NFL Predictions Week 9: Final Odds Projections and Fantasy Stars to Watch

The beauty of the NFL is its ability to entertain the masses is so many different ways. Some people are just huge fans of the sport—or a specific team—and can't wait for gridiron action every Sunday. Some are more intrigued with the amount of money that can be won by wagering on the sport. Others prefer the joy of crafting their own teams in the fantasy realm.

Whatever category—or categories—you fall into, you can agree the league is one of the best sources of entertainment each and every week. With that in mind, let's go ahead and delve into each one of those categories as we await Sunday's kickoff.

Here's a look ahead at each Week 9 contest, the current Vegas lines, corresponding picks against the spread and fantasy studs sure to light up the scoreboard with big performances.

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS	Fantasy Stud
Philadelphia Eagles at Houston Texans	PHI -2	Eagles	Arian Foster
Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys	DAL -4	Cardinals	Larry Fitzgerald
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Cleveland Browns	CLE -7	Browns	Andrew Hawkins
Washington Redskins at Minnesota Vikings	Even	Redskins	DeSean Jackson
Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals	CIN -11.5	Bengals	Jeremy Hill
San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins	MIA -1	Chargers	Antonio Gates
New York Jets at Kansas City Chiefs	KC -10.5	Chiefs	Jamaal Charles
St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers	SF -10.5	49ers	Colin Kaepernick
Oakland Raiders at Seattle Seahawks	SEA -16	Raiders	Marshawn Lynch
Denver Broncos at New England Patriots	DEN -2.5	Patriots	Rob Gronkowski
Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers	BAL -1	Ravens	Antonio Brown
Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants	IND -3	Colts	Andrew Luck

All game lines courtesy of Odds Shark and current as of October 31.

Fantasy Analysis

Colin Kaepernick

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

Prepare for a big week from the San Francisco 49ers signal-caller. The last time the 49ers faced off against the St. Louis Rams, Kaepernick had his strongest performance of the season. There's no reason to think that will change this time around.

In Week 6, Kaepernick completed 22 of his 35 passing attempts for 343 yards and three touchdowns. He added three carries for another 37 yards for a 28-point fantasy outing against the Rams. Here's a look back at a gorgeous touchdown pass to wide receiver Anquan Boldin in that contest, via Bleacher Report:

The success he had against that club is not out of the ordinary this year.

St. Louis comes into Week 9 ranked 11th against the pass; however, that hasn't translated to fantasy production. According to ESPN.com, the Rams are allowing an average of 19.0 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, ranking them 29th in the league in that department.

Kaepernick is fresh off a bye week, he has healthy options all around him, and San Francisco appears more committed to the pass lately. This all adds up to a big day for the team's quarterback.

Andrew Hawkins

Tony Dejak/Associated Press

Hawkins hasn't exactly been a huge name in the fantasy realm this season, yet he's quietly putting together some very nice numbers in his first year with the Cleveland Browns.

He's quickly emerged as quarterback Brian Hoyer's favorite option, garnering at least nine targets in six of the team's seven games. He's made the most of them, recording 36 catches for 470 yards and one touchdown. While he's only found the end zone once this season, there's reason to believe that will change in Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Perhaps another score will finally change his son's perspective on his favorite NFL players, via NFL on ESPN:

Heading into Sunday, the Buccaneers own the league's 31st-ranked passing defense, allowing an average of 286.0 yards per game through the air. The team is even worse from a fantasy perspective, allowing a league-high 29.4 fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers, according to ESPN.com.

Considering the lack of weapons at the position for the Browns, it should be safe to assume Hawkins will utilize his speed and ability to create big chunks of yards after the catch to take full advantage of Tampa Bay's horrible secondary and rack up the points.

Jeremy Hill

Al Behrman/Associated Press

Here's another name that's not spoken of often in fantasy circles. Well, expect that to change in a big way this week, as Hill gets a great chance to shine against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Hill will be receiving the bulk of the workload out of the Cincinnati Bengals backfield due to a hip injury to running back Giovani Bernard that is forcing him to miss the game, as the Bengals announced Friday. When Hill was given a larger role in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, he didn't disappoint, carrying 15 times for 74 yards and a touchdown.

Fifteen carries should wind up being on the low end this week, as he won't have to worry about any kind of a timeshare. That's some great news against a Jaguars team that's allowing 115.0 yards on the ground per game this season.

Rotoworld's Patrick Daugherty appears to have some high expectations for Hill in Week 9:

Jacksonville has been about average against the run this season. According to ESPN.com, the team is allowing an average of 17.3 fantasy points to opposing ball-carriers this season. However, the Jaguars have been good at keeping running backs out of the end zone, allowing just one touchdown in their past six games.

Expect that trend to change on Sunday. The Bengals are an extremely run-heavy team in the red zone. Of Cincinnati's 11 scores this season to have come from withing its opponent's 10-yard line, 10 of them have been on the ground.

Hill has a very favorable matchup in this contest, and he will emerge with some gaudy numbers.