Andy Dalton's Fantasy Trade Value, Updated Outlook After Week 9

In fantasy football, Andy Dalton could either make or break your week, which by Week 9, is a little scary. With the fantasy football playoffs sneaking up on players everywhere, a big day or a big flop by your quarterback could bump you into the playoff picture or knock you out, which, at this point in the season, isn't worth the risk.  

So after an atrocious three-interception, five-point performance by Dalton on Thursday Night Football against the Miami Dolphins, where does he stand?

He's a good option for a desperate fantasy owner, but if you can convince another owner to look past his rough night against the Dolphins, now would be a great time to see what you can get on the trading block.  

He's not all bad, though. 

For the first five weeks of the NFL season, Dalton was a decent option at quarterback in fantasy football. In ESPN leagues, he was putting up midteens for the most part, with a few ugly weeks against the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots where he struggled to even put up 10. 

Then, the red-haired, rocket-armed quarterback went absolutely dancing-in-the-street, out-of-his-mind crazy.

Just look at some of these stats:

Dalton not only put up insane numbers, he got his team some wins, winning four straight games before the Bengals' streak was snapped by the Dolphins.

Unfortunately for Dalton, wins don't get you many fantasy football points, and the Dolphins showed that he is in fact human after a few supernatural weeks. 

Even with an ugly performance against Miami, Dalton is still a tough call in fantasy football. He's put up some inhuman numbers, including performances of 24, 26 and 31 fantasy points in consecutive weeks. Those are Peyton Manning numbers, and he gets a whole lot of attempts, as ESPN NFL Nation reporter Coley Harvey points out:

Unfortunately, tough calls are way too dangerous at this point in the fantasy season.

Things aren't looking any more conclusive down the road for Dalton as he'll take on Baltimore's middle-of-the-road passing defense in Week 10, Cleveland's sixth-best passing defense in Week 11 and San Diego's 26th-ranked passing defense in Week 12.

He's taking on a great passing defense, an OK unit and a bad one in the next three weeks, which won't help his consistency.

If you have a viable option at quarterback on your bench behind Dalton it might not be a bad idea to take a look at some of your fellow owners' rosters.

Maybe someone was banking big money on Mike Vick or Jay Cutler, and they need a quarterback.

Dangling Andy Dalton's three weeks of 20-plus points might just be enticing enough to pry a solid running back or receiver away from someone's squad to bolster your lineup as you gear up for the home stretch of the fantasy season. 

Overall, Dalton has had his good weeks, and he'll continue to put up big numbers every once in a while.

The unfortunate thing about the Bengals quarterback is that he's either real good or real bad. If you're struggling to find an option at quarterback, he might be worth a shot, but if you have another decent guy on your roster, take a look around the league and see what you can get for Dalton on the trading block this week.

There are few things scarier in the world of fantasy football than inconsistency.