Week 9 Fantasy Football Projections: Top Streaming Options for Notable Injuries

The marathon that is the 2018 fantasy football season is sprinting toward its obstacle-course section.

Week 9 will be the first with six teams on a bye. There's also another round of injuries to deal with (Will Fuller V's torn ACL at the top of that list), plus the unknown impact of the coaching overhaul in Cleveland.

So this could be a busy week on the waiver wire. We'll assume that it will be and identify some of the best streaming options—available in more than 50 percent of leagues on Yahoo—at the priority positions.

Quarterbacks

Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns (42 Percent Owned)

Don Wright/Associated Press

It's mostly too early to tell how the coaching change will impact Baker Mayfield's output—although word is he's fine with the decision—but not too soon to start drooling about his Week 9 potential.

For starters, it's a great matchup. The Kansas City Chiefs have surrendered the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Their passing defense is 21st in yards per attempt and 29th in yards per game. Case Keenum, who has struggled to maintain fantasy relevance during his first go-round with the Denver Broncos, just gouged the Chiefs for 262 yards and a pair of scores with a 67.6 completion percentage.

Then there's Mayfield himself, who's had more ups than downs since first getting the call in Week 3. He's had multiple passing touchdowns in three of his five starts, double-digit rushing yards in three of the five and 290-plus yards in two of them. He still holds the season high for passing yards against the vaunted Baltimore Ravens defense (342).

This has all the makings of a stream-worthy week, and as a bonus, Mayfield might be worth keeping beyond this. His next two opponents after Kansas City are even more generous to opposing signal-callers in the Atlanta Falcons (second-most fantasy points allowed) and Cincinnati Bengals (fifth-most).

Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders (26 Percent Owned)

Hopefully, your patience with Derek Carr didn't run out before he had the chance to carve up the Indianapolis Colts like a jack-o'-lantern in Week 8.

Sure, he didn't exactly have a stone wall in front of him, but Carr looked like the $125 million man the Raiders are paying him to be. He completed 75 percent of his passes, had his second-most scoring passes of the season and even contributed the first rushing touchdown of his NFL career:

Does this mean Carr is suddenly back? Considering he entered Week 8 with more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (seven), we'll wait for more than one outing before rushing to any macro judgment.

But the good news is opportunistic streamers don't need to gauge Carr's long-term outlook. All they're worried about is his Week 9 forecast, and it's bright and shiny at the moment. His opponent, the San Francisco 49ers, have yielded the eighth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks and might not have a full complement of players for the Thursday tilt, with injuries and the trade deadline both threatening to thin the roster.

Running Backs

Peyton Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (46 Percent Owned)

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Finding 19 carries from any running back in today's NFL isn't easy. So, you'd think it'd be next to impossible to find 19 carries from a team's top back on the waiver wire at the season's midway point.

And yet there's Payton Barber, one of eight ball-carriers with 19-plus rushes in Week 8 and now sporting 74 more rushing attempts than any other player on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Granted, he hasn't always made the most of those touches (3.7 yards per carry; season-long rush of just 28 yards), but the volume alone makes him worth rostering.

"There should be a roster spot for a full-workload runner in any league of standard size and shape," Andy Behrens wrote for Yahoo Sports. "... Moving forward, Barber is clearly the Tampa back with fantasy appeal. He should see double-digit touches in every game moving forward."

Barber has a tricky matchup in Week 9 with a Carolina Panthers defense that's been the ninth-stingiest against opposing runners. But given his workload and the fact Ronald Jones could be staring at an extended absence, per NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, there's every reason to believe Barber will have the opportunity to be a top streamer for this week and worth roster consideration moving forward.

Ito Smith, Atlanta Falcons (37 Percent Owned)

As soon as the Atlanta Falcons moved Devonta Freeman to the injured reserve, Ito Smith belonged on the waiver radar of every running back-needy fantasy owner. Then, Smith went out and almost received an even timeshare split with Tevin Coleman ahead of Atlanta's Week 8 bye (43 percent to Coleman's 57).

That's motivation enough to consider Smith a good option again, even if he'll be up against a Washington Redskins defense allowing the eighth-fewest points to this position.

"[Smith] has 51 total touches (rushing and receiving) for 213 yards from scrimmage—that's 4.2 yards per touch—and three touchdowns through the first seven games," Matthew Tabeek wrote for the team's official site. "He's proving to be a nice all-around player with some shifty moves. I think we can all use some more Ito Smith in our lives."

Wide Receivers

Tim Warner/Getty Images

Keke Coutee, Houston Texans (20 Percent Owned)

While a hamstring injury delayed Keke Coutee's NFL debut by three weeks, the rookie wideout proved worth the wait.

During his first outing of the season—which occurred alongside both Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins—Coutee turned his team-high 15 targets into 11 receptions for 109 yards. His next time out, he caught six of the seven passes for 51 yards and a score.

He has gone quiet since, though that has a lot to do with the fact he injured his other hamstring in Week 7 and couldn't go in Week 8. But assuming his body cooperates, he should get back to being one of the featured players in this offense with Fuller lost for the year.

"I think Keke's a very versatile guy," Texans coach Bill O'Brien told reporters. "He can do a lot of different [things]—you've seen us put him in the backfield, he's played on the outside, obviously he plays on the inside—so he's got versatility."

When the Texans have tried to involve Coutee, he has delivered. He has collected 70 percent of his targets, which is basically on par with Fuller (71.1) and just ahead of Hopkins (67.9).

Danny Amendola, Miami Dolphins (41 Percent Owned)

Given the importance of volume for fantasy receivers, it's hard not to notice how often Brock Osweiler has set his sights on Danny Amendola since stepping in for the injured Ryan Tannehill.

Osweiler has started the past three weeks for the Miami Dolphins. Amendola hasn't seen fewer than six targets and had an average of eight passes come his way over that stretch.

His sure hands should make certain those looks continue coming. After corralling eight of his 11 targets in Week 6, he has hauled in 11 of the 13 aimed at him the past two contests.

Fantasy owners seeking out a high-risk, high-reward option should look elsewhere. Amendola doesn't have many boom games (one touchdown, season-long reception of 24 yards), but he hasn't busted in a while, either. He shines brightest as a high-floor option, offering something near the range of the 6.3 receptions and 62 yards he's averaged with Osweiler under center.

Statistics used courtesy of ESPN.com and NFL.com. Fantasy scoring and ownership info via Yahoo Sports.