Week 9 Fantasy Football Sneaky Starts

.Congratulations, you just survived the bye-pocalypse. How about we reward your tenacity by putting another four teams on bye in Week 9? That’s where we’re at in fantasy, so there’s no use whining about it! Instead, let’s pick out some Week 9 Sneaky Starts that can help you survive yet another tough matchup.

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Week 8 Recap

We had a rough outing in Week 8, going 1-for-4 with our calls, resulting in the first negative week of the year.

Theo Johnson finished with 3 catches for 20 yards. In case you didn’t watch any games this weekend (or had them on mute so you couldn’t hear the announcers referencing it every 8 seconds) it was National Tight Ends week. Plenty of TE’s showed out and had huge games, unfortunately Johnson wasn’t one of them. In most weeks this wouldn’t have lost the matchup for you, but in Week 8 it very well might have.

Alec Pierce probably didn’t lose your week either, with 2 catches for 69 yards, but he also didn’t have the boom game we were hoping for. He’s a lottery ticket every week, but our numbers didn’t get called in this one.

We were also wrong in thinking Isiah Pacheco had finally separated from the pack in Kansas City. The team was willing to give Kareem Hunt another (multiple) chance at being the goal line back and he delivered. You can’t trust anyone in this backfield regularly.

Our lone good call was Rashid Shaheed. His 9 catches for 75 yards were great to see, but he hurt his fantasy day with a fumble. The Saints will be trying out Tyler Shough this week. It’s unclear what rapport he and Shaheed will have, or if he is as willing as Rattler to chuck it deep. While Shaheed’s 12 targets were very promising, we’ll have to wait and see what happens with the QB change.

Sneaky Start Season Tally: 15-15

Let’s see if our Week 9 Sneaky Starts can get us back over .500 on the season!

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

Week 9 Sneaky Starts

Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers WR vs. Carolina Panthers

Christian Watson was supposed to be on a snap count in his first week returning from last year’s ACL injury. It must have been a pretty high limit, because Watson actually had the third most snaps on the team at the receiver position. With 36, he only trailed Matthew Golden by 6.

He wasn’t just out there to run routes either. He showed up in a big way in the blocking game and looks to be right back to being a central part of the offense.  His final box score of 4 catches for 85 yards looks pretty nice for someone being eased back in.

He gets to follow that up with a Week 9 matchup at home against the Panthers. While Carolina’s defense isn’t as bad as we expected prior to the season, they are still a bottom-half team. Jordan Love is coming off his best performance of the season so far, throwing for 360 yards and 3 touchdowns. Josh Jacobs is also a bit banged-up, which could put more of the responsibility to score on the passing game.

It is possible that the Packers get to an early lead and proceed to milk the clock. That’s not what I expect. I think Green Bay will use this game to test out their receivers a bit, and figure out what the offense will look like moving forward.

Expect Watson to be used a lot and get a lot of targets as the top downfield threat. I had initially worried about him and Golden playing very similar roles, but I don’t think Golden is at a place to challenge Watson for snaps.

My bet is Watson gets at least one bomb touchdown in this one, as he reminds everyone of what he can do on the field.

Darius Slayton, New York Giants WR vs. San Francisco 49ers

Darius Slayton also made his return from injury in Week 8, albeit to much less fanfare. He caught 2 passes for 26 yards, but also had a long touchdown called back on a suspect OPI call.

While he only received 5 targets in this one, that still amounted to a nearly 21% target share.

Cam Skattebo had a season-ending injury, which will take away Jaxson Dart’s safety net. Tyrone Tracy is a serviceable replacement, but we’ll need to see if the chemistry is there like it was with the two rookies.

Slayton is no superstar, but he has been a decent player for both the Giants and for fantasy football managers his entire career. He had multiple games over 100 yards just last season, and plenty more spanning all the way back to when he was a rookie. When he’s called upon to be the lead, he typically performs.

The Niners defense is incredibly injured, and just gave up a great game to C.J. Stroud and a hodgepodge of backup receivers. They currently give up the 10^th most passing yards per game.

Odds are Slayton will be the Giants’ top receiver moving forward. It won’t be all roses, but there are going to be some big games. You’ll want to pick and choose the matchups, but this should be one that you can pick confidently.

Zonovan “Bam” Knight, Arizona Cardinals RB @ Dallas Cowboys

The man they call Bam has never gotten much run in the NFL, but it looks like that’s about to change, in Week 9 at least.

The team just released Michael Carter after signing him from the practice squad, starting him immediately, and relegating him to a backup role. All of this happened in three weeks.

Bam, on the other hand, saw his workload increase in each of those weeks and has improved steadily.

He scored a touchdown in Weeks 5 and 6, and then got the lion’s share of carries in Week 7 with 57 yards on 14 carries, and 3 receptions. That’s decent efficiency and encouraging if he receives a full starter’s workload.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, are giving up the 4^th most rushing yards per game. Their passing defense is even worse. The Cardinals have struggled to move the ball so far this season, but one would hope that can change against Dallas.

The QB uncertainty in Arizona shouldn’t affect the run game too much. Murray should take some of the pressure off of Bam with his legs, while Brissett would be a boost in the passing game. Either way, Bam should win.

This is likely to be a one-week rental, as Trey Benson will be eligible to return in Week 10. It’s possible he’s not quite healthy yet, and Bam might be a slightly longer play. He should be a sneaky, comfortable lock in Week 9, though.

Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons TE @ New England Patriots

While this might not be the most Sneaky Start in Week 9, I hope it serves as a boost of confidence for a weekly fringe player.

Pitts is currently the TE #9 in PPR scoring, but TE #17 in standard. He hasn’t topped 70 receiving yards in any game so far, but he has also gotten at least 4 targets in every game. In the past two, he’s seen 10 and 9 targets, respectively.

The Falcons have been very thin at receiver, so it only makes sense that they are trying to get Pitts more involved. While it was Kirk Cousins under center in Week 8, Pitts was actually the top target on the team with Drake London sitting.

The Patriots defense has been very good all year, but they have been susceptible to tight ends. They’ve given up the 6th most targets, 4^th most yards, and are tied with multiple teams for the 4^th most touchdowns given up to the position on the year.

While Pitts is never going to be the game-breaker we all thought he would become after his rookie season, he is still a valuable player. He’s also extremely necessary for his team. There are other TEs out there who probably have more big game upside, but few can match his floor. If his trends continue, he may even turn into a reliable roster lock.

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