If active this week, Sims could make an impact much sooner than expected.

The NFL’s schedule makers surely didn’t do fantasy owners any favors this week (imagine that). With a whopping six teams on byes, week 9 has been dubbed “the week from hell” by more than a few fans. Of course, that’s until another six teams have off in week 10!

If you’re one of the owners feeling the pinch, we’re here to help. This week’s Featured Pros have stopped by to share a few sleepers they think are worthy of breaking into lineups in week 9. For good measure, the pundits will also reveal who’s poised to disappoint.

Q1: Give us a player outside of our top 100 Flex that represents a deep sleeper start?

JACE AMARO, TE (NYJ at KC)
“Do you remember those halcyon days in the mid-aughts when Alge Crumpler was a coveted TE1 (and not just because of the awesome name)? A few years later, Brent Celek started producing Crumpleresque numbers in Philadelphia. The common thread, of course, was QB Michael Vick. No, Vick isn’t the player he used to be, but the dude likes throwing to his TEs. On his first drive after replacing Geno Smith last week, he hit Jace Amaro for a 20-yard gain, one of Amaro’s five receptions — all from Vick — for 51 yards. With 26 catches over his last five games, Amaro has become a steady contributor to the Jets’ offense, and I think Vick will lean on him this week against the Chiefs in K.C.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (The Football Girl)

CLAY HARBOR, TE (JAC at CIN)
“The player outside the top 100 Flex rankings with the most upside is Harbor. Week 9 is thin on pass catchers and Harbor could make a decent flex option in deeper leagues or a TE streamer. Harbor will be facing the Cincinnati Bengals without their top 2 linebackers (Burfict and Maualuga) and through 8 weeks the Bengals are giving up the 2nd most points, receptions, targets and yards to fantasy tight ends.”
– Scott Whitfield (Roto Rankings)

TIM WRIGHT, TE (NE vs. DEN)
“Wright enters this week’s big showdown with Denver having caught touchdowns in 3 of the last 4 games. After Gronk’s massive performance last week, and the fact that New England is utilizing two TE sets on a more regular basis, you can expect Wright to have far less coverage and be utilized in the offense once again.”
– Adrian Pereira (eDraft)

HAKEEM NICKS, WR (IND at NYG)
“If you buy that Nicks is a bit of a head case, and you also buy that he has (or had) talent then a situation like Week 9 might actually work. It feels cheesy to play a guy for a ‘revenge’ factor, but the revenge ‘thing’ is a ‘thing’ because it tends to pan out fairly well. The only time I’ve seen Nicks look like he really gave ‘a rip’ about what was going on in 2014 was in Week 2 of the preseason, when the Colts faced the Giants. Andrew Luck obliged him: Nicks had five catches for 53 yards in one-quarter of playing time. He actually had an impressive 36-yard catch and run as well, but it got called back because he taunted everyone as he stiff-armed defenders like it was a video game. With that penalty/catch counting, he would have been on a full game pace for 24 catches and 344 yards. If he can just get half of that this week, this will look like a really smart prediction.”
– R.C. Fischer (Fantasy Football Metrics)

MALCOM FLOYD, WR (SD at MIA)
“Floyd has received 7 targets in each of the last three games. He has turned in 3 straight 50+ yard games, one of which was a 103 yard + 1 TD performance. Keenan Allen usually gets priority coverage which makes Floyd a strong option for Philip Rivers. He’s up against a tough Miami defense but I expect the Chargers to get 3 TDs with Floyd going deep for one of them.”
– Adrian Pereira (eDraft)

COBY FLEENER, TE (IND at NYG)
“The big bye weeks can make a desperate man (or woman) look at almost anyone as flex worthy in order to get a win. The name that jumps out to me outside of the top 100 is Coby Fleener. Fleener wasn’t featured in week 8 against the Steelers because the Colts had a bigger advantage on the outside. Moncrief and Hilton starred while Allen and Fleener didn’t see many targets. This week Fleener and the Colts get the Giants who are down to their fourth slot corner. The Giants also lost starting inside backer Jon Beason for the season. If the Colts paid attention to what Gavin Escobar was able to do a few weeks back we could see a big day from Fleener.”
– Dennis Esser (Coach Esser)

CHARLES SIMS, RB (TB at CLE)
*Editors note: Ian Rapoport reports that Sims will not play on Sunday
“It’s slim pickings after the top 100, but three guys to consider using this week are Tim Wright, Jermaine Kearse and Charles Sims. Sims is the guy to target, though, especially if Doug Martin sits out with an ankle issue. Bobby Rainey would also factor into the mix there, but Sims is expected to be active and the Bucs may be interested in seeing what he can do. Tampa Bay faces a Cleveland Browns defense that has been largely gashed on the ground this year, so Sims could be worth a shot.”
– Kevin Roberts (Breaking Football)

Q2: On the flip side, what player inside the top 50 Flex is likely to disappoint fantasy owners this week?

BRANDON LAFELL, WR (NE vs. DEN)
“A lot of folks have LaFallen in love with Brandon LaFell now that he’s emerging as one of Tom Brady‘s favorite targets, with a sexy 11-124-1 stat line last week and four TD catches in his last five games. Broncos-Patriots is being billed as a shootout, but I don’t think Tom Brady will have a lot of time to stand in the pocket and scan the field, and I think it will be difficult for New England’s WRs to do business against Denver CBs Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. LaFell is currently No. 47 in FantasyPros’ consensus flex rankings, but I’m not going to LaFall on that particular sword this week.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (The Football Girl)

GIOVANI BERNARD, RB (CIN vs. JAC)
“Two angles here: (1) Gio has been battling a minor hip issue, and a home game versus Jacksonville may offer an opportunity to throttle him back, like a de-facto bye-week. (2) Gio is fading. You love him for his PPR action, but after catching six and five passes in the first two games this season, he has just 1-2-4-2-2 (2.2 per game) for catches the past five weeks. In that same five game span, Jeremy Hill has posted 0-3-4-0-4 (2.2 per game) receptions. Either Gio needs some rest/healing, or Hill is clawing away at Gio’s touches (or both). Last week, after weeks of Gio doubling or tripling Hill’s offensive snaps played they had their closest ‘time share’ of the season: 36 Gio, 31 Hill. One way or the other, this could be a down week for Gio and maybe more ‘sharing’ in the weeks to come.”
– R.C. Fischer (Fantasy Football Metrics)

BRANDEN OLIVER, RB (SD at MIA)
“Oliver has been a nice waiver wire add for owners but his performance has taken a slight dip over the past two weeks. I see that trend continuing in Week 9 as the Chargers face the Dolphins, a team that is tough on the ground. Oliver will put up some points but I don’t expect a big performance, leaving fantasy owners that used him as a RB2 disappointed.”
– Adrian Pereira (eDraft)

BEN TATE, RB (CLE vs. TB)
“The big bye weeks also make owners start players they wish they could bench. Ben Tate has frustrated his fantasy owners the last few weeks and I don’t see this letting up, even in a nice matchup against Tampa Bay. The Browns offensive line has struggled since they lost Alex Mack to injury a few weeks ago. They are allowing quick penetration and not sustaining contact as they try to keep with the zone running concepts. Injury fill in Nick McDonald has especially struggled, but veteran Mitchell Schwartz has struggled the last few weeks as well. Even with six teams on a bye, I may look elsewhere for a fantasy starter.”
– Dennis Esser (Coach Esser)

JERICK MCKINNON, RB (MIN vs. WAS)
“Just by sheer drop off, Jeremy Maclin might be a bummer to use this week, considering a repeat of his insane week eight just isn’t plausible. Jerick McKinnon is the toughest sell in the top 50, though. He’s ranked #19 and faces a Redskins run defense that has been a top-5 unit all year and a top-6 unit over the past 4 weeks despite being gashed by DeMarco Murray. McKinnon isn’t Murray, though, so ranking him inside the top 20 is a bit generous.”
– Kevin Roberts (Breaking Football)

ROB GRONKOWSKI, TE (NE vs. DEN)
“In an attempt to not sound too contrarian, we have seen Aqib Talib shut down Jimmy Graham. He did this when he was a member of the New England Patriots, his opponent this week. With Aqib returning to Foxboro to face his old team and seeing his replacement across the field in Darrelle Revis, my money is on Talib. When Talib is focused and zeroed in, he can be a dominant shut down force. I’m not saying Talib is bigger or stronger than Gronkowski in this matchup, but Jimmy Graham was faster and more athletic that day last year than Gronk will ever be this year. Gronk will make some plays, but it won’t be on the same trajectory of his recent success. Chasing last week’s points with Gronk will leave fantasy owners disappointed.”
– Scott Whitfield (Roto Rankings)

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Thanks to this week’s Featured Experts for sharing their thoughts with us. To get more advice from the experts, please visit their sites (click their names below) and follow them on Twitter.

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