NFL Week 9 Sunday Night Football Preview

Jayden Daniels returns for the Washington Commanders, but Terry McLaurin will be miss another game. Washington’s pass catchers will need to make up for his absence. The Seattle Seahawks are coming off a bye, but lack fantasy clarity outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. From the Seahawks RB situation to Washington’s WR2, there is a lot at stake for your fantasy football team on Sunday Night Football in Week 9.

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Sunday Night Football: Seahawks at Commanders

Clear Starts: Jayden Daniels, Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet – RB, Seattle Seahawks

Seattle’s RB situation continues to frustrate fantasy managers. While Kenneth Walker had more carries and yards than Zach Charbonnet, he let you down in fantasy. Charbonnet only gained 49 yards but scored twice. He has been utilized as the team’s primary goal-line back. Charbonnet gets more carries than Walker all across the red zone, making him a TD-dependent but high upside back.

Walker is a talented RB who does well on a yards per attempt basis. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get the work that leads to valuable fantasy points and great upside. If a player isn’t getting work in the red zone, they either need to dominate rushes or get receiving work. Seattle may run the ball the most in the league, but they split the carries between both backs fairly equally.

Neither back gets much receiving work. Walker and Charbonnet average 8 targets, 7 receptions, and 48.5 yards through the air. That’s a surprise given Walker’s past seasons. After drawing 35 targets in 15 games as a rookie, he has seen his targets per game rise each season. Walker peaked with 53 targets in 11 games in 2024. To average under 1.5 targets a game after that is frustrating. Perhaps this changes post-bye, but we will have to see it to believe it.

For now, neither back can be started with much certainty. The best upside play is Charbonnet until further notice. The Seahawks are great on both sides of the ball and should not only have neutral or good game scripts most of the time, but they should end up in the red zone very often. This week’s matchup against the Commanders is not elite for RBs, but it should be good for the backfield as a whole.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Jeremy McNichols – RB, Washington Commanders

This might be the most frustrating RB room in the league. Jacory Croskey-Merritt is a talented rookie. The Commanders haven’t been ahead in games for enough time to run the ball effectively and often. Jayden Daniel’s prolonged absence has not helped that either, but it’s also a defensive issue. This week the RB room gets a Seahawks defense allowing the 13th most fantasy points to RBs.

While Seattle may be a good overall matchup for RBs, they don’t allow much on the ground. The Seahawks allow the fewest rushing yards, rushing TDs, and yards per attempt in the league. On the flipside, they’re allowing the most RB targets in the league with 60. That’s bad news for Croskey-Merritt who has only been targeted 11 times in 8 games. The plus matchup may mean he gets more looks, but his 3rd down usage is almost nonexistent.

That’s where Jeremy McNichols could prosper. The veteran is still getting solid work as a receiving back. After Austin Ekeler got hurt, McNichols immediately took over his work. In 5 games, McNichols was targeted 17 times. While Jayden Daniels’ return is good news for a positive game script, the Seattle Seahawks are one of the best teams in the league. They rank highly on both sides of the ball and could force a pass-heavy approach this week. Croskey-Merritt could once again flop in fantasy, but McNichols projects as a solid injury fill-in. His floor should be much safer.

Check out all of our Week 9 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings

Zach Ertz – TE, Washington Commanders

Last week, I noted that Ertz had a very difficult matchup against the Chiefs. This week, he gets one of the best TE matchups in fantasy football.

Ertz is scoring at an extremely high rate. He’s getting a TD every 10 targets, and he has scored in half of his games this season. He also gets Jayden Daniels back at QB, which should benefit the offense as a whole. The Seahawks allow the 8th most PPR fantasy points to TEs. Only Deebo Samuel is getting more red zone targets for the Commanders this season.

Even without TDs, Ertz gets a solid target share. Unless you have one of the elite TEs, you should start him with confidence on Sunday Night Football.

AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo – TE, Seattle Seahawks

Leading the Seahawks with 5 red zone targets each are TEs AJ Barner and Elijah Arroyo. While Barner has scored 4 times on his 5 targets, the rookie Arroyo has yet to get a TD. That scoring ability has allowed Barner to average over 9 PPR PPG as fantasy’s TE19.

The Commanders allow the 9th most fantasy points to TEs, and the 5th most TDs to them. Paired with their red zone usage, that makes both Seahawks TEs interesting fantasy options this week. Barner has the edge from both a usage standpoint, though. His 22 targets rank 3rd on the team, and he averages an 80% snap share, while Arroyo rarely plays half of Seattle’s offensive snaps. Arroyo is a rookie at a notoriously difficult position for youngsters, so it’s natural that he isn’t getting much work yet.

For now, you can still start Barner as an inconsistent player with weekly TE1 upside. He gets a great matchup in Week 9 and could be worth the payoff. Arroyo can also reach the end zone, as his red zone usage is high. He’s a lot harder to trust due to a much lower snap share and target share.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 9 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!