Week 9 Fantasy Football Preview

Week 9 sees a lot of good players out on the bye, with Jacksonville, Denver, Detroit, and San Francisco sitting out. Christian McCaffrey, Travis Etienne, and Amon-Ra St. Brown aren't walking through that door, so it's time to preview this week's slate of games and identify the best options to fill the holes left by your absent stars.

• Defensive fantasy rankings against positions are from Pro Football Reference
• Projected points and rankings are from Fantasy Nerds and correct as of 11/2/2023. Skill players have half-PPR projections listed.

Anyone not listed is either somewhere in the middle or not fantasy relevant this week. Always be sure to check the weekly rankings to compare individual players when making decisions.

Must-Start Players

QB

RB

• There are a lot of running back options this week; enjoy it while it lasts.
• Taylor and Zack Moss are in an even split, so a lot depends on who gets into the end zone (it's been Moss more often). Carolina has given up the most fantasy points per game to running backs, so both players are startable this week. Taylor is a RB2 while Moss is a low RB2/flex option.
• Cook is hanging on here by a thread: he has been outside the top 25 backs in three of the past four weeks.

WR

• Keep rolling with Kupp and Nacua; it'll work itself out.
• I really don't know what to do with Adams. He has just two Standard top-20 receiver finishes (Weeks 2 and 3) and three in PPR (Weeks 2, 3, and 4). Jakobi Meyers has outplayed Adams most weeks. Rookie Aidan O'Connell has been inserted into the starting lineup, lowering the floor of both receivers. They are both tenatively WR2s (maybe WR3s?).
• Chase is a superstar, but teammate Tee Higgins is more of an enigma. He was drafted in fantasy as a borderline WR1 but has only one week among the top 35 receivers, and that was Week 2. I'm scared to put Higgins out there because of the duds he has put up, and I'm looking for a safer option.
• The Jets are tough against receivers, but Allen is the unquestioned top guy and will have the ball fed to him by Herbert.

TE

• Hockenson's world turned upside-down with the injury to Kirk Cousins. This week, I wrote about the Vikings throwing the most passes per game through Week 8 but likely changing their offensive philosophy with a shift to a different style of quarterback. Hockenson has seen great volume, but that might change if the team throws less. Keep an eye on this; Hockenson might be a guy to trade if someone values him like a top tight end.
• Kincaid has been a top-10 tight end each of the last two weeks, turning 13 catches into 140 yards and a touchdown. The rookie may be getting up to speed right before our eyes, and he has the juciest TE matchup of the week against the Bengals.

Good Matchups

QB

• An uninspiring group, but there's likely to be at least one top-10 QB this week out of these four.

RB

• Jerome Ford has been dealing with an injury, and I trust Hunt more in my lineup. He has scored four touchdowns over the last three weeks. Hunt is a RB2/flex player while Ford is under flex consideration.

WR

• This would have been Kendrick Bourne's spot, but he tore his ACL in Week 8 and will miss the rest of the season. DeVante Parker, Demario Douglas, and JuJu Smith-Schuster are listed as the starting receivers for New England, but good luck guessing who will benefit against a sloppy Washington D that just got worse against the pass. Any of these three are worth taking a look at as your WR3 because of how bad the Commanders are against the pass, and I'd rank them Smith-Schuster, Parker, then Douglas (though it could even be someone else).
• Cooks has been down most of the season, but he has two straight games with over 35 yards, a touchdown, and a carry. He's a legit WR3 this week.

TE

Bad Matchups

QB

• I almost put Burrow in the must-start category after last week's 283 yards and three touchdowns. The Bills have been tough on quarterbacks, though, and Burrow has been inconsistent. Last time we saw these teams match up, Cincinnati was dominating Buffalo in the snow in the Divisional playoff round.

RB

• Pollard is pretty much a weekly starter, but three of his seven games have seen him finish outside the top 20 fantasy backs. The Eagles demolish every run game, leading the league in rush yards allowed per game.
• In the Week 8 recap, I said Pierce and Singletary are trapped in a timeshare of mediocrity: think of it as a timeshare in Muncie. They should both be on your bench against the Bucs.
• I see Minnesota running the ball a lot more with Cousins out, and that added volume will help Mattison and Cam Akers. Atlanta is really good on defense, though; I'm sitting both Viking backs and watching how things play out.

WR

• Waddle might be in the middle of a shootout between the Dolphins and Chiefs, nullifying the tough matchup against the Chiefs.
• Metcalf's teammates, Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, should also be skipped this week against a wicked Ravens defense.

TE

• I jumped on Mayer after a 75-yard performance against New England in Week 6. Notice the Patriots listed above, ninth-best against tight ends. It was hopeful thinking, though, wanting a player on my favorite team to break out; Mayer has just three catches for 32 yards over the last two games. A tough matchup against the Giants projects Mayer to continue his low production.