Fantasy Football Week 9 Flex Rankings, Waiver-Wire Targets and Projections

Deep breath, folks.

The busiest bye week of the 2025 NFL season is officially behind us. OK, there's still a Monday night affair left on the docket, but we're already thinking farther ahead, as the best fantasy football minds always do.

No matter if you're celebrating a triumph, licking your wounds in defeat or still waiting for Monday's results to find out which category you landed in, you should be just as willing to mentally move forward. There are, after all, rosters to set, waiver-wire moves to make and gobs of fantasy points up for grabs.

We're here to hopefully help you catch them all with positional rankings at the flex positions, plus a waiver-wire target in each spot.

Running Back

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Top 10

1. Jonathan Taylor, IND (at PIT)
2. De'Von Achane, MIA (vs. BAL)
3. Bijan Robinson, ATL (at NE)
4. Christian McCaffrey, SF (at NYG)
5. Jahmyr Gibbs, DET (vs. MIN)
6. James Cook III, BUF (vs. KC)
7. Derrick Henry, BAL (at MIA)
8. Kyren Williams, LAR (vs. NO)
9. Josh Jacobs, GB (vs. CAR)
10. Javonte Williams, DAL (vs. ARI)

Waiver-wire target: Tyrone Tracy Jr., NYG (vs. SF)

With Cam Skattebo suffering a gruesome ankle injury against the Eagles on Sunday, Tracy should reprise his role as New York's featured back. While that didn't help his production much Sunday (12 touches for 53 scrimmage yards), it proved plenty potent during his rookie season in 2024 (1,123 scrimmage yards and six yards).

And remember, New York didn't have Jaxson Dart running the show back then. So, Tracy could be just as heavily featured in the offensive gameplan only without receiving as much attention from the defense.

Projected stats: 16 carries for 72 yards, three receptions for 22 yards, one touchdown

Wide Receiver

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Top 10

1. Ja'Marr Chase, CIN (vs. CHI)
2. Puka Nacua, LAR (vs. NO)
3. CeeDee Lamb, DAL (vs. ARI)
4. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, SEA (at WAS)
5. Amon-Ra St. Brown, DET (vs. MIN)
6. Rashee Rice, KC (at BUF)
7. Justin Jefferson, MIN (at DET)
8. Rome Odunze, CHI (at CIN)
9. Drake London, ATL (at NE)
10. Davante Adams, LAR (vs. NO)

Waiver-wire target: Troy Franklin, DEN (at HOU)

The Broncos keep looking for someone to fill the No. 2 job with Courtland Sutton in their aerial attack, and it sure seems like they'd love Franklin to be the one do it. On Sunday, the second-year pass-catcher paced Denver in targets with eight, and that was actually two fewer passes than he had come his way last week.

Franklin has already seen eight-plus targets in four games this season, and three of his four touchdown catches have come in the last two weeks. His chemistry seems to be improving with Bo Nix, and if that means passes will keep coming Franklin's direction, look for him to take advantage of that, even against a stingy Houston defense.

Projected stats: Five receptions for 65 yards, one touchdown

Tight End

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Top 10

1. Trey McBride, ARI (at DAL)
2. Brock Bowers, LV (vs. JAX)
3. George Kittle, SF (at NYG)
4. Tyler Warren, IND (at PIT)
5. Tucker Kraft, GB (vs. CAR)
6. Oronde Gadsden II, LAC (at TEN)
7. Jake Ferguson, DAL (vs. ARI)
8. Travis Kelce, KC (at BUF)
9. Sam LaPorta, DET (vs. MIN)
10. Zach Ertz, WAS (vs. SEA)

Waiver-wire target: Colston Loveland, CHI (at CIN)

While the Bears spent this year's No. 10 pick on Loveland, his involvement to this point hasn't matched up to his draft slot. The five targets he saw on Sunday—with Cole Kmet sidelined by a back injury—were a season-high, and Loveland is still awaiting his first score.

That said, the Bears are at least upping Loveland's involvement (12 targets over his last three games) and are surely hoping to see a breakout soon. Maybe the stars will finally on Sunday, when he tussles with a Bengals defense that's been more generous to fantasy tight ends than anyone.

Prediction: Five catches for 51 yards, one touchdown