Another wild, crazy and unpredictable week of NFL is in the books. With all the upsets we’ve encountered over the season thus far, week 9 was a week where a large number of favorites covered, and covered big. We saw some players putting up big numbers, so let’s jump right in and check out who those players were.
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Quarterbacks
Studs:
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals – It’s not surprising that a QB would have a nice day against the Raiders at this point. Burrow, minus one of his main targets in WR Tee Higgins, who is dealing with a quadricep injury, went ahead and spread the ball around to the rest of the crew, completing passes to 8 different players. He finished the day having completed 27 of his 39 passes for 251 yards, and a whopping 5 TDs, making him fantasy’s QB1 for week 9. Despite throwing a pick 6 INT in what was essentially garbage time, Burrow and the Bengals still put a beat down to the Raiders 41-24 in Cincinnati.
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles – Burrow beat out Hurts by less than 1 fantasy point this week, preventing Hurts from earning the covenanted fantasy QB1 spot for a second consecutive week. Ever since the Eagles came out of their bye in week 5, Hurts has been a fantasy gem! He has had all his weapons on the field, and the Eagles’ offense has been cookin’! While Hurts’ passing yards are modest on a week to week basis, his rushing yards and TDs make him a fantasy goldmine. In week 9 he completed 18 of his 24 passes for 230 yards and 2 TDs, while rushing for 67 yards and 1 TD, defeating the Jaguars 28-23.
Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks – Even though Smith is having one his best years of his career, he’s only rostered somewhere around 50% in fantasy leagues, according to Yahoo. Because of that I did not consider him to have enough expectations to put him on the duds list last week, or he would have been near the top. Regardless, Smith bounced back this week with a stellar 363 yards and 3 TDs performance. Unfortunately, his 3 INTs helped the Rams outlast the Hawks in overtime, 26-20.
Daniel Jones, New York Giants – Like Smith, Jones lacks enough expectations to land on the duds list, or he would have been at the pinnacle of it last week. After finishing the 1st half without a single passing yard in week 9, Jones passed for 174 yards and 2 TDs in the 2nd half. To get to the studs list, he added 54 rushing yards and 1 TD.
Honorable Mentions:
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens – 16/19 passing for 280 yards and 3 TDs
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills – 25/39 passing for 235 yards and 3 TDs, 1 INT
Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings – 28/34 passing for 290 yards and 3 TDs, 2 INTs
Duds:
Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals – The Cardinals had a comfortable lead, and dominated the game on the ground against the Bears, so they didn’t need any kind of Herculean effort from Murray. Kyler had season lows in both attempts and completions, passing for a meager 154 yards. This was a script dud performance for Murray, but none the less, a dud for Murray fantasy owners.
Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears – For the second consecutive week, Williams finds himself among the duds. On the other side from Murray was Williams, who was struggling not due to script, but to lack of preparation from the Bears. The team looks in disarray, which is just not helping the rookie’s cause.
Jared Goff, Detroit Lions – Goff’s fantasy value also fell victim to game script from both the rain and Detroit defensive efforts. Goff dropped back 22 times completing 18 of those passes for a modest 145 yards and 1 TD, to lead the Lions to a win in Green Bay.
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Wide Receivers
Studs:
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks – In week 9, JSN put up his best stat line of his young career, catching 7 of his 13 targets for 180 yards and 2 TDs. Unfortunately for the Hawks and their fans, JSN’s efforts ended in a loss to the LA Rams in OT. Unfortunately for JSN fantasy owners, a high percentage of you had him on your bench.
Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens – I’ve been a big fan of Flowers since the first time I watched him play with Ravens last year in his rookie season. He’s quick, fast, elusive and he put it all on display in week 9. Flowers was able to haul in 5 of his 6 targets for 127 yards and 2 TDs, leading to a route over the Denver Broncos, 41-10.
Demarcus Robinson, Los Angeles Rams – Raise your hand if you had Robinson in your line up for week 9. As a third option receiver, Robinson capitalized on the opportunity when fellow receiver Puka Nacua was ejected from the game. He not only caught a one handed, game winning 39 yard touchdown pass in OT, he also caught 5 passes for 55 yards and 1 TD in regulation time.
Garrett Wilson, New York Jets – Wilson continues to have a high volume of targets, despite the addition of Davante Adams. In week 9, Wilson caught 9 of his 10 targets for 90 yards and 2 TDs, one of them being a season highlight, catching the pass in the back of the end zone with one hand and having to drag a shin down to stay in bounds, for the 26 yard score.
DeAndre Hopkins, Kansas City Chiefs – In only his second game with the team, Hopkins stole the show, catching 8 of his 9 targeted passes for 86 yards and 2 TDs, helping the Chiefs get by the Bucs, 30-24 in OT, on Monday Night Football.
Honorable Mentions:
Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers – 4/5 receptions for 118 yards and 1 TD
Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos – 7/10 receptions for 122 yards; threw a 2 yard TD pass
Davante Adams, New York Jets – 7/11 receptions for 91 yards and 1 TD
Duds:
Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams – Nacua had already missed 5 games with a knee injury. Last week was his first game back from injury, and he had a solid 7-106-0 stat line. So now the Rams go into this game against their divisional rival Seahawks, expecting to have their star wide out, and he throws a punch at a defender who was looking to block Nacua after an interception. Nacua was ejected from the game, leaving with only 1 catch for 11 yards.
Rashod Bateman, Baltimore Ravens – There were plenty of fantasy managers who sought to acquire Bateman off waiver wires after his fantasy WR1 performance in week 7. Bateman now lands on the duds list for the second consecutive week, despite getting the same amount of targets as he has had in his best games. In Week 9 Bateman did pull in 3 of his 4 targets, but only for a total of 25 yards.
DJ Moore, Chicago Bears – The Bears don’t seem to be on the same page, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Moore, their high priced star receiver, lands on the duds list for the 2nd consecutive week, catching only 4 of his 9 targets for 33 yards in a 9-29 loss the the Arizona Cardinals.
Running Backs
Studs:
Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles – Barkley has earned the fantasy RB1 title for the 2nd time this season. He now has eclipsed 100 yards from scrimmage in 7 out of the Eagles 8 games, with a total of 8 TDs as well. In week 9, Barkley rushed 27 times for 159 yards and 1 TD, and caught 3 of his 4 targeted passes for 40 yards and 1 TD, helping the Eagles get past the Jags, 28-23.
Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens – Henry is the first RB to eclipse 1,000 yards for the season, adding 13 total TDs to that feat. His streak of scoring at least 1 TD in every game continues. He’s on pace for a 2,000 yard rushing season, which would be the 2nd of his career, an accomplishment that has never been done before. In week 9, he added to his amazing start of a season by rushing for 106 more yards and 2 TDs in the Ravens 41-10 blow out win against the Broncos.
De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins – Achane and the Dolphins were more than happy to have their QB Tua Tagovailoa back after suffering a concussion in a game against the Bills, 6 weeks ago. Achane has been a huge beneficiary of the comeback, eclipsing 100 yards from scrimmage and scoring at least 1 TD in both games. In week 9, against the Bills, Achane rushed for 63 yards and 1 TD and caught all 8 targets for 58 yards and 1 TD, in a heart breaking loss, 27-30.
Honorable Mentions:
J.K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers – 14 rushes for 85 yards and 2 TDs; 2 receptions for 20 yards
Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals – 27 rushes for 120 yards; 5 receptions for 37 yards and 1 TD
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints – 29 rushes for 155 yards; 6 receptions for 60 yards
Duds:
Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars – As soon as the Jaguars get behind and go into a passing script, Bigsby becomes a non factor. Even if Bigsby remains on the field and runs passing routes, he rarely gets targeted. Such was the case in week 9, where Jacksonville abandoned the run in the 2nd quarter, leaving Bigsby with only 8 rushes for 22 yards.
Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Irving had multiple things going against him in week 9. He’s a rookie for one, he’s part of a 3 headed backfield, so his workload will always be questionable, and he was going against a defense in the Chiefs that has given up the fewest fantasy points to RBs this season. With all of that, Irving mustered up 34 total yards from scrimmage.
Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts – Taylor has eclipsed 100 yards from scrimmage in each of his past 4 games he’s played in, scoring in all but one. In week 9, he rushed 13 times for 48 yards and brought in 3 receptions for 11 yards.
To get all the latest gear for these players and more, go check out the NFL Shop now!
Tight Ends
Studs:
Mike Gesicki, Cincinnati Bengals – The Bengals were without WR Tee Higgins, so Gesicki stepped up to fill his shoes. He usually doesn’t get many targets, outside of games Higgins is missing. In the past 2 weeks, while Higgins has been nursing a quadricep injury, Gesicki has had 14 targets, catching 12 of them. In week 9, Gesicki brought in 5 of his 6 targeted passes, for 100 yards and 2 TDs, securing a convincing win over the Raiders, 41-24.
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – The Bucs lost their star wide out, Chris Godwin, for the season with a gruesome ankle injury, and then lost their other star wide out, Mike Evans, to a hamstring injury in week 7. So what do you do when you lose both of your WRs? You hammer your TE with targets. Otton had 31 targets over the past 3 games, catching 25 of those passes for 258 yards and 3 TDs in the Bucs three game losing streak. In week 9, Otton hauled in 8 passes for 77 yards and 1 TD in a 24-30 OT loss to the Chiefs.
Honorable Mentions:
Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints – 4/5 receptions for 41 yards; 5 rushes for 19 yards and 1 TD
Josh Oliver, Minnesota Vikings – 5/5 receptions for 58 yards and 1 TD
Theo Johnson, New York Giants – 3/6 receptions for 51 yards and 1 TD
Duds:
Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons – One week after claiming fantasy’s TE1 title, Pitts was only targeted once, which he caught, for 11 yards in Atlanta’s win over the Cowboys.
Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens – Andrews waited until week 6 to show up for his fantasy owners, but resorted back to a 2 catch for 26 yard game in Baltimore’s thrashing of the Broncos.
Defense/Special Teams
Studs:
Los Angeles Rams – The Rams needed to step up defensively to get a win in Seattle Sunday, and that they did. Even though they allowed 20 points, they were able to get to QB Geno Smith 7 times for the sack, and picked him off 3 times. Kam Kinchens had 2 of those picks, one going for a 103 yard TD, keeping the Rams in the game until they got to overtime, where the offense took over and scored a TD to win the game, 26-20.
Los Angeles Chargers – The Chargers are proving to be one of the better defenses in the league this season. After the Browns had a spark with Jamis Winston now under center, beating the Ravens last week, the Chargers only allowed the Browns 10 points, contained star RB Nick Chubb, and never let Winston get comfortable, sacking him 6 times, and picking him off 3 times.
Duds:
Denver Broncos – Denver has been strong on the defensive side of the ball all season, proving they can get to the quarter back, come up with turnovers, and even score some TDs. This week against the Ravens however, that wasn’t the case. The Ravens were coming off a tough loss to the lowly Browns, and took out their frustrations on the Broncos, scoring 41 points. The Broncos were able to sack QB Lamar Jackson once, but that wasn’t enough to keep the game close or keep the Broncos in the positive for fantasy points.
Thanks for checking out this weeks edition of NFL fantasy’s studs and duds. I hope you enjoyed it, and possibly even found the information useful. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts and opinions, so feel free to leave them below!
Your analysis was spot-on and provided some great insights for those managing their lineups. I loved how you highlighted unexpected performances and included context on why certain players excelled or fell short—it’s the kind of detail that helps readers make more informed decisions.
I’m curious, do you think any of these duds have the potential for a comeback in the next few weeks? And are there any under-the-radar players you’d suggest keeping an eye on for upcoming matchups? Your content makes following fantasy football even more engaging—keep up the great work!
Hey Bob! Thanks for checking out my studs and duds list for week 9! I appreciate your comments! I always enjoy engaging with people who have interest in the world of fantasy football!
To answer your first question, yes, I do believe the players on my duds list will potentially have better days. The criteria for me to put a player on the duds list is that I believe that player certainly could have done better, simply because he has proven that he can. Players with low expectations or get injured, do not go on my duds list.
As for players under the radar, you have to remember that good fantasy players does not equal good players on the field. NY Giants QB Daniel Jones is not a good QB, but is a fantasy option available if an owner was desperate.
Also, players who have teammates injured can often get more opportunities that they wouldn’t have had if that teammate were playing. This week’s TE1 was a perfect example, where Cincinnati’s Mike Gesicki, who has had limited targets, all of a sudden has a monster day with WR Tee Higgins out.