We are halfway through the fantasy football season and quickly approaching the playoffs. For those teams fighting for your playoff lives now is the time to be aggressive! Matt Modica and I discuss that and break down all the trades. But, for those in need of some help, especially if the bye weeks are killing you like they are to me in some of my leagues, here are my Week 9 positional rankings.
But first, lets rejoice! No player I wrote up last week was injured! In fact, many of them ended up scoring a touchdown. Lets hope that that is the new streak and the injuries are behind us!
- Before you think the change from Jameis Winston to Ryan Fitzpatrick is a bad thing… I can assure you that it is not. Winston has thrown four more passes this year than Fitzpatrick, yet all the fantasy options we are about are better with Fitzpatrick. Mike Evans has 483 yards and four touchdowns from Fitzy, compared to only 287 yards and two touchdowns from Winston. The same can be said for DeSean Jackson who has 427 yards and three touchdowns with Fitzy, but just 167 yards and one touchdown with Winston. O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin are also both better with Fitzy. The players that we all care about for fantasy are better with Fitzpatrick at the helm this season. You can start those players this week, or better yet, offer a trade for DJax or Howard and reap the benefits going forward.
- Demaryius Thomas got traded to the Texans and many are very excited for him. To me the real exciting part is Courtland Sutton, who already leads all Broncos WR in air yards per target and end zone targets. He should fully be owned, and in fact, I would rather him than Thomas right now. Sutton has the upside to be a rock solid WR2 every week, perhaps more.
- I do think Thomas takes over the Will Fuller role, except the fact that he is not the deep threat that he once was. While I expect Keke Coutee to be the primary slot receiver, I expect this to lead to some more deep shots for him. I do think it is possible for all three to co-exist. Since Week 4 Coutee had a 19.5 percent target share and Fuller had 16.2 percent.
- Golden Tate and his 27-percent target share are now gone from Detroit. This should push Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones into the WR2 discussion every week. Also, last week I called for positive TD regression to come for Jones and he found the end zone twice. He now leads the NFL in end zone targets, which is why he is the one of the duo I am higher on. T.J. Jones and Brandon Powell should be added as potential Tate replacements.
- I expect Tate to take over the majority of routes from the slot, which bodes negatively for Nelson Agholor. Both run about 25 routes per game from the slot, and Agholor is far more productive in it than he is out wide. My guess is Tate runs the majority of routes in the slot, but is mixed out wide at times to allow Agholor into the slot. Tate had a 27-percent target share in Detroit, which he will not be able to match in Philly. I think this affects him, Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz negatively, as there is another mouth to feed.
Again, make sure to check out Wide Right Fantasy Football with myself and Matt Modica. You can follow me on Twitter, @MichaelFFlorio.
Week 9 Positional Rankings
Ready to amp up your Fantasy Football game even more? Check out The Fantasy Black Book Show, where Joe Pisapia, Scott Bogman, and The Welsh bring the goods every week.
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