Fantasy Footballers Week 9: Ranking Audit and Podcast Highlights
Week 9 is upon us and the playoffs are inching ever closer. There is still time to make a late-season surge and reel off four or five wins, so don’t give up even if you only have a couple wins to-date. If you’re solidly in the playoff hunt, it’s time to start shoring up those rosters for that run to the #FootClanTitle!
Quarterback Rankings
The elder statesman of the NFL Tom Brady tops the list of big ranking variance this week, straddling the top 12 rankings, the same type of variance for his significantly younger opponents, Lamar Jackson. Both players find themselves as high as QB9 and as low as QB13.
Sam Darnold takes on the hapless Dolphins, causing his weekly ranking to spike as high as QB12.
Carson Wentz sports a 4-spot variance in a tough matchup against the Bears, checking in as high as QB12.
Phillip Rivers is on the borderline of starting QBs in most leagues, with a 6-spot variance between his high and low rankings.
Running Back Rankings
Much of the RB rankings for Week 9 are fairly consistent, with minor ranking variances.
Dalvin Cook has been on a tear, but still checks in as low as RB5, even in plus match up with the Chiefs defense that has been very friendly to opposing RBs.
Leonard Fournette can be found as high as RB6 in a possible shootout with lots of scoring possibilities versus the Texans.
Wide Receiver Rankings
The WR rankings are also very consistent this week, where Amari Cooper leads the way as the WR1 for Week 9. His running mate, Michael Gallup, can be found as high as WR16. The Cowboy WRs have a great match up with the NFC East rival Giants.
The Buccaneers and Seahawks game has shootout written all over it, with Chris Godwin (WR3), Tyler Lockett (WR4), and Mike Evans (WR5) all sporting rankings inside the top six overall. Even rookie D.K. Metcalf finds himself inside the top 24 WRs.
After sitting out a week, Keenan Allen returns to the consensus top 15, with a high of WR10.
Tight End Rankings
At first, I had to double-check to rankings, as the Ballers’ are all extremely close in their top TE rankings. There are a few players who are making splashes in the rankings, including TE11, Jonnu Smith and TE15 Cameron Brate.
Don’t forget about the Start/Sit tool on the website as well.
Biggest Takeaways from the Week 9 Podcasts
Monday – Week 8 Studs & Stinkers + Weekly Rewind, Angels in the Endzone
The trio is back in full force in Week 9 and opens with Monday Punday. Did you fall into the trap of starting Kenny Chills? Weekly Rewind kicks off at 6:46 talking about the impending trade deadline. Fantasy Studmuffins can be found at 14:39, including a kick to the face. The Stinkers of the Week segment starting at 36:32 is full of some sad performances from the Ballers Hometown hero.
Tuesday – Week 9 Waivers + Full Stream Ahead, The Inconvenient Time Traveler
The Ballers discuss the Thursday Night Football Game, which had a handful of exciting moments, including the play that caused Andy to lose a tight match. The News and Notes segment at 12:06 is pretty tame, with no major NEW injuries. This week’s Waivers segment opens at 20:08 and we have four teams on bye: Falcons, Bengals, Rams, and Saints. After a long list of streaming options for Week 8, Week 9 is a little slim on the pickins’ in the Full Stream Ahead segment found at the 41:42 mark.
Wednesday – Keep/Trade/Cut + Week 9 Buy or Sell, TNF Preview
Fantasy Buy or Sell at 3:58 is all about some AFC East players heading into Week 9. The News and Notes segment opens at 11:09 and the Jets did not make the moves that were being bandied about. The always exciting Keep/Trade/Cut segment is found at 17:36. A couple of the big names in the segment include Robert Woods and Joe Mixon. The segment closed with a Keep/Trade/Cut of the TNF RBs which makes a smooth transition into the Thursday Night Preview of the 49ers at Cardinals game at 39:37. The Show closes with a quick Mailbag! segment at 49:08.
Thursday – The Halloween Show! + Starts of the Week, Week 9 Breakdown
Happy Halloween! The Ballers are dressed up for the holiday as The Lizard King, Darren the Wallerus, and Chris Goblin. Make sure you check out the YouTube Channel to see them! The Halloween Segment opens at 4:00 comparing some players to their Halloween candy equivalent. The Fantasy Forecast opens at 10:20 discussing the following matchups:
Texans @ Jaguars (London Game – 9:30 AM EST Kickoff)
Bears @ Eagles
Vikings @ Chiefs
Redskins @ Bills
Colts @ Steelers
Jets @ Dolphins
The Ballers’ Starts of the Week can be found at 45:28. If you are still playing in a league with Kickers, Jason’s Ironclad, Locked & Loaded, 100% Guaranteed, Boom Boom Kicker of the Week can be found at 59:41.
Friday – Week 9 Matchups + In-or-Out, The Fourthiest!
The Thursday Night Football game had some highs and lows for Fantasy Football owners. The News & Notes segment kicks off at 8:39, and then the Ballers fire up the In-Or-Out segment at 12:51. If your match up was not on the Thursday show, you can listen to the second half of the Fantasy Forecast at 22:04. The 1:00:09 mark closes out the show with the Ballers on a Budget segment.
Fantasy Previews:
Titans @ Panthers
Buccaneers @ Seahawks
Lions @ Raiders
Browns @ Broncos
Packers @ Chargers
Patriots @ Ravens
As we head into the fall, the weather will start to play a role in some of the games. Make sure you check back every Sunday for Eric Ludwig’s Weekly Weather Conditions article.
Weekly Articles:
Rob Wilson’s Ten Things We Learned from the weekend
Jeff Greenwood’s Trade Targets and Ammo
Matthew Betz’s Injury Recap
Aaron Larson’s Target Report
Ryan Weise’s Snap Count Observations
Lauren Carpenter’s Waiver Wire
Ryan Weisse’s Defense/Special Teams Strategy
Much of the DFS content begins to drop on Thursday’s. There are a lot of DFS focused articles, so check them all out here:
https://www.thefantasyfootballers.com/dfs/
Kyle Yates’ Dynasty Report
Kyle Borgognoni’s Predicting the Top-12 QB’s
Sunday – Eric Ludwig’s Weekly Weather Conditions
Have a great weekend and best of luck in Week 9!