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Fantasy Football Studs and Duds: Week 9

Fantasy Football Studs and Duds: Week 9

Points weren’t hard to come by for several teams in Week 9. The Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams both put up 50 burgers on their opponents. The New Orleans Saints scored touchdowns on offense and even added a special teams touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

For others, however, including the Buccaneers, Week 9 was just one of many duds this season. Jameis Winston re-aggravated his shoulder injury. The only time Mike Evans showed any fight was when he delivered cheap shots. Though, it was overshadowed by A.J. Green’s ejection against Jacksonville. Come on man. While Evans’ difficulties weren’t all self-imposed, Green let down his real team and fantasy owners alike with his selfishness.

As the season is winding down, it’s important now more than ever for players to be reliable. We, as a fantasy community, have identified the studs of the regular season by now. Players like Le’Veon Bell and Ezekiel Elliott should be putting up extraordinary numbers each week. Predicting continued success from low-owned Week 9 studs like Corey Clement can be what brings home a fantasy championship. As for the duds, it’s important to determine whether a bad game is a precursor of things to come or whether it was just a bad week (or match-up).

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Studs

Robert Woods (WR – LAR)
Let’s start with the lowest number on the day for Woods; his ownership in fantasy football leagues. Woods is currently owned in just 33% of Yahoo leagues and 26.2% of ESPN leagues.

Since Week 5, Woods is 17th in PPG scoring for wide receivers. Against an injured, and helpless, New York Giants defense, he shredded them for four catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns. It was the first two touchdowns of the season for Woods.

Woods has been targeted fewer than five times only once this season. He has 40 targets over the last six games. With upcoming games against the Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, and Seattle Seahawks, Woods could be putting up even more big games this season.

Cole Beasley (WR – DAL)
Beasley certainly didn’t run wild against the Kansas City Chiefs, but he did find the end zone twice. Perhaps most important is the fact that the Cowboys could soon be experiencing some lineup changes.

Elliott’s off-and-on again relationship with the United States judicial system could reach it’s zenith this week. Fellow wide receiver Dez Bryant tweaked his ankle on Sunday. Terrance Williams also injured himself. If the Cowboys are going to have to lean heavily on Dak Prescott to stay afloat in the NFC East, Beasley is going to become a security blanket. He’s certainly worth a speculative add in PPR leagues.

Corey Clement (RB – PHI)
I’m happy to beat my chest when it comes to Clement. He has been the Eagles’ best running back since the onset of the preseason. For dynasty players, it’s likely that Clement is already on a roster. For re-draft leagues, however, Clement and his three touchdowns likely sat on the waiver wire.

The Eagles running back corps received a major upgrade last week when the team traded for Miami Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi. Ajayi came right in and produced for the Eagles. Clement, however, is receiving a large chunk of the red zone work lately. His fluidity and ability after the catch is lessening the blow left by Darren Sproles’ absence.

Duds

DeMarco Murray (RB – TEN)
It’s fast approaching time where Murray needs to be replaced by Derrick Henry. Murray has failed to rush for more than 60 yards in all but one game this season. For whatever reason, Murray continues to also out-touch his younger teammate.

He’s still salvaging fantasy box scores with a few catches each game, but Murray and the Titans timeshare is becoming increasingly difficult to rely upon.

Jameis Winston (QB – TB)
Winston’s train wreck of a season continued on Sunday when the Buccaneers took on the Saints. Winston attempted only 13 passes before re-aggravating a shoulder injury. Sunday marked the third time in four games where Winston failed to throw a touchdown.

The shoulder injury is a major concern for the value of not only Winston but the entire Buccaneers offense. In lieu of the injury developments (or regression) with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, the Buccaneers are going to have to be careful with how they proceed with Winston. At 2-6, the Buccaneers are four games back in the division. With no bye week either, the Buccaneers could ultimately decide at an early date that the season is a lost cause. Winston likely can be dropped in shallow leagues at this point. For the sake of the other fantasy relevant players on the Bucs, hopefully, the team makes a determination soon. Players like Evans, Doug Martin, and DeSean Jackson are all busting too often.

Will Fuller (WR – HOU)
All he does is catch touchdowns…as long as they’re thrown by Deshaun Watson. On Sunday with Tom Savage at the helm, the Texans offense failed to take advantage of the NFL’s worst passing defense.

There were some opportunities for Fuller. He was targeted eight times, catching only two passes for 32 yards. The Texans continue to run a lot of plays per game under head coach Bill O’Brien. As long as that remains true, Fuller will continue to be a boom or bust option at wide receiver. Unfortunately for Fuller and the Texans offense, the schedule is leaning heavily toward bust. Over the duration of the season, the Texans still play the Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. All four of those defenses reside in the top seven in the NFL in passing yards allowed.

Chris Thompson (RB – WAS)
It’s dumbfounding how the Redskins managed to win in Seattle with Thompson totaling only 31 yards from scrimmage. The PPR superstar running back still had six targets, second to only Vernon Davis with nine. The important aspect for the Redskins was that they won. For fantasy owners trying to deal with bye weeks and injuries, Thompson’s dud came at a bad time.

Moving forward there’s not much reason to worry. While Rob Kelley is healthy, for now, and getting the bulk of early-down work, the Redskins offense still depends on a heavily utilized Thompson in order to succeed. Chalk Sunday’s performance up as a bump in the road and look for Thompson to bounce back in the upcoming weeks.


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Matt Giraldi is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Matt, check out his archive or follow him @Mgiraldi.

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