Week 9 was perhaps most notable for the ugly brawls that broke out in three of the games, which could lead to suspensions for fantasy mainstays A.J. Green, Mike Evans, and Carlos Hyde. But it was also a week filled with plenty of fantasy goodness, not to mention one of the best games of the season between the Redskins and Seahawks. Here’s what we learned from a fantasy perspective.
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Christian McCaffrey is now the offensive centerpiece in Carolina
When the Panthers shockingly dealt Kelvin Benjamin to Buffalo last week, the team sold the move as a necessary one to open up the running game. Whether that plan works out remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Christian McCaffrey is now the undisputed top skill position playmaker on the Carolina roster. Jonathan Stewart’s performance had fallen off a cliff this season, even before he fumbled twice on Sunday, so it was high time the Panthers got serious about featuring McCaffrey.
With no remaining WRs that scare defenses, Carolina will need to find creative ways to get McCaffrey the ball in space. But McCaffrey’s 20 touches for 94 yards in Week 9 should be a sign of things to come, and he’s got the talent to be a true difference-maker in the second half.
Leonard Fournette was shockingly out of the picture on Sunday
If you ever needed a reminder to always check your lineup before kickoff on Sundays, this week’s Leonard Fournette saga provided a good one. Seemingly healthy coming out of the Jaguars’ bye week, Fournette was a last-minute inactive after reportedly missing several team events during the week, including a team photo.
While T.J. Yeldon broke off a long touchdown run in Fournette’s injury-related absence in Week 7, Chris Ivory reestablished himself as Fournette’s handcuff in Week 9, out-touching Yeldon 23-to-13 and out-gaining him 103-to-52. Fournette is expected back next week and will remain an RB1 as long as he stays out of head coach Doug Marrone’s doghouse.
The league’s best defense was no match for the Eagles’ offense
The rich got richer when the explosive Eagles offensive added RB Jay Ajayi just before the trade deadline, but it seemed like Philadelphia might have a slow week against Denver’s swarming defense, especially once news broke that Zach Ertz would miss the game. Instead, the Eagles put 51 points on the board, proving once and for all that they can pile up points against any team.
Although his weekly yardage totals have declined as the season has gone along, Carson Wentz has now thrown for 17 touchdowns in his last five games and established himself as a clear-cut top-five QB. While Nelson Agholor was the team’s best receiver in the season’s first half, it was only a matter of time until Alshon Jeffery broke out.
He’s hauled in three TDs and a two-point conversion over the last two weeks and is suddenly knocking on the door of WR1 status. The backfield picture in Philadelphia is more complicated than ever — not many would have pegged Corey Clement as Week 9’s breakout RB — but suffice it to say you want as many Eagles on your roster as possible right now.
T.Y. Hilton is still an every-week starter
Hopefully, you didn’t sell-low on Hilton or bench him after he totaled just 61 yards from Weeks 6-8. He’s always been a boom-or-bust WR, and in Week 9 he reminded fantasy owners that he can boom like few other receivers in the league, even with Jacoby Brissett under center.
There’s no doubt that Hilton’s lows are lower than they were with Andrew Luck around — he has failed to top 30 receiving yards four times this season compared to just once last year. But his highs are every bit as high, and this marks the third time this season Hilton has gone over 150 yards. If you can swap Hilton for a more consistent WR who will post similar end-of-season numbers, go right ahead, but most Hilton owners should just come to terms with the week-to-week volatility and take the good with the bad.
DeAndre Hopkins can survive without Deshaun Watson, but Will Fuller probably can’t
We knew that Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury would be a drag on the entire Texans’ offense, but Week 9 demonstrated that the impact will not be felt equally among all the team’s skill position players. Like most ineffective quarterbacks, Tom Savage is unable to progress through his reads and find the soft spot in the defense, instead of forcing the ball to his primary receiver. On most plays, that primary receiver will be DeAndre Hopkins, who saw a whopping 16 targets in Week 9, posted his third-highest yardage total of the season (86 yards), and scored for the fifth consecutive game.
Will Fuller saw a healthy eight targets himself, but as a WR that is heavily dependent on deep balls and touchdowns, Fuller is sure to suffer most from the transition to Savage. While Hopkins’ volume can keep him on the WR1/2 borderline, Fuller may struggle to even remain a viable WR3.
The Chiefs need to get the ball to their best playmakers
The Chiefs have lost three of their last four games, so it’s only natural that people will be asking what the team can do to right the ship. One obvious place to start is to make a more concerted effort to get the ball to the team’s most explosive offensive playmakers. While Travis Kelce has seen a fairly steady workload, the same can’t be said for Kareem Hunt or Tyreek Hill.
Hunt was given just nine carries on Sunday, the second time in four games that has happened. And Hill scored a magnificent 56-yard touchdown just before halftime but was only thrown to three other times the rest of the game (along with four rushing attempts). Hunt and Hill have both proven that they are legitimate threats to score every time they touch the football, so fantasy owners will have to hope that Andy Reid devises more ways to get them involved during the team’s Week 10 bye.
The Dolphins aren’t a complete fantasy wasteland
The worst offense in the league just traded its best offensive weapon, so you could be forgiven for wanting to give up on the Dolphins from a fantasy perspective. But Week 9 proved that there are still some fantasy-relevant players left in Miami after the Jay Ajayi trade.
Returning from an ankle injury that cost him almost a month of action, DeVante Parker grabbed five balls for 76 yards and now has at least 69 receiving yards in all four full games he’s played in. Jarvis Landry continued to be a PPR asset with his six catches for 32 yards, and scored for the fourth time in five games, bringing a smile to the face of standard league managers as well.
Meanwhile, both of Ajayi’s RB replacements showed solid flex option potential. Kenyan Drake busted a 42-yard run to finish with the more impressive stat line, but both he and Damien Williams showed remarkable burst and receiving abilities, and both were given opportunities at all downs and distances.
The Bucs are a hot mess
Tampa Bay has now lost five games in a row, and Week 9 was a low point for the team and fantasy owners alike. The Bucs have not been very forthcoming about Jameis Winston’s shoulder injury, but it forced him to the bench at halftime, ensuring that Winston would have his third awful fantasy performance in his last four games.
It is unclear if Winston will play next week, and it’s also unclear whether Ryan Fitzpatrick would even be a downgrade for the offense at this point. Mike Evans‘ biggest contribution to this game was shoving Marshon Lattimore from behind, which could conceivably result in a one-game suspension.
Doug Martin was also mysteriously benched in this one after eight ineffective carries, with Peyton Barber providing a predictably mediocre performance in his stead. It seems unlikely that Martin would be stripped of lead back duties, and the blowout loss likely contributed to his low touch total, but the Bucs are in full-on disarray, so anything is possible. Martin owners shouldn’t panic just yet, but it would be a relief to see him get a healthy workload next week.
Adrian Peterson can still handle a huge workload
Speaking of a healthy workload, Peterson received a career-high 37 carries in Week 9 against the 49ers, a fairly remarkable stat for a 32-year-old back on the tail end of a Hall of Fame career. It resulted in 159 rushing yards, the second time in three games that Peterson has topped 130 yards on the ground.
With tough matchups against the Seahawks, Texans, and Jaguars coming up and Drew Stanton doing little to deter defenses from crowding the line of scrimmage, AP will likely find much less running room in the weeks ahead. But Peterson has proven time and time again that it is never wise to bet against him, and he should continue to be a high-floor RB2 at worst for as long as he’s carrying the offense on his back.
Jeremy Maclin is back in the WR3 conversation
Much of Maclin’s first season in Baltimore has been derailed by injury and poor QB play, but on Sunday he looked like the fantasy asset we’ve come to rely on in years past. Maclin posted a season-high in targets (nine), catches (eight), and yards (98), and although he didn’t find the end zone, he remains a reliable red zone threat. Maclin has a very nice schedule coming out of the team’s Week 10 bye, so the Ravens’ clear number one option has a good shot at WR3 value as long as he and Joe Flacco can remain healthy.
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Andrew Seifter is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrew_seifter.
