Our Week 9 fantasy football start and sit recommendations are now live with a whole lot to look at after the first eight weeks of the NFL season and following the trade deadline.
Sportsnaut’s recommendations were a mixed bag last week with us believing that Joe Burrow and Dak Prescott would struggle. That obviously did not happen.
On the other hand, we were pretty dead on with Alavin Kamara as a starter for the New Orleans Saints. His two touchdowns did those who followed this advice well.
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Without further ado, here’s our fantasy football start and sit analysis for Week 9 of the NFL season.
Week 9 fantasy football start and sit: Quarterbacks
Start
Derek Carr, New Orleans Saints
Don’t look now, but Carr is coming off three conscutive 300-yard games. The veteran just put up his best performance of the season in a win over the Indianapolis Colts, completing 19-of-27 passes for 310 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
- Derek Carr stats (2023): 65% completion, 1,910 yards, 8 TD, 4 INT
Carr now gets to go up against a Bears defense that has yielded 17 passing touchdowns compared to just six interceptions in eight games this season. Opposing quarterbacks are also averaging 270 passing yards against this unit. Last week alone, Chargers star Justin Herbert completed 31-of-40 passes for 298 yards with three touchdowns in a win over the Bears.
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Prescott is coming off a season-best performance in which he completed 25-of-31 passes for 304 yards with four touchdowns against a previously stout Los Angeles Rams defense. With Dallas coming off its bye for that game, one has to wonder whether a week off helped Prescott and its offense.
We’ll find out first-hand in Week 9 against the Philadelphia Eagles in one of the best games on the slate. Philadelphia has surprisingly yielded the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks on the season (16 TD, 4 INT). With Dallas likely having to score a lot to keep pace, look for a huge statistical performance from Prescott in Week 9.
Sit
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
Despite Seattle’s team-wide success (5-2 record), Smith has been pedestrian from a fantasy perspective this season. He heads into Week 9 ranked 23rd among quarterbacks after finishing in the top five a year ago. Over the past three games, Smith has also accounted for four touchdowns against five interceptions.
We’re not liking Smith’s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9. They’ve yielded the fewest fantasy points to quarteracks on the season (6 TD, 8 INT). That includes less than 210 passing yards per game.
Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Was Herbert’s 298-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Chicago Bears last week an outlier? We don’t think so. He’s been darn good this season (1,890 passing yards, 13 TD, 4 INT). Instead, it’s all about the matchups when deciding to recommend benching him for Week 9.
Los Angeles is slated to take on a tough New York Jets defense in Week 9. New York has given up eight touchdowns compared to eight interceptions in seven games this season. Opposing signal callers have also put up just 1,378 passing yards in those seven games. Sit Herbert, and thank us later.
Week 9 fantasy football start and sit: Running backs
Start
Zack Moss, Indianapolis Colts
It’s absolutely shocking that Moss heads into Week 9 ranked second in the NFL in rushing behind Christian McCaffrey. What the former third-round pick out of Utah has done for Indianapolis is amazing. This, despite the fact that 2021 NFL rushing champion Jonathan Taylor is in the mix with the Colts.
As the fourth-best fantasy running back on the season, Moss has a plus-level matchup against the Carolina Panthers. The one-win team is giving up an average of 4.7 yards per rush with a whopping 14 touchdowns on the ground. There is absolutely no reason to avoid him in Week 9.
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
Regardless of the Giants’ quarterback situation, it’s become clear that Brian Daboll and Co. have made it a decision to rely a whole lot on Barkley in the backfield. With Daniel Jones sidelined last week and Tyrod Taylor exiting in the first half, Barkley touched the ball a whopping 39 times. In fact, he’s racked up 91 touches for 344 total yards over the past three games.
- Saquon Barkley stats (2023): 412 rushing yards, 19 receptions, 87 yards, 499 total yards, 3 TD
Don’t expect this to change Week 9 with New York facing a Las Vegas Raiders team that was absolutely torched by Detroit Lions rookie Jahmyr Gibbs last week (189 total yards). Expect Barkley to go off against that weak defensive front in Sin City.
Sit
Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys
As noted above, the Cowboys are going to have to score to keep up with Philadelphia in Week 9. It’s also not like the Eagles’ defense has allowed much of anything on the ground through the first eight weeks.
In fact, this unit has been absolutely dominant in that regard (416 rushing yards on 117 attempts through eight games). No back has broke out against the Eagles thus far on the season. Despite Pollard’s status as a back-end RB2 in fantasy football this season, we’re not buying him as a play.
Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings
Rookie quarterback Jaren Hall will likely get the start for Minnesota in Week 9 with Kirk Cousins (Achilles) lost for the remainder of the season. It’s in this that we expect the Atlanta Falcons to stack the box against the run, impacting what Mattison can do in the process.
While Mattison has performed better of late, he is averaging just 3.7 yards per rush on the season. Minnesota has also been working running back Cam Akers into the mix in a big way recently, too. With Atlanta ranking in the top five of the NFL against fantasy running backs this season, Mattison is a must sit.
Week 9 fantasy football start and sit: Wide receivers
Start
CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
Noticing a theme here? We’re expecting the Cowboys to throw the ball a whole heck of a lot against Philadelphia in Week 9. If so, Lamb is an obvious play in our fantasy football start and sit for Sunday. The Pro Bowler caught 12-of-14 targets for 158 yards with two touchdowns against the Rams last week.
- CeeDee Lamb stats (2023): 46 receptions, 633 yards, 3 TD
Dealing with injuries and inconsistency at cornerback this season, Philadelphia has yielded 136 receptions for 1,537 yards and 12 touchdowns to wide receivers in eight games. Players at this position are catching 63% of the passes thrown in this direction against the Eagles in 2023. You can do the math from there.
DeAndre Hopkins, Tennessee Titans
Hopkins is coming off a brilliant three-touchdown performance with rookie Will Levis tossing him the rock last week. The future Hall of Famer is picking it up big time in his first season with the Titans (31 receptions, 504 yards).
There is no reason to believe this will change heading into a short week against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday. Surprisingly, Pittsburgh has been bad defending wide receivers through seven games (95 receptions, 1,367 yards). Look for Nuke to pick up where he left off last week.
Sit
Marquise Brown, Arizona Cardinals
It’s looking more and more like rookie fifth-round pick Clayton Tune will get the start for Arizona in Week 9 against the Cleveland Browns. The Cardinals benched Joshua Dobbs before ultimately dealing him to the Minnesota Vikings ahead of the NFL trade deadline. Kyler Murray doesn’t seem ready to go just yet as he returns from a torn ACL.
What does this mean from a fantasy perspective? An inexperienced rookie making his first start against a stout Browns defense is not a recipe for success. Cleveland has yielded just a 51% catch rate to receivers through seven games. Again, the math is not hard here.
Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Evans has been tremendous from a fantasy perspective this season, ranking 12th among wide receivers. He’s been a consistent star thus far.
We’re just not buying it against a surprisingly stout Texans pass defense in Week 9. Houston has yielded the third-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers on the season. With Baker Mayfield’s recent struggles under center, Evans is a hard sell in Week 9.
Week 9 fantasy football start and sit: Tight ends
Start
Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles
As the eighth-best fantasy tight end thus far this season, Goedert has been a must start pretty much every week. We’re not expecting that to change in Week 9 against a Dallas Cowboys defense that has yielded a 73% catch rate to tight ends on the season.
Sit
Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
Why sit the second-best fantasy tight end? Well, there is a couple things to look at here. First off, we’re talking DFS contests, not standard fantasy leagues. Secondly, the Seattle Seahawks have yielded just one passing touchdowns to tight ends on the season. Look for Lamar Jackson to target other skill-position players in this one.