Week 9 Fantasy Football: Breakout or Fake Out

Heading into week nine of the NFL season(and the midpoint of the fantasy football year), fantasy managers find themselves at a crossroads. The next few weeks will determine if a team is a true contender for a playoff spot and the championship, of if this is simply not their year.

There are four teams on bye in week nine. These four teams are:1) Bucs; 2) Lions; 3) Seahawks, and 4) Washington Football Team. After this week, exactly half of all teams(16 of 32) will have had their byes. With trade deadlines rapidly approaching, this week is the perfect opportunity to gauge your team’s assets and needs and make trades and waiver wire pick-ups based on longer-term goals.

Week Eight Review:

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/beautiful-strength-the-podcast-stp-guGkIPjpy0z/

As is often the case, life is a whole lot more than podcasting and writing articles for fantasy football. After a three-year battle with Chronic Kidney Disease, I finally caught a break on February 26th, 2020. I had been diagnosed with MS in 1998, type 2 diabetes in 2004, and end-stage kidney failure in 2017. Despite my brother Todd and my best friend from college, Matt, testing to be my living kidney donor, they had both been rejected. Countless other family members had been denied prior to their testing even beginning.

Growing frustrated, and with my kidney function has declined to seven percent, my wife Sarah and I turned to a massive social media search. This included countless Tweets and FB posts, as well as joining a kidney support group out of Louisville. Through the kidney support group, we learned of a lady from Arizona who had donated a kidney to a horse trainer from California.

On 2/26/2020, we did a podcast with Annette McNamara from Beautiful Strength. She posted it on FB the next day. Our eventual donor, Jacie, heard it and reached out to Sarah on the 27th. She contacted Sarah to say “you don’t know me, but I’m with you the rest of the way”. As it turned out, Jacie also lived in Arizona and was friends with the previous donor. She had been following along with our FB posts.

After countless tests and blood work, Jacie was approved to be my donor. Jacie had to fly to Nashville for much of the testing, as well as spend three weeks here for our successful transplant on August 11th, 2020. Last week, the roles were reversed, as Sarah and I flew to Phoenix to spend five days with Jacie and her husband Duane.

Breakouts

Carson Wentz(QB Colts) in week eight, Wentz completed 27 of 51 pass attempts for 231 yards and three touchdowns. This marked his fifth consecutive game with at least two touchdown passes. On the season, Wentz has now completed 168 of 270 pass attempts for 1926 yards and 14 touchdowns.

In week nine, the Colts host the Jets on Thursday night. Despite facing one of the stingiest defenses against quarterbacks( the Jets have allowed the eighth fewest fantasy points to QBs), Wentz should be viewed as a low-end QB1 option.

DeVante Parker(WR Dolphins) in week eight, Parker had eight catches(on eleven targets) for 85 yards and zero touchdowns. This strong game came after missing three games with a hamstring injury. On the season, Parker now has 25 catches(on 43 targets) for 327 yards and one touchdown. Parker has had at least seven targets in each of the five games that he has played.

In addition to Parker’s solid performance, Tua Tagovailoa has played exceedingly well since returning in week six from broken ribs. Over the last three games, Tua has completed 86 of 126 pass attempts for 825 yards and six touchdowns. With both Tua and Parker playing so well, look for Parker to be a top 24 wide receiver in week nine.

The Only Wavier Article You Need for Week 9

Pat Freiermuth ( TE Steelers) in week eight, Freiermuth had four catches(on seven targets) for 44 yards and a touchdown. Over his last two games(the Steelers had a bye in week seven), Freiermuth has 11 catches( on 14 targets) for 102 yards and the one touchdown.

With QB Ben Roethlisberger struggling to complete the deep pass( only a 25.8 completion percentage on passes of more than 20 yards), Freiermuth will continue to be a big part of the newly revamped offense. In addition to Freiermuth, Diontae Johnson and Najee Harris will be the key to future Steeler victories.

Fake Outs

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Boston Scott(Eagles RB) in all fairness, this is more a gut call than anything based on firm evidence. In week eight, Scott had 12 carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns. In the Eagles 44-6 defeat of the Lions, the team turned to a predominant run game for the first time all season(46 rushes to 16 passes). Although part of this substantial increase was due to the big second-half lead, the Eagles were run-heavy in the first half as well.

Playing the Chargers in week nine will likely require a different game script than facing the Lions did. With a larger number of passes expected than the 16, look for Kenneth Gainwell to be more involved than he was in week eight. Fantasy managers should view Scott as more of a flex this Sunday.

Randall Cobb(Packers WR) as the last man standing, Cobb needed two short TD passes to salvage his fantasy day in week eight. Cobb had three catches(on five targets) for 15 yards and the two touchdowns. Both Davante Adams and Allen Lazard missed the game due to COVID restriction, while Marquez Valdes-Scantling(hamstring-IR) was also not activated ahead of the game.

Cobb will serve more of a backseat role with all three of his fellow wide receivers expected back. For the season, Cobb now has 17 catches(on 23 targets) for 184 yards and four touchdowns. He has been held to thirty receiving yards or less in all but one game this year. Fantasy owners should only use Cobb as a “desperation flex” in week nine.

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