Fantasy Football Week 9 Rankings: Rounding Up Top 50 Players

With Week 9 upcoming, we have quite the crop of teams on bye this week.

Sitting out are the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers. 

Speaking of the Patriots, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, they have traded quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers.

Back to fantasy: At first glance, you can tell there are several elite players that will not be at your disposal this week.

Because of that, you'll need to resort to some options on your bench or perhaps even the waiver wire.

Below we have the Week 9 schedule and the top 50 players of the week. Keep an eye out for any players that may be on your bench.

Note: Rankings are based off points-per-reception scoring.

NFL Week 5 Schedule

Thur. 11/2: Buffalo at NY Jets, 8:25 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Atlanta at Carolina, 1 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Indianapolis at Houston, 1 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Cincinnati at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Tampa Bay at New Orleans, 1 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: LA Rams at NY Giants, 1 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Denver at Philadelphia, 1 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Baltimore at Tennessee, 1 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Arizona at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Washington at Seattle, 4:05 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Kansas City at Dallas, 4:25 p.m. EST

Sun. 11/5: Oakland at Miami, 8:30 p.m. EST

Mon. 11/6: Detroit at Green Bay, 8:30 p.m. EST

Rankings

Rank, Player, Position, Opponent

1. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, HOU, vs. IND

2. Michael Thomas, WR, NO, vs. TB

3. Kareem Hunt, RB, KC, @ DAL

4. Dez Bryant, WR, DAL, vs. KC

5. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, DAL, vs. KC

6. LeSean McCoy, RB, BUF, @ NYJ

7. Julio Jones, WR, ATL, @ CAR

8. Todd Gurley, RB, LAR, @ NYG

9. Mike Evans, WR, TB, @ NO

10. Doug Baldwin, WR, SEA, vs. WAS

11. Leonard Fournette, RB, JAC, vs. CIN

12. A.J. Green, WR, CIN, @ JAC

13. Tyreek Hill, WR, KC, @ DAL

14. Mark Ingram, RB, NO, vs. TB

15. Lamar Miller, RB, HOU, vs. IND

16. Michael Crabtree, WR, OAK, @ MIA

17. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARZ, @ SF

18. Jarvis Landry, WR, MIA, vs. OAK

19. Joe Mixon, RB, CIN, @ JAC

20. Demaryius Thomas, WR, DEN, @ PHI

21. Devonta Freeman, RB, ATL, @ CAR

22. Aaron Jones, RB, GB, vs. DET

23. Kelvin Benjamin, WR, CAR, vs. ATL

24. Will Fuller, WR, HOU, vs. IND

25. Jay Ajayi, RB, MIA, vs. OAK

26. Jordy Nelson, WR, GB, vs. DET

27. Golden Tate, WR, DET, @ GB

28. Alshon Jeffery, WR, PHI, vs. DEN

29. Doug Martin, RB, TB, @ NO

30. Zach Ertz, TE, PHI, vs. DEN

31. Travis Kelce, TE, KC, @ DAL

32. DeVante Parker, WR, MIA, vs. OAK

33. T.Y. Hilton, WR, IND, @ HOU

34. DeMarco Murray, RB, TEN, vs. BAL

35. Adrian Peterson, RB, ARZ, @ SF

36. Carlos Hyde, RB, SF, vs. ARZ

37. Christian McCaffrey, RB, CAR, vs. ATL

38. C.J. Anderson, RB, DEN, A PHI

39. Ameer Abdullah, RB, DET, @ GB

40. Alvin Kamara, RB, NO, vs. TB

41. Deshaun Watson, QB, HOU, vs. IND

42. Robert Woods, WR, LAR, @ NYG

43. Devin Funchess, WR, CAR, vs. ATL

44. Alex Collins, RB, BAL, @ TEN

45. Chris Thompson, RB, WAS, @ SEA

46. Ted Ginn, WR, NO, vs. TB

47. Delanie Walker, TE, TEN, vs. BAL

48. Cameron Brate, TE, TB, @ NO

49. Drew Brees, QB, NO, vs. TB

50. Mohamed Sanu, WR, ATL, @ CAR

Players to Watch

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans

Coming off a career game in Week 8 against the Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will have a chance to come as close to repeating his 224-yard performance as possible against the lowly Indianapolis Colts.

How lowly are they? Well, they rank 30th against the pass in DVOA and they rank 20th in DVOA against opposing No. 1 wide receivers. 

Keep in mind, Hopkins isn't your typical wide receiver, and his quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is putting up historic numbers and breaking records.

The Colts are in for a long day against the Texans and the duo of Hopkins and Watson. They are going to carve them up.

Hopkins is going well over 100 yards here and will find paydirt once again. Book it.

Stephen B. Morton/Associated Press

Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

After missing Week 7 due to injury and getting the Week 8 bye, Jacksonville Jaguars rookie running back Leonard Fournette will be as rested as ever against the Cincinnati Bengals.

While the Bengals rank sixth in DVOA against the run, Fournette isn't your typical running back.

Between his 24.2 touches per game and just his pure talent, the Bengals could have a hard time.

It's also worth noting another key matchup: the Jaguars defensive front vs. the Bengals offensive line.

Why does this matter when it comes to Fournette? This Jags defense could put them in a position where this game could get out of hand.

If the Jaguars find themselves up by multiple possessions, expect Fournette to get plenty of work in this one—he will either way, but he'll get even more this way. Even if the Bengals manage to minimize his yards per carry, his overall volume will equate to another great fantasy outing.

Expect the Bengals defense to show up, but also look for Fournette's volume to shine through.

D. Ross Cameron/Associated Press

Michael Crabtree, WR, Oakland Raiders

Coming off a gruesome defeat in Week 8 at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, the Oakland Raiders will get a chance to beat up on an equally bad team in the Miami Dolphins in Week 9.

You thought the Raiders loss was bad? Just ask the Dolphins about losing 40-0.

Anyways, the Dolphins defense—and their secondary especially—is going to have a long day against the Raiders pass-catchers.

In particular, wide receiver Michael Crabtree.

Crabtree still continues to get a high amount of looks his way, and against a Dolphins defense that ranks 26th and 32nd against opposing No. 1 and No. 2 wide receivers, respectively, Crabtree should have a field day with this one.

On Sunday Night Football, the Raiders and Crabtree both will have a chance to rebound here. Expect Crabtree's usual seven targets and a touchdown from inside the red zone.

The Dolphins will need to worry about fellow wide receiver Amari Cooper deep, opening up plenty of single coverage on Crabtree. Get ready.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Potential Sleeper: Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams

While Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Robert Woods receives plenty of targets his way (averaging 7.3 in his past three games), he has yet to score a touchdown.

Week 9 could be the time we finally see what kind of dance moves Woods has.

Going up against the New York Giants, Woods will have an opportunity to go up against Eli Apple. The Giants cornerback hasn't been good at all this season, and the Giants' No. 30 DVOA ranking against No. 2 wide receivers shows us that.

On the other side, expect fellow Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins to lock on to Sammy Watkins and prevent him from busting anything open.

Woods is a crisp route-runner and will use that to his advantage against the second-year Apple.

For an estimated stat line, Woods gets eight targets, catches six of them for 75 yards and scores. Either way, expect his volume of targets to produce well if you're in a PPR league.

Statistics courtesy of Football Outsiders.