After Week 8’s complete lack of byes, Week 9 is also quite relaxed with only two teams (Steelers, 49ers) taking the week off. As the fantasy playoffs approach fast, we’ll have two teams on a bye next week and then at least four teams on a bye every week until Week 15. Fantasy start sit decisions are crucial at this point. This article will help you decipher between the riskiest and safest starts.
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Fantasy Football Start/Sit Lineup Advice
Let’s dive into some risky and safe starts for Week 9 of the fantasy football season.
Week 9 Risky Fantasy Football Starts
Mark Andrews (TE – BAL) vs. Broncos
With four touchdowns in three games, Mark Andrews is now the TE11 in total PPR points. The only tight ends with more touchdowns than him are George Kittle and Tucker Kraft. Andrews peaked at a season-high 75% snap share in Week 8. While this has been encouraging, it also points to his fragility. Andrews has frequently been taken off the field in 12 personnel (2-TE sets), which the Ravens like to use, with Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely mixing in for those plays.
The Ravens also traded for Diontae Johnson this week, which might indicate a willingness to move to more 11 personnel (3-WR looks). They currently rank 32nd in the league in these formations (29% of their plays). It’s more likely Johnson is a role player and Andrews continues to bounce back but the matchup is far from ideal this week with the Broncos allowing the 13th-fewest tight end fantasy points. Only Darnell Washington and Brock Bowers have scored touchdowns against them. Only two tight ends (Bowers and Cade Otton) have recorded more than 40 receiving yards in games against the Broncos. Andrews might not be as dead as some proclaimed him early on in the season, but making him an every-week auto-start still might be a touch too far.
Calvin Ridley (WR – TEN) vs. Patriots
With DeAndre Hopkins working his way out of Tennessee over the last few games, Calvin Ridley has seen a massive uptick in targets to 32 over his past three games, compared to 19 in the opening four games. Of course, not all have been caught (just 13 receptions). In Week 8, though, Ridley had his best performance of the season with a 39% target share he turned into 10 catches for 143 yards and the WR5 overall finish on the week.
The Patriots allow the 11th-most WR fantasy points and their defensive value over adjustment (DVOA), per FTN, ranks 30th against the pass, but there is still reason for concern. The Patriots have been happy to have Christian Gonzalez shadow opposing receivers, which could be Ridley this week. If you take Ridley away, who else can hurt you on this Titans team? There’s also the health question mark looming over Will Levis, who could return, and Ridley himself, who missed practice on Wednesday.
Travis Etienne (RB – JAX) @ Eagles
In the six games Travis Etienne has appeared in this year, he’s never ranked higher than RB20, failing to surpass 60 total yards in five of those six games. Etienne has never really hit it off with Doug Pederson, with the Jaguars head coach never seeing Etienne as someone who can work all three downs. With Tank Bigsby‘s emergence, it’s unlikely Etienne will get back to last year’s 72.8% opportunity share and he’ll be struggling to cope with a 53.8% workload.
The Eagles have been friendly to opposing wide receivers, allowing the 10th-most fantasy points to the position, but they have held opposing running backs to the fifth-fewest amount. With the Jaguars banged up at receiver, there’s a temptation to think the running backs might get more work but the Eagles are likely to put this one out of a run-heavy script quite quickly.
Cedric Tillman (WR – CLE) vs. Chargers
Throughout the last two games, Cedric Tillman has 15 catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns, finishing no worse than the PPR WR10 in either game. Tillman picked up the slack with Amari Cooper traded to Buffalo. He is a clear beneficiary of Jameis Winston, who brought competent quarterback play to Cleveland for the first time since Joe Flacco last season.
Tillman was rightly the first name at the top of most waiver wire claims this week and a hot property for trades in dynasty leagues, but it might not be a third week in a row of fantasy goodness. Tillman plays the Chargers, who rank seventh-best in pass DVOA and allow the third-fewest fantasy points to the receiver position. The Chargers allow the eighth-fewest passing yards, the fourth-fewest plays per game and the fifth-lowest time of possession per game. They simply take the air out of the game, which isn’t helpful for fantasy purposes.
Week 9 Safe Fantasy Football Starts
Kyren Williams (RB – LAR) @ Seahawks
Only two players currently have double-digit touchdowns, one is Derrick Henry (11) and the other is Kyren Williams (10), who has played one fewer game due to a bye week. Williams had a slow start to the season and wasn’t overly efficient — 2.9 yards per carry (YPC) in Weeks 1-3 along with two missed tackles forced per game. Since then, however, Williams has been averaging 4.3 YPC and has four missed tackles forced per game.
Rookie Blake Corum has 24 total touches with only three in the red zone while Williams leads all running backs with 37. Williams plays a Seattle defense that allows the seventh-most running back fantasy points, ranks 21st in DVOA and surrenders 4.9 YPC. Williams is one of the few running backs you simply don’t have to worry about.
Chuba Hubbard (RB – CAR) vs. Saints
With Bryce Young confirmed as the Panthers’ starter for the immediate future. at the very least. there’s a good chance offensive efficiency won’t necessarily be something we can count on, but it might not matter for Chuba Hubbard. In 2023, when it became apparent Miles Sanders wasn’t worth the money Dave Tepper had sent his way, the Panthers leaned heavily into Hubbard as they tried to take the ball out of Bryce Young’s hands in the most straightforward way possible.
Hubbard averaged 18.6 touches per game from Week 6 onwards and 21.2 from Week 13, despite the fact the Panthers were in pass-heavy scripts. They simply didn’t care and just kept running. The Panthers are playing the worst run defense in the league in the Saints, who allow the eighth-most running back fantasy points. Since Week 5, they have allowed three top-five finishes to Sean Tucker, Kareem Hunt and Javonte Williams.
Kyle Pitts (TE – ATL) vs. Cowboys
It felt like we were heading for another classic Kyle Pitts season over the first four weeks of the year when he finished as the TE4, TE21, TE13 and TE51. Just when all hope finally seemed lost for a once-promising career, Pitts turned things around as Kirk Cousins settled into the Falcons’ offense and went on a run of four straight games finishing with at least 65 receiving yards.
Since Week 5. Pitts is the PPR TE3, averaging 16.1 points per game. He is seeing an average of 6.8 targets per game. The Falcons play Dallas this week with the Cowboys allowing the 12th-most fantasy points. They have allowed four tight end touchdowns in their last three games played. Pitts is back to being a trustworthy tight end until we see otherwise.
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