The Week 9 FAAB report required a lot of reflection. I’m not as down on Ty Johnson as most people because I still think there’s a chance he gets more carries going forward. It wasn’t the performance as much as the workload this past Sunday that surprised me. And once again, Chris Herndon hasn’t played in a game yet, making it tough to advocate for him as a fantasy waiver wire pickup. I’m still incredibly high on his talent, but the fact he hasn’t stepped on the field yet is annoying. Sam Darnold is also in a weird spot. He looked awful against New England and Jacksonville, but I’ve preached patience with him because the Jets have probably the easiest schedule in the NFL over the next six weeks.
I’ll take a more conservative approach this week with my FAAB projections. There aren’t too many names that jump off the page, but still some players worth looking at.
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Week 9 Fantasy Football FAAB targets: Quarterback
Gardner Minshew JAC; FAAB Bid: 10-15%: Minshew just keeps on rolling. The upside is somewhat limited by what he can do with minimal passing opportunities, but Minshew has made the most of it posting 20-plus fantasy points in back-to-back weeks. A big theme this week will be playoff scheduling, which is still in flux but worth mentioning. Minshew and the Jags face off against the Buccaneers, Chargers, Raiders, and Falcons in Weeks 13-16. There’s an opportunity for Minshew to really shine in the crucial fantasy playoff weeks. I wouldn’t say he’s a priority trade target, but he’s available in about half the leagues on Yahoo and ESPN. Minshew gets a neutral-field matchup in London this week against the Texans, who are terrible against quarterbacks.
Cam Newton CAR; FAAB Bid: 7-8%: The struggle with suggesting Newton as an add is that there are several unknowns. We still don’t know when he’ll return. More recently the Panthers announced they were still going to play Kyle Allen in Week 9, as Newton (foot) was still in the middle of his rehab. And even when Newton does return it’s unclear how healthy he’ll actually be. Allen hasn’t been doing well lately. He had a nice outing in Week 3 against Arizona with four touchdowns, but in his past four starts he has just three touchdown passes and six turnovers. It seems clear that when Newton is ready to return, the job should be his. The Panthers are 4-1 with Allen under center, but a healthy Newton is probably the best way to go once he’s ready to return.
WEEK 9 DFS LINEUPS:
Y! cash | Y! GPP | DK cash | DK GPP | FD cash | FD GPP
Ryan Tannehill TEN; FAAB Bid: 3-5%: Tannehill is a “break glass in case of emergency” kind of waiver wire addition. The volume of pass attempts is a concern for Tannehill. He has 62 so far in his two starts, which is pretty vanilla, but he has five touchdowns and just one turnover in that span. The Titans get a fairly difficult matchup next week in Carolina, but then they draw the Chiefs at home, and that could present some opportunities for the Titans even if they’re throwing more simply to keep pace with the Chiefs. That all depends on Patrick Mahomes playing, but Tannehill has been serviceable so far. He doesn’t have the biggest arm, but you could do worse.
WEEK 9 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Week 9 Fantasy Football FAAB targets: RB
Kareem Hunt CLE; FAAB Bid: 10-12%: I’m slightly confused why people are dropping Hunt, as he’ll return from his eight-game suspension in Week 10. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not worried about Nick Chubb’s workload. He’s been great for Cleveland despite losing two fumbles against New England last week. But I’m just baffled because if you drafted Hunt, why are you dropping him now? As the end of the suspension draws closer, you should be more inclined to keep him. You either should’ve dropped him earlier in the year or not drafted him at all. He’s now just under 60 percent owned on ESPN and Yahoo leagues and, God forbid, if anything were to happen to Chubb, then Hunt could be in line for more work. There is the argument that the Browns try to integrate Hunt into the offense since the team is underperforming and they may need a refreshing look. I get that, but I’m not totally sold on it. I still don’t see them taking the ball out of Chubb’s hands too much. But we know what Hunt can do, so if others are dropping him, we’ll stash him.
Mark Walton MIA; FAAB Bid: 8-10%: With the trade of Kenyan Drake to Arizona, there’s an opportunity for more work with Walton. Even with the departure of Drake, Kalen Ballage saw just four total touches Monday night against Pittsburgh. Walton, on the other hand, had 11 carries for just 35 yards (not great), but he did have three catches on six targets for 19 yards. In PPR formats he gets a mild bump, but the ceiling isn’t all that high because the Miami offense is still terrible. But there’s one less player in the Dolphins running game, and if Walton is getting over 12 touches a week, then he should at least be stashed.
Jaylen Samuels/Benny Snell Jr. PIT; FAAB Bid: 8%/4%: Like most running backs, James Conner had a fantastic game against Miami on Monday night. However, he left with his arm in a sling because of an AC joint injury, so that throws a mild monkey wrench into the machine for Conner owners. Samuels (knee) was inactive for Monday's game, but there’s a chance he plays next week against the Colts after having knee surgery not too long ago. On the off chance that Conner and Samuels are both inactive, then Snell (who hurt his knee Monday) could be in line for a nice workload and could be in play in deeper leagues. Again, this all hinges on the status of Conner.
WEEK 9: Waiver wire | Trade values | Snap counts
Week 9 Fantasy Football FAAB targets: WR
Danny Amendola DET; FAAB Bid: 10-12%: The Lions backfield has been the talk of much speculation the past few weeks due to Kerryon Johnson’s injury. Oddly enough, the beneficiary has been Amendola. Over his past two games, Amendola has 16 catches (eight in each game), 19 targets, and 200 yards. He’s been a great FLEX play the past couple weeks, and he doesn’t have a terrible schedule going forward. Sure, the Lions play the Bears in Soldier Field in Week 10, but it’s a good schedule in general. The Vikings secondary has been beaten at times, and they still have games against the likes of Oakland, Washington, Tampa Bay, and Dallas. Matthew Stafford’s having a great year, and he’s getting the most out of his weapons, including Amendola.
Josh Reynolds LAR; FAAB Bid: 10-12%: Remember this guy? Reynolds had some big games in 2018 when the Rams had to deal with a few injuries, and sure enough it’s happened once again. Brandin Cooks sustained a concussion this past week, and Robert Woods has been very disappointing over the past four weeks. Even with Cooper Kupp’s massive game on Sunday, Reynolds still saw eight targets with Cooks out. He only caught three passes but turned it into 73 yards and a score. He’s a solid add in the short-term that could help your team over the next few weeks now that we’re in crunch time.
Auden Tate CIN; FAAB Bid: 8-9%: Tate won’t be the only Bengal in this section, but his ownership needs to go up. He’s seen at least six targets in six straight games, and in three games in that span he has double-digit targets. He only has one touchdown on the season, but A.J. Green still hasn’t played and Tate has a decent range of nine-to-14 PPR points each week. Tate (and his teammate coming up shortly) are on bye next week, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if some people dropped him, but the Bengals have a collection of solid matchups following their week off, with a juicy Week 16 matchup against the Dolphins further down the line. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, though.
Alex Erickson CIN; FAAB Bid: 6-7%: I’m a little more excited about Erickson this week. He made the waiver column last week, but there was some trepidation there since it seemed like a fluky stat line for a player who hadn’t done much throughout his career. He was fourth in targets (7) on Sunday for the Bengals, but he still caught six balls for 97 yards. He’s seen his snap count go up significantly the past three weeks, so the Bengals are putting him on the field more, so we’re getting more substance with Erickson as an option in deeper PPR leagues.
WEEK 9 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
Week 9 Fantasy Football FAAB targets: Tight End
Jonnu Smith TEN; FAAB Bid: 6%: Smith was the beneficiary of some extra work with Delanie Walker (ankle) out of commission this past week. Smith paid off for those smart enough to stream him. He caught six-of-seven targets for 78 yards and a touchdown. The Titans have a tough game next week, as mentioned above, against Carolina. But that Week 10 matchup against the Chiefs is certainly an intriguing option. Now it remains to be seen when Walker is set to return. For now, Smith stands to benefit in his absence and isn’t a bad option even in shallower leagues.
Dallas Goedert PHI; FAAB Bid: 6%: It’s hard to argue with the efficiency of Goedert. He’s scored in back-to-back games and has somewhat cut into the workload of Zach Ertz. Ertz has 19 targets in his past three games while Goedert has 17, but the latter has found the end zone more than the former. Ertz is still out-snapping Goedert, but a big concern for Ertz coming into the season was his projected workload. Both Philly tight ends have some very difficult matchups on the horizon against Chicago, New England, and Seattle, but at least those games will be at home. Following that stretch, from Weeks 13-16 the Eagles face the Dolphins, Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys and those defenses are beatable. Ertz will snap out of this funk and probably get more targets, but Goedert will stay involved, especially as a red-zone threat for Carson Wentz.
Darren Fells HOU; FAAB Bid: 5-6%: There's no need to go crazy bidding for Fells, but the tight end position has been just awful to get a read on. Fells does have five touchdowns in his past six games, and in three of those games he has at least six targets. The downside is that in the other three games he has two or fewer targets. He’s largely a 12-team or deeper league add, but at least he has one of the better quarterbacks in the game feeding him the ball.
Week 9 Fantasy Football FAAB targets: D/ST
Carolina Panthers: Carolina has the upside of five-plus sacks in any outing, and this week's opponent, Tennessee, has an offensive line with the worst adjusted sack rate in the league. It will be a home game for the Panthers, and they should bounce back from a very disappointing performance in Week 8.
Seattle Seahawks: Continuing with the tradition of picking on the brutal travel schedule of the Buccaneers, they now travel from Nashville to Seattle for a road game against the Seahawks. And it’s not just the travel, but Jameis Winston has been turning the ball over at a historic rate lately. Winston alone has 10 turnovers in the Bucs' past two games and now has to play Seattle on the road. The Bucs are a tired and beat-up team. The offensive line is in rough shape, and they don’t run the ball that well, so Seattle should have no trouble stopping Ronald Jones and Peyton Barber.
Denver Broncos: After a very slow start in their first three games, the Broncos defense has come to life. In their past five games, they have 17 sacks and have forced six turnovers. The good news is the Browns come to town, and it seems like they only know how to turn the ball over. Nick Chubb lost two fumbles last week to the Patriots, and Baker Mayfield was picked off once. He should’ve been picked off a second time, but Stephon Gilmore dropped an easy interception. Mayfield still has a dozen interceptions on the year in just seven games, and his offensive line can’t really protect him. The Broncos have a pretty nice floor in Week 9.