Welcome to Week 9 where the Patriots, Steelers, Chargers, Vikings, Bears and Browns are all on byes. Virtually every team in every league will be starting a player this week that turns their stomach, so you are not alone. My goal is to help you sort out the headache today. Before I give my rankings, however, I want to tell you about four players I feel strongly on this week. If you have more questions, don’t hesitate to let me know on Twitter.
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Carson Wentz (QB #14): PHI vs DEN
I’ve been impressed watching Wentz this season just like everyone else. He is definitely a top 12 fantasy quarterback now, but I missed the memo where everyone came together to decide that he was a must-start regardless of the matchup. The Broncos haven’t allowed a quarterback to finish in the top 10 any week all season, yet somehow, the general consensus has Wentz as the #5 QB this week? I’m not buying it. While Wentz is much improved, he is still not better than Matt Ryan, Kirk Cousins or Marcus Mariota, and all three of them have better matchups. Plus, Jason Peters is out, which if you remember last year’s pressure woes, does not bide well for Wentz.
Kenyan Drake (RB #18): MIA vs OAK
Jay Ajayi spent most of the season on the injury report and missing practice. Every time he did, it was Drake who filled in with the first-team offense. Now granted, he isn’t a receiving back, so we shouldn’t expect him to play 70% of the touches with Damien Williams getting third-down work, but you’d better believe he will get a majority of the early-down touches and all goal-line carries. This weekend, he goes against Oakland, who has allowed a top-five worst 112 rushing yards per game to running backs, plus Jay Cutler is playing banged up so we should expect 15+ carries and a solid performance.
C.J. Anderson (RB #25): DEN @ PHI
Earlier in the season, the Broncos were trusting Anderson with 20+ carries virtually every game. Over the last three weeks, however, he has played less than half of the snaps twice. Not only has Jamaal Charles been picking up extra carries, but now Devontae Booker has emerged out of nowhere to double his snap count and steal the goal-line work from Anderson. The Broncos’ back has just one game all season with a dozen or more fantasy points, so he doesn’t have much of a ceiling, and now is floor is quite low too. Add in a tough matchup against Philly and you’d be better of avoiding him if you can help it.
Sammy Watkins (WR #17): LAR @ NYG
This season, Watkins has been shadowed by Josh Norman, Richard Sherman, Jalen Ramsay and Patrick Peterson. In those contests, he was crushed for just 6 receptions and 83 yards. Outside of that, we’ve seen 29 fantasy points in three contests. This week was shaping up to be another stinker against Janoris Jenkins, but the Giants have suspended him, leaving Watkins free for a strong performance. Even with Jenkins, the Giants have struggled against the pass, so without him, it could be a big day for Jared Goff and his #1 receiver.
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