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

Heading into Week 8 of the NFL season, fantasy football enthusiasts may find themselves at a make-or-break point. If you've fallen behind, this may be your last chance to mount a comeback and push for a playoff spot. If you're rolling, that's great, but now is the time to ensure you don't derail your campaign.

No matter where you're sitting at this point in the season, a few wrong lineup decisions could easily ruin your fantasy season.

With the Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles all on bye, making the right lineup decisions may involve managing your bench players and the waiver wire.

Well, we're here to help with our Week 9 fantasy rankings. We'll run down the top 10 players at each skill position heading into Week 9 and take a closer look at our top sleeper pick for each. For our sleeper picks, we'll be examining players available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo leagues.

All fantasy statistics, via FantasyPros. Rankings based on PPR scoring.

Quarterbacks

1. Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns

3. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers at New England Patriots

4. Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints

5. Tom Brady, New England Patriots vs. Green Bay Packers

6. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Rams

7. Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions

8. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers

9. Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks vs. Los Angeles Chargers

10. Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans at Denver Broncos

Sleeper: Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr didn't seem to miss Amari Cooper last week against the Indianapolis Colts. Carr had a tremendous game, passing for 244 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

Carr has another favorable matchup this week against the San Francisco 49ers. Only five teams have allowed more fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season than San Francisco, and the 49ers have allowed two touchdown passes in each of the past two games.

In addition, the Raiders don't exactly have a shutdown defense. In fact, they allow the second-most points in the league (31.1 per game). This makes it highly unlikely that Oakland will be able to abandon the pass, even with an early lead.

If you're streaming quarterbacks or need a bye-week replacement, this is a great week to take a chance on Carr. At the time of writing he was available in 74 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Running Backs

1. Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns

2. Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Rams

3. Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

4. Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints

5. Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks

6. James Conner, Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens

7. Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys vs, Tennessee Titans

8. James White, New England Patriots vs. Green Bay Packers

9. Adrian Peterson, Washington Redskins vs, Atlanta Falcons

10. Phillip Lindsay, Denver Broncos vs, Houston Texans

Sleeper: Duke Johnson

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The Cleveland Browns traded away starting running back Carlos Hyde, but his departure didn't immediately return Duke Johnson to fantasy relevance. With Gregg Williams taking over as interim coach and running-backs coach Freddie Kitchen taking over as offensive coordinator, this could soon change.

The Browns are certain to shake a few things up in order to get more out of the offense. That could and should include making Johnson a more prominent piece of the offense. Johnson had 74 receptions and over 1,000 combined rushing and receiving yards last season. Under-usage is the only reason he isn't on a similar pace.

Johnson is averaging 4.9 yards per carry and 10.2 yards per reception, both career highs.

This is the perfect week for Cleveland to get Johnson back into the mix. The Chiefs rank 31st defensively, allowing an average of 432.4 yards per game.

Johnson is owned in just 47 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Wide Receivers

1. Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Rams

2. Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions

3. DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans at Denver Broncos

4. Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers at New England Patriots

5. Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns

6. Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens

7. Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons at Washington Redskins

8. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers

9. Keenan Allen, Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle Seahawks

10. Robert Woods, Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints

Sleeper: Willie Snead

Todd Olszewski/Getty Images

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Willie Snead is regularly a solid FLEX option in PPR leagues, He's caught at least three passes every single game this season and has topped the 50-yard mark five times. Yet, he's owned in just 33 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Snead isn't the centerpiece of the Ravens offense, but he's regularly a big part of it because of his competitiveness.

"He's one of the toughest guys I've played around," Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco explained, via the team's official website.

Snead and the Ravens have a rematch with the Pittsburgh Steelers this week. The Steelers are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season. The last time these two teams met, Snead caught six passes for 56 yards. That should be viewed as his floor in Week 8.

Tight Ends

1. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns

2. Jared Cook, Oakland Raiders at San Francisco 49ers

3. David Njoku, Cleveland Browns vs. Kansas City Chiefs

4. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers vs. Oakland Raiders

5. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots vs. Green Bay Packers

6. Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

7. O.J. Howard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers

8. Jordan Reed, Washington Redskins vs. Atlanta Falcons

9. Trey Burton, Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills

10. Jimmy Graham, Green Bay Packers at New England Patriots

Sleeper: Chris Herndon

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

New York Jets rookie tight end Chris Herndon has started to come on in recent weeks. He's caught seven passes over his last three games and has a touchdown reception in each. This week, Herndon and the Jets face a Miami Dolphins team that has allowed an average of 264.9 yards passing per game.

There are several good tight ends on bye this week, including Zach Ertz, Eric Ebron, Jack Doyle and C.J. Uzomah. Herndon is worth a shot as a sleeper replacement, and he's only owned in six percent of Yahoo leagues.

Kickers

1. Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots vs. Green Bay Packers

2. Greg Zuerlein, Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints

3. Will Lutz, New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Rams

4. Justin Tucker, Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

5. Dan Bailey, Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions

6. Harrison Butker, Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns

7. Mason Crosby, Green Bay Packers at New England Patriots

8. Graham Gano, Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

9. Matt Prater, Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings

10. Dustin Hopkins, Washington Redskins vs. Atlanta Falcons

Sleeper: Matt Bryant/ Giorgio Tavecchio

Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

If you need to stream a kicker because of a bye-week absence, keep an eye on Atlanta Falcons kicker Matt Bryant, who is owned in just 29 percent of Yahoo leagues. Bryant missed Atlanta's win against the New York Giants, but it looks like he could be ready to return coming off the bye.

"He's making a turn for the better," head coach Dan Quinn said of Bryant, via the team's official website. "We're not going to rule him out this week."

If Bryant can't go, try to scoop up Giorgio Tavecchio, who filled in for Bryant against New York and went 3-of-3 on field goals. The Falcons have the seventh-ranked offense (401.0 yards per game), and it should regularly get Atlanta's kicker into scoring position.