Examining Week 9 Injury Reports and Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Options

On Thursday night, the Baltimore Ravens got a look at what the rest of their season might be without quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley. With undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano behind center, the offense sputtered in a 33-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The hope is that recent trade acquisition Jacoby Brissett will boost the offense enough to keep Baltimore in the playoff picture.

Managers dealing with multiple fantasy injuries in Week 9 may be searching for similar aid on the waiver wire.

Here, we'll dive into the Week 9 injury report, provide rankings for the top remaining point-per-reception (PPR) plays, and highlight sleepers who may still be available entering the weekend.

Quarterback

AP Photo/Stephen Brashear

Seahawks QB Drew Lock

Top 10

1. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
3. Drake Maye, New England Patriots
4. Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
5. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
6. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears
7. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
8. Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
9. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
10. Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders

Injury Report and Waiver-Wire Targets

We'll see several quarterback shifts this week, most because of injuries. The Cleveland Browns are set to start Shedeur Sanders with Deshaun Watson in the concussion protocol. The Philadelphia Eagles will turn to Joe Milton III after a couple of underwhelming performances by Tanner McKee.

Officially, Watson and McKee are both listed as questionable.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has been ruled out with a quad injury, which makes backup Drew Lock a viable sleeper option against the Arizona Cardinals.

Lock tallied 21.4 fantasy points in his only full game this season, which happened to come against Arizona. Only the Detroit Lions have surrendered more fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season than the Cardinals. Lock is rostered in only seven percent of fantasy leagues.

Carson Wentz is another option, as the Minnesota Vikings have ruled out Kyler Murray with a hamstring injury. He'll face a Buffalo Bills defense that has surrendered the 12th-most fantasy points to opposing QBs.

Wentz is only rostered in three percent of fantasy leagues. Milton, Malik Willis, Michael Penix Jr., and J.J. McCarthy are other QBs to consider this week.

Running Back

AP Photo/David Becker

Raiders RB Mike Washington Jr.

Top 10

1. Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions
2. Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
3. Kenneth Walker III, Kansas City Chiefs
4. Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons
5. Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers
6. Javonte Williams, Dallas Cowboys
7. Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams
8. James Cook, Buffalo Bills
9. Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
10. D'Andre Swift, Chicago Bears

Injury Report and Waiver-Wire Targets

The Houston Texans will be without David Montgomery once again, while the New York Giants have listed Cam Skattebo as doubtful. TreVeyon Henderson and Zonovan Knight are also out, while Kyle Monangai is questionable and could return for the Chicago Bears.

Brian Robinson Jr. will miss another game for the Atlanta Falcons.

Las Vegas Raiders running back Mike Washington Jr. remains a sensible wire target. Ashton Jeanty continues to struggle on the ground, and Washington led Las Vegas with 25 carries in Week 8.

He doesn't have the best matchup against the San Francisco 49ers this week, but Washington should have a high volume of work and is still available in over half of fantasy leagues.

Browns running back Dylan Sampson is rostered in only 25 percent of leagues, and he does have a good matchup this week.

Sampson has reached double-digit fantasy points in each of his two games since returning from injury. As Cleveland's top receiving back, he has a strong PPR floor this week, and he'll face a New Orleans Saints defense that has surrendered more fantasy points to opposing RBs than any other team.

Kaelon Black, Kenneth Gainwell, and Samaje Perine are other RBs to consider on the wire this week.

Wide Receiver

AP PhotoDoug Murray

Dolphins WR Caleb Douglas

Top 10

1. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks
2. Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams
3. CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
4. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
5. Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
6. Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
7. Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints
8. Drake London, Atlanta Falcons
9. Malik Nabers, New York Giants
10. Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals

Injury Report and Waiver-Wire Targets

The New York Jets have ruled out Garrett Wilson, while the Eagles have ruled out both DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks. The Washington Commanders have ruled out Dyami Brown and Treylon Burks. Seattle has ruled out Rashid Shaheed.

The San Francisco 49ers have ruled out Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, and Christian Kirk.

The New England Patriots have ruled out A.J. Brown and have listed Mack Hollins as questionable. Emeka Egbuka, Pat Bryant, George Pickens, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jordan Whittington are also on the list of receivers who are questionable.

New Orleans Saints rookie Jordyn Tyson is questionable to make his NFL debut this week against Cleveland.

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Caleb Douglas is a prime waiver option this week and moving forward. The rookie has largely served as Malik Willis' top target when healthy, and he is again healthy.

Douglas has seen nine targets over the past two weeks. While he logged a modest 8.3 points last Sunday, he had 21 points the previous week. He should hit double digits again this week with the Lions coming to town.

Detroit has surrendered the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. Douglas is still only rostered in 25 percent of leagues.

Antonio Williams, Adonai Mitchell, Keenan Allen, Demario Douglas, and Ryan Flournoy are other solid sleepers to consider adding off the wire this week.

Tight End

AP Photo/Doug Murray

Dolphins TE Greg Dulcich

Top 10

1. Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
2. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
3. Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
4. Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions
5. Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears
6. Isaiah Likely, New York Giants
7. T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings
8. Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
9. Harold Fannin Jr., Cleveland Browns
10. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

Injury Report and Waiver-Wire Targets

At tight end, Colby Parkinson, Jake Ferguson, Hunter Henry, and David Njoku are all listed as questionable, while Terrance Ferguson is out. Managers seeking insurance at the position can turn to Miami.

Because the Lions can rack up points and aren't great at defending the pass, Douglas isn't the only Dolphins pass-catcher worth targeting this week. Tight end Greg Dulcich has a ton of upside now that he's built a solid rapport with Willis.

Dulcich has topped eight fantasy points in each of his last three games, and he's seen 16 targets over that stretch. He has double-digit potential this week because Detroit has been atrocious against opposing tight ends.

The Lions have surrendered an average of 23.6 fantasy points to the position this season. That's substantially higher than any other team—the Commanders are next at 17.9 points allowed per game.

Dulcich is rostered in nine percent of fantasy leagues. Mike Gesicki, Eli Rardion, AJ Barner, and Kenyon Sadiq are other TEs to consider.

*Fantasy roster and scoring information from FantasyPros.