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Justin's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 9 of 2025. He looks at surprising performances from R.J. Harvey, Kimani Vidal, Troy Franklin, Xavier Hutchinson, Roman Wilson.
As you'll see in this week's Fact or Fiction column, it was a good week to face the Dallas Cowboys defense, though it's kind of always a good week to take on Dallas.
The Cowboys' defense has allowed the most passing touchdowns in the league and the second-most passing yards. Additionally, the Dallas run defense has allowed the fourth-most rushing yards. The Micah Parsons trade has been a nightmare for Dallas, but it's been a boon for fantasy managers.
Let's take a look at some of this week's surprise performances and decide if they were a Fact, i.e., a sign of more good performances to come, or a Fiction, i.e., a performance that won't be replicated. We'll also look at Week 8 performances from Kimani Vidal, R.J. Harvey, Troy Franklin, Xavier Hutchinson, and Roman Wilson.
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Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Week 8 stats: 23 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown, one catch for 10 yards -- overall RB7
So, we've now had two RB1 finishes in the past three weeks for Los Angeles Chargers running back Vidal, which lines up with the conclusion I came to a couple of weeks ago after I covered his RB8 finish from Week 6. After that, I said it was a "Short-term Fact, long-term Fiction."
Vidal was quiet in Week 7, carrying the ball nine times for 20 yards in a game where the Chargers were forced to throw 55 passes after going into a big first-half hole against the Colts, but he bounced back in a big way against the Vikings.
On Thursday night, Vidal had 23 carries for 117 yards, which included the first rushing touchdown of his NFL career. It was a little surprising to see Jaret Patterson with 11 carries in the game, but a lot of that came later in the game. On the team's first touchdown drive, Vidal had five carries while Patterson had one.
Vidal looks very good right now, which shouldn't be a surprise if you watched him at Troy. He's a pure runner, someone who keeps his feet churning at all times and moves forward with the ball.
Kimani Vidal over 100 yards rushing 💪
MINvsLAC on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/XkVKWr8CBx— NFL (@NFL) October 24, 2025
His pass-blocking skill should help him maintain a role once Omarion Hampton returns from injury. It might even get him close to an even split with Hampton, but you have to imagine that the Chargers want the rookie out on the field when he's healthy.
Vidal is a high-end RB2 play at the moment, especially with the Titans on deck this weekend. He likely drops to the RB4-ish range initially when Hampton is back, but strong play beyond that could push him back up the rankings.
Verdict: We're still where we were two weeks ago — a short-term Fact that gets a little more Fiction once Hampton is back, but Vidal should sustain some kind of role
Troy Franklin, WR, Denver Broncos
Week 8 stats: six catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns -- overall WR1
ALWAYS. PLAY. YOUR. WIDE. RECEIVERS. WHEN. THEY. FACE. THE. DALLAS. COWBOYS.
The Cowboys' defense has been a sieve this season, allowing every team to move the ball at will. The Dallas offense usually keeps the team in games, but there's not much you can do when your defense lets a team like Denver score 44 points.
This week, it was wide receiver Franklin's turn to go off against Dallas, as he caught six passes for 89 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He's now been targeted 18 times over the past two games, catching three touchdowns over that span.
Bo Nix getting through the full triangle read on mesh and Troy Franklin turning it into a massive chunk play. pic.twitter.com/B8Rv5tfRAr
— Frankie Abbott (@FrankiesFilm) October 27, 2025
Denver entered the season with major question marks about the No. 2 receiver role. Franklin has answered those, and at this point, he's closer to overtaking Courtland Sutton as the team's top option than he is to letting guys like Pat Bryant or Marvin Mims Jr. surpass him.
Unfortunately for fantasy managers, Franklin runs into the wall that is the Houston Texans' defense this week, which gives me a lot of reservations about playing him. He's still a matchup-dependent fantasy option, but his recent usage suggests that he's worth playing as a flex when he has a good matchup.
Verdict: This game was a Fiction, but I do like Franklin as a flex play most weeks
R.J. Harvey, RB, Denver Broncos
Week 8 stats: seven carries for 46 yards and two touchdowns, one catch for five yards and a touchdown -- overall RB6
Speaking of the Cowboys-Broncos game, let's return there to talk about another Denver player: running back Harvey, who had three total touchdowns on Sunday against the Cowboys.
Considering Harvey entered the game with two touchdowns all season, fantasy managers probably don't need to get their hopes up here, especially when factoring snap counts into things. Harvey only played 17 snaps on Sunday, which was 27.0 percent of Denver's offensive snaps. He's been below 30 percent in four consecutive games.
Harvey is a weapon for this offense in certain situations, but he's not the lead back, and it doesn't really seem like he'll be threatening J.K. Dobbins for that role. Harvey might have had the touchdowns this week, but Dobbins had 15 carries for 111 yards.
Fantasy managers should view Harvey as a boom-or-bust flex option, and most weeks you're more likely to get the "bust" part of that.
Verdict: Fiction
Xavier Hutchinson, WR, Houston Texans
Week 8 stats: five receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown -- overall WR7
The Texans played without Nico Collins and Christian Kirk on Sunday, which led to Hutchinson surprisingly leading the team in receiving yards and finding the end zone. He was targeted six times, catching five of those passes for 69 yards and the score.
Catch 1️⃣9️⃣ in the endzone‼️
📺: @nflonfox pic.twitter.com/1pshF37LQM
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 26, 2025
It was the most targets of the season for the third-year receiver out of Iowa State, and it also marked the second game in a row that Hutchinson played at least 70 percent of the team's snaps.
That's all well and good, but it doesn't mean fantasy managers need to view this as anything more than a fluke brought on by the Collins injury.
Houston likes having Hutchinson on the field, as he's played 57 percent or more of snaps in all seven games this season, but the Texans don't look his way often. Yes, he has three touchdowns over the past three games, but those scores feel very fluky. Fantasy managers can continue to stay away. This passing attack simply isn't consistent enough for us to go this deep on its pass-catchers in fantasy.
Verdict: Fiction
Roman Wilson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 8 stats: four catches for 74 yards and one touchdown -- overall WR7
Wilson and Hutchinson tied for WR7 in half-PPR. While Wilson's performance wasn't aided by injury, it still felt about as fluky as Hutchinson's showing.
Entering Week 8, Wilson had four receptions all season. He doubled that against the Packers. He had 36 receiving yards on the season, then had 74 yards against the Packers.
Yes, there's been an uptick in his playing time over the last two weeks, but I'm not ready to dive in on Wilson at this point. Keep him on your watchlist if you want to, but he does not need to be in your fantasy lineup when the Steelers face the Colts on Sunday. He doesn't even need to be on your roster. There's definitely some talent here, but it's going to take more than one good game for him to earn any fantasy trust.
It also doesn't help that the Steelers are possibly signing Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who will take opportunities away from Wilson. That's been reported by a few people, including ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, though it hasn't officially happened yet.
Verdict: Fiction
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 R.J. Harvey, Kimani Vidal, Troy Franklin, Xavier Hutchinson, and Roman Wilson. 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 - R.J. Harvey, Kimani Vidal, Troy Franklin, Xavier Hutchinson, and Roman Wilson. 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.
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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 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 9 for R.J. Harvey, Kimani Vidal, Troy Franklin, Xavier Hutchinson, and Roman Wilson:
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