2016 Fantasy Football Week 9 Rankings

Some fantasy losses are just more frustrating than others.  Losing by a point sucks.  Losing by a point when you score the second most fantasy points for the week is even worse.  Thankfully, neither of those things happened to me in Week 8, but I still had an annoying loss nonetheless as my team fell to 4-4 on the year.

I started Russell Wilson against the Saints, but he continued his terrible play and finished with single digit fantasy points for the fourth time this season.  I struggled with my flex position (too many good options!), and I ended up starting James White over Travis Kelce.  It seemed like White was the only Patriot not to score against the Bills on Sunday (he even dropped what would have been a wide open TD in the second half).  As for Kelce, he ended up with 100 yards and a TD.  Oh, and I sat Jordan Howard against the Vikings.  He just finished as the #1 fantasy RB in Week 8.  Julio Jones only having 29 receiving yards also hurt.  But what are you gonna do, right?  I lost by 12 points or so, and starting Kelce or Howard would have gotten me the win.  But that's fantasy football.

This week there are 6 more teams on a bye, so my options are a bit more limited.  I actually like having fewer options because I won't be able to second guess myself as much...except for maybe at the quarterback position.

But enough about my team.  Let's get to the rankings!

BYE: Arizona, Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, New England, Washington

QBs 1.Aaron Rodgers   2.Matt Ryan  3.Drew Brees    4.Andrew Luck    5.Cam Newton 6.Ben Roethlisberger 7.Jameis Winston  8.Phillip Rivers  9.Dak Prescott  10.Marcus Mariota   11.Derek Carr  12.Eli Manning  13.QB Browns  14.Russell Wilson    15.Colin Kaepernick  16.Matthew Stafford  17.Tyrod Taylor   18.Blake Bortles  19.Ryan Tannehill  20.Nick Foles I was spot on with Mariota last week (ESPN #14, ME #9), as he finished in the top-10.  But I was down on Carson Palmer (ESPN #12, ME #17), who actually threw for 3 TDs after doing virtually nothing for nearly the entire first half.  Those numbers are good in fantasy even if they mean nothing in a game in which you're getting stomped.  I'd take anything from the QB position right now, as my frustration level for Russell Wilson has reached an all time high!!! I'm high on: QB Browns (ESPN outside of top-20, ME #13) As of this writing, I don't know if this will be Josh McCown or Cody Kessler (if he's cleared to play).  Either way, I'm actually considering starting one of these guys in Week 9 because I'm looking at Eli Manning or Russell Wilson.  Right now I'm giving the slight edge to Eli, but I think either Cleveland QB should be a strong play against a Dallas secondary that just lost Morris Claiborne and Barry Church to injuries.  And while I still like the Dallas defense against the Browns, I also like the fact that Cleveland should be getting Corey Coleman back from injury this week.  Mark my words, "QB Browns" will be a borderline top-10 fantasy QB this week. I'm down on: Matthew Stafford (ESPN #11, ME #16)  Insert QB playing against the Vikings here.  Minnesota is giving up the 3rd fewest fantasy points to opposing signal callers this year.  Also, Stafford has less than 300 yards and only one TD in each of his last two games.  I'm not trusting him as much as the ESPN experts are this week. RBs 1.Ezekiel Elliott 2.DeMarco Murray    3.Le'Veon Bell  4.Devontae Booker  5.Charcandrick West 6.Melvin Gordon  7.Devonta Freeman   8.Jay Ajayi    9.Todd Gurley 10.Matt Forte   11.Christine Michael  12.Jonathan Stewart   13.Carlos Hyde 14.LeSean McCoy  15.Frank Gore      16.Theo Riddick   17.Isaiah Crowell  18.Terrance West              19.Latavius Murray        20.Mark Ingram   21.Rashad Jennings  22.Antone Smith  23.Tim Hightower  24.Matt Asiata   25.Darren Sproles     26.Jerick McKinnon      27.Ryan Mathews    28.Bilal Powell   29.Chris Ivory  30.Duke Johnson  31.TJ Yeldon    32.C.J. Prosise   33.Derrick Henry 34.Mike Gillislee 35.Peyton Barber  Last week I was high on Giovani Bernard (ESPN #20, ME #14), and I said I could see both him and Hill having plenty of value against my Redskins in London.  Well, both RBs finished in the top-15, but Hill actually did just a hair better than Gio.  Either way, I was right in ranking Bernard higher than the ESPN experts did.  Once again I whiffed on the guy I was down on though, Mike Gillislee (ESPN #18, ME #23), as I thought he wouldn't completely dominate the touches with Shady out.  Well he ended up with 15 touches for nearly 100 total yards and a touchdown, and he was a top-10 fantasy RB.  Oops! I'm high on: Charcandrick West (ESPN #19, ME #5) This one is somewhat misleading because a few of the experts ranked West highly, but none as highly as I have him.  Also, a few of them ranked him quite low (since they are assuming Spencer Ware will play).  I felt the need to point out that there is no way in hell Spencer Ware is playing this week.  The Chiefs went and signed BISHOP SANKEY off New England's practice squad.  Granted, they also placed Jamaal Charles on IR.  But the writing is on the walls, people.  Alex Smith is missing this week, and so is Ware.  Charcandrick is in line for a huge workload against a horrible Jags run defense. I'm down on: Mark Ingram (ESPN #14, ME #20)  I don't know if the ESPN guys noticed, but Ingram got straight up benched last week in favor of Tim Hightower.  Ordinarily I would have ranked Ingram in my top-10 against San Fran, but not after Hightower looks to be in line for a bigger timeshare for the second week in a row.  I'd much rather start someone who I feel like I know will get way more carries. WRs 1.Julio Jones  2.Antonio Brown 3.Mike Evans  4.Odell Beckham, Jr.   5.Dez Bryant  6.Jordy Nelson  7.Brandin Cooks   8.Brandon Marshall    9.TY Hilton   10.Jarvis Landry 11.Randall Cobb  12.DeMaryius Thomas  13.Donte Moncrief     14.Emmanuel Sanders 15.Kelvin Benjamin  16.Terrelle Pryor, Sr.  17.Allen Robinson 18.Amari Cooper  19.Davante Adams  20.Stefon Diggs  21.Michael Thomas  22.Ty Montgomery 23.Jordan Matthews  24.Michael Crabtree     25.Doug Baldwin  26.Tyrell Williams  27.Marvin Jones Jr.  28.Willie Snead  29.Jeremy Maclin    30.Mike Wallace 31.Quincy Enunwa  32.Corey Coleman   33.Kenny Britt 34.Sammie Coates 35.Kendall Wright  36.Dontrelle Inman 37.Rishard Matthews 38.Golden Tate  39.Allen Hurns    40.Travis Benjamin   41.Mohamed Sanu 42.Tyreek Hill Jordan Matthews (ESPN #28, ME #21) continued his good play against Dallas and had a big night with 11 catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.  He was easily a top-20 fantasy WR in Week 8.  I said it was time to stop ranking DeSean Jackson (ESPN #35, ME NOT RANKED), and if you were looking for a Redskins WR to start against Cincy it was Jamison Crowder.  Well I was right on point there too, as DeSean only had 3 catches for 48 yards (outside of the top-50 WRs) and Crowder went for over 100 yards and a score (and was a top-5 fantasy WR!).  Finally I nailed two picks in one position!  And guess what?  I did it with the tight end spot too.  Whoop! I'm high on: Kendall Wright (ESPN #55, ME #35) In case you hadn't noticed, Marcus Mariota has been on fire lately.  And his best receiver in two of his last three games has been Kendall Wright.  Tajae Sharpe and Rishard Matthews were more involved against Indy in Week 7, but it was Wright who averaged over 100 yards and a TD in Weeks 6 and 8.  I like for him to have another good week in San Diego, and I'm really surprised the ESPN experts are barely ranking him yet. I'm down on: DeVante Parker (ESPN #32, ME NOT RANKED)  This guy has a ton of talent, but also only one game with more than 70 yards and only 1 TD this season.  He has less than 3 fantasy points in 3 of his last 4 games, and I had a hard time ranking him ahead of anyone to squeeze him into my top-40(ish).  So I didn't! TEs 1.Greg Olsen          2.Delanie Walker  3.Kyle Rudolph   4.Jimmy Graham  5.Travis Kelce   6.Gary Barnidge   7.Dennis Pitta  8.Coby Fleener 9.Cameron Brate    10.Jason Witten   11.Julius Thomas   12.Lance Kendricks 13.Eric Ebron  14.Antonio Gates  15.Jack Doyle  16.Austin Hooper Last week I was high on C.J. Fiedorowicz (ESPN #21, ME #11) and down on Zach Ertz (ESPN #15, ME NOT RANKED).  Fiedorowicz found the endzone and was a top-5 TE.  Ertz actually had more than 3 receptions for the first time since Week 1, but he only managed 19 yards and was once again a fantasy bust.  I'm high on: Lance Kendricks (ESPN #19, ME #12) Talk about flying under the radar!  I bet you didn't know that Kendricks has at least 7 targets in 3 of his last 4 games.  You may also not know that the Panthers give up the 2nd most fantasy points to the tight end position this year.  I think the Rams will be playing from behind in this game, and Case Keenum will be throwing the ball a ton in the second half.  I like for Lance to get plenty of targets and possibly even finish as a TE1 this week. I'm down on: Antonio Gates (ESPN #6, ME #14)  I don't know how many times I have to mention Gates in this article, but the guy hasn't cracked 40 receiving yards in a game yet this season.  I get that he scores touchdowns, but I'm going out on a limb and saying he doesn't hit paydirt this weekend.  I don't like him anywhere near the top-5 fantasy TEs. DEF 1.Chiefs  2.Vikings  3.Seahawks 4.Panthers 5.Broncos   6.Eagles  7.Dolphins 8.Cowboys 9.Ravens  10.Lions  11.Bills 12.Giants I was way off on my defense picks versus ESPN yet again.  I was high on the Philadelphia Eagles (ESPN #11, ME #5) and down on the Carolina Panthers (ESPN #10, ME NOT RANKED).  Philly was looking good in the first half, but that all came crashing down in the second half.  They ended up with their worst fantasy performance of the season.  As for Carolina, they had their BEST week yet.  Go figure!  They had 8 sacks and a defensive touchdown against Arizona, and they were second only to Denver in Week 8.  I'm high on: Detroit Lions (ESPN #20, ME #10) This one takes some faith because the Lions are actually a little banged up on the defensive side of the ball, but Minnesota's offensive line has looked terrible the last couple of weeks.  I mean, they just lost to the Bears.  The Vikings have only scored 10 points in back-to-back weeks now, and I don't see them putting up a lot of points against Detroit.  I think the Lions are startable in Minnesota this week. I'm down on: New York Jets (ESPN #8 ME NOT RANKED)  Everyone seemed to like the Jets last week in Cleveland, but they didn't perform too well in that spot and gave up 28 points.  This week, they travel to South Florida to take on a Dolphin team coming off their bye week.  I think Miami is going to light up the scoreboard against the Jets, and I don't see them as a viable fantasy option against Jay Ajayi and company. Good luck to everyone in Week 9!   (Except you, Carl...) Cheers, Bart