Week 9 brings us some fun matchups and some surprises from the previous week. Injuries continue to pile up at the wide receiver position this season. Perhaps you need to make a trade and are looking for deeper options. Perhaps you are just trying to get a few more points from your flex. Either way, we have three wide receiver sleepers and three streamers to consider as you set your Week 9 lineups.
Week 9 Wide Receiver Streamers
Jalen McMillan – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I admit I was skeptical after the injuries to both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. My thought was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense would struggle. I was surprised to see the game that Jalen McMillan had in Week 8 against the Atlanta Falcons. After having eight targets in relief of Evans and Godwin the previous week I was worried that the Bucs might game plan for someone else. McMillan followed it up with a seven-target game. He still struggled to fully capitalize on those targets with only four receptions for 35 yards. I like that he is still involved and as a rookie he is still getting comfortable with the speed, size, and physicality of the NFL.
Week 9 will be the real test, not only for McMillan but for the Tampa Bay coaching staff. The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the best groups of cornerbacks in the league. Trent McDuffie leads that pack and is rated as the 27th-best corner in the league. The slot cover man for the Chiefs is safety Chamarri Conner who rates as the 18th best safety in coverage. The weak link in the coverage armor is corner Nazeeh Johnson who PFF.com rates as the 101st best cover corner. McMillan plays the majority of his snaps on the outside. The Bucs will have to find ways to get him off McDuffie and across from Johnson. If they can do that it will give quarterback Baker Mayfield the opportunity to continue his top 3 run.
Khalil Shakir – Buffalo Bills
Who’s the top receiver for the Buffalo Bills? Does it really matter at this point? The Bills and Josh Allen are clicking across the board and every name you wanted to mention is probably startable in your fantasy lineup. I want to highlight Khalil Shakir because he has been the most consistent across the season. Amari Cooper is new and had a very down week. Rookie Keon Coleman seems to be getting more comfortable in the offense and is the perfect red-zone weapon. Shakir has been the player to get them to the red zone.
He only has one game under 50% snap share and that was the week coming back from an injury. Shakir has at least five targets in all but two games this year. He has five games over 50 yards. All those show me that even in a week that might be heavier towards Coleman or Cooper, Shakir will get enough to be a wide receiver streamer. Week 9 brings in the Miami Dolphins. The matchup isn’t great. The Dolphins usually put Jalen Ramsey in the slot on three-wide sets. He rates as the 11th-best coverage cornerback. The hope, if you roster Shakir, is that Ramset will shadow either Coleman or Cooper and give Shakir more room. I do have some pause with former Bills stand-out Jordan Poyer patrolling the secondary. Despite having a down year he knows the Bills plays and could sniff out some of the designed plays for Shakir.
Jakobi Meyers – Las Vegas Raiders
While the Las Vegas Raiders aren’t the best team right now that doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t have solid fantasy producers. They got one of those back this past week in Jakobi Meyers. He picked up right where he left off with six receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers are similar to what he was doing before he missed two games with an ankle injury. With Davante Adams now in New York, Meyers will have to continue to be the top wide receiver and help his quarterback. Combined with tight end Brock Bowers they are a solid duo who can be surprises for your fantasy team.
In Week 9 the Raiders travel to Cincinnati to play the Bengals. It’s a tough matchup. Currently, the Bengals are giving up the 12th fewest points to wide receivers overall. They have three good cornerbacks DJ Turner II, Cam Taylor-Britt, and Mike Hilton. The Raiders and Meyers will have to rely on his route running and ability to find space to give Gardner Minshew a solid target. I wish it was a better matchup but as a wide receiver streamer, you can trust Meyers to be a solid flex option for you in Week 9.
Check out all of our Week 9 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex
Week 9 Wide Receiver Sleepers
Cedric Tillman – Cleveland Browns
Let’s face it. Jameis Winston brought a spark to the Cleveland Browns offense in Week 8. We saw a hint of it in Week 7 as well. Buried in the Winston hype and excitement is the play of second-year wide receiver Cedric Tillman. After trading away Amari Cooper, Tillman has stepped up as the number-one target for whoever is throwing the ball for the Browns. Over the past two weeks, Tillman has 21 targets and 15 receptions. He capped off this week with his first TWO career touchdowns.
Week 9 brings a matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. It will be interesting to see what the Chargers do in coverage. With the mix of Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, and Elijah Moore the Bolts will have to figure out who to cover with Kristian Fulton who rates as the 8th-best corner. After Fulton, the Chargers have Cam Hart and Tarheeb Still. Neither of them was rated well by PFF.com. If the Browns can be creative in their formations and motion, Tillman should be able to find the better matchups and win. The back end of the secondary for the Chargers is not great either so expect Tillman to capitalize on his 12.1 yards per catch. Another good week from Tillman will move him into the wide receiver streamer category. The fear is the magic with Winston runs out much like we have seen from other backups who get their moment in the sun.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine – Tennessee Titans
Do I like a guy who has scored in three straight games? I sure do, even if that isn’t a predictive stat. Do I like a guy who is playing under 50% of the team’s snaps yet is still seeing the third-most targets out of the wide receivers and should get more after the trade of DeAndre Hopkins? Yes, I do. That is what Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is. With Will Levis out with a shoulder injury, quarterback Mason Rudolph has relied on Westbrook-Ikhine. While we want our player’s snap share to be higher, you can’t argue with what he has done in his limited time on the field.
Do I like a guy going against the Patriots defense? No, not at all. Even as the number two receiver, he will see most coverage from Christian Gonzalez who rates as the 51st-best corner by PFF.com. I think Gonzo plays better than he rates. I also worry about the game script for this game. With neither team boosting an offense that has put up a ton of points there is potential that scoring and yardage could be down across the board. It’s a risk playing the fifth-year wide receiver who is only one touchdown behind his career high. Riding the hot hand is the best you can hope for when looking for a wide receiver sleeper.
Noah Brown – Washington Commanders
One of the highlights, if not THE highlight of Week 8 was the Hail Mary catch by Noah Brown to win the game for the Washington Commanders over the Chicago Bears. But don’t think that is the only reason he is in the wide receiver sleepers section. Noah Brown has been seeing an increase in reps and targets over the past few weeks. That should continue now that he was the game-winner and the confidence in him from the coaches is there.
Brown saw six targets in that game. Two weeks after seeing eight targets. Sandwiched in between was a one-target game which is why he is a sleeper and not a streamer. He is starting to play on two wide sets across from Terry McLaurin. In Week 9 against the New York Giants, this will mean coverage from Deonte Banks who PFF.com rates as the 86th best cover corner. Brown should be able to continue his solid snap share and target count and might even sneak another touchdown.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 9 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!