Every week we’ll bring you The Primer, a deep dive into every fantasy-relevant player from every NFL game of the week. You can find the full weekly Primer here. Below we dive into a few notable players ahead of this weekend’s games.
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Waiver Wire Picks
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football Outlook
Jaylen Waddle: Waddle enjoyed a banner Week 8 with his first 100-yard receiving outing and another receiving score. He is the WR20 in fantasy, ranking 29th in red zone targets (none since Week 6). Waddle has a 21.3% target share, a 25.5% air-yard share, 2.67 YPRR, and a 23.4% first-read share. Since Week 5, the Chiefs have utilized man coverage at the fifth-highest rate (33.9%). Against man, Waddle has a 20% target share, a 25.7% air-yard share, 2.25 YPRR, and a 20% first-read share. If Sneed follows Hill, then Waddle should eat against Jaylen Watson (70% catch rate and 130.8 passer rating). If Sneed doesn’t shadow, Waddle will run about 73% of his routes against Sneed (61.1% catch rate and 68.8 passer rating) and Watson. Since moving to more man coverage, the Chiefs have allowed the fourth-highest PPR points per target (since Week 5). Week 9 Positional Value: WR2
Dameon Pierce: Pierce rebounded last week to lead the team in snaps at the running back position, but Houston has turned this into a coffin-nail three-way committee. Pierce’s pass-game involvement has been vaporized, as he has three targets over his last four games. Since Week 4, he has averaged 17.8 touches and 67.6 total yards. Among 65 qualifying backs, Pierce is 47th in explosive run rate and 41st in yards after contact per attempt. Tampa Bay isn’t a great matchup if your main source of fantasy production is rushing. They have limited backs to the tenth-lowest explosive run rate, the 11th-lowest rushing touchdown rate, and the fifth-lowest missed tackles per attempt. Pierce also missed Wednesday’s practice with an ankle issue. Week 9 Positional Value: RB3
Taysom Hill: Hill remains an integral part of this offense with 44-60% of the snaps played over the last three weeks. Between rushing and receiving, he has averaged nine touches and 65.4 total yards per game since Week 6 while also kicking in 16 passing yards per game. Overall, this season, he is the TE14 in fantasy points per game, but since Week 6, he is the TE2 behind only Travis Kelce. Week 9 Positional Value: TE1
Amari Cooper: Cooper is the WR39 in fantasy, garnering a 23.2% target share, a 43.1% air-yard share, and a 30.9% first-read share (2.10 YPRR). Arizona has the tenth-highest rate of zone coverage this season (75.3%). Against zone, Cooper’s air-yard share has increased to 45.3%, but his fantasy points per route run have slightly dipped from 0.37 to 0.33. His numbers have stayed pretty consistent, so I’m not worried about his ability to produce against zone. Arizona has allowed the fourth-highest PPR points per target to perimeter wide receivers and the eighth-most receiving touchdowns (tied). Week 9 Positional Value: Volume WR2/3
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