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With the return of Monday, it's about time to start thinking about starting/seating decisions for week 9fantasy footballleagues In a week in which six teams competebye, it's a difficult week to navigate, especially when we also mix injuries.
Let's take a look at the week 9 matchups and highlight some starting and sit-em considerations on the board.
Semana 9 Fantasy Football Start'ems
In general, we will try to select players who have started less than 40% of the leagues in the previous week as recommended starts. Similarly, we will primarily be trying to identify potential seating options found in more than 50% of the lineups.ESPNleague last week.
Additionally, we'll try to predict where a player might see a big stat change this week and explain why that might be something to decide against.
Trevor Lawrence, quarterback | JAX against LV
There's no real way to sugarcoat it, it's been a tough time for Trevor Lawrence and his fantasy managers. In the last five weeks, Lawrence has scored under 10.5 fantasy three times. However, he is still averaging 15.44 fantasy points per game because the lead can be so big when he clicks.
Twice this season Lawrence has exceeded 24 fantasy points, and on two other occasions he has been above 18 fantasy points. Lawrence has become an extremely matchup-reliant and boom quarterback in 2022. It was pretty obvious that he would be fighting the best defense in the league against opposing quarterbacks last week. This week, however, the picture is almost completely reversed.
The Las Vegas Raiders rank as the worst defense against quarterbacks this season, allowing an average of 22.87 fantasy points for the position. While they've been a bit better against QBs in the past two weeks, they still averaged over 17.5 fantasy points in those two games. Those games were against Davis Mills and Andy Dalton, so it wasn't the toughest of competition.
Lawrence's stock is at a rock bottom after a difficult performance in an independent game on Sunday morning. As such, there's an excellent opportunity to bring him in to flow against a Raiders defense that has allowed no fewer than 17 points to the position in a game this year.
This would also be an intriguing week to target Lawrenceunderdog fantasy. Given some recent poor performances, his daily fantasy price and pick 'em stat predictions should be pretty low. As such, Week 9 could be a good time to put Lawrence on DFS and help him beat his Fantasy Points stat predictions.
Aaron Rodgers, quarterback | GB @ DET
It feels very weird to have Aaron Rodgers on this list, but that's where we're at. With a starting percentage of 35.1% on ESPN in Week 8, Rodgers has really gotten to the point of being a matchup-based starting QB in 10-, 12-, and even 14-team leagues. The good news for him is that this week's matchup is pretty juicy.
Only the Raiders have allowed more fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks than the Detroit Lions this season. In Week 8, Tua Tagovailoa rebounded from his injury woes and posted a 29.18 fantasy point performance against the Lions. That should be good news for Rodgers' fantasy value, even though the Lions had shown a tougher matchup in their previous two games.
FURTHER:Week 9 Non-PPR Fantasy Football Rankings
What Rodgers has offered this year is reasonably solid ground. Outside of Week 1, where he shot 3.7 fantasy, Rodgers has posted no less than 11.84 fantasy this year and has fluctuated constantly in the 15-16 fantasy range. During that period, he was one of the most predictable fantasy assets around.
The biggest potential risk to Rodgers' fantasy value is that the Lions are really bad against RBs as well. The Lions' defense is allowing an average of 5.1 yards per rush attempt against them this season, fifth-worst in the league. As a result, we could see the Packers repeatedly passing the ball to Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. Still, there's enough upside here to make Rodgers a starting option in 1QB leagues of all sizes.
Caleb Huntley, RB | ATL frente a ALC
After 16 carries for 91 yards against the Carolina Panthers, Caleb Huntley has another strong performance this week. Before their bye week, the Chargers had allowed 30+ fantasy points to RB in three of their last four games.
On the year, the Chargers have awarded 26.44 fantasy points to opposing running backs, the second most of any team. This is a great opportunity for Huntley to succeed if he continues to see significant carries after last week's impressive performance.
Curtis Samuel, W.R. | ERA vs. MIN
It's a little strange that Curtis Samuel hasn't started more than a quarter of ESPN's leagues. Washington Commanders WR has averaged 10.08 fantasy points in half of PPR rating, ranking him as WR36 this season. There have only been two times this season where Samuel hasn't scored nine or more fantasy points, which essentially means he's been a flex starting option in 12-team leagues most weeks.
This week, Samuel has a good matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have conceded an annual average of 30.87 fantasy points to opposing WRs. Additionally, they have awarded a total of 87.6 fantasy points to recipients in their last two games. Samuel is averaging 7.75 goals per game and 2.13 run attempts in nearly 10 chances per game. That's a tough number for a WR with a good matchup.
Evan Engram, TE | JAX a LVR
Evan Engram enters Week 9 with his best fantasy performance of the season, scoring four of six goals for 55 yards and a touchdown. Engram has seen at least six goals per game over the last four weeks and has averaged 9.65 fantasy points per game over that stretch.
FURTHER:Fantasy Buy Low Sell High Week 9
This week he faces the Raiders, who give up the third-most points to opposing tight ends (13.61 fantasy points). Engram has been a huge part of the Jaguars offense and once again is a fantastic streaming option for fantasy coaches.
Semana 9 Fantasy Football Sit'ems
Tom Brady, field marshal | TB vs LAR
It hasn't been a fun season for Tom Brady in 2022. He's averaging 15.27 fantasy points per game, which puts him at QB20. The normally level-headed QB has looked restless and distracted this season. In terms of fantasy production, that has resulted in five of his eight appearances with fewer than 15 fantasy points.
Things don't get any easier for Brady when he takes on the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. After giving up 31.48 fantasy points to Josh Allen in Week 1, the Rams only gave up 14+ fantasy points once in their next six games. While the 15-plus came against Jimmy Garoppolo last Sunday, it was still just a 17.7-point performance.
Right now, 17.7 points against the Rams seems like a ceiling. Also, the strength of this defense relies on inside pressure, which has been Brady's Achilles heel throughout his career. This could be another ugly game for Brady, and starting him in 12-team or 14-team leagues this week would be a bold move.
Michael Carter, RB | NYJ contra BUF
With Michael Carter seeing 14 chances and 12 touches in Week 8, fantasy managers might be tempted to lean on him this week. Plus, we've just seen Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon take pieces of the Buffalo Bills defense. However, fantasy managers need to tread carefully this week.
That was only the second time this year that the Bills have awarded 20+ fantasy points to opposing RBs. In the other five games, they held opposing running backs below 15 fantasy points four times. Buffalo's 16.33 fantasy points for RBs is the sixth-lowest number this season.
Plus, we don't really know how this Jets backfield will fare. Carter continues to be inefficient at carrying the ball and James Robinson should interfere more than he did last week. As such, given a tough matchup and an uncertain workload, fantasy GMs shouldn't be too optimistic about leaning on Carter this week.
Brandin Cooks, WR | HOU vs. PHI
That could be a moot point for Thursday if Brandin Cooks trades before then.2022 NFL trade deadline. However, if Cooks is still on the Texans' roster, he's an incredibly difficult player to rely on as a starting option this week.
In his last three games, Cooks has averaged four receptions and 46.33 yards. While not a terrible comeback, the line wasn't there as Cooks only saw five to seven goals in a Week 3 game.
FURTHER:Week 9 Waiver of cable pickups
Additionally, the Eagles have held opposing WRs to an average of just 17 fantasy points over the past two games. Expect the Eagles Cooks secondary to get a lot of attention this week when you're on the field.
Even if Cooks is traded, he's likely to be a player who considers sitting out simply because he can only play a limited number of snaps. However, the long-term payoff of a potential trade should make it worthwhile for fantasy managers to waive Cooks in Week 9.
Isaiah probably, TE | BAL in NO
This is more of a precaution for the emerging player than anything else. IsaiahLikely benefited greatly from the absence of Mark Andrews on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He caught six of his seven goals for 77 yards and a touchdown. With Andrews possibly missing the point, he'll probably be a popular name in theWeek 9 Exemption.
However, the matchup with the New Orleans Saints is really tough. They are averaging just 4.86 fantasy points per game for the position, the lowest of any team in the league. The tight ends' highest fantasy performance against them is 9.5 in week 5, the next highest performance is 6.1 fantasy points. Of course, if Andrews is playing, you start him, but if Andrews messes around, relying on Likely as a backup could be dangerous.