Not exactly the best start to week 9 for all fantasy players and football fans. Derrick Henry might be out for the rest of the season and Henry Ruggs III’s future is in question with the recent news involving him. Nevertheless, week 9 has plenty of good games and matchups that I love and hate.
LOVE
Hunter Renfrow – With the unfortunate news involving Ruggs, all the other Raiders receivers will get a slight boost in production. I expect Derek Carr to dump the ball off more to the short and intermediate routes and Renfrow is the perfect recipient of those targets.
Jerry Jeudy – The Cowboys defense has been very opportunistic and have shut down the run. The passing defense is a different story and the big plays allowed. Jeudy feels like a better play with his ability to work inside and out and needed that game last Sunday to shake the rust off after coming off injured reserve.
Mike Gesicki – The Houston Texans are fourth worst in yards given up to tight ends, and Gesicki has been one of the better players in fantasy at the position. This is the perfect opportunity to bounce back after only doing okay versus the Bills.
Kirk Cousins – Cousins has been decent this season, currently ranked 13th in most formats at his position. His next game is against a Ravens defense, who average the most passing yards given up per game, but are middle of the pack in passing touchdowns allowed per game with less than two. I still expect Cousins to throw a bunch since Baltimore is ranked second best in run defense.
Najee Harris – Harris is the bell cow of this Steelers offense and is one of the few hopes this team has to keep them alive with Ben Roethlisberger a shell of himself. The Chicago Bears are fifth worst in the league averaging four and a half yards per carry allowed and one rushing touchdown given up per game.
HATE
Ryan Tannehill – Von Miller has just been traded to the Rams. The Titans are traveling to play in Los Angeles. Jalen Ramsey will be on AJ Brown all game. Derrick Henry will likely be out for the rest of the season and Julio Jones might not play either as he still deals with a hamstring injury. Still spells disaster for Tannehill and the Titans offense.
Marquez Callaway – Saints playmakers have been pretty pedestrian outside of Alvin Kamara, and this was before the Jameis Winston injury. Now that he’s out for the year, I don’t want to start, let alone touch any Saints players. Even though their next opponent is the Falcons, the future of this Saints offense is just one big question mark.
Cordarrelle Patterson – I don’t care for this matchup at all. The New Orleans run defense is now first in the league and will be leaned on with the uncertainty at quarterback for them. Patterson is a good option catching out the backfield but the Saints linebacker core is persistent at negating run after the catch.
Kyle Pitts – I don’t like having two players on the same team on the list but with Calvin Ridley parting with the team because of personal reasons, the Saints will look to copy what the Panthers did last Sunday and key in on Pitts. Malcolm Jenkins and Demario Davis will look to make it another tough game for the rookie tight end.
Michael Carter – Carter had a huge game against the Bengals last Sunday, but this matchup is a little more tough and is on a short week. The Colts are the 11th best run defense in terms of yards given up and have given up the fewest rushing touchdowns this season, only allowing two.