RADIO
Who Should I Start for Week 9? Fantasy Football outlooks for Bo Nix, J.J. McCarthy, Bryce Young, Malik Willis, Geno Smith, C.J. Stroud, Kirk Cousins, Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Deshaun Watson.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 9 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Bo Nix, J.J. McCarthy, Bryce Young, Malik Willis, Geno Smith, C.J. Stroud, Kirk Cousins, Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Deshaun Watson. However, don't worry; we are here to help you make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 9. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 9 of the 2026 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.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Week 9 Fantasy Football Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider starting in Week 9:
J.J. McCarthy, New York Giants
New York Giants quarterback J.J. McCarthy provided a spark off the bench for his team in a 34-27 loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 6, and then earned the start against the Houston Texans in Week 7, leading the Giants to a 27-21 victory in overtime. McCarthy and the Giants are coming off of a bye week in Week 8, and have a matchup with a Philadelphia Eagles defense that gives up 235.4 passing yards per game in Week 9.
In the past two games with the Giants, McCarthy has completed 31 out of 49 passing attempts (63.3%) for 495 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He has rushed five times for 29 yards in three games since joining the Giants. McCarthy is currently rostered in just 9% of Yahoo leagues and started in 2% of those. He could be considered a viable streaming play for fantasy managers in need against a reeling Eagles team this week, but he isn't a priority add by any means as things currently stand. McCarthy will need to show more consistency before being considered as a bench-stash option.
Malik Willis, Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis has been much better for fantasy football in the last few weeks, and he's a QB to consider as an emergency option from the waiver wire if you need bye-week help or are in a two-QB league. Willis brings dual-threat upside and has at least two total touchdowns in each of his last three games. He threw for one score and ran for another against the Bengals with a season-high 74 rushing yards in Week 5 before the bye week. In Week 7, he led the Dolphins to their only win of the season with 208 passing yards and two touchdowns while running for a third score against the Jets.
In Week 8's loss to the Patriots, Willis only had two rushing yards but threw two touchdowns and racked up 211 passing yards. In Week 9, he gets a great matchup against the Lions, who have been the most favorable matchup in the NFL for QBs this season. If you need QB help from the waiver wire, Willis is one of the best widely available streaming options to consider.
Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (knee) says he's fine after the 27-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Postgame, Young said, "Everyone's dealing with something at this point in the year. It's football. Nothing like that is an excuse; go out there and play the game." Young has been playing through a Week 3 knee injury and was sacked six times and hit nine times on Thursday night.
With right tackle Taylor Moton on injured reserve, Damien Lewis inactive, and Corey Bullock leaving the game early, Young will likely remain under duress this season. After a hot start by the Panthers offense, injuries have caught up, and nearly every fantasy option besides running back Chuba Hubbard is a risky play moving forward.
Geno Smith, New York Jets
New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith had another strong fantasy performance in Sunday's loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, throwing for 290 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Geno has now surpassed 250 passing yards in three consecutive games, throwing for 829 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions over that time. It's not perfect, but it never is with Geno, and after a truly embarrassing 2025 season with the Raiders, he is once again a usable, matchup-dependent streaming option.
While he shouldn't be streamed with much confidence in his Week 9 matchup against Kansas City, his schedule after that becomes much more playable, squaring off against the Bills, Chargers, and Dolphins, followed by their bye in Week 13. Geno is worth a roster spot in deeper leagues, but fantasy managers should remain selective about when they actually trust him in their starting lineups.
Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (concussion) is not expected to practice on Wednesday after entering the NFL's concussion protocol this week, according to Scott Petrak of The Elyria Chronicle-Telegram. However, head coach Todd Monken is not ruling Watson out, and he is optimistic that he will play on Sunday on the road against the New Orleans Saints, who are coming off their bye. Fantasy managers who have been using the 31-year-old veteran in two-QB superflex leagues should be formulating a backup plan for this week.
If Watson cannot get cleared from the protocol by the start of the weekend, second-year signal-caller Shedeur Sanders would be in line for his first start of the 2026 season in a hostile environment against a well-rested Saints defense. We will be keeping a close eye on Watson's practice status this week, but so far, he is on the wrong side of questionable. Through the first eight weeks this year, Watson has been a serviceable QB2 in fantasy, throwing for 1,806 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions to put him as the QB17 in overall fantasy points.
Who Should I Start Tool
You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.
Week 9 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Bo Nix, J.J. McCarthy, Bryce Young, Malik Willis, Geno Smith, C.J. Stroud, Kirk Cousins, Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Deshaun Watson. 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 name. In the second box, search for the second player 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, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with 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 circle), 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 (2026)? 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 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 9 for Bo Nix, J.J. McCarthy, Bryce Young, Malik Willis, Geno Smith, C.J. Stroud, Kirk Cousins, Jayden Daniels, Jordan Love, Deshaun Watson.
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
