Week 9 Fantasy Football Starts & Sits (2021)

Woaaaaah we are halfway thereeeee. Hopefully, your fantasy football team isn’t living on a prayer. Last week was a doozy. Did anyone see the power combo of Mike White and Michael Carter coming out of the New York Jets this week? I sure didn’t. And we have a potential season-ending injury to Derrick Henry, Calvin Ridley stepping away from his mental health, and Derrick Gore was the running back to roster in Kansas City last weekend. Woof. Now, we head to Week 9 Fantasy Football matchups!

Week 9 Fantasy Football Byes: Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Football Team.

Here are your 4-EYED Starts & Sits of the Week!

Quarterbacks

Start: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers against the Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs defense is a mess. They got to New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones when it counted last week, but it was nearly too little too late. The Chiefs couldn’t look more different from the AFC winning team last year and Aaron Rodgers is prepared to pick apart their defense. Rodgers should have all of his weapons back other than Robert Tonyan who tore his ACL so look for Rodgers to pick apart this defense.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Starts:

Justin Herbert against the Philadelphia Eagles, Joe Burrow against the Cleveland Browns, and Matthew Stafford against the Tennessee Titans.

Sit: Carson Wentz, Indianapolis Colts against the New York Jets

The Jets seem like a good defense to throw a quarterback against, but they are actually fairly stingy. They are giving up the seventh-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. The matchup aligns with Carson Wentz pretty well in that they both aren’t great. I do like Michael Pittman this week, but Wentz is going to have a mediocre game at best that isn’t going to make him worth using as a fill-in for Brady on bye.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Sits:

Trevor Lawrence against the Buffalo Bills, Matt Ryan against the New Orleans Saints, and Jimmy Garoppolo against the Arizona Cardinals.

Running Backs

Start: Cordarelle Patterson, Atlanta Falcons against the New Orleans Saints

It is still mindboggling how Patterson’s career has just taken off this year as someone on the Falcons has figured out how to use him. The Falcons lost their top receiver last year to a trade and their top receiver this year is stepping away to take care of his mental health (we here at Fantasy In Frames are very pro mental health, best wishes Calvin!) and so they are in need of some playmakers to step up. Hopefully, this just means an added workload for Patterson and they don’t just try to convert him back to a receiver. Either way, he should see an uptick in usage and should have a solid game this week.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Starts:

Zack Moss against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Myles Gaskin against the Houston Texans, and Devontae Booker against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Sit: Khalil Herbert, Chicago Bears against the Pittsburgh Steelers

Sometimes the workload isn’t everything it is cracked up to be. With 23 carries in the Bears’ last game and two targets, Herbert amassed a total of 68 yards. He had a solid outing in his previous two games, but he couldn’t get going consistently. This week, he and the Bears take on the Steelers. They are giving up the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. This will be a tough matchup and I don’t think Herbert bounces back this week.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Sits:

Chuba Hubbard against the New England Patriots, Mike Davis against the New Orleans Saints, and D’Ernest Johnson against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Wide Receivers

Start: Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers against the Arizona Cardinals

Samuel was my start of the week last week and he turned in the overall WR8 performance in half-PPR scoring formats. Samuel has played in seven games this season and has finished as a WR1 in four of those games. This week, he takes on the Cardinals who are giving up middle-of-the-road numbers to receivers. Samuel is getting the usage in the offense though so if he can stay healthy, he should be started.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Starts:

Diontae Johnson against the Chicago Bears, Brandin Cooks against the Miami Dolphins, and Michael Pittman Jr. against the New York Jets.

Sit: DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles against the Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers are giving up the second-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. Smith heads into Week 9 as the overall WR42 in half-PPR scoring formats. The Eagles’ offense quite literally runs through Jalen Hurts and he hasn’t shown that he is going to consistently put the ball in the air or accurately for that matter. Smith has had three straight games of fewer than nine fantasy points. Most recently against the Lions, he only caught one of three targets.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Sits:

Tyler Boyd against the Cleveland Browns, Jaylen Waddle against the Houston Texans, and Jakobi Meyers against the Carolina Panthers.

Tight Ends

Start: Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins against the Houston Texans

According to PFF, Gesicki is going to head into Week 9 with the third-most targets and receptions for a tight end in the NFL. The reason this is surprising is that in Week 1 he was only targeted twice and he didn’t catch either one. Gesicki has certainly worked to carve out a role for himself in this offense and he has shown that it doesn’t matter who is under center for the Dolphins, he is going to be involved. The Texans are also giving up the fourth-most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Starts:

Zach Ertz against the San Francisco 49ers, Albert Okwuegbunam against the Dallas Cowboys, and Kyle Pitts against the New Orleans Saints.

Sit: Mo Alie-Cox, Indianapolis Colts against the New York Jets

Alie-Cox has been brimming for a breakout, but Carson Wentz is holding him back. The days of Eric Ebron as a Colt bringing in double-digit touchdowns are gone and the gameplans just don’t seem to have Cox’s name anywhere on them. This offense runs through Jonathan Taylor (pun intended) and Michael Pittman has emerged as the pass-catcher to roster from this team.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Sits:

Cole Kmet against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Evan Engram against the Las Vegas Raiders, and C.J. Uzomah against the Cleveland Browns.

With IDP options being so plentiful in fantasy football, each week we’re going to list for you an option at each position with honorable mentions to help set your lineups with confidence.

Defensive Linemen

Start: Leonard Williams, New York Giants against the Las Vegas Raiders

Williams leads the Giants with seven sacks through eight games. He adds to that five quarterback hits and 14 hurries so he is making his presence felt in the backfield. Combine that with three straight games of at least 19 fantasy points and you get my start of the week for defensive linemen.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Starts:

Javon Hargrave against the Los Angeles Chargers, Haason Reddick against the New England Patriots, and Matt Judon against the Carolina Panthers.

Linebackers

Start: Denzel Perryman, Las Vegas Raiders against the New York Giants

Return of the Mack, return of the Mack. No no, not Khalil Mack to the Raiders. I’m talking about Perryman the tackle machine who is off bye, well-rested, and ready to get after it this week against the Giants. Perryman has 61 tackles on the season which is the second-most for any linebacker in the NFL. This dude is everywhere including in your starting LB spot for your fantasy league.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Starts:

Harold Landry against the Los Angeles Rams, De’Vondre Campbell against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Eric Kendricks against the Baltimore Ravens.

Defensive Backs

Start: Kenny Moore, Indianapolis Colts against the New York Jets

Well, it happened, Trevon Diggs didn’t get an interception so the insane streak is over and I had to find a new defensive back to start. enter Kenny Moore who leads all corners in tackles. He has had at least 12 fantasy points in each of his last four games and he will make that five this weekend.

Additional Week 9 Fantasy Football Starts:

Logan Ryan against the Las Vegas Raiders, Kyle Dugger against the Carolina Panthers, and Vonn Bell against the Cleveland Browns.