Week 8 of the NFL season was a whirlwind of crazy news that is still continuing heading into Week 9. Player injuries are popping up, stars aren’t seeing their expected workloads and unknown backups are taking their places. Fantasy football has been especially hard to predict this season and lineups are taking hits as a result.
Hopefully, your team is seeing good fortune through all of this crazy and confusing news. With that being said, here are your risers and fallers heading into Week 9 of the NFL season.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Risers
Keenan Allen (WR, LAC)
It looks like somebody on the Chargers received the dreaded Bill Belichick lockdown treatment and it wasn’t Keenan Allen. Mike Williams was the unfortunate recipient as he only managed to gather in 2 receptions for 19 yards. On the other side, Keenan Allen had one of the more productive days he’s had all season. He finished with 6 receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown, his first since Week 3.
Widely regarded as a WR1 before the season, Allen has been a bit disappointing for rosters with no real “blow up” performances. His most recent performance shouldn’t be regarded as such, but it is a step in the right direction.
J.D. McKissic (RB, WAS)
There hasn’t been a player who is more up and down this season than J.D. McKissic. In every even week this season, McKissic has put up over 10 Half-PPR fantasy points. However, in every odd week, he’s failed to reach 10. In spite of that inconsistency, or consistency depending on how you look at it, McKissic’s value is increasing due to the large share of the receiving work he has out of this Washington backfield.
Antonio Gibson was expected to have more of a role in the receiving game but McKissic has taken that role for himself while also having more reps as the lead back. From what we saw in their matchup against Denver, McKissic taking over the RB1 role in Washington isn’t out of the realm of possibilities as he led the team with just under 50% of the RB snap share. The Washington backfield is a confusing one, but considering McKissic’s usage in the passing game, he could move into low-end RB2 territory.
Michael Pittman Jr. (WR, IND)
Michael Pittman looks to be working his way into low-end WR1 territory. Pittman had a fantastic day in the Colts’ matchup against the Titans as he finished with 10 receptions for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns. The return of T.Y. Hilton to this offense seemed worrisome for Pittman’s value at first but Hilton’s durability continues to hold him back. There doesn’t seem to be any significant threat in this Colts offense that will take Pittman’s opportunity away from him. Expect his production to continue to impress while he solidifies his role as Carson Wentz’s number 1 option in Indianapolis.
Elijah Mitchell (RB, SF)
After weeks of wondering whether their massive early-season FAAB investment would ever pay off, Elijah Mitchell owners can finally feel good about winning their Week 1 waiver sweepstakes. Mitchell showed out and proved to the public why Trey Sermon hasn’t seen any sort of workload. He finished with 18 attempts for 137 yards and a touchdown, topping 100 yards for the second week in a row. Mitchell has been looking like a beast on the field and the return of Jeff Wilson coming up shouldn’t look as concerning as it was previously.
Michael Carter (RB, NYJ)
For the second week in a row, we are seeing Michael Carter as a riser, but this time he should be flying up in value rather than just creeping up. Carter finished as the top fantasy running back in Week 8 with a stat line of 15 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown while also getting a ton of work through the air with 9 receptions on 14 targets for 95 yards.
While Jets legend, Mike White, controls the reigns at quarterback, Carter has seen much more opportunity in the passing game with White targeting him on numerous dump-offs. We could be seeing a trend for the Jets as this offensive scheme worked amazingly in comparison to the dumpster fire they had been running with for the first 7 weeks. If that is the case, Carter could be in line for a major rookie breakout for the rest of the season.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Fallers
Derrick Henry (RB, TEN)
King Henry has finally taken a tumble off of his perch on top of the fantasy football world. Analysts had their concerns about Henry’s historic workload before the season and when it would finally catch up to him. After proving the doubters wrong for the first half, he sustained an injury in his foot that should sideline him for most of the remaining regular season, if not all of it.
Henry is the most irreplaceable asset in fantasy as his usage and production are unmatched in comparison to his peers. Hopefully, fantasy managers have some sort of backup plan because losing Henry is one of the worst losses a team can have at this stage in the season.
Calvin Ridley (WR, ATL)
Calvin Ridley has had a rough season as his preseason top-5 wide receiver outlook has fallen tremendously. Now, we might have some insight as to why he hasn’t been playing like his usual self. Prior to the Falcons taking the field, it was announced that Ridley would be taking another game off for personal reasons. Then during their game, Ridley announced that he would be taking a break from football to focus on his mental health.
This break is apparently for an unspecified amount of time, which, in the fantasy realm, could be worse than Ridley just saying he is taking the rest of the season off. Now managers are stuck holding onto him with no real picture of when he should return. Obviously, real-life problems take the front seat to people’s fantasy teams, and hopefully, Ridley finds the help he needs while away from the Falcons. In the words of Marshawn Lynch, “Take care of y’all bodies, take care of y’all chicken, and take care of y’all mentals.”
Michael Thomas (WR, NO)
Although Michael Thomas hasn’t played at all this season, his remaining value has just recently fallen off a cliff. Teams that drafted him were holding on with the hope that he’d suit up at some point later in the season with a similar skill set to what he showed in the 2019 season. Now he has announced on Twitter that he’s not going to play at all this season. For how long teams held onto him, this can’t be seen as anything except a massive L. This is likely the last we see of Michael Thomas in New Orleans and it will be interesting to see where he ends up next season.
Kyler Murray (QB, ARI)
Near the end of the Cardinals’ Thursday night matchup against the Packers, Kyler Murray looked to be a little hobbled after suffering an apparent ankle injury. This is a little concerning for his season-long outlook as Murray’s mobility is the main skill of his game. He has said that his ankle feels good even though he didn’t practice Wednesday but he should be able to play this weekend. The Cardinals star quarterback will be taking on the 49ers on Sunday but expectations on his performance should be taken back a little with his mobility in question.
Kenneth Gainwell (RB, PHI)
Kenneth Gainwell looked like the next man up in the wake of Miles Sanders’ ankle injury. He was the top waiver pickup with that expectation and was widely recommended as a start against the Detriot Lions. The Eagles did run the ball effectively but Gainwell was nowhere to be found while Boston Scott and Jordan Howard dominated rushing yards and touchdowns throughout the game.
The only time Gainwell managed to get into the picture was when Gardner Minshew had taken the field because the Eagles were winning by so much. While Sanders is out, it now looks like Boston Scott is the Eagle’s running back to own. With Nick Seriani as the coach though, Gainwell could easily find his way back as the starter just because of the unpredictability.
