Do you know what I wasn’t ready for? Week 9 being such an awful bye week.
Week 7 had six teams on bye, which was an issue for plenty of fantasy managers, but Week 9 snuck up on me. The Seahawks, Lions, Buccaneers, and Washington have a surprising amount of fantasy starters on them, which has led to plenty of creativity across some of my teams.
I’ll try to stop talking about byes sometime soon, but they consume me.
As always, the below is based on FantasyPros ECR using Half PPR scoring.
Create Optimal FanDuel lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool 
Quarterbacks
Overvalued
Patrick Mahomes (KC): QB3
I don’t need to tell you that Mahomes hasn’t been what we expected this season, especially lately as he’s scored less than 19 fantasy points in three of the last four games. I am generally among the “relax, he’s fine” category, but the third-ranked quarterback against the Packers feels ambitious. The Packers haven’t allowed a 300-yard passer all season, and they’ve only allowed more than two passing touchdowns in one game this season. Further, they’ve only allowed three total passing touchdowns over the past three games. Mahomes will be fine, but this week might not be the impetus of the turnaround.
Undervalued
Tyrod Taylor (HOU): QB23
Alright, let’s get weird. Tyrod is back. Houston has been bad but generally not as dreadful as I expected. One of the most surprising things I’ve seen this season is how disappointing the Miami defense has been. They are fourth-worst against quarterbacks, and they haven’t allowed less than 15 fantasy points all season. Tyrod is definitely more of a desperation or daily play, but I like his spot.
Running Backs
Overvalued
Joe Mixon (CIN): RB10
Mixon is on a bit of a hot streak lately, as he’s scored in five straight games. However, his receiving involvement has been wildly inconsistent, with five games of one or fewer receptions and three games of four or more. Ultimately, I expect this game to be low-scoring, and the Browns are pretty good against running backs: they’ve allowed only three rushing touchdowns to opposing running backs all season. Mixon is a lock for 15 or so touches, but I think his upside is pretty capped this week.
Undervalued
Boston Scott (PHI): RB23
I already know this is going to have my blood boiling on Sunday. Historically, Eagles running backs have been a mess, and the injury to Miles Sanders only amplified that (even though they were already quite messy). Last week, Scott, Kenneth Gainwell, and Jordan Howard had 12, 13, and 12 touches, respectively. Scott and Howard both scored two touchdowns, while Gainwell went scoreless. Someone in this running back corps is going to have a nice weekend, and Scott is my guess. He’s the most versatile of the three, so he should stay involved regardless of the game script. Beyond that, the Chargers have had a paltry rush defense for years, and they’re the fifth-worst this season through Week 8, giving up seven rushing touchdowns over the past three weeks.
Wide Receivers
Overvalued
Deebo Samuel (SF): WR5
I’m not going to lie to you. I kind of like all these highly-ranked receivers, including Samuel. The Cardinals are decent against receivers, and it looks like George Kittle is coming back to siphon some targets from Samuel. The Cardinals have allowed less than 110 receiving yards to wide receivers in four straight games. So Samuel was the best I could do.
Undervalued
Rondale Moore (ARI): WR44
We’re shooting for the fences here boys and girls. Moore has been highly erratic this season, and he’s been downright bad over the last three games. The Cardinals currently have A.J. Green on the COVID list, and DeAndre Hopkins is very questionable to play this weekend, which brings Moore back to the forefront. Keep an eye on Kyler Murray, though, as he is also questionable. Moore might still be okay through volume if Murray doesn’t play, but that game will instantly descend into chaos. I’m here for it.
Tight Ends
Undervalued
Jared Cook (LAC): TE12
This is a pretty easy one as Cook does have a good matchup, but I just wanted to share that the Eagles have allowed six touchdowns to opposing tight ends over the past six weeks. They didn’t last week, but they did allow T.J. Hockenson to rack up ten receptions for 89 yards. The Eagles are third-best against wide receivers and fourth-worst against tight ends, so Justin Herbert may be looking towards Cook more often than not.
Get a FREE 6 month upgrade with our special offer
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio
Whether you’re new to fantasy football or a seasoned pro, our Fantasy Football 101: Strategy Tips & Advice page is for you. You can get started with How to Manage Early-Season Injury Problems or head to more advanced strategy – like How to Effectively Assess the Quality of Your Team – to learn more.
Donald Gibson is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Donald, check out his archive and follow him @DonaldGibsonFF.
