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Should I start Rashid Shaheed, Jameson Williams, Tre Tucker for Week 9? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams, and Las Vegas Raiders wideout Tre Tucker have all been in the range of WR2s/WR3s this season.
Each at least deserves some consideration for starting lineups. In deeper leagues, players like this are very important -- and it's especially important to try to predict their spike weeks.
Starting them when they have one of their bust games isn't great, but that's what fantasy football analysis is for, so let's dive into start/sit decisions for Shaheed, Williams, and Tucker!
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Should I Start Rashid Shaheed for Fantasy Football?
I'm extremely nervous about the entire Saints offense moving forward. Their starting quarterback this season, Spencer Rattler, was just benched for third-round pick Tyler Shough, who was selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. It will be the first start of his career.
While Rattler wasn't exactly elite, Shough could have a rough outing in his first game. Saints head coach Kellen Moore has done a good job working with what he has, of course, but that doesn't always translate to good fantasy production for a team's WRs.
Just buzzed the Tyler Shough clips, and was pleasantly surprised. The box score was nothing to write home about, but he displayed nice zip and anticipation in his Saints debut. pic.twitter.com/jVSNAqXTpy
— Ethan Young (@EthanYoungFB) October 27, 2025
There's a bit of tape we have of him against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8. But it's hard to draw broad conclusions based on it. Shough didn't play until late in the third quarter, when Moore pulled Rattler from the game. At that point, the score was 20-3.
Despite there being plenty of garbage time, New Orleans didn't score another point. We might see an even lower-scoring offense from here on out. Shaheed is a very risky flex play for PPR leagues with 12 or more teams. Even in deeper leagues there's a ton of risk.
Should I Start Jameson Williams for Fantasy Football?
Williams did absolutely nothing fantasy-wise in Week 8. Though he played 85 percent of his team's offensive snaps, he was targeted only two times, and caught zero passes. It was the latest installment of an incredibly frustrating season for Williams' fantasy managers.
He's easily ranked outside the top-36 fantasy WRs this season based on scoring, and he's taken a major step back production-wise from last season. At least someone is taking responsibility -- Lions offensive coordinator John Morton detailed how he had "failed" Williams in a recent press conference.
#Lions OC John Morton on Jameson Williams:
“I’ve failed him — that’s what I told him… I’m like, listen, man, I’m gonna do a better job.“ pic.twitter.com/boDUzAa8V0
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) October 31, 2025
I expect to see Williams get a bit more involved moving forward. The most egregious thing is his contract -- Detroit signed him to a three-year, $80 million deal this offseason. He's getting paid an average of over $26 million per year and has 17 catches in seven games. At this pace, he'd have around 41 receptions on the year.
That works out to $650,407 per catch. Not a good return on your investment. He's a low-end flex start with upside, but Morton has work to do.
Should I Start Tre Tucker for Fantasy Football?
Tucker isn't a player I want to start anywhere. His elevated role in the offense, and slightly higher floor as a result, likely came because Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (knee) missed time. He's set to return, and to become the primary pass-catching target for the team moving forward.
Tucker had a massive game in Week 3, scoring 40.9 PPR fantasy points. In his other contests with Bowers, he averages 7.5 points. He had 12 receiving yards in Week 2 and 13 in Week 4. He's just not a big priority, and though he could be growing into a larger role, that role will be larger than minuscule, which isn't saying much.
The true positive of this season so far is at least Tre Tucker is free.
Like to thank everyone who participated in the movement. pic.twitter.com/D9erBDKWW3
— Marcus Johnson (@TheMarcJohnNFL) September 23, 2025
The big game, which was clearly a fluke, came against the Washington Commanders, who had a secondary decimated by injuries. They lost players to injury during the game, too, and the backups were woefully unprepared for NFL action.
I don't think a game like that will happen again. The Raiders will take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, who have been vulnerable to outside wide receivers, though, so Tucker could have a decent day. It just might not be anything that will win you your week.
He's probably better on the bench outside of extremely deep leagues for now. Raiders QB Geno Smith has been horrendous this season, and is holding back the entire offense, so that doesn't help.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 9 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Rashid Shaheed, Jameson Williams, Tre Tucker. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 9. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 9 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Rashid Shaheed, Jameson Williams, Tre Tucker. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 9.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool, but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 9 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 9 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 9 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 9 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Rashid Shaheed, Jameson Williams, Tre Tucker compared to others:
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