Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 9: Rounding Up Latest Expert Advice on the Web

Fantasy football managers must set their Week 9 lineups from a smaller player pool, as six teams with brand-name stars take their bye.

Gamers will seek victory without Tom Brady, David Johnson, A.J. Green, DeAndre Hopkins, Rob Gronkowski and Jordan Reed. Those not short-handed by a scheduled week off likely have an injury or four plaguing the roster.

As a result, some managers can't afford to nitpick matchups. Even against the Denver Broncos, the Oakland Raiders' passing offense (Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree) may stand tall over the diminished alternatives.

With such a tough slate on the horizon, let's turn to experienced fantasy analysts for their takes on who to start and sit. FantasyPros' consensus expert rankings allow for a better understanding of how they collectively perceive some of Week 9's most interesting options.

Start
Sit
Player	Opponent	Pos. Rank
Dak Prescott, DAL	at CLE	No. 7 QB
Marcus Mariota, TEN	at SD	No. 9 QB
Charcandrick West, KC	vs. JAC	No. 14 RB
Mark Ingram, NO	at SF	No. 18 RB
Tim Hightower, NO	at SF	No. 20 RB
Darren Sproles, PHI	at NYG	No. 21 RB
Donte Moncrief, IND	at GB	No. 15 WR
Stefon Diggs, MIN	vs. DET	No. 19 WR
Mike Wallace, BAL	vs. PIT	No. 27 WR
Tyrell Williams, SD	vs. TEN	No. 29 WR
Antonio Gates, SD	vs. TEN	No. 9 TE
Eric Ebron, DET	at MIN	No. 10 TE
Philadelphia Eagles	at NYG	No. 6 D/ST
Miami Dolphins	vs. NYJ	No. 8 D/ST
Cairo Santos, KC	vs. JAC	No. 6 K
Player	Opponent	Pos. Rank
Derek Carr, OAK	vs. DEN	No. 15 QB
Blake Bortles, JAC	at KC	No. 16 QB
LeSean McCoy, BUF	at SEA	No. 26 RB
Jerick McKinnon, MIN	vs. DET	No. 32 RB
Travis Benjamin, SD	vs. TEN	No. 39 WR
Sterling Shepard, NYG	vs. PHI	No. 43 WR
Julius Thomas, JAC	at KC	No. 15 TE
Zach Ertz, PHI	at NYG	No. 17 TE
Oakland Raiders	vs. DEN	No. 15 D/ST
Matt Prater, DET	at MIN	No. 16 K

Blake Bortles, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars

FantasyPros Position Rank: No. 16 QB

Rob Foldy/Getty Images

The Blake Bortles who delighted fantasy owners last season resurfaced in Week 8. Even in a 14-point loss to the Tennessee Titans, he piled on the garbage-time stats with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes.

In his best fantasy outing of a disappointing year, the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback compiled 337 passing yards and three touchdowns. He escaped without an interception for only the second time in seven games this season.

NFL.com's Michael Fabiano called Bortles' recent garbage-time heroics "the worst huge performance in the history of fantasy football." Rotoworld's Nick Mensio wasn't much kinder entering Jacksonville's road matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.

"Bortles is reaching Brock Osweiler-levels of play, and 2015 is looking like a sure outlier for him," Mensio wrote.

The 24-year-old has completed 60.0 percentage of his passes with a tame 6.57 yards per pass attempt. There's a massive risk for giveaways against Kansas City, which has snagged an NFL-high 11 interceptions.

He'll need to again pad his stats from behind, a formula which malfunctioned before his misleading line against Tennessee. Too much of last year's success stemmed from touchdowns, so he's a risky play in a dicey road matchup.

Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints

FantasyPros Position Rank: No. 18 RB

Peter Aiken/Getty Images

A vacant spot would have helped fantasy gamers more than Mark Ingram last weekend.

The New Orleans Saints running back finished Week 8 with five yards on three carries, but his fumble gave him a negative point tally in most formats. Before blaming a tough matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, owners will panic at Tim Hightower stealing his workload with 26 carries for 102 yards.

Per ESPN's Britt McHenry, the Saints will utilize a committee approach against the San Francisco 49ers:

"Ball security is such an important part of playing those guys," Sean Payton said on Monday, per ESPN.com's Mike Triplett. 

Yet as noted by ESPN.com's Matthew Berry, Hightower couldn't convert any of his five goal-line carries into touchdowns. His inefficiency should leave the door open for Ingram to reclaim his role despite Week 8's benching.

"Ingram has done his time, so to speak, and gives New Orleans the best chance to win," Berry wrote. "He's running well this season when he actually gets a chance and will continue to do so against a 49ers defense that is last against the run the past four weeks."

Mensio also encouraged Ingram's investors to "step back up to the plate and take another swing." San Francisco has relinquished a league-worst 185.1 rushing yards per game on 5.1 yards per carry. Given the circumstances, Ingram and Hightower are both decent No. 2 rushers.

Sterling Shepard, WR, New York Giants

FantasyPros Position Rank: No. 43 WR

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

After a stellar start to his career, the Sterling Shepard hype train has a flat tire.

Since catching two touchdowns in his first three games, the New York Giants wide receiver is averaging 25.3 yards per contest without a score. Although quarterback Eli Manning has continued to target the rookie seven or eight times each game, he hasn't produced a play of over 12 yards since Week 3:

Stats	Weeks 1-3	Weeks 4-8
GP	3	4
REC	16	15
TAR	19	29
REC YD	233	101
YPC	14.6	6.7
TD	2	0

Pundits are not optimistic of his cold spell ending this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, who rank No. 5 in passing defense with the second-fewest receptions allowed (137) this season.

Sports Illustrated's Michael Beller called the rookie "a low-end WR3 at best" this weekend, an assessment backed up by his No. 43 receiver ranking. Shepard has spent most of his time in the slot this season, which Mensio identified as a problem: 

"

After the Eagles lost slot CB Ron Brooks to injured reserve with a torn quad in Week 7, veteran FS Malcolm Jenkins has been covering opposing slot receivers. Jenkins was Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 overall safety last season and remains at the top of the class this year. Philadelphia is No. 1 in Football Outsiders’ pass-defense DVOA and has allowed the seventh-fewest fantasy points to receivers.

"

Expanding on his analysis, the Eagles rank No. 5 in Football Outsiders' DVOA against wide receivers other than the No. 1 and 2 options, allowing 52.5 yards per game. Look for New York's stumbling, simplistic offense to again follow the "Hope Odell Beckham Jr. does something awesome" formula, which doesn't bode well for Shepard turning a corner.