Welcome to the fantasy recap. Apologies for missing week 8 and the byepocalypse, which would have been a very handy waivers segment I will admit. Life and mental health meant the article was something I had to sacrifice to buy time for other things. But I am back to review another mad week with some frankly easy candidates for each category. Some players have moved to new places and starting to pick up their playbooks so there’s a lot of variables. The Steelers, Browns, Cowboys, Giants, Broncos and 49ers were all out of action and that makes it tied with week 14 for the most teams on bye in a week so fantasy line ups were less about “who to pick?” more “who is playing?” We lose some big hitters next week too so hopefully the section at the end will help you survive that mess. But here we are, week 9; enjoy.
NB: Scores based on PPR leagues
Fantasy Stars:
Joe Mixon (CIN) – 22rsh/153yds/4td + 4rec/58yds/1td 55pts
Okay so there’s nowhere else we can start this week other than with Joe Mixon. He won a lot of people their matchups on his own with 5TDs and one of the most dominating displays by a single player in fantasy for quite some time. This was one for the ages.
Justin Fields (CHI) – 17cmp/123yds/3tds/0int + 15rsh/178yds/1td 43pts
Early in the season many people thought the Bears and Fields were busts. Fast forward to week 9 and still without any real weapons or major passing yardage, Justin is having a Fields day and seemingly having fun out there in a team which (dare I say it) looks competitive again. The Fields may be gold for a little while, but with more receiving weapons, just imagine what this team could become.
Devante Adams (LV) – 10rec/146yds/2tds 37pts
Adams had an awful week 8, but that can mostly be attributed to an illness he suffered from all week essentially relegating him to a decoy. This week he was back to being dominant and seemed comfortable against a Jags defence that had no answer for him. That being said the offence did have an answer as the Raider lost, again.
Surprise Packages:
Jeff Wilson (MIA) – 9rsh/51yds + 3rec/21yds/1td 16pts
Wilson was one of the deadline day trades coming over from the new home of CMC San Francisco. He’s proven over many year that he’s a very capable pass catching RB2 and this game epitomised that.
Garret Wilson (NYJ) – 8rec/92yds + 1rsh/7yds 17pts
Just when you think the Jets have lost their last hope of being a respectable offence, they go out and beat the Bills. After earlier having a week of the disappointments section being all Wilsons, this is almost a section of surprising Wilsons as Garret had a good game just without getting into the endzone.
Cole Kmet (CHI) – 5rec/41yds/2tds + 2rsh/9yds 22pts
Cast your mind back to pre-season and your fantasy drafts. Was Cole Kmet a potential star and a late round Tight End you were targeting? Then after a few weeks was he on your waiver wire? Well after a season which can only be seen as a disappointment, this was the week he broke out and put up a monster score. 2TDs does help that but now the Bears seem to be unlocking their offence, Kmet is just one of the potential beneficiaries.
Disappointments:
Matt Stafford (LAR) – 13cmp/165yds/1td/0int + 2rsh/-1yds 10pts
Stafford and the Rams offence as a whole (if you exclude Cooper Kupp) has been a huge disappointment. This is the 5th time in 8 games where Stafford has scored below 11pts but this was his lowest passing total to date. Being sacked 4 times won’t help either but there is very little running game and the O-Line is just trash.
Alvin Kamara (NO) – 9rsh/30yds + 3rec/32yds 9pts
The likes of Pacheco, Benjamin and Herbert are not outright RB1s on their team and should be expected to put up big numbers weekly. Clyde Edward-Helaire and David Montgomery have had their workloads dropped in recent weeks. D’Onta Foreman may be the Panthers RB1 but that is still the Panthers. I mentioned AJ Dillon last week and Aaron Jones was injured. So in the end I have gone for Alvin Kamara. Baltimore just shut him down and there was no other obvious reason he’d scor under 10pts.
Drake London (ATL) – 3rec/23yds/1fumlost 2pts
His name was here 2 weeks ago and I see no reason to remove it. Drake London had everything going for him early on in the season, but the Atlanta offence does not look good.
Waiver Wire Pickups:
BYE Weeks: BAL, CIN, NE, NYJ
QB – Justin Fields (CHI) – It seems like Fields has become a plausible every week starter and most leagues are going to have a manager looking for a solution to their QB situation. If you feel like it’s a gamble you’re willing to take, then enjoy the ride.
Other QB Options – Goff @CHI, D.Jones vsHOU, Carr vsIND..
RB – Chuba Hubbard (CAR) – The coaching changes in Carolina and some rest due to injury may give Hubbard a route to touches this week against a porous Atlanta defence. Most good running backs are owned but if a Patterson, Dillon, Herbert or Jeff Wilson are out there, go grab them.
WR – Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG) – Josh Palmer and Alan Lazard could be out there in some leagues and they would be a major priority but if not then Wan’Dale Robinson fresh off the Giants bye week could be a handy addition. Michael Gallup, Nico Collins and Mecole Hardman could also prove useful if you’re stretched.
TE – Greg Dulcich (DEN) – Dulcich had 3 consecutive weeks of 10+ PPR points before the bye and looked to be an answer for the Broncos and at about 40% ownership due to the bye, grab him now while you can. Cole Kmet could become an options and Juwan Johnson seems to be taking the receiving Tight End work in New Orleans.
DST Options – Giants vsHOU, Titans vsDEN, Raiders vsIND, Rams vsARI.