Fantasy Football Week 9 Sleepers at Every Position

Week 9 presents an uphill climb for many fantasy owners.

This time of year is always tricky in fantasy football. If your team is 4-4 or 3-5, there's very little margin for error. Suffer many more losses, and any realistic shot of making the playoffs goes up in smoke.

The schedule isn't doing them any favors, either. For the second straight week, six teams are on a bye, leaving the pool of available talent even shallower than usual.

And that's without considering injuries, suspensions or the most active trade deadline in the NFL in recent memory.

Hey. No one said fantasy glory was going to be easy to attain.

Given all those obstacles, many fantasy squads are desperate to find an under-the-radar play they can plug into the starting lineup this week.

Lucky for them, desperation is my specialty.

Just ask anyone.

Accountability Time

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

Before we get into the Week 9 recommendations, let's look back at the Week 8 calls to see who blew up and who just blew.

If a player I recommended finished inside weekly starter territory (the top 12 quarterbacks, tight ends and defenses, top 24 running backs and top 36 wide receivers), I'm calling that a win.

Mohamed Sanu, WR, Atlanta Falcons (6 receptions, 74 yards, 1 touchdown, WR8): My "hit" percentage on the "Sleeper of the Week" calls this year has been decidedly ungood. Thank you, Mr. Sanu, for a brief respite in that regard. WIN

Andy Dalton, QB, Cincinnati Bengals (243 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 10 rushing yards, QB6): The nasty weather on the East Coast last week depressed quarterback scoring in the early games. Not sad about that even a little. WIN

Josh McCown, QB, New York Jets (257 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, QB7): McCown played in the worst-weather game of the bunch in New Jersey and still managed to have a respectable outing. He's quietly played well this season. WIN

Latavius Murray, RB, Minnesota Vikings (19 carries, 39 yards, 1 catch, 8 yards, RB43): The good news is that Murray got 20 touches in London against the Browns. The bad news is he didn't do a whole lot with them. LOSS

Jalen Richerd, RB, Oakland Raiders (5 carries, 21 yards, 5 catches, 35 yards, RB24): DeAndre Washington was a much better fantasy play in Week 8, but Richard's five catches salvaged some value in PPR formats like this one. WIN

Wendell Smallwood, RB, Philadelphia Eagles (1 carry, 5 yards, 1 catch, 9 yards, RB51): Two touches aren't getting it done, and with Jay Ajayi now in Philly, Smallwood's fantasy value has all but evaporated. LOSS

Josh Doctson, WR, Washington Redskins (1 catch, 1 yard, 1 touchdown, WR39): Doctson had a single catch for a single yard, but with that grab going for a score, he very nearly got me the ugliest win ever here. LOSS

Ted Ginn, WR, New Orleans Saints (2 receptions, 68 yards, WR33): Frankly, I thought Ginn would do a fair bit more than this against the Bears, but Drew Brees threw for less than 300 yards and didn't throw a touchdown pass. WIN

JuJu Smith-Schuster (7 receptions, 193 yards, 1 touchdown, WR2): When one of his catches results in a 97-yard touchdown, that's what you call a good sign. The NFL's youngest player looks to be the real deal. SUPER DUPER WIN

Darren Fells, TE, Detroit Lions (1 catch, 12 yards, TE38): Fells is touchdown-dependent, and while Matt Stafford topped 400 passing yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he didn't find the end zone. LOSS

Tyler Kroft, TE, Cincinnati Bengals (5 receptions, 46 yards, TE11): That this pedestrian stat line cracked the top 12 in Week 8 tells you just about all you need to know about what a mess the tight end spot is in fantasy football in 2017. WIN

Cincinnati Bengals Defense/Special Teams (331 yards allowed, 23 points allowed, 4 sacks, 1 interception, 1 touchdown): For most of this game, it looked like another matchup defense was going to let me down. But Carlos Dunlap's fourth-quarter pick-six saved the day. WIN

WEEK 6 TOTAL: 8/12 (.667)

My best week of the season...hands down

Five of the eight players who qualified as "wins" finished inside the top 10, and Smith-Schuster had the best week of any NFL receiver not named DeAndre Hopkins.

Still, in fantasy football, both victory and defeat can be fleeting. The past doesn't matter nearly as much as the present and future. So rather than gloat, I'll channel my inner Bill Belichick.

We're on to Cincinnati.

SEASON TOTAL: 45/96 (.469)

Sleeper of the Week

Todd Olszewski/Getty Images

Alex Collins, RB, Baltimore Ravens (at TEN)

As we enter the second half of the 2017 season, there are essentially two kinds of fantasy sleepers—players so asleep they’re in a coma and others who some would argue aren’t sleepers at all.

Baltimore Ravens tailback Alex Collins fits into that second group after his career-high 113 yards against the Miami Dolphins last week. But per Alex Gelhar of NFL.com, Collins entered Week 9 owned in just a small fraction of fantasy leagues on NFL.com.

So, after a meeting of the Fourth Circuit of the Court Inside My Head, I’m ruling that Collins still merits “sleeper” consideration.

The second-year pro from Arkansas had easily the best game of his NFL career against the Dolphins, averaging 6.3 yards a pop and consistently chewing up yardage on the ground.

There’s a “but,” though—because there always is.

This isn’t the first time Collins has appeared in this article this year. His timeshare with Javorius Allen (who handles passing-down work) adds more than a little risk to starting him in any given week.

Also, this week’s matchup in Tennessee isn’t great. The Titans are 10th in the NFL in run defense and rank 20th in PPR fantasy points allowed to the position.

There’s also the possibility that the Ravens could get behind against the Titans and turn to Allen. Additionally, he got the goal-line carries last week over Collins, who had ball-control issues earlier this season.

Of course, Allen also put one on the ground against Miami (albeit on a bad exchange, so the fumble was credited to Ryan Mallett), so maybe this week Collins will finally get a look close to the stripe.

Given the fact he leads the NFL in yards per carry, he'd be a good bet to make the most of it.

Jacoby Brissett, QB, Indianapolis Colts (at HOU)

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

If you’re seriously considering starting Jacoby Brissett of the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9, then one of two things have happened.

Either injuries have hit you hard at quarterback (say an Andrew Luck, Carson Palmer double-dip) or you are a hardcore streamer at the position.

That said, how you got here is secondary to being here. Heck, Brissett himself allowed to Zak Keefer of the Indy Star that he’s still trying to figure out how he got from camp in New England to starting in Indianapolis.

“I didn’t know what to think, honestly,” Brissett said. “I just came in here with the mindset of I get another opportunity to get better and hopefully be in a situation where I get to start.”

It’s been a bumpy ride at times. Brissett has hit on barely 60 percent of his passes, he has just five touchdown passes in seven starts, and he’s been sacked a whopping 29 times.

But there have been flashes. Brissett has picked up 135 yards and scored three touchdowns with his legs. Brissett passed for 314 yards against the San Francisco 49ers back in Week 5. And just last week, he threw two touchdown passes in a game for the first time this season.

This week, Brissett and the Colts travel to Houston to face a Texans offense that’s reeling after the loss of Deshaun Watson to a season-ending ACL tear.

That changes the complexion of this game quite a bit (Houston's offense was scoring in bunches), but we're still talking about a Texans defense allowing the second-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.

I don't like this call as much as I did when I thought the Colts would get killed.

But now that we're short another quarterback (and an elite fantasy one at that), I still like it.

Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams (at NYG)

Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

On one hand, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff absolutely deserves praise for his progress in the second season of his NFL career. He’s made massive strides relative to his rookie season.

On the other hand, Goff’s success hasn’t really translated to the world of fantasy football. Through eight weeks, Goff ranks just inside the top 20 at his position in fantasy points per game after having thrown for 1,719 yards and nine touchdowns.

Goff has also cooled off of late. Over the first three weeks of this season, his completion percentage topped 70 percent twice. In the four games since, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft has completed 60 percent of his passes in a game exactly zero times.

Even in the Rams’ 33-0 waxing of the Arizona Cardinals two weeks ago, Goff’s passing stats were pretty pedestrian—235 passing yards and a single score through the air on 22-of-37 attempts.

Still, as the Rams come out of their week off, Goff has the makings of a solid spot start Sunday when they travel to face the reeling New York Giants.

Last year, a Giants defense that spurred a run to the postseason surrendered the second-fewest fantasy points per game to the quarterback position. This season, the Giants are 1-6 and have given up the eighth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.

And that’s when the Giants are at full strength. They won’t be Sunday. As ESPN.com’s Jordan Ranaan reported, Big Blue has suspended top cornerback Janoris Jenkins indefinitely after Jenkins was late returning from the bye week.

It’s been that kind of year in New York.

It is a West Coast team playing at 1 p.m. ET, but the start time is just about the only thing not to like about this matchup for Goff and the Rams.

Orleans Darkwa, RB, New York Giants (vs. LAR)

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Back on October 15, Orleans Darkwa was the belle of the fantasy ball—gashing the Denver Broncos for 117 yards on 21 carries in New York’s only win this season.

Or at least he would have been, had he been in any starting lineups—at all.

Darkwa was in more than a few lineups the following week. But against the Seattle Seahawks Darkwa turned back into a pumpkin, carrying the ball only nine times and managing just 35 yards.

After that dud of a performance Darkwa was relegated back to the waiver wire by many of the same fantasy owners who had just started him, and even those who held onto him likely don’t relish the thought of risking another dud.

They should, however, because odds are pretty good Darkwa won’t lay an egg for his second consecutive game.

The Seahawks haven’t been an easy team to rack up fantasy points on the ground against this season. The team’s only a so-so 20th in run defense, but Seattle has surrendered the fifth-fewest PPR fantasy points per game to the position.

The Rams don’t have a similar disconnect. They’ve been a plus matchup for running backs all the way around. In addition to allowing 123.1 rushing yards per game (seventh-most in the NFL) the Rams are also giving the second-most fantasy points to backs.

It’s a matchup that sets up well for another appearance from CinderDarkwa, especially with the Giants coming off a bye and playing at home.

Marlon Mack, RB, Indianapolis Colts (at HOU)

Gary Landers/Associated Press

We may be witnessing a changing of the guard in Indianapolis.

No, not at quarterback. At least they hope.

As Andrew Kulp reported for Yahoo Sports, there were rumors earlier in the week that the Eagles inquired about a trade for veteran tailback Frank Gore in advance of the trade deadline.

That trade didn’t come to pass, obviously, but Gore admitted to ESPN.com’s Mike Wells that his three years in Indianapolis haven’t worked out like he had hoped.

"I don't care about the numbers," Gore said. "I just want to win. Losing is not a fun thing."

There’s a silver lining to a depressing end to Gore’s NFL career, however—the emergence of his potential replacement in youngster Marlon Mack.

Mack’s 11 carries for 27 yards in Week 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals were nothing to write home about. But Mack added three catches for 36 yards and a touchdown—his third of the season.

Mack's performance hammered something home that’s been pretty evident for much of this season. Mack adds a level of athleticism and explosiveness to the backfield that Gore just can’t match at this point in his career.

That isn’t the only thing that’s plainly evident in Indy in 2017. The Colts aren’t going anywhere this season. As a matter of fact, they may not be going anywhere for some time—especially with the cloud hanging over the future of quarterback Andrew Luck.

The Colts aren’t a contender by any stretch. They are a rebuilder. And Step 1 in that rebuild is seeing what they have in young players like Mack.

That means more touches for Mack moving forward. He was on the field three more snaps than Gore a week ago.

And while the Texans are a bad matchup for running backs, that increase in opportunities is hard to pass up if you’re feeling the backfield bind this week.

Jonathan Stewart, RB, Carolina Panthers (vs. ATL)

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

The good news for fantasy owners is that the Carolina Panthers have been using tailback Jonathan Stewart with some regularity—the 10th-year veteran is averaging almost 14 carries per game this season.

The bad news—and the reason Stewart is making an appearance in this column—is that he hasn’t done a lot with those carries. Stewart is averaging just three yards a tote, and he has just a single rushing touchdown this year.

Stewart told ESPN.com’s David Newton that he isn’t about to grouse about taking a back seat to rookie Christian McCaffrey in the Panthers backfield.

“I like winning,’’ he said. “At the end of the day, I trust coaching. That’s kind of been my motto all my life. I trust coaching and the position God puts you in to make things work.’’

That first rushing score of the season came in last week’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game in which Stewart carried the ball 11 times for 34 yards.

Sunday, the Panthers will continue their AFC South schedule stretch against the Atlanta Falcons—a fantasy matchup that’s even more favorable than last week.

For the season, the Falcons are surrendering the sixth-most PPR fantasy points to running backs—just over 26 per game. Granted, the majority of those points will probably go to rookie Christian McCaffrey, but given the offensive shakeup in Charlotte, Stewart could see a bump in touches as well.

This recommendation is admittedly less “get Stewart in there” and more “you could do worse with six teams taking the week off,” but some weeks you have to take what you can get…

Like low-end RB2 numbers from a veteran running back.

Corey Davis, WR, Tennessee Titans (vs. BAL)

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of starting a player fresh off a lengthy absence. It’s better to let them have a week to get their sea legs under them.

However, with so many teams on a Week 9 bye, that may not be an option for some fantasy owners, and if you’re the type with a high tolerance for risk, there’s a chance Corey Davis of the Tennessee Titans could reward that bravado handsomely.

Davis hasn’t played since Week 2, but fresh off the Titans' bye week, head coach Mike Mularkey told ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe the fifth overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft is healthy and eager to get back after it.

"I hope it will affect some coverages with him out there. Maybe it helps Delanie [Walker], as well. It should help," Mularkey said. "He’s got to produce out there and show that he is that threat we think he can be.”

In Davis’ lone full NFL game back in Week 1 against the Oakland Raiders, he played fairly well, reeling in six passes for 69 yards on 10 targets. More importantly, Davis appeared to have the confidence of quarterback Marcus Mariota in that contest—Walker had one fewer target than Davis.

This isn’t a play for the faint of heart. We have a player who has missed significant time returning to face a Baltimore Ravens team that ranks fifth in pass defense (184.5 yards per game) and 31st in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers.

Neither of those stats inspire a lot of confidence.

But Davis was drafted where he was for a reason—he’s a big-bodied, fleet-footed young receiver who showed again and again in college the ability to win one-on-one battles for the football in tight coverage.

Sometimes you have to be willing to go against the grain—to buck a bad matchup.

This is one of those times.

Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks (vs. WAS)

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

It got lost in the huge stat line posted by Paul Richardson of the Seattle Seahawks last week, but Tyler Lockett also had himself a decent game in Seattle’s wild win over the Houston Texans.

Richardson found the end zone twice last week, but Lockett went over the 100-yard mark, picking up 121 receiving yards on six catches. Both he and Richardson had better statistical outings than Doug Baldwin.

That was the 37th of 143 weird things that happened in that game, from the Seahawks allowing 38 points at home to the Texans completely forgetting that defense is a thing on the game’s penultimate drive.

It was easily Lockett’s biggest game of the season—he’s caught that many passes only one other time in 2017 and hadn’t topped 70 yards before that outburst.

And yet, I expect that while Lockett may not match last week’s numbers Sunday against the Washington Redskins, he’ll at least come reasonably close.

It was Lockett, not Richardson, who was the second-most-targeted receiver on the team last week. He was thrown at eight times, giving him 15 targets over the last two weeks—a respectable number of opportunities for an under-the-radar fantasy play.

Also, while Baldwin will be seeing lots of Pro Bowler Josh Norman on Sunday and Richardson will draw promising young slot corner Kendall Fuller, Lockett will go up against Bashaud Breeland.

The Redskins have been pretty good against the pass (13th in the NFL), but if there’s a weak link in the secondary, it’s Breeland. He’s easily the team’s lowest-graded corner at Pro Foootball Focus.

88th, if you’re keeping score.

Lockett catches at least five passes Sunday and scores for the first time this season.

Sterling Shepard, WR, New York Giants (vs. LAR)

David Richard/Associated Press

Once upon a time, there was a football team. This football team had three wide receivers. But then an evil giant came along and felled them all, leaving Prince Eli the Sad-Faced with no one to play with.

It's a sad tale.

There’s a chance this story could have a measure of a happy ending, though. The New York Giants won’t be getting Odell Beckham or Brandon Marshall back this season, but Sterling Shepard should make his return this week against the Los Angeles Rams after missing time with an injured ankle.

Shepard told Kevin Hickey of Giants Wire he doesn’t plan to do things any differently than before, although he knows his situation has changed.

“My role is going to stay the same, I’m kind of a guy that leads by example, but I’ll be vocal if I have to and that’s kind of what role I’ve had to take these last two weeks, is just staying in the guys’ ears and keeping their heads held high,” Shepard said.

Shepard can downplay his importance all he wants, but the fact is that the Giants’ injury-ravaged wideout corps has just seven catches for 67 yards—over the last two weeks—as a unit.

Assuming the second-year pro, who caught 22 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown before getting hurt, is anywhere close to 100 percent, he’s a near-lock to see double-digit targets against a Rams defense allowing an average of about 27 PPR fantasy points a game to wide receivers.

The Giants are still a steaming mess of a football team, but like with all bad teams, there could be a few fantasy gems sprinkled amongst all the garbage.

Been mentioning garbage a lot this week.

Don't know if that's such a great sign.

Vernon Davis, TE, Washington Redskins (at SEA)

Mark Tenally/Associated Press

When it comes to plug-and-play fantasy options at the tight end position, there are two lists.

There’s Vernon Davis of the Washington Redskins, and then there’s everyone else.

In news that should surprise absolutely no one, Jordan Reed is hurt—again. And with Reed nursing a sore hamstring and Niles Paul questionable with a concussion, Davis is in position to be Washington’s main tight end in Week 9.

Per Jennifer Eakins of Sports Illustrated, the 33-year-old Davis is owned in just 26 percent of fantasy football leagues at Yahoo, which is something of a surprise. Davis leads all Redskins tight ends with 312 yards on just 17 receptions.

That’s over 18 yards a catch—a number that shows just how adept the veteran still is at stretching defenses.

Over the past four weeks, Davis isn’t just leading all Redskins tight ends in receiving yards. He leads the entire team with 241. Last year, over a five-week stretch from Week 6 to Week 10 with Reed on the shelf for two of those games, Davis was sixth among all tight ends in both fantasy points and fantasy points per game.

A top-six finish in Week 9 might be pushing the limits of positive thinking—the Seattle Seahawks are 12th in the NFL in pass defense and 15th in fantasy points allowed to his position.

But Davis has a track record of production you don’t see in spot starters very often, the Houston Texans showed Seattle can be thrown on a week ago, and someone not named Chris Thompson is going to have to catch passes for the Redskins on Sunday afternoon.

Tyler Higbee, TE, Los Angeles Rams (at NYG)

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Many of this week’s “sleeper” recommendations are a bit of a departure from the norm. Rather than targeting plus matchups, they are listed because of injuries, recovery from injury or a depth-chart shakeup.

As important as matchups are in fantasy football, opportunity can trump it. Talent can trump that.

But given the morass that is the tight end position in 2017, sometimes all you can do is target a player going up against a team that has struggled defending the position and hope that continues.

It really has been a maddening year at the position unless you drafted Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce or Zach Ertz.

Such is the case with Tyler Higbee of the Los Angeles Rams.

Recommending Higbee as a “sleeper” start certainly isn’t based on his production. Higbee has 14 catches on 27 targets so far this season. He’s tallied 179 receiving yards and has yet to find the end zone.

If ever there were a week for Higbee to get that touchdown, it’s Sunday when the Rams visit the Big Apple to face the Giants.

It’s not just that the Giants have given up the most fantasy points per game to tight ends—although that doesn’t hurt matters any.

It’s that they have consistently allowed big games at the position. According to Matt Franciscovich of NFL.com, the Giants have allowed a touchdown grab to a tight end in every single game this year.

Higbee may not have big numbers, but he has more than twice the targets this year of Gerald Everett.

So if you’re swinging for the fences, Higbee’s the guy.

Arizona Cardinals Defense/Special Teams (at SFO)

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

In 2016, the Arizona Cardinals were one of the most productive team defenses in fantasy football. The team ranked third in fantasy points per game in NFL.com default fantasy scoring.

This year, the Redbirds have been an object lesson in why it’s unwise to spend draft capital on defenses, as they’ve fallen all the way to No. 29.

However, Sunday’s titanic AFC West struggle between C.J. Beathard and Drew Stanton in Santa Clara (that will fix their attendance problems) sets up well for both team defenses in this contest to get right.

It’s no surprise that the 0-8 49ers have struggled offensively in 2017. They rank 24th in total offense, 22nd in both passing and rushing and 29th in scoring. They have allowed the most sacks in the NFC (27) and are tied for eighth in the NFL with 12 giveaways.

And to be bluntly honest, the team’s been worse than that since Beathard took over at quarterback from Brian “Thanks for the $10 Million” Hoyer. Over the last two weeks, only the Denver Broncos have given up more fantasy points to team defenses than the 49ers.

This game is going to be a nearly unwatchable, turnover-filled slopfest won by the first team to 17 points. That’s too bad for the 11 people actually at the game.

But it will be bee-yoo-tee-ful for both defenses from a fantasy perspective.