Here are my fantasy football rankings, tiers and outlook for notable players Week 9.
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Fantasy Football Rankings, Tiers & Start/Sit Lineup Advice: Week 9
Quarterbacks Rankings & Tiers
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Lineup Advice: Quarterbacks
Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson is doubtful because of a hip injury, so Caleb Williams might be able to pick his teeth with the Cincinnati defense on Sunday. Plus, the Bears are absolutely decimated at the cornerback position, so the Bengals are probably going to have success throwing the ball against the Bears. An O.K. Corral game script could lead to big numbers for Caleb.
Jaxson Dart has been wildly entertaining this season, and he’s likely to be a top-10 quarterback in 2026 fantasy drafts. But the deck is really stacked against Dart the rest of the way. First he lost stud WR Malik Nabers to a season-ending injury. Now he’s lost his good buddy Cam Skattebo, who was having a terrific rookie season at running back. Dart is getting almost 40% of his fantasy points from rushing. That’s probably not a sustainable business model. I don’t wasn’t to underestimate the resourceful Dart, but I fret that we might get some floor games from Dart now that Skattebo isn’t around to give the Giants a running threat and help keep the chains moving. Even with four teams on bye, I have Dart ranked just outside of QB1 range against an injury-depleted 49ers defense.
Sam Darnold is a playable option as a high-end QB2 this week. He has a solid matchup against a Washington defense that has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to quarterback. But passing volume is the biggest concern with Darnold. The Seahawks have been the second run-heaviest team in the league, and Darnold is averaging a modest 27.4 pass attempts a game.
Running Backs Rankings & Tiers
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Lineup Advice: Running Backs
Kimani Vidal is a must-start this week against the Chargers. Yeah, I know. That’s not exactly going out on a limb, is it? OK, how about this? Bet the over on Vidal’s rushing yardage and consider playing him in DFS. Vidal is getting bell-cow usage as a sub for the injured Omarion Hampton. Vidal has gotten 58 touches over his last three games and had a 74% snap share against the Vikings last week. Vidal topped 100 rushing yards in two of those three games. He’s in a high-usage spot this week with the Chargers favored by 9.5 points against the lowly Titans, who could be without star DT Jeffrey Simmons (hamstring). The Titans have allowed the second most rushing yards and second-most fantasy points to running backs, and they’ve given up a league-high 12 TD runs to RBs.
Kyle Monangai‘s snap share has been at around 45% in each of the last two weeks, and now he gets a chance to be a lead back with D’Andre Swift out thios week. Monangai could feast in a primo matchup against a Charmin-soft Bengals defense that could be without its best player, Trey Hendrickson. Jets RBs Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis shredded the Cincinnati defense for 198 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Week 8, averaging 7.9 yards per carry.
We should probably regard Bam Knight as no worse than a midrange RB2 this week. Knight was the primary running back when we last saw the Cardinals before their Week 8 bye. He had 14 carries for 57 yards and three catches for seven yards against the Packers. His matchup against Dallas this week is much softer. The Cowboys have given up the fifth-most rushing yards and fourth-most fantasy points to RBs.
As much as I like Kenneth Walker, it’s hard to rank him as a low-end RB2. The Seahawks are dividing work pretty evenly between Walker and Zach Charbonnet. (Charbonnet has played 202 snaps this season, Walker 185.) Walker has played under half of Seattle’s offensive snaps in three straight games, and he isn’t getting much usage as a pass catcher. Since Week 2, Walker has averaged one target a game. Maybe the anticipated return of fullback Robbie Ouzts from an ankle injury will help spark the Seahawks’ running game, but since we can’t count on volume from Walker, it might take a splash play or two for him to make his weekly fantasy quota.
Alvin Kamara has had 31 or fewer rushing yards in four straight games. He’s only had one game this season with 30 or more receiving yards. And Kamara hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 1. The Saints lost center Erik McCoy, the lynchpin of their offensive line, to a season-ending biceps injury. Here’s hoping you have the luxury of keeping Kamara on the bench.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales has openly talked about needing to give Rico Dowdle more work. Dowdle has been splitting work nearly 50/50 with Chuba Hubbard.in the two games since Hubbard returned from a calf injury, and Rico has been far more effective than Chuba. But the running-game matchup is terrible for the Panthers this week. They travel to Green Bay to face the Packers, who have given up the third-fewest fantasy points and fourth-fewest rushing yards to RBs. Bryce Young is coming off an injury and has to face a wicked Green Bay pass rush led by edge rusher Micah Parsons. I have major concerns about Young’s ability to keep the chains moving, and if he can’t, it’s going to eat into Rico’s touch volume.
Wide Receivers Rankings & Tiers
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Lineup Advice: Wide Receivers
Congratulations if you were willing to bite the bullet and draft Rashee Rice despite knowing he was going to be suspended. Rice has smashed in his first two games back, with 16 catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns on 19 targets, plus two rushing attempts for 12 yards. And RB Isiah Pacheco‘s MCL sprain could make Rice even more valuable. Rice’s short-area game makes him sort of an extension of the Chiefs’ running game. Andy Reid likes to quickly get the ball to Rashee Rice and let him weave through traffic. We might see even more of that from Rice with Pacheco on the shelf.
Brian Thomas Jr. hurt his shoulder in the Jaguars’ Week 7 loss to the Rams, but a Week 8 bye gave BTJ some extra recovery time, and he’s expected to play against the Raiders this week. The Jaguars need Thomas to come through this week after putting rookie Travis Hunter on IR with a knee injury. Drops and a lack of chemistry have plagued Thomas this season after his banner rookie year in 2024, but Thomas has a golden opportunity to turn his season around against a leaky Raiders pass defense.
The Chicago Bears were without their three best cornerbacks last week. Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson all missed Chicago’s Week 8 loss to the Ravens. Johnson and Gordon are going to be out again in Week 9. Stevenson is expected back from a shoulder injury, but Stevenson is by no means a shutdown cornerback anyway. Whether it’s the wounded Joe Flacco (shoulder) or Jake Browning at quarterback for the Bengals, the outlook for the Bengals’ receivers looks great. You’re obviously starting Ja’Marr Chase if you have him, but Tee Higgins should be considered a must-start as well.
Alec Pierce could be a sneaky-good Week 9 play. Pierce gets a fantastic matchup against a Steelers defense that has allowed the third-most receptions and sixth-most receiving yards to wide receivers and really struggles against perimeter receivers. The coverage matchup also suits Pierce well. As my colleague Derek Brown notes in this week’s installment of The Primer, Pierce fares especially well against single-high safety coverage. Against single-high, Pierce has a 29.5% target share and averages a whopping 4.33 yards per route run. The Steelers play single-high at the third-highest rate in the league.
Earlier this season, I was feeling uneasy about having to rank Johnston as an WR2 every week. The numbers warranted it, but the presence of Ladd McConkey and Keenan Allen always made Johnston’s fantasy outlook seem fragile. And now we have TE Oronde Gadsden II stepping up and giving the Chargers a fourth big-time weapon for QB Justin Herbert. I don’t want to overreact to Johnston’s Week 8 flop. He had zero targets in a game where Justin Herbert threw only 25 passes in a decisive win over the Vikings. But Gadsden’s emergence is a big problem for Johnston’s target outlook. I think we’re going to see some volatile results from QJ the rest of the way — some big games on which he has a splash play or two, and some quiet games in which Herbert throws to the other guys and QJ gets left out.
It’s hard to know what to do with Kayshon Boutte. On one hand, Drake Maye has been freaking awesome this season, and Boutte is Maye’s primary downfield guy Boutte’s average depth of target is 17 yards. He’s averaging 18.7 yards per catch and 14.4 yards per target. Boutte has scored four touchdowns in his last three games. But Boutte has seen more than five targets in only one of his eight games, so his weekly floor is unstable. Even though I consider myself a Boutte truther, I’m below consensus on him this week in ranking him as a high-end WR4.
Tight Ends Rankings & Tiers
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Lineup Advice: Tight Ends
Mea culpa. I wasn’t high enough on Oronde Gadsden II last week. Even though Justin Herbert threw only 25 passes in the Chargers’ lopsided win over the Vikings, Gadsden had five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. The Chargers have three good wide receivers, so there might be games where Gadsden’s target counts aren’t great. And there might be matchups where Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman feels like he can run on an opponent successfully, and Gadsden loses snaps to other Chargers TEs who are better blockers. But Gadsden looks legit. There was some good buzz around him in training camp, and now it’s easy to see why. He’s going to be a top-eight fantasy TE every week.
Jake Ferguson checks in as a lower-end TE1 despite his zero-catch performance vs. Denver last week. Another shutout is unlikely, but Ferguson’s outlook isn’t quite as bright now that Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb is healthy again. In the three games Lamb missed plus the one game in which Lamb played seven snaps before getting hurt, Ferguson averaged 8.3 targets, 7.5 catches, 51 receiving yards and 14.9 half-point PPR fantasy points per game, with four TDs in those four games. In the four games Lamb has played, Ferguson has averaged 6.5 targets, 5.3 catches, 32.5 yards and 8.9 half-point PPR fantasy points per game, with two TD catches.
Colston Loveland is a reasonable streaming option with all of the Bears’ wide receivers banged up. Plus, Loveland gets a fantastic matchup against an abominable Bengals defense that has been getting wrecked by tight ends. Cincinnati has allowed the most receiving yards (594) and TD catches (10) to TEs. The outlook for Loveland is slightly diminished with Bears TE Cole Kmet returning from a back injury and stealing some of Loveland’s snaps.
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