Week 9 has given us plenty to dissect from a huge list of studs and duds, with surprise names in both categories. Perhaps most shocking is seeing four different Houston Texans in the top-12 for total fantasy production, as C.J. Stroud (QB – Texans) lead Houston onto a 39-37 overtime win against Tampa Bay, producing monster outings for Tank Dell (WR – Texans) , Dalton Schultz (TE – Texans), and Noah Brown (WR – Texans).
Other stud performances will be revealed in this article, along with the duds, which were filled with high draft capital assets like Cooper Kupp (WR – Rams), Bijan Robinson (RB – Falcons), and Travis Kelce (TE – Chiefs). There was quite a bit of scoring in Week 9 across the board, leading to a huge disparity in fantasy performances depending on how fantasy managers opted to construct their lineups. The return of Byes, plus constant injuries, has forced most of us into making some lineup decisions that blew up in our face. However, those bold enough to put in unproven players in a plus-matchup, or simply out of necessity due to lack of depth, may have won their Week 9 matchups with production from unsung fantasy football heroes.
A few quick takeaways on the state of the league as we enter Week 10. Kansas City relied on its defense to contain Miami in Germany during a 21-14 win, as the Dolphins continue to falter against quality competition. The Pittsburgh Steelers find ways to win despite an inconsistent offense, sitting at 5-3 in a loaded AFC North division. Meanwhile, Minnesota had late-game heroics from Josh Dobbs (QB – Vikings), their newly signed quarterback at the trade deadline, who rallied to beat Atlanta on the road to bump the Vikings into a 5-4 record. Cleveland blanked Clayton Tune and the Cardinals 27-0, the Rams fell apart without Matthew Stafford (QB – Rams) against a bad Green Bay team, and the New Orleans Saints continue to use Taysom Hill (QB/TE – Saints) as a jack-of-all trades to win games. We were treated to an instant classic between Dallas and Philadelphia, with Jalen Hurts (QB – Eagles) doing just enough to outplay Dak Prescott (QB – Cowboys) in a 28-23 win. The Baltimore Ravens smothered Seattle 37-3 for their second statement win in three weeks, while the Las Vegas Raiders got a boost from firing its coaching staff in a 30-6 rout of the Giants. We saw Joe Burrow (QB – Bengals) outplay Josh Allen (QB – Bills) yet again on Sunday night, throwing for 348 yards and a pair of touchdowns on a night where Allen made more mistakes and played in a one-dimensional offense.
NFL fantasy analyst Matt MacKay is back to give us his latest Week 9 studs and duds using half-PPR scoring to determine whether the production seen on this slate is worrisome or just an outlier performance.
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Studs
C.J. Stroud (QB – Texans)
Stroud’s OROY odds skyrocketed after his outing against Tampa Bay in Week 9. The Texans’ No. 2 overall draft pick accounted for 470 passing yards and five touchdowns, without committing a single turnover, in a 39-37 overtime win over the Buccaneers. 41.8 fantasy points led the league at every position. It was good to see Stroud bounce back from three consecutive sub 20 point outings with this explosive burst. A road matchup against the Bengals could see Stroud regress to the mean, but he’s clearly proven himself as more than a streaming quarterback with a decent floor and massive ceiling.
Rachaad White (RB – Buccaneers)
Rachaad White has come to life for fantasy managers in his past three games, recording his best game of the season against Houston in Week 9, finishing with 25.9 fantasy points. White turned 20 carries into 73 yards and two touchdowns, while catching four passes for an additional 46 receiving yards. White has virtually no competition for touches in the Bucs’ backfield, so treat him as a mid-range RB2 heading into what appears to be an increasingly favorable matchup against the Titans’ 14th-ranked defense against fantasy running backs in Week 10.
Josh Jacobs (RB – Raiders)
All it took to unlock Josh Jacobs was firing Josh McDaniels. The Raiders’ RB1 handled 26 carries for 98 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a favorable matchup against the Giants, reaching 21.8 fantasy points without earning a single target. Jacobs gets the Jets in Week 10, who are a top-eight fantasy running back matchup, so keep Jacobs locked into fantasy lineups as a high-end RB2 with RB1 upside.
Tank Dell (WR – Texans)
There were multiple Texans that feasted in Week 9, but rookie wideout Tank Dell led all Houston skilled players, churning out six receptions for 114 yards and two touchdowns on 11 targets. Stroud vouched for Dell to Houston’s front office and it’s been largely a success to this point of the season. Dell has two games with over 20 fantasy points this season, but his floor is pretty low, with four games under seven fantasy points, so Dell is a boom-or-bust WR3 with WR1 upside moving into a road matchup against Cincinnati, who is the 13th toughest unit against fantasy wideouts.
CeeDee Lamb (WR – Cowboys)
After logging three games under 10 fantasy points in the first five weeks of the season, CeeDee Lamb has taken off, recording back-to-back games with at least 11 receptions and 158 receiving yards. Lamb wound up the overall WR3 in Week 10 even without a touchdown, hauling in 11 of 16 targets for 191 receiving yards. Lamb has silenced most of his critics about his ability to be a true WR1 and the lack of talent and depth within the Cowboys’ offense should keep him firmly in fantasy WR1 territory against the Giants in Week 10.
Dalton Schultz (TE – Texans)
This will likely be the only team we have three Houston players in the studs section, but we need to give credit to Dalton Schultz. After posting two receptions for five yards against Carolina in Week 8, Schultz exploded with 10-130-1 on 11 targets against Tampa Bay in Week 9. His production obviously hinges on Stroud’s performance under center, and we won’t get 470 yards and five touchdowns every game, but Schultz’ role in Houston’s offense is good enough to lock him into lineups as a low-end TE1 with top-five upside at the position.
Duds
Geno Smith (QB – Seahawks)
Baltimore’s elite defense kept Geno Smith and Seattle’s offense in the cellar, as Smith logged a QB28 performance in Week 9. We’ve seen Detroit and Seattle both get routed on the road against the Ravens in the span of three weeks. Smith has just one game over 20 fantasy points this season, which came back in Week 2. Since that occurred, the Seahawks’ QB1 hasn’t surpassed 15 fantasy points and relies on the run game to bail them out. Smith can be benched for more enticing streaming options, but a plus-matchup against Washington in Week 10 could see Seattle’s QB1 get close to 20 points, making him a high-end QB2 with low-end QB1 upside for one more game.
Bijan Robinson (RB – Falcons)
Bijan Robinson’s usage has many fantasy managers struggling to understand head coach Arthur Smith’s decision-making process. Robinson saw 11 carries compared to Tyler Allgeier’s (RB – Falcons) 12 carries against Minnesota, despite averaging 4.6 YPC versus 3.2 for Allgeier. Robinson caught two of four targets for eight receiving yards, but now, he’s scored less than 15 fantasy points in five consecutive games. Robinson has yet to reach 20 fantasy points after going 17.3 and 19.2 in the first two weeks, so his first-round ADP is certainly not paying dividends heading into a Week 10 road game against Arizona, which ranks as the third-best fantasy running back matchup this season. Treat Robinson as a low-end RB2 with low-end RB1 upside.
Cooper Kupp (WR – Rams)
The absence of Matthew Stafford hurt all Rams wide receivers against Green Bay in Week 9, but we’ve seen Cooper Kupp’s struggles play out even with his QB1 under center. Since exploding with 24.3 points against Arizona in Week 6, Kupp has logged 5.9 points, 4.1 points, and 5.8 points against Pittsburgh, Dallas, and Green Bay. Fantasy managers banking on Kupp’s ascension back into overall WR1 territory may have to take the loss on their investment. Kupp goes into the Bye in Week 10 and emerges with a home game against Seattle, which is a top-ten fantasy wide receiver matchup, keeping Kupp a mid-range WR2 with WR1 upside once he’s available to roll back into lineups in a couple of weeks.
Travis Kelce (TE – Chiefs)
Facing Miami in a highly anticipated matchup overseas in Germany saw a lot of hype follow Travis Kelce’s expected performance, as he just ripped off 29.9 fantasy points against the Chargers in Week 7. However, back-to-back games against the Broncos and Dolphins with under nine fantasy points signals that the Chiefs’ star tight end is cooling off a bit. The Chiefs’ offense has been bailed out in many games by its defense, as we saw in Week 9, but Kelce is too valuable and possesses a monster ceiling to even consider benching right now. Kansas City also goes into their Bye in Week 10 but will play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11, which is a top-12 tight end matchup for Kelce to exploit.
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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.
