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    Pat Fitzmaurice | Fri, Nov 4th 2022, 6:40am EDT

Fitz’s Week 9 Rankings, Tiers & Start/Sit Advice (2022 Fantasy Football)

What fresh hell is this?

It’s bad enough that we’re in a dreaded six-team bye week — a byepocalypse, if you will. Further complicating matters is the large number of significant fantasy contributors whose status for Week 9 is up in the air due to injuries. Among those players: Jonathan Taylor, Mark Andrews, Keenan Allen and D’Andre Swift. (There are others, too.)

So let me issue a disclaimer: My rankings for Week 9 are going to be more fluid and more volatile than they are most weeks. The rankings you’ll find here are a snapshot of where things stood on Thursday night/Friday morning. But I’ll be doing a lot of updating before Sunday kickoff, so I recommend checking back here in the days to come.

As always, feel free to use these tiered rankings as a tiebreaker for your difficult lineup decisions. I’ll offer a few brief thoughts on some of the borderline start/sit guys and some other interesting cases.

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Fitz’s Fantasy Football Week 9 Rankings, Tiers & Start/Sit Advice

QUARTERBACKS

Check out Fitz’s quarterback rankings here

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 4

Tier 5

Let’s start with Tier 4, a rather complicated tier …

Justin Fields is on a heater. He’s averaged 23.3 fantasy points per game over the last three weeks, more than any other quarterback except Joe Burrow. Fields gets a Week 9 matchup against a Miami defense that’s given up the fourth-most passing yards and fifth-most fantasy points to QBs. Wheels up, right? Well … maybe. The passing volume has ticked up slightly for Fields. After throwing no more than 17 passes in any of his first three games, Fields has attempted at least 21 passes in each of his last five. Still, he hasn’t attempted more than 27 passes in any game this season. Fields is averaging 149.9 passing yards a game, and his season high is 208. His rushing numbers have been terrific lately — 34-230-2 in his last three games – but if Fields doesn’t come through as a runner, he’s probably going to disappoint. The ceiling is high, the floor low.

Aaron Rodgers is the QB17 in fantasy points per game – unfamiliar territory for a future walk-in Hall of Famer. A shortage of pass-catching weaponry isn’t helping, but Rodgers has not performed up to his usual standards. A matchup with the Lions is good for what ails you, though. Detroit has yielded the second-most fantasy points to QBs. The Lions are giving up 8.4 yards per pass attempt, and their opponent passer rating of 108.5 is one point lower than Patrick Mahomes‘ passer rating. WRs Allen Lazard and Christian Watson have been practicing this week and seem likely to play. We could see a more typical version of Rodgers this weekend.

Tom Brady has thrown three TD passes in his last four games, although he’s averaged 302.3 passing yards a game over than span. Brady has just one multiple-TD game in eight starts. It wouldn’t be absurd to bench Brady in a home matchup against a fairly stingy Rams pass defense.

It might not be a bad idea to keep Derek Carr on ice until the Las Vegas passing game starts clicking again. Carr has thrown three TD passes in his last four games and hasn’t topped 241 passing yards over that span. He’s been dealing with a back injury that may be contributing to his struggles. He was 15-of-26 for 101 yards against the Saints last week with no TDs and one INT — and the Saints were playing without ace CB Marshon Lattimore.

Streamer of the week: Taylor Heinicke, He’s been the QB13 and the QB8 in his two weeks as the Commanders’ starter. This week, Heinicke gets a home matchup against a Vikings defense that has allowed the seventh-most passing yards and ninth-most fantasy points to QBs.

RUNNING BACKS

Check out Fitz’s running back rankings here

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Jonathan Taylor is out with a low-ankle sprain, and Nyheim Hines was traded away this week, so Deon Jackson is the clear lead back for the Colts and a midrange RB2.

I’m ranking Jamaal Williams ahead of D’Andre Swift. “We probably gave Swift one too many carries,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said earlier this week. “We love Swift. Glad he’s out there, but he’s not back.” Here’s the frightening thing: Swift had only five carries in Week 8. And that was too many? That doesn’t bode well for Swift’s usage against the Packers this week. I have Williams RB13 and Swift RB 21. The lofty ranking for Williams has nothing to do with a revenge-game narrative in a matchup against Williams’ old team, the Packers. It has more to do with a good-RB-against-a-bad-run-defense narrative, not to mention the anticipation of a vigorous workload for Williams with Swift not 100%.

It’s been a frustrating season for A.J. Dillon enthusiasts. “Quadzilla” is RB36 in fantasy scoring. He’s averaging 55.5 yards from scrimmage and hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 1. Give him one more chance this week vs. a Lions defense that has given up a league-high 11 TD runs to running backs and has allowed the third-most fantasy points to RBs.

Cordarrelle Patterson is back at practice this week after missing four weeks with a knee injury. It’s not clear whether he’ll play Sunday against the Chargers, but if he does, it complicates the Atlanta backfield – which is a shame, because Tyler Allgeier could really eat in a matchup against the Chargers’ sieve-like run defense, and Caleb Huntley could take home a doggie bag. If Patterson is active, none of the Atlanta RBs would be safe starts.

I play in a boatload of leagues and don’t have Clyde Edwards-Helaire on a single roster. That’s not meant as a boast. CEH had a preseason expert consensus ranking of RB28 and is currently the RB21 in half-point PPR formats. He’s been fine. But, man, what a weekly dilemma. Edwards-Helaire has gotten double-digit carries once this season. He’s played 42% of Kansas City’s offensive snaps as part of a three-man committee. But CEH has six touchdowns in seven games. The Chiefs are 12.5-point favorites against the Titans this week in a game with a Vegas total of 45.5. which means the Chiefs have an implied total of 29 points. They’re a good bet to score 3-4 touchdowns, and CEH probably has better than a 50/50 chance of finding the end zone. If he doesn’t, though, he’s likely to post a disappointing fantasy numbers against a Titans defense that’s giving up only 75.4 rushing yards per game to RBs and has allowed only one TD run by a running back all season.

Gus Edwards seems unlikely to play this week due to a hamstring injury. With Edwards tweaking his hammy last week vs. the Buccaneers, Kenyan Drake played a 58% snap share and had 7-62-0 rushing and 4-5-1 receiving, good for an RB15 finish on the week. Drake isn’t anyone’s long-term solution at RB, but he has big play speed and a playable Week 9 matchup against a Saints run defense that’s been less staunch than usual.

The Washington backfield appears to have swung back in Antonio Gibson‘s favor. Gibson out-snapped Robinson 22-15 and out-touched him 14-8 last weekend in the Commanders’ 17-16 win over the Colts. Robinson’s comeback from gunshot wounds is a great story, but he hasn’t shown much juice in the four games he’s played, averaging 3.2 yards per carry. He’s drawn two targets in those four games, shrinking his value even more in PPR leagues. Positive game scripts — i.e., games in which Washington holds a comfortable lead — could give Robinson the touch volume he needs to have fantasy impact, but how many of those games are the Commanders going to have? The more versatile Gibson is a high-end RB3 this week. Robinson is a midrange RB3.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Check out Fitz’s wide receiver rankings here

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 4

Tier 5

Tier 6

Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd didn’t exactly smash in the Bengals’ first game without injured WR Ja’Marr Chase. Higgins had 3-49-1 in Cincinnati’s 32-13 loss to Cleveland, averting a disastrous game with a 41-yard TD catch midway through the fourth quarter. Boyd had 3-38-1 and was having a quiet game until he caught a deflected 13-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter. The Browns’ pass rush was all over Bengals QB Joe Burrow, making it hard for him to do any business. Burrow should have more time this week against a Carolina defense that has recorded 12 sacks this season and ranks 22nd in pressure rate. Expect better things from Higgins and Boyd in Week 9.

Josh Palmer sits atop Tier 4, and I was close to putting him at the end of Tier 3. With Keenan Allen (hamstring) and Mike Williams (ankle) almost certainly out this week, Palmer becomes the de facto No. 1 receiver for the Chargers this week in Atlanta. The Falcons have given up the most receiving yards to WRs (1,720) and the second-most TD catches (12). They’re going to be without their second-best cornerback, Casey Hayward (shoulder), and they’ll likely be without their best cornerback, A.J. Terrell (hamstring), who was out last week and hadn’t practiced this week as of Thursday. With Allen out in Week 6, Palmer drew 12 targets and finished with 9-57-0. Palmer is almost a must-start for those rostering him.

Remember when Jakobi Meyers couldn’t find the end zone? He’s had three TD catches in his last four games. Meyer’s is sporting a 77.8 catch rate in 2022 and is averaging a career-high 9.2 yards per target. The dude is a baller who deserved to be in starting lineups every week.

For the first five weeks of the season, JuJu Smith-Schuster was the WR55 in half-point PPR, averaging 6.9 fantasy points per game. In Weeks 6-7 he was the WR2, averaging 20.9 fantasy points per game and posting stat lines of 5-113-1 and 7-124-1. Ride the wave with JuJu against a Titans defense that has allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to WRs.

The Ravens’ Devin Duvernay gets a value bump this week and for the rest of the season based on the unfortunate news that teammate Rashod Bateman will miss the rest of the season with a foot injury. Duvernay won the Texas state championship in the 100-meter dash when he was in high school, and his blazing speed shows up on tape. He was used as a short-area receiver early in his career, averaging 8.9 yards per catch over his first two seasons. But he’s averaging 13.0 yards per catch this year and has an average depth of target of 10.5 yards. Now he just needs more targets. Duvernay has been targeted 32 times in eight games. Duvernay is an appealing fantasy option this week (and even more appealing if Andrews is out with a shoulder injury).

It’s been sad to see Hunter Renfrow fall out of fantasy relevance. After a breakthrough 103-1,038-9 season last year, he has 18-166-0 in five games this year. Davante Adams‘ arrival was destined to put a dent in Renfrow’s usage, and injuries have been an issue, too, as Renfrow has dealt with a hip injury and a concussion. He has a good individual matchup this week against Jaguars slot corner Darious Williams, whose play has really fallen off, but it would still be hard to trust Renfrow in lineups even in a six-team bye week.

TIGHT ENDS

Check out Fitz’s tight end rankings here

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Tier 4

Tier 5

Mark Andrews investors will have to monitor his status carefully over the weekend. He tried to play through a shoulder injury in Week 8 and didn’t make it to halftime. Andrews hadn’t practiced this week as of Thursday. To make things even trickier for Andrews stakeholders, he doesn’t play until Monday night, and he faces a Saints defense that has allowed the fewest fantasy points to TEs. Ravens rookie Isaiah Likely is a playable midrange TE2 if Andrews is active and will move into TE1 territory if Andrews is out.

Start Taysom Hill this week and throughout November. Saints RB Mark Ingram is expected to miss at least 3-4 weeks with a sprained MCL. Ingram only played five snaps before going down in Week 8, so Hill played 23 snaps (tying a season high) in what amounted to a backup RB role behind Alvin Kamara. Hill had a season-high 10 carries for 61 yards, caught an 11-yard pass and completed a pass for two yards. Hill will continue to be busy with Ingram out, making him a top-five tight end at least until Ingram returns.

With WRs Keenan Allen and Mike Williams out for the Chargers, TE Gerald Everett has an enhanced target outlook in Week 9. He faces the Chargers, who have been terrible at covering WRs and haven’t been much better at covering TEs. Atlanta has given up the second-most receptions (54) and the third-most receiving yards (552) to tight ends.

Tyler Conklin averaged 8.0 targets a game in Weeks 1-3 with Joe Flacco at quarterback for the Jets, then 3.5 targets a game in Weeks 4-7 with Zach Wilson at QB. But Conklin saw a season-high 10 targets against the Patriots in Week 8 and came through with a 6-79-2 performance that made him the top-scoring TE for the week. With WR Corey Davis hurt and WR Elijah Moore in some sort of weird purgatory following his trade demands a few weeks ago, Conklin’s short-term target outlook gets a bump, but the targets are still coming from the ineffective Wilson, and Conklin has a difficult Week 9 matchup vs. a Bills defense that hasn’t given up a touchdown to a tight end this season.

Don’t expect much from Minnesota’s new tight end, T.J. Hockenson, whom the Vikings acquired at the trade deadline. Not only does Hockenson figure to play limited snaps in his first game with his new team, but he’ll be facing a Washington defense that’s been smothering TEs all year. The Commanders have allowed 23 catches, 226 yards and one touchdown to tight ends.

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