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Week 9 of the 2021 NFL season brought unexpected fantasy football surprises and busts. Mike Riggall analyzes overreactions to Elijah Moore, Brandon Aiyuk, Ja'Marr Chase, and more.
Week 9 was one of the wildest weeks we've had for fantasy football in quite some time. Matt Ryan came off a very disappointing performance in Week 8, only to crush the stingy Saints defense to finish as QB-3, while Carson Wentz and Josh Johnson finished as top-five options in a Thursday night game that had one of the lowest over/unders on the week. Baker Mayfield excelled now that Odell Beckham Jr. has moved on and Colt McCoy was QB-13 filling in for Kyler Murray. Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow all scored 15 fantasy points or less which was a big surprise. Reports had George Kittle playing limited snaps in his return from IR, but he was able to go for 101 yards and a touchdown to finish as TE-2 on the week. Travis Kelce and Darren Waller finished as top-four options which is expected, but Pat Freiermuth scored twice to finish as TE-1 on the week which was a surprise. Stephen Anderson, Donald Parham Jr., Geoff Swaim and Ryan Griffin surprisingly finished as TE1's, while Evan Engram, Hunter Henry, Jared Cook, and Cole Kmet rounded out the top-12.
I had to triple-check this, but the following sentence is accurate. Elijah Moore was your WR-1 for Week 9 with DeVonta Smith, Olamide Zaccheaus, Darnell Mooney, Malik Turner and Tim Patrick rounding out the top-six. Other than those surprises, Keenan Allen, Marquise Brown, Brandon Aiyuk, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Justin Jefferson, and Cooper Kupp rounded out the WR1's. Marquise Brown didn't get it done early, but Lamar Jackson leaned on him late into the game and in overtime while Brandon Aiyuk appears to be back.
A week after Michael Carter finished as RB-1, James Conner racked up 173 yards-from-scrimmage and scored three times to finish as RB-1 against a 49ers defense that had given up the 11th-fewest fantasy points to running backs. Jonathan Taylor went off for 200 yards-from-scrimmage and two scores to finish as RB-2 while Nick Chubb and Joe Mixon both scored twice to finish as RB-3 and RB-4, respectively. Nyheim Hines, Alvin Kamara, Cordarrelle Patterson, Melvin Gordon, Devonta Freeman, Devontae Booker, Dalvin Cook and Najee Harris rounded out the RB1's in what amounted to a rough week for running backs. Now, let's take a look at some of the outliers from Week 9 and evaluate whether they're worth a spot on your roster or in your starting lineup.
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Josh Johnson, N.Y. Jets
Week 9 Stats: 27-of-41 passing, 317 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 4 carries, 18 yards
Mike White started against the Colts but was injured on a touchdown-pass to Elijah Moore in the first quarter which he was unable to come back from. Josh Johnson took over and he looked rusty early on, but then he settled in and led to Jets to 23 points, most of which came in garbage time.
Bottom Line: Mike White has been cleared to return for Week 10, but Zach Wilson could return as well which means Josh Johnson should remain completely off the radar. Regardless, you don't want to use any of the Jets quarterbacks in any format unless you're truly desperate in Week 10 because they will play against a Bills defense that will be angry and looking to bounce back after a loss to the Jaguars.
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Week 9 Stats: 31-of-47 passing, 264 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT, 5 carries, 50 yards
The Jaguars defense had Josh Allen under siege the entire day, sacking him four times, forcing Allen to consistently rush his throws and causing one lost fumble. It's worth noting that the Bills were missing Dawson Knox, their swing-tackle Spencer Brown and starting guard Jon Feliciano, which did not help Allen's cause.
Bottom Line: The Bills play against the Jets in Week 10 so Josh Allen should bounce back just fine. The Jets have given up 21-or-more fantasy points to quarterbacks in each of their last four games going all the way back to Week 5.
Elijah Moore, N.Y. Jets
Week 9 Stats: 8 targets, 7 catches, 84 yards, 2 TD
Elijah Moore played just 59.7% of the Jets offensive snaps against the Colts which was just his third-highest total of the season, but it was significantly higher than the 35.7% he played in Week 8. Moore is an absolute stud and is able to get tremendous separation from defensive backs.
Bottom Line: Elijah Moore had his breakout game and hopefully he's already on your roster. Moore will continue to be a viable option even after Corey Davis returns to the lineup because he's a play-maker and the Jets are getting creative with ways to get the ball in his hands.
Malik Turner, Dallas Cowboys
Week 9 Stats: 7 targets, 5 catches, 33 yards, 2 TD
CeeDee Lamb led all Cowboys receivers in targets in Week 9 (nine snaps), but was only able to haul in two of those for 23 yards. It's worth noting that Lamb narrowly missed on a deep pass from Dak Prescott which would have likely resulted in a touchdown. As the game fell out of reach, the Cowboys kept Prescott in the game but allowed Lamb to rest, which led to Malik Turner playing 18 snaps (29%) deep into the fourth quarter where he scored twice.
Bottom Line: Prior to Week 9, Malik Turner played a total of eight snaps, with his previous season-high coming in Week 5 (five snaps) in a blowout-win over the Giants. Leave Turner on the waiver wire, this will be his best game of the season unless CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper both suffer injuries and miss time.
Jordan Howard, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 9 Stats: 17 carries, 71 yards, 1 TD
Jordan Howard played 16 snaps (24.6%) in Week 8 and followed that up with 23 (40.4%) in Week 9 against the Chargers. In last week's article I said that we could expect Howard to come through again against the Chargers because they play two-high safeties and basically dare opposing offenses to run it against them, and that happened. Kenneth Gainwell played just 11 snaps (19.3%) while Boston Scott logged 25 (43.9%).
Bottom Line: In Week 10 the Eagles play the Broncos who have given up the 12th-fewest fantasy points to running backs on the season. While this isn't a great matchup for Howard, it's not prohibitive. The Eagles should be competitive so it looks like we have one more week of Jordan Howard being a low-end RB2 option.
Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
Week 9 Stats: 12 carries, 53 yards, 2 targets
Jordan Love made his first career start against the Chiefs in Week 9 with Aaron Rodgers out of the lineup and it was pretty clear that the Packers wanted to run the ball a lot to keep the pressure off of Love. It felt like A.J. Dillon played a lot in this game because he was heavily involved early, but he played his normal complement of snaps (38.1%) compared to 40 (63.5%) for Aaron Jones.
Bottom Line: Aaron Jones didn't catch the ball which hurt his final stat-line, but he still played more than A.J. Dillon and they tried to get him the ball more than Dillon. Aaron Jones will be just fine and he might actually be a good buy-low guy in a trade.
Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
Week 9 Stats: 1 carry, -2 yards, 8 targets, 6 catches, 89 yards, 1 TD
Brandon Aiyuk saw a season-high in targets in Week 8 and he followed that up in Week 9 with his best game of the season. Several of Aiyuk's catches were contested down the field and he looked great.
Bottom Line: Brandon Aiyuk is back and you should feel good about using him in your fantasy lineups. If you held on to him through the rough start, congratulations.
Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
Week 9 Stats: 2 carries, 0 yards, 13 targets, 6 catches, 49 yards, 1 fumble
Ja'Marr Chase was able to get open on Sunday and was heavily targeted, but he had some bad drops. Two of Chase's drops would have gone for long gains, at least one of which would have gone for a score.
Bottom Line: Ja'Marr Chase had his worst game of the season and the Bengals are on bye in Week 10 which means some fantasy managers may be looking to move him if they're desperate. You may want to explore trading for Chase after this outlier performance.
Stephen Anderson, L.A. Chargers
Week 9 Stats: 4 targets, 4 catches, 39 yards, 1 TD
The Eagles give up a lot of production to tight ends and the Chargers had three of them finish as TE1's in Week 9. Donald Parham Jr. played 28 snaps (40.6%), Jared Cook played 29 snaps (42%) and Stephen Anderson played 31 (44.9%). Neither of these guys had more than four targets, but Jared Cook led the trio with 48 yards even though he played a season-low in snaps.
Bottom Line: Donald Parham Jr. is a tall redzone threat, Stephen Anderson is extremely undersized at just 230 pounds and Jared Cook is clearly the best all-around tight end on the Chargers roster. Anderson's involvement was likely game-plan specific and he should be left on the waiver wire.
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