This article is dropping on Halloween, so allow me to horrify you with some fantasy football facts that will make your skin crawl.
- Last year’s fantasy RB1, Saquon Barkley, has fewer rushing yards than Rico Dowdle, whose average draft position in PPR leagues was RB58.
- Brian Thomas Jr., who had 1,282 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie, has scored fewer fantasy points than Kayshon Boutte and Tre Tucker.
- Alvin Kamara has never averaged fewer than 32.7 receiving yards per game over a full season. He’s currently averaging 18.4 receiving yards a game.
- Among the top 10 tight ends in average draft position, only three (Trey McBride, Travis Kelce, Tyler Warren) currently rank inside the top 10 in PPR fantasy scoring.
OK, enough terror for one day. Let’s get to this week’s 10 most intriguing players.
- Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
The 10 Most Intriguing Players of Week 9
1. Brian Thomas Jr. (WR – JAC)
Justy when it seemed as if Travis Hunter might be ready to challenge Brian Thomas Jr. for alpha status among the Jaguars’ wide receivers, Hunter landed on injured reserve with a knee injury and will miss at least the next four games.
Over the summer, I wasn’t too keen on investing in Hunter in either dynasty or redraft. There were two concerns: (1) that Hunter would be getting dual usage as a receiver and a cornerback, and while the Jaguars said they wanted Hunter to be primarily a wide receiver, things could change over the course of a season; and (2) the presence of Thomas, who had a monstrous rookie season with 87 catches for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns.
At first, it seemed like the cautious approach with Hunter was the right call. He was playing somewhere between half and two-thirds of the Jaguars’ offensive snaps. It’s hard for receivers to be fantasy-relevant if they aren’t getting snap shares north of 75%, and Hunter was WR68 in half-point PPR fantasy scoring through the first five weeks of the season.
Over his last two games, however, Hunter’s snap shares have been 78% and 87%. He didn’t do much in the first of those two games, with four catches for 15 yards against the Seahawks. But when we last saw the Jaguars before their Week 8 bye, Hunter had eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown on 14 targets against the Rams in London. Maybe those numbers were juiced because the Jags were in chase mode in a 35-7 loss. Or maybe it was the start of something.
Thomas has endured a sophomore slump after a terrific rookie season, and there have been rumors that the Jags might deal BTJ before the Nov. 4 trading deadline. With the Hunter injury, it seems unlikely that Thomas would be dealt. Still, it’s possible that Hunter could wrest the alpha receiver role from BTJ’s increasingly butterfingered grasp.
It will be fascinating to see what Thomas does now that the Jaguars need him to shoulder a big target load. He has a favorable matchup against a flammable Raiders pass defense that has allowed the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers.
2. Oronde Gadsden II (TE – LAC)
This rookie tight end class is starting to look pretty good. No. 10 overall pick Colston Loveland hasn’t gotten full traction yet, but No. 14 overall pick Tyler Warren has been a stud for the Colts, third-rounder Harold Fannin Jr. has been productive for the Browns, second-rounder Mason Taylor looks like a keeper for the Jets, and fifth-rounder Oronde Gadsden II has been a revelation for the Chargers.
Over the last three weeks, Gadsden has caught 22 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns. His weekly PPR fantasy finished over that stretch: TE12 (tie), TE1 (tie), TE3.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert threw 38 passes in Week 6 and 55 passes in Week 7. I wondered if Gadsden’s numbers in those games were simply the product of elevated passing volume. But Herbert only threw 25 passes last week in the Chargers’ 37-10 win over the Vikings, and Gadsden had five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown — with all five catches coming in the first 22 minutes of the game, before things got out of hand.
The Chargers have three good wide receivers, so there might be games in which Gadsden fades into the background. There might also be games in which Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman wants to capitalize on a favorable rushing matchup and give some of the 236-pound Gadsden’s snaps to the Chargers’ beefier tight ends.
Still, based on what we’ve seen the last three weeks, Gadsden is a must-start in fantasy, and it’s going to be fun to track his progress.
3. Tyrone Tracy Jr. (RB – NYG)
Cam Skattebo‘s grotesque ankle injury was a low point of the season, even for fans who don’t like the Giants and don’t have Skattebo on any of their fantasy teams.
Skattebo had been a joy to watch — a ball of kinetic energy with an unbridled zest for contact. Who didn’t smile when Skattebo and former QB turned analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick ripped off their shirts to celebrate with the crowd after the Giants beat the Eagles in Week 5? (Well, aside from Eagles fans.)
With Skattebo out for the season, Tyrone Tracy Jr. is once again the Giants’ lead back. Tracy was the lead guy for the Giants last season from Week 5 on, and during that time, he averaged 13.2 PPR fantasy points per game, landing him in RB2 range as a fantasy scorer.
With the Giants so shorthanded at wide receiver after losing Malik Nabers to a season-ending injury, Tracy might be heavily involved as a pass catcher. He’s a former college wide receiver himself, and dual run-catch usage gives Tracy multiple paths to fantasy value.
He might not be as fun as Skattebo, but Tracy has suddenly become a valuable fantasy asset.
4. Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN)
Ever since the Bengals acquired QB Joe Flacco in a trade with the Browns, Ja’Marr Chase has been putting up Tecmo Bowl numbers.
In Flacco’s three starts for Cincinnati, Chase has 38 catches for 346 yards and two touchdowns on 54 targets. He’s averaged 28.1 PPF fantasy points a game over that span.
This week, Chase gets a home matchup against the Bears, who were without their top three cornerbacks last week. Chicago is expected to get its No. 3 cornerback, Tyrique Stevenson, back from a shoulder injury, but Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon are on injured reserve and won’t play.
Chase is poised to feast this week — if Flacco can deliver him accurate throws. Flacco is dealing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder. He practiced on Thursday, and it seems as if he’ll be able to play. If not, the Bengals will have to turn back to Jake Browning.
Even with Browning at quarterback, Chase is still capable of putting up circus numbers against a banged-up Bears defense.
5. Brock Bowers (TE – LV)
If you paid the freight on Bowers in one or more of your 2025 fantasy drafts, you haven’t gotten much of a return on your investment.
That isn’t Bowers’ fault. He had five catches for 103 yards against the Patriots in Week 1 but sustained a PCL injury and a bone bruise in that game. Bowers tried to play through the injury, but he was largely ineffective, with 14 catches for 122 yards and no touchdowns over his next three contests. Mercifully, the Raiders shut down Bowers after Week 4.
With more than a month to heal, Bowers should be close to 100% when the Raiders host the Jaguars on Sunday, and maybe there’s still time for Bowers’ stakeholders to get a satisfying payoff.
Bowers’ average draft position in PPR leagues (according to FantasyPros consensus ADP data) was TE1, No. 19 overall, with good reason. Bowers had a monster rookie year in 2024, with 112 catches for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns.
Let’s see if Bowers can reprise his rookie dominance and help reanimate the Raiders’ moribund passing game.
6. Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND)
Seeing that you’re going against Jonathan Taylor in a fantasy matchup is worse than seeing that you’ve been summoned for jury duty. Your heart sinks. Your palms get sweaty. You start girding yourself for the likelihood of a loss.
J.T. has been on a rampage, with 10 touchdowns over his last four games. He’s on track for one of those crazy types of RB seasons that LaDainian Tomlinson and Priest Holmes used to deliver.
Taylor is pacing for 1,806 rushing yards, 2,244 scrimmage yards and 30 touchdowns. Tomlinson set the record for single-season touchdowns with 31 in 2006. That’s the only 30-touchdown season by a running back or wide receiver on record. The next-highest touchdown total was 28 (Shaun Alexander in 2005).
Taylor, a former University of Wisconsin star, will face a Steelers defense that includes one of his former college teammates, DT Keeanu Benton, and two other ex-Badgers: T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig. We’ll have Badger beef in the Colts-Steelers game.
7. J.J. McCarthy (QB – MIN)
We haven’t seen J.J. McCarthy since Week 2. The second-year quarterback’s recovery from a high-ankle sprain lingered so long that observers were referring to his continued absence as a soft benching.
Well, JJM returns this week to face the Lions in Detroit. Carson Wentz tried to hold down the fort while McCarthy was out, but Wentz took a beating and is now on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.
It’s possible the Vikings will be without star left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who left the Vikings’ Week 8 loss with a knee injury and didn’t practice on Thursday. That would make things tough on the young quarterback.
McCarthy’s first two games were a mixed bag, with more bad than good. He completed 24-of-41 passes for 301 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. McCarthy also took nine sacks.
McCarthy was terrific in the second half of the Vikings’ come-from-behind win over the Bears in Week 1, throwing some absolute dimes and running for 25 yards and a touchdown. But McCarthy was awful in a 22-6 loss to the Falcons in Week 2, throwing two interceptions and fumbling three times.
There probably won’t be a lot of fantasy managers starting McCarthy in Week 9, but there are a lot of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison investors depending on McCarthy to deliver the goods. Jefferson had seven catches for 125 yards and a touchdown in his two early-season games with McCarthy. Addison and McCarthy haven’t played a game together since Addison served a three-game suspension to start the season.
8. Jameson Williams (WR – DET)
After producing his first 1,000-yard season in 2024, Jameson Williams’ fantasy value has gone up in a puff of smoke.
Through the Lions’ first seven games, Jamo has 17 catches for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Williams is averaging 4.3 targets a game.
Lions offensive coordinator John Morton, who replaced Ben Johnson after Johnson took the Bears’ head-coaching gig, is taking the blame for Jamo’s slow start.
“I looked at everything, and I failed him,” Morton told ESPN.com.
Morton vowed “to do a better job with that” as the Lions emerge from their bye week. Hopefully, that means more crossing routes. Williams was running a lot of them (with great success) with Johnson calling the plays last year. With Morton calling the plays … not so much.
The Lions host the Vikings this week. Morton’s mea culpa suggests that better days are ahead for Jamo, but Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores was able to blanket Williams last year, with Minnesota holding him to seven catches for 30 yards and no touchdowns in two meetings with Detroit.
9. Chimere Dike (WR – TEN)
Is Chimere Dike turning into a thing?
Not like “The Thing,” the 1982 horror remake starring Kurt Russell (which I personally believe to be the greatest horror movie of all time). A thing, as in a fantasy-relevant player.
Based on his numbers over the last two weeks, it seems as if Dike is trending in that direction.
A fourth-round pick out of Florida, Dike had four catches for 70 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots in Week 7, then seven catches for 93 yards against the Colts in Week 8. He’s WR11 in PPR fantasy scoring over the last two weeks.
Calvin Ridley seems likely to miss a third straight game with a hamstring injury, leaving Dike and fellow rookie Elic Ayomanor as the top targets for rookie QB Cam Ward.
Ward and Dike seem to be clicking. Dike has worked his way into flex consideration in deeper leagues, and he might be one big game away from becoming a must-start.
10. Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR – ARI)
The Dallas pass defense has been getting beaten up and having its lunch money stolen on a weekly basis. The Cowboys have yielded 1,378 receiving yards to WRs, second-most in the league. Dallas has given up 15 TD catches to wide receivers. No other defense has allowed more than 11 touchdowns to receivers.
Marvin Harrison Jr. has scored only two touchdowns this season. He’s currently WR43 in PPR fantasy points per game. Maybe the Dallas defense is the tonic that MHJ needs.
Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is returning from a foot sprain that has kept him out of the Cardinals’ last two games. Murray and Harrison haven’t exhibited much chemistry in their first 22 games together, but it’s not as if Harrison was thriving in the two games that Jacoby Brissett started while Murray was out. MHJ had just four receptions and no touchdowns in those two games.
This is a get-right spot for Harrison. Can the young receiver capitalize on a matchup with the shoddy Dallas defense?
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