Who To Start And Sit In Week 9 Of The 2016 Fantasy Football Season

 

Take look at the fantasy points scored by position after 8 weeks. Isaiah Crowell is RB9. Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper are WR5 and WR6 and they play on the same team. Marvin Jones is WR8 even though he hasn’t scored more than 9 points since Week 3. Jack Doyle is TE8! Jack Doyle! It really puts things into perspective. We’ve come a long way since the draft.

Below is a list of guys I’m focused on for one reason or another this week. They’re especially important in daily fantasy sports (DFS) leagues like DraftKings. If you’re curious about guys you don’t see listed here, you can always find me on Twitter (@MrT_BroBible) to ask questions, but remember to mention league specifics like PPR. You can always ask about trades as well.

You Know Who You Should Start?

 

 Jameis Winston (QB – Tampa Bay)

Thursday night games are notorious for not being that high scoring, but Winston dropped 25 points on Atlanta in Week 1 and the Falcons are giving up the second most points to quarterbacks this year.

Antone Smith (RB – Tampa Bay)

We’re all in on the Buccaneers this week. Realistically it’s just because Smith has the opportunity for 15 touches and he’s a Dirk Koetter guy from their time together in Atlanta. The over/under is 51, so there are points to be had.

Darren Sproles (RB – Philadelphia)

Regardless of any coach-speak about who’s the starter, Sproles dominated touches over Ryan Matthews last week. The Giants linebackers are slow and non-athletic creating another great opportunity for Sproles.

Donte Moncrief (WR – Indianapolis)

The good part of Moncrief’s injury is that it wasn’t too his legs, so he was able to stay in shape. It showed with a nice 10 point game last week that could’ve been bigger had a touchdown not been called back for holding. Green Bay’s secondary is still in shambles and Indianapolis will be chasing points.

Stefon Diggs (WR – Minnesota)

As Rotoworld’s Evan Silva has noted this week, Diggs has been great when he hasn’t been on the injury report. He’s dropped double digits in his three healthy games and been mediocre otherwise. Now he’s healthy again and takes on a Lions team missing its best cornerback.

Austin Hooper (TE – Atlanta)

There are a lot of good tight ends on bye this week and we’ve already touched on the over/under in the game tonight. Hooper’s a third round pick with some pedigree and caught five balls after Jacob Tamme got hurt last week.

Other guys you should start: Dak Prescott (QB – Dallas), Marcus Mariota (QB – Tennessee), Ryan Tannehill (QB – Miami), Sam Bradford (QB – Minnesota), Colin Kaepernick (QB – San Francisco), Devontae Booker (RB – Denver), Mark Ingram (RB – New Orleans), Ty Montgomery (RB/WR – Green Bay), Charcandrick West (RB – Kansas City), Theo Riddick (RB – Detroit), Tim Hightower (RB – New Orleans), Terrelle Pryor Sr. (WR – Cleveland), Allen Robinson (WR – Jacksonville), Davante Adams (WR – Green Bay), Jarvis Landry (WR – Miami), Michael Thomas (WR – New Orlenas), Tyrell Williams (WR – San Diego), Kenny Britt (WR – Los Angeles), Dontrelle Inman (WR – San Diego), Quincy Enunwa (WR – New York Jets), Davante Parker (WR – Miami), Mohamed Sanu (WR – Atlanta), Dennis Pitta (TE – Baltimore), Eric Ebron (TE – Detroit), Virgil Green (TE – Denver)

 

You Know Who You Should Sit?

 

Derek Carr (QB – Oakland)

Phil Rivers had an alright game against Denver last week and he still only had 12 points. That Denver pass defense allows an average of 11.3 fantasy points per game to QBs. Tough week with all the byes, but maybe you have a decent alternative.

Frank Gore (RB – Indianapolis)

Gore takes on Green Bay this week who ranks 4th in run defense DVOA on Football Outsiders and allows the fewest points to fantasy running backs. The Colts tend to abandon the run quickly and that’ll likely be the case when they don’t succeed running the ball early against the Packers.

Matt Asiata (RB – Minnesota)

As we say on Twitter, Asiata is #notgood. Asiata had a great matchup against the Bears and put up a strong seven points. Now he gets the Lions, who are so bad against the pass that Minnesota figures to focus on executing that area of the game more so than running.

Michael Crabtree (WR – Oakland)

Crabtree produced nothing in his two games against Denver last year and Denver’s cornerbacks are ready to lock him down again. It won’t matter if Talib is out or not.

Marvin Jones (WR – Detroit)

The aforementioned WR8 has been poop since his big game and he’ll continue to be poop against the Vikings. The only touchdown Alshon Jeffery scored last week was when Xavier Rhodes was off the field, but Rhodes shapes up to play this weekend. Jones isn’t as athletic as Jeffery in terms of raw talent so he won’t be able to produce the yardage either.

Julius Thomas (TE – Jacksonville)

Thomas is not a streaming option this week because the Chiefs absolutely lock down the TE position. They’ve only allowed one touchdown to TEs this year and have held the position at 66 yards or less in every game.

Other guys you should sit: Matthew Stafford (QB – Detroit), Russell Wilson (QB – Seattle), Eli Manning (QB – New York Giants), Ben Roethlisberger (QB – Pittsburgh), Terrance West (RB – Baltimore), Isaiah Crowell (RB – Cleveland), Ryan Mathews (RB – Philadelphia), Rashad Jennings (RB – New York Giants), Mike Gillislee (RB – Buffalo), Doug Baldwin (WR – Seattle), Willie Snead (WR – New Orleans), Golden Tate (WR – Detroit), Travis Benjamin (WR – San Diego), Sammie Coates (WR – Pittsburgh), Jack Doyle (TE – Indianapolis), Jesse James (TE – Pittsburgh), Charles Clay (TE – Buffalo)