the Eagles’ pass defense has been bad this season. Philly has allowed the third-most receptions, second-most yards, third-most touchdowns and most fantasy points to wide receivers through eight games. Malik Nabers said he will play, but is dealing with a knee injury that kept him out of practice. Isaiah is probably high on the pick, but the Eagles have been strong against tight ends, allowing the sixth-smallest fantasy to lead the way.
Jalen Coker, Panthers at Broncos
Coker has cooled off while Bryce Young has taken a big step back over the past two weeks. With the offensive line missing key players, the youngster is under pressure like crazy. Heading to Denver, it’s not a good recipe for a Patrick Certain return to the field. On the season, the Broncos have allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers.
Adonai Mitchell, Jets at Chiefs
Mitchell proved once again that he can be a top target for the Jets last week against the Raiders. In that game, rookie Omar Cooper Jr. started and played a full complement of players, but had zero targets. This is after Cooper has been gone for the past two weeks. This passing offense has some solid receivers, but many predict he will be the dominant man each week. Garrett Wilson isn’t going anywhere, and they have two tight ends they like. And this week they’ll have wide receiver Bryce Hall. Right now, the Chiefs have allowed the second fewest fantasy points to wide receivers and that’s pretty dangerous to me.
Greg Dulcich, Dolphins at Lions
What are you going to do other than target the Lions at tight end? That’s all there is! Well, as long as the tight end in question is a certain side, it’s something we should continue to do. He continues to give up valuable fantasy stats for most of the tight ends Detroit faces. They have allowed 61 receptions for 684 yards and 11 touchdowns in seven games. All league high.
Dulcic hasn’t caught a touchdown yet, but he’s been a prime target that only Malik Washington has seen more of this season. He is also second on the team in red zone targets. He’s averaged 4.5 receptions for 55.3 yards over the last four weeks, which doesn’t cut it for fantasy without a touchdown, but his usage is enough to like his chances in this matchup.
Kyle Pitts, Hawks at Bengals (Spain)
Last week the Falcons were shut out completely due to rain, but don’t let that put you off from playing the Falcons against the Bengals in Spain this week. Cincinnati has surrendered the second-most yards and receptions to tight ends, along with the most yards for the position. They didn’t allow top 5 fantasy points to the position because they got them out of the end zone, but that won’t last.
Dalton Kincaid, Bills vs. Vikings
It was a bit of a nightmare as Kincaid started with two huge games, then had four games and now a TE4 performance against the Ravens. This week he faces the Vikings, who have been tight ends all season, allowing the fewest fantasy points, receptions and touchdowns (0). Last week, Sam Laporta had three receptions for 33 yards on five targets.
