Fantasy Football Week 9 Cheat Sheet: Deep Sleepers Who Could Emerge

Some of the most critical weeks in Fantasy Football take place in the middle of the season when bye weeks are plentiful. 

Six teams were off in Week 8, and six more teams (Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers) are off in Week 9.

The bye weeks continue in Weeks 10 and 11 when four and six teams, respectively, will be off in those two weeks.

Sharp fantasy owners are constantly adjusting their roster throughout the season, and when key players have the week off, it's time to take action. No, you are not going to get Antonio Brown, Julio Jones or Michael Thomas. You're not even going to get Alvin Kamara, Aaron Jones or Ted Ginn Jr.

It's time to roll the dice and find the sleepers—deep sleepers—who just might hit it big in a given week. No, they are not superstars and RB Kenyan Drake of the Miami Dolphins and Taylor Gabriel of the Atlanta Falcons are not about to turn into must-have players. But they may help you scratch out a win in this week's matchup in your 12-team or 14-team league.

Here's our deep sleepers for Week 9, with the percentage owned in Yahoo fantasy leagues next to each player's name. For the purposes of this article, deep sleepers are defined as players who have ownership rates of 25 percent or less.

Deep Sleepers

QB Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars (18.0 percent)

QB Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers (11.0 percent)

QB Brett Hundley, Green Bay Packers (9.0 percent)

RB Matt Breida, San Francisco 49ers (10.0 percent)

RB Kenyan Drake, Miami Dolphins (25.0 percent)

RB Wayne Gallman, New York Giants (10.0 percent)

WR Zay Jones, Buffalo Bills (10.0 percent)

WR Taylor Gabriel, Atlanta Falcons (18.0 percent)

WR Brandon LaFell, Cincinnati Bengals (5.0 percent)

TE George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers (11.0 percent)

TE Ed Dickson, Carolina Panthers (25.0 percent)

QB Blake Bortles, Jacksonville—The Jaguars have a home game this week against the Cincinnati Bengals, and while Bortles ranks 24th in passing yards, he should have a decent chance of having a good game against the Bengals.

Bortles is a hit-or-miss quarterback who is going to be a liability more often than he will be an asset, but he has the benefit of playing with Jacksonville's aggressive defense that is constantly putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

That defense has created a sack fest, and it should be able to feast on Cincinnati QB Andy Dalton. If they can force two or more turnovers on the plus side of the field, Bortles could be the beneficiary with two or three TD passes.

That's the kind of production you can only dream of getting from a deep sleeper.

Jim Mone/Associated Press

RB Kenyan Drake, Miami—The Dolphins traded Jay Ajayi Tuesday to Philadelphia, so that should give Drake the opportunity he needs to prove himself to head coach Adam Gase and his teammates. 

The Dolphins are at home against the Oakland Raiders, and this is the Raiders' fourth trip east this season. The Oakland defense ranks 25th overall and 22nd against the run. Drake is the deepest of sleepers with just 10 rushing attempts all season for the paltry total of 25 yards.

Gase should give him an early opportunity to show what he can do, and if he hits a couple of decent runs early, that could turn into a career-making opportunity. Or at least a half-decent game that helps you make a respectable showing when your top running back has a bye week.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

WR Taylor Gabriel, Atlanta—The Falcons may not have righted the ship completely with their Week 8 win over the Jets, but they got the victory and are moving in the right direction. Their offense should be much closer to being on track when the Falcons go to Carolina Sunday.

Jones and Mohamed Sanu are the obvious targets, but Gabriel has explosive speed and will be getting single coverage from the Panthers defense. Gabriel has been targeted 29 times this season, and he has caught 17 passes for 189 yards and one TD.

The Panthers rank second in yards allowed, but Gabriel will have an opportunity to run free and clear in the secondary and perhaps catch a touchdown pass.

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

TE Ed Dickson, Carolina—Fantasy owners have been slow to react to Dickson, who has been the Panthers' No. 1 threat at the TE position since Greg Olsen injured his foot. The Pro Bowl tight end could be back when the Panthers play the Jets in Week 12, but Dickson is a viable threat until then.

Dickson has caught 22 passes for 349 yards, but he has not gotten into the end zone. This could be the week against the Falcons. Dickson figures to be even more involved in the Carolina offense this week with the trade of WR Kelvin Benjamin to the Buffalo Bills.

Dickson appears to be on track for a solid week, and he might even get into the end zone for the first time this year.