Top 5 Fantasy Matchups to Target in Week 9

The 2020 fantasy football season is quickly approaching which means it’s time to get a start on your research. We have you covered with our fantasy football rankings as well as projections for the upcoming season. If you are interested in the defensive side of the ball we have you covered there as well. Leave no stone unturned and check out everything we have to offer.
I will take a look at the worst defenses of Week 9 and provide an in-depth look on borderline names to get a bump or just overall strong matchups where we could see ceiling games from players. If you are looking for player rankings for Week 9, you can find them here, as well as waiver wire adds. Anything fantasy football related can be found here.

Jacksonville Jaguars Pass Offense Vs. Houston Texans

Houston’s pass defense continues to struggle, and they have allowed 20+ fantasy points to seven of eight quarterbacks so far this season. The one that did not was Kyle Allen with Carolina. This will be the second time around for Gardner Minshew taking on this team, and he scored 20.3 fantasy points in the first meeting. Jacksonville has an underrated group of wide receivers, and a very good running game to balance things out. While Dede Westbrook is questionable, Chris Conley and DJ Chark should dominate.

The Texans are allowing the 5th most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, and the 2nd most fantasy points per game to wide receivers. The volume has been there against Houston as well. Opposing teams are throwing the ball 38.3 times per game, which is the third highest in the league. Jacksonville enters the week with a 22.5 implied total.

Detroit Lions Vs. Oakland Raiders

The Lions are going to be down two defensive backs again, with Darius Slay being the more important one. He has missed a majority of the season with a hamstring injury, and Detroit also decided to ship Quandre Diggs to Seattle. This secondary is an easy target right now, and Oakland is in the same boat. The Lions are allowing the most passing yards per game this season (289), while Oakland is allowing the third highest (285). Per Football Outsider’s DVOA, Detroit ranks 22nd against the pass, while Oakland ranks 29th.

Oakland has allowed two 20+ fantasy point games to wide receivers this season, and four 15+ fantasy point games. The Lions have had some issues with slot receivers, meaning Hunter Renfrow could continue on his best career game from last week. Tyrell Williams continues to score, and is easily the WR1 here, but does come second to Darren Waller. Both tight ends are playable this week, although TJ Hockenson is the one you would be debating on sitting. Oakland has allowed double-digit fantasy point games in three of the last four to opposing tight ends.

Seattle Seahawks Pass Offense Vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay is a pass defense I want to target. They rank 26th against the pass, but 1st against the run. If Seattle can put their pride aside and throw the ball at a higher rate this week, this team has big upside. They have allowed five total touchdowns to Ryan Tannehill and Kyle Allen over the last two weeks. Teddy Bridgewater tore them up for 314 yards and four touchdowns. Opposing teams are averaging a league high 40.4 passing attempts per game against Tampa, and have averaged 285 passing yards.

Russell Wilson is currently QB2 on the season, with 20 total touchdowns and just one interception. He is averaging 23.2 fantasy points per game. Tyler Lockett is currently a top ten fantasy wide receiver, and ranks 12th in yards. Quarterbacks are averaging 25.4 fantasy points per game against Tampa Bay this season, and they are allowing the 7th most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. DK Metcalf is the fringe player who had a two touchdown performance against Atlanta. He is back in a good spot.

Derrick Henry Vs. Carolina Panthers

While Tevin Coleman tipped the scales a bit last week, we have seen Carolina really struggle against the run. Week 1 they allowed 27 fantasy points to Malcolm Brown and Todd Gurley. Peyton Barber had 14.9 PPR points in Week 2. Leonard Fournette had 19.7 in Week 4, and Tevin Coleman put up a whopping 35.8 last week. All but two games, backs have failed to cross the double-digit mark against Carolina. The Panthers are allowing five yards per carry, and teams are averaging 27.1 rushing attempts per game against them.

Derrick Henry is averaging 19.9 touches per game this season, and has had four weeks with 20+. Carolina ranks as the third best pass defense, and the 32nd ranked run defense. It would be wise for Tennessee to get going on the ground.

Green Bay Packers Vs. Los Angeles Chargers

The Packers offense has been clicking, and they might welcome back Davante Adams this week. They will go on the road to Los Angeles, where it might be close to a home game given the fanbases in LA. The Chargers defense is not very good, ranking 25th against the pass, and 24th against the run. Injuries have taken a toll on this defense, and it has been too much to overcome. Los Angeles is allowing the 9th most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. Both Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams are strong backs to target.

While the fantasy points by quarterbacks and wide receivers look mediocre, we have to dive in a little bit. The Chargers have allowed a 73% completion percentage, and have faced some pretty bad quarterbacks to help negate the stats a bit. Let’s take a look at who they have faced as far as quality quarterbacks go. Jacoby Brissett in Week 1 finished with 18.4. Matthew Stafford followed up with 21.6, and then Deshaun Watson finished with a whopping 31.4. Things took a slight turn in the schedule, as Josh Rosen, Joe Flacco, Devlin Hodges, Ryan Tannehill, and Mitchell Trubisky all were lined up in a row. All finished with less than 15 fantasy points outside of Tannehill, who had 24.3.