Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em: Bam Knight, Tyrone Tracy, Kyle Monangai

Start em or sit em? Fantasy football start or sit decisions can be excruciating. While it feels great to make the right call and cruise to fantasy glory, it hurts just as much when you have someone erupt while on your bench. You can use our Who Should I Start? tool to gauge advice from fantasy football experts as you make your lineup decisions. And you can also sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings and analysis.

Let’s dive into our start/sit lineup advice and outlook for a few of the top fantasy football waiver wire pickups of the week. And here are all of our fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 9.

Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice

Bam Knight (RB – ARI): 21% Rostered

Next Opponents: @DAL, @SEA, SF
True Value: $4
Desperate Need: $8
Budget-Minded: $2

Analysis: Bam Knight is a lead back, so why is he still on waivers in the vast majority of Yahoo leagues? Although Michael Carter was speculated to be the main guy in Arizona when Trey Benson landed on injured reserve (IR) with a knee injury, Knight has continued to see more work and has been more efficient with his touches. Before their Week 8 bye, Knight had 14 carries for 57 yards against the Packers, while Carter had seven carries for 11 yards. With James Conner out for the season and Benson on IR for at least another week, this should be Knight’s backfield for Week 9. The Cardinals will face the Cowboys, who allowed a touchdown hat trick to rookie RJ Harvey in Week 8. On the season, the Cowboys are allowing the seventh-most fantasy points to the running back position. If you need a spot start, Knight is a top-24 option this week and will continue to produce for fantasy as long as Benson remains out.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. (RB – NYG): 48% Rostered

Next Opponents: SF, @CHI, GB
True Value: $35
Desperate Need: $45
Budget-Minded: $25

Analysis: We need to pour one out for Cam Skattebo. He came into our lives as a shining star who runs like a bulldozer and brought joy to many fantasy managers. After suffering a dislocated ankle, Skattebo’s rookie season has come to a sudden end. After he was injured, Tyrone Tracy Jr. handled the lead role for the Giants, carrying the ball 10 times while Devin Singletary had two carries. Tracy had only 39 rushing yards, but he also caught two out of three targets for 14 yards. Tracy is locked into the lead role for the rest of the season. The Giants still have a mediocre offense, but Tracy’s pass-catching chops and explosive playmaking provide weekly upside. With only Singletary behind him, Tracy should be a low-end RB2 for the rest of the season.

Kyle Monangai (RB – CHI): 39% Rostered

Next Opponents: @CIN, NYG, @MIN
True Value: $4
Desperate Need: $6
Budget-Minded: $2

Analysis: Despite a pedestrian Week 8 stat line, Kyle Monangai took another step closer to a 50-50 split with D’Andre Swift. Monangai played 29 snaps on Sunday to Swift’s 31, as the Bears have relied heavily on both backs since their bye week. Although they’ve been playing similar snaps the last two weeks, Swift is utilized more when he is on the field and out-touched Monangai 13-7 in the Bears’ Week 8 loss to the Ravens. However, in better game scripts, we may see Monangai more involved. This week, the Bears face an abysmal Bengals defense and could be playing with a lead. Outside of Tyrone Tracy Jr., Monangai is my favorite Week 9 spot start among the running backs.

If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.