Daily Newsletter: NFL Week 9 Sleepers & Busts
Sleepers
Kirk Cousins
Cousins and the Falcons find themselves in the Game of the Week against the Dallas Cowboys. This game has the highest total on the board at 52 points and we should expect plenty of offense. Dallas has been extremely banged up on the defensive side of the ball this season and severely underperformed. This team has completely bottomed out since Week 5 – allowing a league high YPA over that span (9.2). Several QB’s have put up monster scores against the Cowboys this season and I’m expecting more of the same on Sunday.
Tyrone Tracy
Tracy has arguably been the biggest surprise of the season. He’s looked awesome every time he touches the field for the Giants and is clearly taking over as the lead back as we head into the big stretch run of the season. He’s coming off a huge game in a tough road match-up against the Steelers – he out-touched Singletary massively in this game and saw all but 6 of the RB touches. Washington has actually been a bit easier to run on than throw on, the last few weeks – and he has the ability to contribute via the passing game if they’re trailing. I love how explosive he’s looked and he is looking like a potential fantasy football league winner if he keeps it up.
Jalen Coker
We hit last week in a big way on Cedric Tillman, who turned in over 30 PPR points against the Baltimore Ravens. This week, I’m looking at another sleeper WR who will be stepping into a larger role in place of Diontae Johnson. Coker is a UDFA out of Holy Cross, where he holds the school record for touchdown receptions. He has outplayed first round rookie Xavier Legette this season, and is coming off a 80+ yard performance with a touchdown. The match-up is positive on paper, with the Saints down multiple starting CBs in this game. He led the team last week in first-read targets and should be heavily involved in Week 9.
Busts
Calvin Ridley
Ridley is coming off his best game as a member of the Tennessee Titans, but I’m hesitant to buy back in on him this weekend vs the Patriots. Christian Gonzalez has been one of the few good shadow corners in the league, and he will likely match up on Ridley this week. Ridley is an aging receiver who struggles to gain separation, which hinders him greatly in these spots. We also have a risk that Will Levis could come back into the lineup at any moment. I loved the spot for the Titans offense last week, but will be avoiding them entirely in Week 9.
Rachaad White
Tampa Bay has pretty much been running a three-headed monster at RB since the emergence of Sean Tucker, and it’s clear that White is no longer at the front of the line. White has seen less and less work as a runner in each of his last three games – and has been solely relying on his receiving role to score fantasy points. That could be a positive for him given that the Buccaneers are missing multiple star WRs, but this also couldn’t be a tougher match-up. KC ranks has allowed just the 5th least catches to opposing RB’s this season. The match-up also heightens in difficulty given that the Bucs are on the road here traveling cross country.
Raheem Mostert
Mostert’s game log doesn’t tell the full story, with him being extremely reliant on touchdowns for fantasy points. Historically, touchdowns can be pretty random, so it doesn’t make sense to target players that struggle to score fantasy points outside of finding the end zone. Buffalo has been the complete opposite of the Chiefs in that they are very vulnerable to pass catching running backs. This bodes well for Mostert’s teammate De’Von Achane more so than him. Overall, I’m not expecting a run-heavy game-script from the Dolphins this week and that will hinder both his floor and ceiling.
Written by Ben Hossler