Fantasy Football Week 9 Rankings: Guide for Top Players and Sleepers

With Week 9 of the fantasy football season upon us, we also had the trade deadline to be concerned with.

But who cares about the NFL trade deadline? Nothing ever happens.

Well, actually, some stuff did go down, and there were plenty of fantasy implications.

We saw the New England Patriots ship quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers, the Carolina Panthers send wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins send Jay Ajayi to the Philadelphia Eagles, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:

Thursday Night Football is almost here, so let's examine the top players and sleepers for each position.

Quarterbacks

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1. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans

2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

3. Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

4. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

5. Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs

6. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

7. Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions

8. Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

9. Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills

10. Carson Wentz, Philadelphia Eagles

Sleeper: Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams

In Week 9, Los Angeles Rams signal-caller Jared Goff is in a prime position against the New York Giants. 

When you think about the Giants, you think about their defense. Although it's been fine this season, their secondary is what makes them a more imposing proposition.

However, Goff will go up against a Giants secondary without cornerback Janoris Jenkins.

According to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY, Jenkins has been suspended for one game.

As Vacchiano also noted, fellow cornerback Eli Apple will miss one quarter.

Who is going to be playing in the secondary? Goff has great weapons in wide receivers Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins, so he has an opportunity to do well against a depleted Giants secondary.

Running Backs

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1. Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs

2. LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills

3. Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams

4. Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars

5. Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints

6. Lamar Miller, Houston Texans

7. Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals

8. Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons

9. Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers

10. Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers

Sleeper: Alex Collins, Baltimore Ravens

Coming off his first-ever 100-yard rushing game, the Baltimore Ravens' Alex Collins is still considered a sleeper heading into Week 9.

Going up against the Tennessee Titans, Collins should get plenty of the work on the ground.

Keep in mind he does virtually nothing in the passing game, though.

Nonetheless, going up against the Tennessee Titans, this game should remain close. The Ravens offense is anemic, and the Titans offense, while it is better, is going up against a fairly stout defense.

Collins will eventually find the end zone, and this could be the game in which he does. He could see upward of 20 touches.

It may not be exciting, but Collins' volume should be enough to rack up some points.

Wide Receivers

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1. DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans

2. Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints

3. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys

4. Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons

5. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

6. Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks

7. A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

8. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

9. Michael Crabtree, Oakland Raiders

10. Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals

Sleeper: Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams

Sticking with the Rams theme, a lot of the same logic having to do with Goff's sleeper status applies here. With Jenkins out and Apple set to sit out a quarter, Robert Woods will be up against some pretty mediocre competition.

In PPR leagues, Woods does well because he gets targeted so often, but the illustrious touchdown has eluded him this season.

Woods is in a perfect position to right the ship in Week 9 against the Giants.

Expect him to get his usual target share but land himself in the end zone.

Start him if you own him.

Tight Ends

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1. Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles

2. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs

3. Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans

4. Cameron Brate, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

5. Evan Engram, New York Giants

6. Jimmy Graham, Seattle Seahawks

7. Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts

8. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, New York Jets

9. Jared Cook, Oakland Raiders

10. Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys

Sleeper: Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons

After the top 10 tight ends, the position kind of turns into a pool of a lot of the same. The guys' point totals aren't separated by all that much.

With that said, the Atlanta Falcons' Austin Hooper presents a bit more upside. 

Outside of his one-target game in Week 7, Hooper has had seven, nine and six targets in Weeks 4, 6 and 8, respectively.

We're playing the targets game here, but outside the top guys, that's what we tend to bank on.

Defenses

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1. Jacksonville Jaguars

2. Houston Texans

3. Philadelphia Eagles

4. Los Angeles Rams

5. Buffalo Bills

6. Detroit Lions

7. Seattle Seahawks

8. Denver Broncos

9. New Orleans Saints

10. Cincinnati Bengals

Sleeper: Tennessee Titans

This is fairly simple to figure out: The Titans are playing the Baltimore Ravens.

Outside of the aforementioned Collins on the ground, the Ravens have almost zero threats offensively.

Quarterback Joe Flacco is recovering from a concussion, and while he may play, he's been unable to move this offense.

Should Flacco sit, well, their backup is Ryan Mallett.

Need I say more?

Kickers

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1. Justin Tucker, Baltimore Ravens

2. Harrison Butker, Kansas City Chiefs

3. Ryan Succop, Tennessee Titans

4. Jake Elliott, Philadelphia Eagles

5. Greg Zuerlein, Los Angeles Rams

6. Wil Lutz, New Orleans Saints

7. Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons

8. Matt Prater, Detroit Lions

9. Steven Hauschka, Buffalo Bills

10. Graham Gano, Carolina Panthers

Sleeper: Ka'imi Fairbairn, Houston Texans

Kickers, kickers, kickers.

They are a dime a dozen.

When it comes to Ka'imi Fairbairn, though, the Houston Texans score a lot of points, and they're facing a porous Indianapolis Colts defense. They should have plenty of opportunities to score.

You know what that means: Points for Fairbairn.

Statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference.