Week 9 WR Start’em, Sit’em: Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Strategy

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If you are in doubt about some players in a tough spot this week, or players that haven’t produced yet this season, you have come to the perfect spot. We dive into a few names to start in borderline matchups, and also talk about players to fade. You can also check out our rankings area to see where players on your team rank and their projections heading into Week 9. Be sure to check out the rest of our weekly fantasy football content.

Start Em

DK Metcalf @ Atlanta

Lets carry over DK Metcalf from last week and fire him up again. He didn’t do much damage in terms of yards, but his two receiving touchdowns carried him to a solid week. I like him again against a Buccaneers defense that is easily attacked through the air. They are allowing the 7th most fantasy points per game to opposing wideouts. Metcalf leads Seattle with 12 red zone targets, and is seeing 19% of the targets overall.

Michael Gallup Vs. New York Giants

Michael Gallup has 40 targets on the season, and has caught 67% of them. The touchdowns haven’t been there, but he is a name to get into those lineups this week. The Giants are allowing the third most fantasy points per game to opposing wideouts, and have allowed the most receiving yards overall. I expect the onslaught of Dallas this week to crush.

Courtland Sutton Vs. Cleveland

There might be some concern for Courtland Sutton given that the quarterback situation has somehow gotten worse. Drew Lock isn’t starting yet as he will need to get off IR first. So Brandon Allen will make the start this week against Cleveland. The Browns have gotten somewhat healthy in the secondary after missing key guys for most of the season. However, Sutton’s 30% target share is still a must start every week.

Chris Conley Vs. Houston

This ties into Dede Westbrook below, who left Week 8 early. He was already questionable heading in and two injuries was a red flag. Chris Conley has capitalized on Westbrook’s injuries, and has seen 14 targets over the last two weeks. He has posted 4-103-1 and 3-83-0 lines. Houston is a banged up secondary that just was toasted by Oakland. Overall this team is allowing the second most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers.

Sammy Watkins Vs. Minnesota

Sammy Watkins returned after missing most of October. He hasn’t been relevant since the first week of the season, and no Patrick Mahomes is going to create a cloud over this offense until he returns. Matt Moore has been serviceable enough for me to return to Watkins. He had eight targets in the Week 8 loss to Green Bay, catching five for 45 yards. Generally Minnesota has been a pass defense to avoid, but against respectable offenses, they have looked average.

Sit Em

Terry McLaurin @ Buffalo

I had higher hopes for Terry McLaurin last week, but he failed to do much in the second half after a few catches in the first against Minnesota. I hate the rotating quarterback play and overall I am not thrilled when Dwayne Haskins comes in. In addition to the poor quarterback play, they take on Buffalo in Buffalo. Only six teams have allowed less than 1,000 receiving yards this season, and Buffalo is one of them. They have also allowed just two receiving touchdowns. Only two wide receivers have scored double-digit fantasy points against Buffalo this season, and they were 10.3 and 11.5.

Christian Kirk Vs. San Francisco

Christian Kirk has a tough matchup against San Francisco, who are allowing just 16.1 PPR points per game to wide receivers. That really is just an insane number in today’s game. Kirk saw strong volume in his return, catching eight of 11 targets for 79 receiving yards. In reality the passing game has been subpar outside of the game against Atlanta. Things are about to get tough over the rest of the season given the Cardinals schedule.

Tennessee WRs @ Carolina

I was fine with Tennessee against Tampa Bay, and they were a massive let down. Serves me right. This is a tough spot on the road against Carolina, especially given the targets can be scarce at time. The Panthers rank top five against the pass this season, and most of the fantasy points allowed were limited to a few select wideouts. DJ Chark and Chris Godwin have really been the only wideouts to produce. I will stick the Titans back on the bench.

Dede Westbrook Vs. Houston

We are likely looking at a similar situation to last week where Dede Westbrook was questionable and playing through injuries. That spells trouble for me here, and hopefully we get a ruling before the game. If he is listed as active, I am going to take the week off even in a great matchup. I will start Conley over Westbrook in a great spot.