Week 9 Waiver Wire: Stat Projections for Top Fantasy Pickups and Sleepers

While the NFL season may only be at its midpoint, those playing in fantasy football leagues are already on the backstretch, looking to jockey for playoff position in Week 9.

For the most part, the popular pickups in these later weeks are players thrust into bigger roles due to injuries to starters. This can make the waiver wire especially perilous for a couple of reasons.

These trendy players don't have much in the way of statistics to pick apart and use to predict future effectiveness. Also, its later in the season, and multiple teams are on byes each weeks, which means some owners will be forced to play them right away instead of stash them and wait to see if they prove to be worth the stress.

Since time is running out on the fantasy football season, it makes sense to see whether or not these players can live up to fantasy expectations in the upcoming week, and not necessarily how effective they might be for the long haul.

Here are the top Week 9 pickups in ESPN and Yahoo Sports fantasy leagues, along with stat projections from ESPN.com. The tables include only those players owned in less than 50 percent of leagues.

Top Yahoo Pickups
Top ESPN Pickups
Player	% Owned	No. of Monday Adds	Week 9 Stat Projections
Charcandrick West, RB, Kansas City Chiefs	9	21,608	65.9 RSH YDS, 0.4 TD, 1.9 REC, 13.3 REC YDS
Tim Hightower, RB, New Orleans Saints	5	12,125	15.6 RSH YDS, 0.2 TD
Dennis Pitta, TE, Baltimore Ravens	44	8,908	5.2 REC, 50.2 REC YDS, 0.3 TD
Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Minnesota Vikings	12	8,484	3.2 REC, 37.3 REC YDS, 5.5 RSH YDS 0.2 TD
Jeremy Langford, RB, Chicago Bears	36	7,543	BYE
Antone Smith, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1	6,810	8.3 RSH YDS, 6.5 REC YDS
Eric Ebron, TE, Detroit Lions	38	6,159	4.4 REC, 45.1 REC YDS, 0.3 TD
J.J. Nelson, WR, Arizona Cardinals	3	5,175	BYE
Joe Flacco, QB, Baltimore Ravens	23	4,158	286.2 YDS, 1.4 TD, 1.2 INT; 3.7 RSH YDS
Ka'Deem Carey, RB, Chicago Bears	6	3,758	BYE
Corey Coleman, WR, Cleveland Browns	42	3,739	N/A
Sam Bradford, QB, Minnesota Vikings	16	3,582	244.3 YDS, 1.2 TD, 0.7 INT; 5.1 RSH YDS, 0.1 RSH TD
Quincy Enunwa, WR, New York Jets	45	3,455	4.5 REC, 53.5 YDS, 0.3 TD
Ronnie Hillman, RB, Minnesota Vikings	3	3,452	N/A
Player	% Owned	% Change Last 7 Days	Week 9 Stat Projections
Chris Thompson, RB, Washington Redskins	49.8	+35.6	BYE
Robert Kelley, RB, Washington Redskins	22.9	+21.9	BYE
Vernon Davis, TE, Washington Redskins	46.0	+17.5	BYE
Brandon LaFell, WR, Cincinnati Bengals	27.0	+14.2	BYE
Anquan Boldin, WR, Detroit Lions	34.3	+12.5	4.5 REC, 52.5 YDS, 0.2 TD

Top Pickups and Sleepers

Charcandrick West, RB, Kansas City Chiefs

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

The Kansas City Chiefs just may have to turn to Charcandrick West to lead the run game in Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jamaal Charles is struggling with a knee injury, and Spencer Ware suffered a concussion Sunday in the Chiefs' 30-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts. 

West earned 46 snaps against the Colts, per ArrowheadPride.com, tallying 52 rushing yards and eight receiving yards.

Despite a relatively slight frame, Arrowhead Pride noted West was running with toughness on Sunday:

"

Charcandrick lowering his shoulder and laying the wood on two straight plays.

— Arrowhead Pride (@ArrowheadPride) October 30, 2016"

West has seen very few touches on the year with Ware providing much of the offensive firepower, so there's not much to go on from this season.

Last year, however, West proved to be a good midseason investment, tallying 276 rushing yards, 136 receiving yards and four touchdowns in a three-game stretch as the lead back. That stretch was in late October/early November, so perhaps West can conjure up that same autumn magic again.

The Chiefs have a favorable matchup at home against the Jags, who are giving up the 15th-most fantasy points per game this season to running backs, per Yahoo Sports, and just coughed up 214 rushing yards in a loss to the Tennessee Titans.

The Chiefs offense may stagnate some if Alex Smith—who went into the concussion protocol twice Sunday but might actually be OK after all—is unable to go. That said, backup quarterback Nick Foles has plenty of starting experience in his career and should be able to keep the offense chugging along like he did against the Colts.

West is the only sensible security-blanket option for Ware owners and is worth a flex play in Week 9. Seventy all-purpose yards and a touchdown are within reach if Ware and Charles are indeed out.

Tim Hightower, RB, New Orleans Saints

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Like West, Tim Hightower proved to be an incredibly useful late-season pickup in 2015, though he didn't do his fantasy damage until December of last year. He may get a chance to recreate his success a bit earlier in the campaign this year.

Hightower carried the ball 26 times for 102 yards in the New Orleans Saints' 25-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8, a strong performance that could see him earn more playing time than the fumble-prone Mark Ingram.

Fantasy owners should be cautious here, as Hightower seems to need volume to perform. In his big four-game stretch from last season, Hightower averaged just 3.9 yards per carry, and his longest rush was 26 yards. His yards-per-carry average against the Seahawks on Sunday? You guessed it, a familiar 3.9 yards per tote.

According to ESPN's Britt McHenry and ESPN.com's Mike Triplett, Ingram will still be in the mix next week against the San Francisco 49ers:

So it doesn't appear to be a complete takeover for Hightower, at least not yet. The saving grace here is that the Saints are playing the 49ers, who have given up the most fantasy points to running backs this season, per Yahoo Sports.

If Drew Brees can get the Saints out in front, this could be a nice game for both Ingram and Hightower. The latter also proved last year that he's good for a handful of receiving yards when he gets enough playing time, so he appears to be a better fantasy option than Ingram in Week 9. However, he may only be worth a start if your fantasy squad is thin at running back or playing in a deeper league and can afford to risk a low-ceiling display.

         

Dennis Pitta, TE, Baltimore Ravens

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery broke his scoring duck on Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings, giving him one touchdown on 63 targets this year, per ESPN.com. Could Dennis Pitta, who has 56 targets this year without a score, be ready to join Jeffery in the touchdown department and end this run of futility? 

The Baltimore Ravens and their out-of-sorts passing game have had two weeks to prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 9. Joe Flacco has struggled mightily this year, tossing just five touchdowns against six interceptions. That hasn't helped fantasy owners hoping for a resurgent year from the finally healthy Pitta, who has cracked 50 receiving yards just once since piling up a hefty 102 receiving yards against the Cleveland Browns on September 18. 

As a result, Pitta remains widely available in fantasy football leagues, as owners have either given up on him or never trusted the big game he had early on in the first place.

This week's matchup against the Steelers might not be the remedy for Pitta. The Steelers offense has struggled with Landry Jones playing quarterback in place of an injured Ben Roethlisberger, making it unlikely that the Ravens will have to pass the ball a ton to stay competitive.

Though Big Ben is back in practice for the Steelers, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that "the team is uncertain he can recover from a knee injury in time to play" against Baltimore, per a source.

Pitta isn't a very appealing fantasy option with his team struggling, though he should be good for 50-60 yards against a Steelers defense fairly friendly to tight ends.

Unless you really think this is the week he'll score a touchdown, he may not be worth the fantasy hype that has made him one of the most added players in Yahoo Sports leagues.

Sleeper: Corey Coleman, WR, Cleveland Browns

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The Cleveland Browns could get one of their few glimmers of hope this season back out on the gridiron in Week 9, as rookie wide receiver Corey Coleman was cleared to return to full practice on Monday, per Cleveland.com's Dan Labbe.

Coleman played in just two games this season before breaking his hand during practice but still managed to tally seven receptions for 173 yards and two touchdowns. Head coach Hue Jackson told Labbe that Coleman has been anxious to get back out on the field and prove himself:

"

That is exciting to get him back. Totally looking forward to having Corey back out there. He has been around, running around a little bit in shoulder pads and those things but he is chomping at the bit to get back out there and play with his teammates and I think that will help us on offense.

"

Coleman has missed out on much of Cleveland's unprecedented quarterback carousel this year but will be in line to hook up with either the veteran Josh McCown or the young Cody Kessler in Week 9.

McCown threw for 341 yards with two scores and two picks in a Week 8 loss to the New York Jets. While he's not a great signal-caller, McCown showed last year that he can really sling the football around and rack up plenty of yards, and the 0-8 Browns don't have much to lose this season.

Kessler is out of the concussion protocol as of Monday, per Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot, and threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns in Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans.

The Browns will likely be playing catchup against Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys in Week 9, which could translate into plenty of opportunities for Coleman. While the Browns probably won't trot out their prized young asset for every snap, Coleman has a good chance at getting 60-70 receiving yards and a touchdown if McCown or Kessler is up to the task of chucking the football 35-40 times or so.