By SCOTT FELTS
Welcome to I-81 Sports’ weekly NFL fantasy article. A little about me, I have been doing fantasy football since I was the league’s youngest owner drafting on paper in my mom’s work break room and we totaled our own weekly points by using the Sunday newspaper’s box scores. That team was called the CowPats. Over 30 years later, I now draft and run more than 50 teams yearly across four different platforms while also overseeing my own league as commissioner.
This article will be the fantasy equivalent of FMK without all of the child support, alimony, and jail time. It’s meant as a fun way to know which players you should be picking up off your league’s waiver wire, who you should definitely start, and who you should be leaving on your bench.
Let’s jump right in to the Week 9 Sit, Start and Snipe. There are four teams on bye this week: the Browns, Buccaneers, Eagles, and Jets.
SIT
QB: Bo Nix, Denver. Let down alert! Nix has had four games over 20 points this season but he also has had three games under 14. This week’s opponent Houston is allowing the least amount of points to QBs this season. Only two teams’ QBs have scored more than 17 points against them. Even with nearly 40 points in Week 7, and an easy win vs. Dallas in Week 8, you should Nix starting Bo against the Texans in Week 9.
RB: Alvin Kamara, New Orleans. This week’s opponent, the Rams have only allowed one total TD to running backs this season. Kamara’s touches are down, too. Over the last four games, he is only averaging 12.25 touches while playing 62.4% of the Saints’ offensive snaps. Those numbers are down from 19.5 touches per game and 78% of the offensive snaps over the season’s first four games.
WR: Tee Higgins, Cincinatti. Higgins is a two-time 1,000-yard receiver who has touchdowns in three of his last four games. However, he’s averaging career lows in both yards per game (45) and receptions per game (3.1). Higgins’ touchdown reception in his last game was his only catch and now he faces a Bears defense allowing just 9.4 receptions per game to opposing wide receivers, which is the second-fewest in the league. Chicago hasn’t allowed a single wideout to reach 100 yards since Week 2, and only one receiver has more than five catches against Da Bears over that span.
TE: Jake Ferguson, Dallas. Sit the overall number one TE from most leagues? Yes. Ferguson failed to catch a single pass in Week 8. Entering that game, he was averaging 17-plus points in PPR leagues. However last week wasn’t a one off. He has seen less than 10% target share in two of his last three games. If your backup TE is off or worse than the Dallas Cowboys’ postseason record, ride with Ferguson. But if you have options, bench him.
START
QB: Jared Goff, Detroit. Goff isn’t a QB that a weekly winning fantasy team would be starting every week. However, coming off of a bye and going against the suddenly porous Minnesota Viking pass defense, he is someone you should start depending on the matchup of your main starter. Goff has rebounded from below average games all season with big performances. His last game he had one TD and two turnovers so look for a rebound this week.
RB: Kimani Vidal, Chargers. Kimani has posted 117 or more rushing yards in two of his three starts this season. With Najee Harris (Achilles) and Omarion Hampton (ankle) out of action, Kimani is the lead back and faces a Titans defense that has allowed a league-high 12 rushing touchdowns to running backs this season.
WR: Marvin Harrison, Jr., Arizona. I know, he isn’t your daddy’s Marvin Harrison, but there are several factors this week that make Harrison. Jr., a worthy start. First, he is coming off a bye and the Cardinals are looking to get him more involved. He is also going against a Dallas Cowboys defense that has a allowed a league-high 15 receiving touchdowns to wide receivers this season.
TE: Tyler Warren, Indy. Not only is his QB an MVP candidate (and who would have predicted that in the preseason?!?) but this week’s matchup is juicy against the Steelers, who have allowed a top-10 tight end performance in PPR leagues in five of their last six games. Warren has scored a TD in four of the last five games and has at least 50 yards in six of eight games this season.
SNIPE
Restricted to players who currently are on less than 50% of league rosters across major fantasy platforms.
QB: CJ Stroud, Houston. (Rostered around 50%) Stroud was good for over 21 points against the 49ers, in a win without his top two receivers. He has now scored 18 or more fantasy points in three of his last four games, averaging over 20 points. Stroud is a great bye-week add who you can plug and play and may even be worthy of high-end QB2 status in the second half of the season. This week’s opponent, Denver, pressures the QB more than any other team and Stroud struggles vs pressure so if he struggles this week don’t give up on him, he will rebound.
RB: Tyrone Tracey, NYG. (Rostered around 40%) With the gruesome Cam Skattebo injury, Tracy will be the most added RB, if not most added player overall, across all leagues. He saw most of the backfield snaps after the injury and ran 17 routes versus Devin Singletary’s four in Week 8.
WR: Kayshon Boutte, New England (Rostered around 30%) Who doesn’t want to add more Boutte (yes, it’s pronounced “booty”) to their life? More than just being an All-Name Team all star, Boutte is averaging 18.8 points in his last three games, scoring four TDs. The only pause for this week is facing a tough Atlanta defense. If you have guys on bye, he’s worth the risk with as good as his QB is playing and he may be worthy of a plug and play down the stretch with upcoming games against Tampa Bay and the Jets.
TE: Theo Johnson, NYG (Rostered around 35%) Yes, he would probably score more playing for the Little Giants than the New York Giants, but he has participated in 97% of the routes for two straight weeks. Now that Skattebo is out, Jaxson Dart will be looking for a new safety valve. Don’t start him every week, but certainly pick him up.