Who To Start And Sit In Week 9 Of Fantasy Football

Welcome to Week 9 of the fantasy season, the week where fantasy teams go to die. Six, count them six, teams are on a bye this week including fantasy favorites Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, and Green Bay. A lot of you will have rosters that are completely decimated and will even have to make tough decisions on which players to drop in order to field a lineup this week. Thank the NFL later for having only two teams on a bye for multiple weeks and then stacking six at a time.

Below is a list of guys I’m focused on for one reason or another this week. They’re especially important in daily fantasy sports leagues like DraftKings. If you’re curious about guys you don’t see listed here, you can always find me on Twitter (@MrT_BroBible) to ask questions, but remember to mention league specifics like PPR.

You Know Who You Should Start?

Ryan Fitzpatrick (QB – Houston)
It will be very hard for the Texans to play a low-scoring game against Philadelphia as the Eagles came out of the bye week with 90-plus plays against the Cardinals last week. All facets of the offense seem to finally be working, but their defense is still mediocre. Fitzpatrick should be able to use his talented receivers to take advantage of Philadelphia’s corners and should see at least 200 yards and two touchdowns in a week where you’re desperate to find a quarterback fill-in.

Mark Ingram (RB – New Orleans)
The Saints drafted Ingram in the first round expecting major production, but either he wasn’t ready for the show or they didn’t use him properly in the first couple years of his career. He looks much better this year (it’s a contract year no less) and showed as such with his 172 rushing yard explosion last week. The Panthers give up the third-most points to fantasy running backs, so Ingram should continue his positive ways from last week.

Lorenzo Taliaferro (RB – Baltimore)
Lineup decisions for running backs are troubling this week given that the weakness of the position across the league and the six teams on the bye. I’m taking my flier with Taliaferro this week for a couple of reasons. For starters, he’s overtaken Bernard Pierce as the Ravens’ goal-line back. Secondly, Justin Forsett is a little banged-up as is evidence by him missing practice on Wednesday. LT will likely see 10 touches in what should be a high scoring game in Pittsburgh. You could do a lot worse.

Anquan Boldin (WR – San Francisco)
The running back position may be light, but there are plenty of receivers to go around. Anquan Boldin owns the Rams, having put up seven catches for 94 yards and a touchdown in their matchup two weeks ago and 90 yards in both games against them last year as well. St. Louis’ addition of Mark Barron won’t help their secondary much as Barron had underachieved in Tampa Bay.

Mike Evans (WR – Tampa Bay)
Taking another flier, Evans has managed at least four catches in every game he’s played this season. He also has grabbed touchdowns in two of the last three games, while seeing at least 7 targets in those affairs. It doesn’t appear as if Mike Glennon looks for Vincent Jackson as much with Evans around, so Glennon should be able to do damage with Jackson seeing most of Joe Haden on the other side of the field.

Travis Kelce (TE – Kansas City)
The tight end position went from being extremely deep to extremely miserable. There are generally five guys you can start every week and the rest are a potpourri of mediocrity. I’m taking my shot with Kelce this week despite him only going for eight catches and 78 yards total since coming out of the bye. The Jets have been killed by TEs this year, giving up nine touchdowns in the last six games. Touchdowns are where Kelce is going to have to do his work and this is the opportunity.

You Know Who You Should Sit?

Philip Rivers (QB – San Diego)
Rivers has been locked in for most of the season, but faces stiff competition this weekend. The Dolphins are the fourth best at limiting quarterbacks in fantasy football, holding them to 13.3 points per game. It’s also a 1 p.m. start on the East Coast, so San Diego could be dragging playing that early after coming west to east. I wouldn’t start a guy off the waiver wire instead of Rivers, but you likely didn’t draft Rivers as your #1 QB and should have an alternative on your bench to play this week.

Jonas Gray (RB – New England)
Beggars can’t be choosers with six bye weeks, but I’m helping you evaluate the alternatives for replacements. Gray bullied his way to 86 rushing yards last week, but New England was blowing out Chicago for a large portion of the game. The Patriots will likely have to match Denver point for point and the Broncos run defense hasn’t given up more than 91 rushing yards to RBs in any game this year. Part of that is because they’ve had big leads, but the Patriots offensive line isn’t good enough to bully Denver on the line of scrimmage and keep the ball away from Peyton Manning.

DeAngelo Williams (RB – Carolina)
I’m not sure what the excitement is surrounding Williams’ return to the lineup. He’s a 31-year-old running back who’s already been hurt twice this year and will split carries with Jonathan Stewart again this weekend. Remember that Williams isn’t even that good having a high of 74 rushing yards this year and only passing 100 yards once last year. Cam Newton is also the team’s preferred option for rushing attempts near the goal line, so Williams will need to score on a big play, not exactly his specialty, on Thursday night.

Julian Edelman (WR – New England)
I was all over Edelman earlier in the season, but look how his numbers have tailed off in recent weeks. He’s managed to grab at least four balls in four of his last five games, but has only surpassed 44 yards once. He clearly isn’t a red zone threat with his diminutive size. Rob Gronkowski and Brandon LaFell have both taken off recently, so Edelman’s role in the offense isn’t as important as it was early on.

Michael Crabtree (WR – San Francisco)
I loved Crabtree coming into this season because it was a contract year, he was great at the end of last season, and San Francisco had plenty of passing options to keep defenses honest. He has been a major disappointment surpassing 50 yards only twice. I don’t expect the bye week to help things as Kaepernick just seems happy to find the open guy rather than get Crabtree working. It’s possible the foot injury is still bothering him, but you can’t start a guy who has 13 catches total in his last four games.

Heath Miller (TE – Pittsburgh)
Miller exploded last week to the tune of 112 yards and a touchdown, but he’ll come back to earth this week. The Ravens have only given up one touchdown and two 60+ yardage games to TEs this year. Ben Roethlisberger now knows he has an extra weapon in rookie Martavis Bryant, so Miller’s role will be reduced in the gameplan this week.