Week 9 Rankings: Standard | PPR

We're halfway through. It will all be over soon.

No, not the NFL season. Who would ever want that to end? I'm talking about the atrocious six-team bye weeks. We have to get through one more in Week 9 and it's going to be even hairier than Week 8.

The first thing I noticed were the quarterbacks, and that will be a prevalent theme throughout the week. But not the only theme.

We'll also discuss the return of a star quarterback, the next man up in Kansas City and much more. But first, Week 9 in a tweet:

This week's most intriguing matchups.

Week 9 may be short on good Fantasy options, but it's not good on intriguing matchups. For starters, the matchup between the monstrous Dolphins offensive line and the Jets stout run defense holds the fate of several Fantasy options. The Dolphins line has been incredible when healthy the past two years, and it has manhandled its past two opponents. The Jets are a whole new beast, however. Obviously, you're starting Jay Ajayi, but can he come anywhere close to his last two starts? If so, that may spell bad news for Ryan Tannehill (more on him later), Matt Forte and the Dolphins receivers not named Jarvis Landry.

Derek Carr is being touted as an MVP candidate because of his performance over the first half of the season, but he hasn't seen a challenge like this all year. In his last game against a good defense, he led his team to just 10 points. I'm not sure they'll get that many in Week 9.

Finally we have the Saints traveling to San Francisco to face the worst run defense in the NFL. But who is their lead back? Mark Ingram is who it should be, but he was benched last week because of ball security issues and Tim Hightower saw 26 carries. If I thought either of these backs were going to top 20 carries, I would rank them as a top 10 option. But as is, I think you have to project it as a timeshare, and that makes both more No. 2 RB options.

Leg day at Lambeau and other possible shootouts.


Indianapolis Colts @ Green Bay Packers: I hope the Packers have been doing their leg work because there are going to be a lot of Lambeau Leaps on Sunday. Both of these secondaries are beat up (and not very talented in the first place). Of course, the receivers are as well. I'll start any of T.Y. Hilton, Randall Cobb, and Ty Montgomery if they're active. Donte Moncrief and Jordy Nelson are obvious must-starts as well. Watch to see if James Starks is active because he could make an impact at running back. If you're looking for a deep sleeper at wide receiver, I'd try Chester Rogers if Hilton sits.

Tennessee Titans @ San Diego Chargers: This is another game with banged up receivers, at least on the Chargers side. The Titans secondary has been awful in the slot and the Chargers move their receivers around, so I'd take a shot on any Chargers receiver who starts. If Tyrell Williams can get a full practice in on Friday, he'd be my favorite, and I think Antonio Gates is a good option at tight end, just not as good as Delanie Walker.

New Orleans Saints @ San Francisco 49ers: We talked about the Saints running backs already, but it's not like the 49ers pass defense is great or anything. My current theory is that Mchael Thomas is the Saints No. 1 receiver, but I'm starting all three most weeks. We'll talk about Colin Kaepernick in just a minute, but a deep sleeper at receiver would be Torrey Smith. Don't hesitate to start Dujuan Harris if Carlos Hyde can't go again on Sunday.

Streaming quarterbacks.

Whether it's the number of QBs on a bye or great matchups for mediocre quarterbacks, there are more streaming options than normal this week. We'll look at them in the order I rank them. Here's a sentence for and against each of them:

Marcus Mariota has been the best of the group so far and could be chasing the scoreboard. The Chargers defense isn't close to the best matchup of the group, and the Titans want to pound it on the ground.

Dak Prescott faces a defense that has made multiple mediocre quarterbacks look like All-Pros. The Cowboys may not need to throw the ball at all to win this one easily.

Colin Kaepernick's floor gets a major boost from his production on the ground. If it wasn't for his running he probably would have handed the job back to Blaine Gabbert by now.

Ryan Tannehill faces a Jets secondary that is littered with corners that have been exposed this year. The Dolphins want to give the ball to Jay Ajayi 25+ times again, limiting Tannehill's volume.

Return of Big Ben?

There have been plenty of dissenting opinions on whether Ben Roethisberger will play, but Terrelle Suggs doesn't seem to have much doubt. Assuming Suggs is correct, should we expect this Steelers offense to pick up right where it left off? Probably not. For one thing, the Ravens defense has actually been pretty decent and they're getting both Suggs and C.J. Mosley back for Week 9. Also, Roethlisberger hasn't exactly been spectacular on the road over his career.

Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell are two of the top players at their positions this week no matter who starts, but I'd prefer to wait a week before I play anyone else in this offense.

Does the Vikings offense look any better under Pat Shurmur?


I'm not sure that Norv Turner's unceremonious departure is going to do any good, but the Vikings offense couldn't be much worse than it was. The bottom line is that their offensive line (or what is left of it) is completely awful. I don't see any way the Vikings establish a consistent run game. The hope would be they could find some way to protect Sam Bradford and get the passing game going.

Shurmur was previously the tight end coach and has a history with Bradford. If ever they were going to work in concert to get Kyle Rudolph going, it would be against the Lions, one of the worst in the NFL against the position. I like Rudolph as a top-five tight end this week. I'd also start Stefon Diggs as a borderline No. 2 WR mostly because of how thin the position is this week.

Another new RB in Kansas City, business as usual?

With Jamaal Charles on IR and Spencer Ware still not out of the concussion protocol, it's looking likely that Charcandrick West is the next man up at running back for the Chiefs. This has become one of the plug-and-play positions in the NFL, and the Jaguars present a decent matchup, especially in Kansas City.

West is not as talented as Charles or Ware, but in the three games he saw at least 20 touches last year he broke 120 total yards in all three and scored four total touchdowns. Andy Reid has been known to get conservative as a huge favorite at home, and that seems even more likely with a backup quarterback under center. West should be a solid start and a borderline No. 1.

Is Jonathan Stewart finally a goal line back?

I wrote about this earlier in the week, but Stewart has scored four touchdowns in his past four games after having just one multi-touchdown game on the ground with Cam Newton in their first 57 games together. Two games doesn't make a trend, but it does pique my interest.

Probably the most interesting part of Stewart's success is that all of his touchdowns came from inside the 5-yard line, and that has generally been Newton's territory. If that trend continues, Stewart is going to become a top 15 running back most every week. As it is, he's already top 15 in Week 9 because of all of the injuries and byes.

Rivers' depleted arsenal.

You need to keep a close eye on Rivers' weapons heading into Week 9. As of Thursday, the only fully healthy guys he has are Antonio Gates and Dontrelle Inman. We think Tyrell Williams is going to play, and there seems to be some optimism regarding Hunter Henry and Travis Benjamin.

I don't care how good Rivers looks in a bolo tie. He's not winning many gunfights without any weapons. If Williams plays, I'll still feel fine with Rivers as a No. 1, but he'll need Williams and Benjamin for me to view him as a must-start option.

Can Devontae Booker be special?

I love Booker's talent. Or at least what I saw of it when he was in a limited role behind C.J. Anderson. I love Booker's matchup because the Raiders have been among the worst in football against the run. But we liked his talent and his matchup last week, and even with a good game script he didn't look very good. A touchdown saved his Fantasy performance. but I'm hoping for much more against the Raiders.

There is one concern. Booker is battling a shoulder injury and that could be why he looked tentative in Week 8. There's no doubt you're starting him unless something major changes, but it may be a reason not to set the bar too high even in a spectacular matchup.

Go time for Russell Wilson?

Through eight weeks in 2015, Russell Wilson was the No. 18 quarterback. Over the second half of the season he was the second best quarterback in Fantasy Football. Wilson's owners need a similar turnaround as soon as possible. I'm just not sure if it's likely.

Wilson hasn't been healthy at all this year and has been playing with a knee brace. He's losing that brace starting in Week 9. It's possible the brace is the reason he hasn't been active in the run game at all this year and it's possible that will change this week. Then again, with a defense like the Bills, it seems like an air attack would be more successful, if somehow losing the brace could make Wilson more accurate again.

Listen, I don't think Russell Wilson is all of a sudden a bad quarterback. It would just be really nice if he would stop playing like one.