RADIO
Kevin looks for fantasy football risers, sleepers, breakout candidates for Week 10 of 2025. He analyzes last week's targets, receptions, air yards, snaps, routes.
We're back with our fantasy football targets, routes, and snap counts analysis for Week 10 of the 2025 NFL season! We'll discuss every fantasy-relevant player in this article. Targets are paramount when it comes to evaluating pass-catchers for fantasy football. There are no air yards, receiving yards, receptions, or touchdowns without first earning a target. There’s a reason the biggest and most consistent target-earners are among the top fantasy point scorers; they can be relied on by not just their team’s offense to earn targets and produce on those targets.
It was a crazy Week 9, as we had a lot of injuries and shakeups at the top in the NFL. The Green Bay Packers lost at home to the Carolina Panthers and also lost tight end Tucker Kraft for the season to an ACL tear. We also saw teams lose some key players for the game, like Jayden Daniels, Puka Nacua, Aaron Jones Sr., and Brian Thomas Jr., to various injuries. We'll see how these injuries affect things for next week.
It's also the week before the NFL trade deadline, which is currently percolating as I type this, so with the deals that happened on Tuesday, we'll go through some of the fallout from that, as well as what that means for teams moving forward. Of course, we'll have all the stats and analysis you've come to expect in this article, so let's dive in!
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Note: Statistics from our player pages at RotoBaller were included during the compilation of data, in addition to some of the following sites/databases: Pro Football Reference, PFF, Fantasy Points Data Suite, Fantasy Life, rbdsm.com/stats, NFELO, NFL NextGenStats, NFL Pro+, RotoViz, ESPN Stats and Info, and SumerSports.
Cardinals Notes From Week 9:
Now that the Cardinals have named Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, we can stop shoehorning the “when Kyler Murray comes back” into analysis. Murray has likely played his last snaps with the Cardinals, as they placed Murray on injured reserve with his foot injury.
Overall, Brissett has been a true net positive for this passing game, getting the ball to the playmakers in the offense and not trying to “square peg/round hole” other options in this offense. I’ve talked for a couple of weeks now in this article about backup quarterbacks knowing the assignment.
Brissett is for sure one of them; he’s been one this entire decade, but as backup quarterbacks are wont to do, they’ll fall off to their true median projection. That’s why they’re backups. But letting your guys like Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride do their thing definitely helps keep you afloat.
In fact. Harrison (7-96-1, team-high 10 targets) has never really looked like a bona fide WR1 in this offense until Week 9, when Brissett targeted him three times in the team’s first offensive series, then another three times on the second drive that resulted in Harrison’s touchdown. It could be a new lease on life for Harrison, so let’s see if this continues.
Of course, McBride (5-55-1) is awesome as well, and with those two getting the bulk of the work with a quarterback willing to pepper both with targets consistently, the Cardinals’ passing game is very intriguing for the rest of the season. No other pass-catcher had more than three targets other than Michael Wilson (4-61), who had a solid outing.
We started the game with an Emari Demercado (14-79 rushing; 1-(-1) receiving) carry, and then both Demercado and Bam Knight (9-27 rushing; 2-20 receiving) rotated in and out. Knight took the bulk of the routes, but Demercado saw 15 total opportunities to Knight’s 11. It was a weird split considering Demercado has long been their third-down/long down and distance back, but the Cardinals seemed to favor Demercado after forgetting about his touchdown gaffe against the Tennessee Titans.
Trey Benson is eligible to return in Week 10, but he hasn’t practiced yet, per head coach Jonathan Gannon. It doesn’t seem too likely we’ll be seeing Benson in Week 10.
Falcons Notes From Week 9:
The Falcons got back into their Week 9 game against the New England Patriots by forcing a sack-fumble on Drake Maye, and then got to within a point, only for Parker Romo to miss an extra point on Drake London’s third touchdown. They had a chance to get the ball back after punting at the two-minute warning and two timeouts, but they gave up the first down and were defeated 24-23.
With Michael Penix Jr. and London back, things were at least good for London (9-114-3; team-high 14 targets) as he scored three times. He looked like a man among boys, boxing out a cornerback like he was a power forward for the first score. For the second, Penix put the ball high and let London use his height toward the back pylon. Then, on the final touchdown, bringing the ball in with one hand. It was truly a masterclass for London, as his height and ball skills make him an unfair assignment for any cornerback in the league.
After London’s awesome game, the volume was carried by Bijan Robinson (12-46 rushing; 8-50 receiving) and Kyle Pitts Sr. (4-38), who had all but two non-London targets in the game for the Falcons. Darnell Mooney (1-15) had one of the targets, and despite running a full 100 percent route participation, he can be dropped at this point from fantasy rosters. He just hasn’t produced despite being on the field almost all the time for the Falcons alongside London.
Ravens Notes From Week 9:
With Lamar Jackson back for the Ravens, it was ALMOST status quo for Baltimore. They won 28-6, but Jackson didn’t look 100 percent. Fortunately, it doesn’t take 100 percent of Jackson to beat the Miami Dolphins, as he threw for four passing scores and dominated the game from the opening bell.
With just 18 completions and 23 pass attempts, it was a matter of who scored versus who earned targets. Targets were very spread out, with nine Ravens earning a target. Zay Flowers (5-64) led the way in volume with five targets; obviously not a lot, as the team didn’t really need to pass that much. Mark Andrews (2-22-2) scored twice on his only two targets, running 63 percent of routes per dropback.
Derrick Henry (12-119 rushing; 1-2 receiving) did Henry things but ceded some work to Keaton Mitchell (4-11 rushing; 1-7 receiving), and Justice Hill (1-2 rushing; 2-13 receiving) was present and accounted for, as he always is. It was a very classic Baltimore Ravens game from a positive game script standpoint—low pass attempts and heavy on the run with Henry’s volume.
Bills Notes From Week 9:
Unsurprisingly, the Bills took care of business at home in the regular season against the Chiefs. Buffalo is going to have to get over the hump of the Chiefs in the playoffs at some point, but right now, the Bills look like such a wagon. Josh Allen only had three incompletions on 26 pass attempts as he also scored twice on the ground to add to his only touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid.
Kincaid continues to produce, yet he runs just 53 percent of routes per dropback and plays on fewer snaps than the other two tight ends on the Bills. Make it make sense! Kincaid is defying all logic and reason with such limited utilization, yet continued massive production.
On the same token, the Bills are not expanding his role either, which also defies logic and reason. You’re starting Kincaid as your fantasy tight end if you have him, but just know that because of the routes cap that’s seemingly set at 55 percent, there’s severe downside risk in a down week.
In terms of targets and things we can bank on, that’s Khalil Shakir. Shakir (7-43, team-high eight targets) operates as the “passing game that operates as a short running game” slot receiver, and darn it, it just works. It works exponentially more than any other wide receiver on this roster, because most of them are just “guys.”
Not a “guy” whatsoever is James Cook, who just flat out has been dominant this season and kept that up with a massive workload after just 44 percent of snaps last week. Cook is a demon, but he gave up a touchdown to Ty Johnson (2-8-1 rushing; 2-12 receiving) in addition to Allen’s two rushing touchdowns.
Panthers Notes From Week 9:
In a game where some swirling winds were prevalent through Lambeau Field, it certainly affected the passing game for the Panthers. Bryce Young completed just 11 passes for 102 yards and threw a horrific interception in the red zone.
Xavier McKinney picks off Bryce Young in the end zone!
CARvsGB on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/xbahYEfmEs
— NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2025
You’re trying to drive this ball to the back pylon to give Xavier Legette (1-22) a chance to get low on the ball out of the cornerback’s range, but the lack of arm strength, coupled with the wind gusts and general inaccuracy, turns that into a gimme interception for the Packers’ Xavier McKinney. Besides Tetairoa McMillan’s 4-46 line on a team-high six targets, nobody really factored much in the passing game. How did the Panthers win, you ask?
Meet Rico Dowdle (25-130-2 rushing; 2-11 receiving), who dominated the Packers to the tune of +44 RYOE – the second-highest mark among any back in Week 9.
One week after head coach Dave Canales all but said Dowdle was going to get the majority of the touches after letting Chuba Hubbard (5-17) get his post-injury loyalty touches, Dowdle was right back to dominating in the run game. He’s been one of the few things that has consistently worked in the Panthers’ offense this season, and after a game where he took 76 percent of the team’s rushing attempts and 72 percent of snaps. Dowdle is back to being a high-end RB2 and a must-start regardless of matchup going forward.
Bears Notes From Week 9:
What an insane game here, I don’t know where to start, honestly. Should we get the bad out of the way first?
If you told me that in a game where the Chicago Bears scored 47 points and had over 500 total yards in a win, that Rome Odunze would earn just two targets and not catch anything, I’d tell you that you were crazy. But that actually did happen. It’s one of those games that sucks, not just that it happened, but it truly makes you question his true ceiling and introduces big risk in terms of his floor every week.
On to the players who contributed! DJ Moore (4-72, two-yard TD pass) led the Bears’ wide receivers in yards and had a solid day, also throwing a touchdown pass to Caleb Williams on a Philly (Chicago?) Special. However, that pales in comparison to a certain rookie tight end. Colston Loveland (6-118-2) stayed in line with last week’s routes and snaps and dominated, capping his day with a 58-yard catch-and-run touchdown for the go-ahead score with under 20 seconds left. Insane stuff.
COLSTON LOVELAND 58 YARDS! WOW! pic.twitter.com/JRZOV8ih3J
— NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2025
Loveland got some extended run with Cole Kmet (1-10), leaving Week 9's game with a concussion, but Loveland was already running more routes and earning more snaps than Kmet anyway. This is probably the runway needed to seriously consider Loveland as a low-end TE1. Anybody with that type of production ceiling is pretty close to a start in my book, since there aren’t many with that type of massive ceiling.
Without Luther Burden III, Olamide Zaccheaus (6-58-1) was able to run in the slot almost unimpeded and led the Bears in receiving while catching one of Williams’ three touchdown passes. Speaking of Williams, he caught two passes for 22 yards in addition to his 280 yards and three touchdowns passing. Williams became the first starting quarterback with multiple receptions in a game since George Taliaferro in 1953. Sick stuff.
And we didn’t even Kyle Monangai! Filling in for an inactive D'Andre Swift, Monangai (26-176 rushing; 3-22 receiving) was electric, leading the NFL running backs in RYOE (+59) and Rush EPA for the week. It’s clearly a “start your running backs against the Bengals”-type situation here for fantasy. Even Brittain Brown (5-37-1 rushing; one target) got into the act, with over 7.0 yards per carry and a touchdown. It was clearly a banner day for these Bears against a soft opponent who pushed them considerably.
Bengals Notes From Week 9:
We go from one offense that crushed to another offense that crushed on the other side of the Chicago Bears. Joe Flacco threw for an astounding 470 yards, four touchdowns with two interceptions, throwing the ball 48 times, and just providing a ton of volume for the condensed Bengals’ offense.
In a game full of stars, the Bengals’ side had Tee Higgins, who dominated with two scores. People want to push Higgins (7-121-2) down because he’s the “second target,” but in an offense like this, even with Flacco in for Joe Burrow, Higgins can outproduce Ja'Marr Chase (6-111) in any given week. Chase Brown (11-37 rushing; 8-75 receiving) led the Bengals in targets, so while he didn’t do much on the ground, he more than made up for it with a whopping 13 targets.
Andrei Iosivas (5-66-1) and Noah Fant (2-28-1) came along for the ride, and both produced touchdowns thanks to the ridiculously fruitful game script.
The Cleveland Browns were on bye in Week 9.
Cowboys Notes From Week 9:
On Monday Night Football at home against the Arizona Cardinals, the Cowboys looked incredibly stagnant and had some carryover from their loss in Denver to the Broncos. Only CeeDee Lamb looked halfway decent for a bit in the passing game, but three turnovers and penalties doomed the Cowboys in this game.
Lamb (7-85) paced the Cowboys with a team-high 13 targets, with George Pickens (6-79) getting four of his seven targets in the fourth quarter as the Cowboys were trying to climb out of a 10-point hole, which ended up as the final score. Jake Ferguson bounced back from a goose egg to post a solid 5-50 line on seven targets.
Jaydon Blue was a healthy scratch and as the kids say, “he ain’t it.” Malik Davis (1-3) was the backup here to Javonte Williams (15-83 rushing; 1-0 receiving), who unsurprisingly kept his massive role and was super efficient with over 5.0 yards per carry on the evening.
Broncos Notes From Week 9:
This game between the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans was the dictionary definition of the term “rock fight.” Both teams feature stout defenses and offenses that are solid but are prone to stretches of inefficiency. That’s exactly what we got on the Denver side, but they still got the win, 18-15.
Bo Nix completed less than half of his passes, but the ones he did, besides Courtland Sutton’s (1-30-1) touchdown catch, were within nine or so yards from the line of scrimmage. Both Sutton and Troy Franklin (4-27, team-high nine targets) saw a ton of work downfield as well, but it was tough sledding getting anything complete there. Sutton and Franklin combined for 330 air yards, with Franklin’s 198 the most of any pass-catcher across the NFL in Week 9.
RJ Harvey’s isn’t doing too much on the ground, but has been a focal point in the receiving game in a way J.K. Dobbins hasn’t been able to contribute throughout his career. Harvey (3-8 rushing; 5-51-1 receiving) ended up scoring his receiving touchdown on a wheel route that Texans LB Henry To’oTo’o had no chance of defending once Harvey got to full speed.
Dobbins (15-61 rushing; 1-(-2) receiving) remains the main chain mover on the ground and is still keeping up his solid efficiency, so while this backfield is slightly harder to parse just because Harvey was drafted in fantasy leagues to be an eventual starter, that likely isn’t to happen without a Dobbins injury.
Lions Notes From Week 9:
This was anything but your typical Detroit Lions offense, with the Minnesota Vikings getting 30 quarterback pressures on Jared Goff and with not much help in the run game. Goff took five sacks in the game, but still had a chance to make it a game. Jake Bates' field goal attempt in the fourth quarter was blocked to keep the deficit still a touchdown. Minnesota kicked a field goal, Detroit answered with a touchdown, but the Lions couldn’t keep the Vikings from getting a first down, and that was that.
Things were a bit condensed here with Amon-Ra St. Brown (9-97, team-leading 12 targets) shut down for most of the game, but he compiled his usual volume in the late stages of this game. Goff’s two touchdowns went to Sam LaPorta (6-97-1) in the game’s first drive and Jameson Williams (4-66-1), which cut the lead to 27-24 before the Vikings’ game-clinching first down that sealed it.
Jahmyr Gibbs (9-25 rushing; 3-3 receiving) was a non-factor in this game, as he was not able to really do much. David Montgomery (11-40-1 rushing; 2-10 receiving) scored a short touchdown in the second quarter as their only rushing touchdown on the afternoon.
It definitely wasn’t the game we’re used to seeing from the Lions at home, as the Vikings came in with a game plan to harass Goff up the middle of the offensive line. It worked.
Packers Notes From Week 9:
The most consistent thing about the Packers this season is their inconsistency. They’re a very good team in terms of talent; one of the best in the league. But they play down to teams, and when they make one mistake, it’s able to be capitalized on. That’s cost them games against the Browns and now, the Panthers.
Further compounding issues for the Packers is the fact that they lost tight end Kraft for the season with an ACL tear. No doubt that a large chunk of explosiveness in the Packers’ offense vaporized with that injury. Luke Musgrave (3-34) will run the majority of the routes at tight end for the Packers, with John FitzPatrick and Josh Whyle (practice squad) backing him up.
Romeo Doubs (7-91, team-high 10 targets) is going to have to shoulder the load in terms of target earning, which he’s done pretty well over the last half-dozen games. As somebody who has been the target of criticism amongst Packers fans (admittedly, including myself, a Packers fan), Doubs has been very good this season and has leveled up considerably in terms of per-route metrics.
I do have to hand it to Romeo Doubs as a generational hater during his Packers' tenure; he's been VERY good & one of the most underrated fantasy assets this season.
Among 100 WR w/ min. 125 routes, he's:
- 20th in 1st-read target share (25.8%)
- 26th in TPRR (21.7%)
- 28th in YPRR (1.84)
Kudos. 👏
— Kevin Tompkins (@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) November 5, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Outside of Doubs, Christian Watson (2-58) is likely going to be the one to get the first crack at some target earning with his role continuing to expand. Watson has four targets in each of his two games since returning from an ACL injury in Week 18 last year, but his workload has ramped up from 65% of routes per dropback in Week 8 to 75% in Week 9. Matthew Golden (2-9) exited in the third quarter with a shoulder injury and didn’t return, but it’s being labeled as “not serious” and “day to day” by head coach Matt LaFleur.
Josh Jacobs’ snaps and routes have languished a bit over the last few weeks as he’s dealt with a couple of injuries that have put him on the team’s weekly injury report. Jacobs (17-87-1 rushing; 4-13 receiving) has still played and produced, but Emanuel Wilson’s (6-16 rushing; 1-1 receiving) involvement alongside him lessened this past week. That does seem like a good sign for Jacobs as we get deeper into the season.
Texans Notes From Week 9:
It was honestly a wonder how the Houston Texans maintained their lead to the degree they did, as they were up 12-7 at the half. Houston lost starting quarterback C.J. Stroud to a concussion in the second quarter, so Davis Mills had to come in for the rest of the game. In the second half, besides the Texans’ field goal to make it 15-7 and then the 11 points the Broncos scored to put them ahead to win, both teams punted six times. It was that kind of game, folks.
Nico Collins (7-75, team-high 10 targets), Christian Kirk (4-26), and Dalton Schultz (6-77) consolidated the targets for the Texans between Stroud and Mills, with them accounting for almost 70 percent of the team total. In our weekly accounting of the Texans’ Day 2 rookie receivers, Jaylin Noel (no targets) sank way down to just 13 percent of routes with Kirk back in the lineup. Jayden Higgins fared slightly better, with 43 percent of routes and a lone reception for four yards. AWESOME.
The backfield remains divided, with Chubb (11-34) on obvious running downs and Marks (10-27 rushing; three targets) taking everything else in addition to his own rushing stuff. For some reason, the Texans felt like they needed Dare Ogunbowale (1-2 receiving, 17 percent routes) involved for “reasons”, so there’s that. It’s a relatively uninspiring backfield, just because it’s low upside either way, with Chubb or with Marks.
Colts Notes From Week 9:
With the Pittsburgh Steelers going up 27-10 with 6:51 left in the fourth quarter, we saw a true negative game script play out for the Indianapolis Colts. They got down via a billion or so (okay, six) turnovers, and that’s hard for any team to rally from.
The Colts, in catch-up mode, saw three players with double-digit targets and doing a lot of the heavy lifting with the offensive production. Michael Pittman Jr. (9-115, team-high 12 targets) led the way for the Colts, with Alec Pierce (6-115) not too far behind and the Colts getting him downfield for 176 air yards – second-most in Week 9.
Josh Downs (6-57-1) was solid as well, catching Daniel Jones’ only touchdown throw on the afternoon. Tyler Warren (5-26) was a little lost in the weeds compared to the top-three wide receivers, but Warren has been very consistent otherwise, so he gets a pass.
Unfortunately, in this game script, we didn’t get the full Jonathan Taylor (14-45 rushing; 2-12 receiving) experience. No big deal; it happens.
Jaguars Notes From Week 9:
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence reportedly came into Week 9’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders with an illness but used a run-heavy game plan (and overtime) to beat the Raiders 30-29.
Travis Etienne Jr. (22-84 rushing; 5-31 receiving) saw a ton of work with 22 carries on top of Lawrence (two rushing touchdowns) and Bhayshul Tuten’s nine carries apiece. The Jags had the fifth-lowest PROE (-5.5 percent) of any team in Week 9, and it showed, even if some efficiency was lacking. Tuten got into the end zone to vulture away a touchdown, but he’s been running strictly backup, mop-up carries to Etienne’s solid role at the top.
Thomas (3-55) came out of Week 9’s game with a high-ankle sprain and tried to return, but couldn’t. It’s been a lost season thus far for Thomas, but hopefully we can get him healthy for the fantasy playoff stretch run. Have no fear, though, as Parker Washington (8-90, team-high nine targets) is clearly the cure. I can’t even make fun of Washington anymore; he’s legitimately a pretty good fantasy play now, as he’s been one of the only Jaguars to earn targets at a reasonable clip.
The Jaguars also traded with the Raiders to bring in Jakobi Meyers, and head coach Liam Coen said that Washington would continue to be the team’s slot receiver, so that bodes well for Washington’s fantasy value. We’ll see if Meyers gets ramped up as soon as this week, but I wouldn’t be immediately starting him this week with a likely limited routes package at Houston, the top defense in the NFL in EPA per play allowed.
Chiefs Notes From Week 9:
Our yearly slugfest between the Bills and Chiefs ended how it typically does in the regular season: with a Bills win. Patrick Mahomes was unusually inefficient, completing just 15-of-34 passes for 250 yards with an interception. Mahomes also tried to stretch out the Bills’ defense with a massive 14.5-yard aDOT, by far the highest mark in Week 9. It’s somewhat jarring knowing that Rashee Rice (4-80 receiving; 2-6-1 rushing, team-leading eight targets) usually runs a very short St. Brown-like aDOT of just a few years, but then seeing him have a 14.5-yard aDOT makes you look twice and recalculate things.
The intent is there with Xavier Worthy (3-23, 124 air yards), but a combination of the Bills’ defense and things just not clicking for the Chiefs was probably the culprit here. These are the games that send teams back to the drawing board a bit, as it seems like destiny that these two teams will link up in January. Travis Kelce (4-66) was fine as well as a secondary option here.
Without Isiah Pacheco, we got a sizable workload from Kareem Hunt (11-49-1 rushing; 1-6 receiving), who was solid albeit unspectacular. Brashard Smith (3-7 rushing; one target) mixed in but ultimately didn’t see much work. The Chiefs even unearthed Clyde Edwards-Helaire (2-5) for this one, too, wild stuff.
Raiders Notes From Week 9:
For the entire month of October, the Las Vegas Raiders were using their Ouija board to channel the spirits of terrible teams from yesteryear: The winless 2008 Detroit Lions and 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers teams, the Nick Saban-led 2007 Miami Dolphins, and my personal favorite, the entire Hue Jackson-era Cleveland Browns from 2016 and 2017.
As they always say, it’s always darkest before dawn. A new day approaches, ushered in by Brock Bowers, who returns healthy and poised to make up for lost time. Bowers, who is listed as a tight end but played a ton out wide and in the slot, destroyed worlds for the Raiders as they made this a game but succumbed to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-29. He looked like a freak of nature that could not be contained by any force on this floating rock we call Earth. He was also back to 81 percent routes, too, so he’s clearly healthy.
On Tuesday, the Raiders ended up trading Meyers (4-23) to the Jaguars, so that opens up much more 12 personnel for the Raiders with Bowers and Michael Mayer (3-26) to play an in-line role similar to how the Eagles used to use Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, with Ertz off the line in the slot and sometimes out wide, and Goedert doing normal in-line tight end stuff.
For the Raiders:
It clears the way to see if any of the rookie wide receivers are a thing, but, notably, Dont'e Thornton was a healthy scratch and Jack Bech played zero offensive snaps, so the recently-added 33-year-old Tyler Lockett could play 19 snaps and 12 routes
— Kevin Tompkins (@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) November 4, 2025 at 11:42 AM
It’s probably not great for the rookies Dont'e Thornton Jr. (healthy inactive) and Bech (zero offensive snaps) to get no playing time over a 33-year-old Lockett (one target). But we’ll see what the Raiders do.
Ashton Jeanty’s role is one you can pencil in each week, with Jeanty (13-42 rushing; 5-47-1) receiving almost 70 percent of the team’s rush attempts and a huge 91 percent of snaps. The last half of the season is going to be all about Bowers and Jeanty with a sprinkle of Mayer and Tre Tucker (3-38).
Chargers Notes From Week 9:
The Chargers got down early thanks to a Justin Herbert interception returned for a touchdown and a punt return touchdown, so the Chargers had to claw back in this one. Luckily, it’s the Tennessee Titans, and they’re allergic to scoring touchdowns or providing a real threat on offense, so the Chargers won by a touchdown, 27-20.
Herbert led the team in rushing on the afternoon as Kimani Vidal (12-30) was ineffective. The Titans’ defense doesn’t get enough credit for its performance, and that’s because they’re on the field so much that they just get worn down. Still, they’re a solid group and held Vidal and Jaret Patterson (9-44) to just 3.5 yards per carry. Vidal’s role was strong, but it’s interesting to see Patterson get some solid run in this game, too.
Omarion Hampton is eligible to come off injured reserve this week, but head coach Jim Harbaugh hasn’t opened his practice window yet. We will likely get a week or two more of this current iteration of the Chargers’ backfield with Vidal and Patterson in a 70/30 split.
The passing wasn’t as fruitful as it’s been this season, but there was still some goodness. Quentin Johnston came off his targetless goose egg from Week 8 to score a touchdown. Like we said, Johnston (4-53-1) won’t consistently be as good as he was at the beginning of the season, but won’t be as bad as he was last week. Ladd McConkey (5-46) led the Chargers with six targets, and Oronde Gadsden (5-68) was solid and efficient as well.
Keenan Allen (2-41) hit a snag with his routes, falling to just 54 percent, with Tre' Harris (2-18) getting some run as well. Allen’s routes fell as the Chargers used Harris in single-receiver formations as a run blocker. That could be problematic for Allen’s fantasy value, but we’ll see if this trend continues. For the time being, I’d start others over Allen.
Rams Notes From Week 9:
The Rams were dominant from the start and at home, handled business against an inferior Saints team, starting Tyler Shough in his first NFL start. Matthew Stafford was an efficient 24-of-32 passer for 281 yards and four touchdown passes. It might be time to talk about Stafford for MVP, folks.
Both Puka Nacua (7-95-1) and Davante Adams (5-60-2) earned a team-high seven targets, with Adams bringing in two touchdowns and Nacua with one of his own. Nacua left in the third quarter with a chest injury, but head coach Sean McVay has already said he should be good to go for Week 10. The Rams got their passing out of the way, which led to them running the ball for most of the game after that.
Kyren Williams (25-114-1) saw a season-high 25 carries, as did Blake Corum (13-58) with 13 carries. They didn’t mess around here with a weaker team; they just put foot to throat and ran it on the Saints until the clock hit zero.
Dolphins Notes From Week 9:
The Dolphins were outmatched from the jump, as they ended their drives with field goals, while the Baltimore Ravens ended their drives with touchdowns. That got Miami in an early hole, and they couldn’t climb out of it at home as they lost 28-6 and kept the call to axe head coach Mike McDaniel very much at the forefront of all Dolphins-related chatter.
De'Von Achane (14-67 rushing; 6-39 receiving, team-high 10 targets) took home the most opportunities here of any Dolphins’ player, with 24 total opportunities. Even in a very much negative game script, he’s the engine here where the run game and the pass game flow through him the way prime Alvin Kamara did for many years. The one thing McDaniel consistently knows is that scheming plays for the handful of dynamic players on the roster typically works out for our fun little game within a game we call fantasy football.
Besides Achane, Jaylen Waddle (6-82) was excellent yet again and has been remarkably consistent outside of the Cleveland game in Week 7.
As the same archetype (deeper aDOT, receiving-inclined) tight end as Darren Waller, Greg Dulcich (5-49) was third in targets (5) for the Dolphins, ran the most routes among the Dolphins’ tight ends, and showed some nice rhythm with Tua Tagovailoa on mostly outs and timing patterns. I’d be fine with adding him if you get in a crunch at the tight end position, because of his receiving skills and that he’s athletic enough to scheme for and not just a dump-off outlet once Tagovailoa goes through his progressions.
There wasn’t much left on the bone for anybody else in the Dolphins’ receiving room besides a few catches and some designed runs for Malik Washington (3-48 receiving; 3-13 rushing).
Vikings Notes From Week 9:
J.J. McCarthy made his first start for the Vikings since Week 2’s game against the Atlanta Falcons, and while he showed a little something, he’s still pretty unusable for fantasy purposes. He’s very much a work in progress, throwing for just 143 yards, two passing scores, and a rushing touchdown as well.
I do trust Kevin O’Connell’s judgment as the preeminent quarterback whisperer of the NFL. I mean, look what he’s done to get usable outings out of Carson Wentz, Nick Mullens, Joshua Dobbs, and obviously, last season’s Sam Darnold renaissance.
With just 14 completions and 143 yards, you can expect production to be a bit lean. Justin Jefferson (6-47-1) got there with a touchdown score and a team-leading nine targets. McCarthy helped us remember T.J. Hockenson (2-11-1) still exists with a first-quarter score, and Jordan Addison (2-48) chipped in with a pair of catches. This was mostly a defensive game, so McCarthy didn’t have to do too much.
Aaron Jones Sr. (9-78 rushing; 2-20 receiving) left Week 9’s game with an AC sprain in his shoulder, but is also on the team’s injury report with a toe injury as well. Jones left the game and gave the reins to Jordan Mason (10-36 rushing; 1-1 receiving), who was inefficient. It’s telling that Jones immediately got the lion’s share of work upon his return, so we’ll see how that injury situation shakes out in relation to Mason, but it’s certainly something to note regarding how the team views both backs.
Patriots Notes From Week 9:
The Patriots faltered a bit in the second half of their game against the Atlanta Falcons, letting them come back and come within an extra point of tying the game, only to have the most Atlanta Falcons thing happen as Parker Romo missed it. Two back-and-forth punts later, the Patriots got a first down to salt the rest of the game away and escape with a 24-23 win.
We didn’t get the best Maye game here, especially in the second half. Maye turned the ball over twice and had just 259 yards passing with two touchdowns. Stefon Diggs (3-38-1) saw a minor uptick in his routes and snaps in Week 9 as he works through an ankle injury. He ended up scoring, as did DeMario Douglas (4-100-1), who scored his touchdown from the backfield on a wheel route… for some reason. Douglas only ran routes on 33 percent of Maye’s dropbacks, so he’s not a serious fantasy asset right now.
Douglas and Hunter Henry (4-51) led the way for the Patriots with six targets, but this passing game, as we’ve outlined all season, is a “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” receiving room, brought together by Maye’s weekly efficiency.
Without Rhamondre Stevenson, TreVeyon Henderson (14-55 rushing; 4-32 receiving) got a fair shake as the top back for the Patriots, but that said, he did split a little bit of the workload with Terrell Jennings. Still, Henderson took on a sizable role (75 percent snaps, 70 percent of routes per dropback), but Jennings (11-35-1 rushing; 1-9 receiving) scored the touchdown early in the second quarter. The opportunities were divvied out 19-to-12 in favor of Henderson, and he was in on most passing downs, too.
Stevenson did not practice on Wednesday, so it’s possible we could see the same backfield split again in Week 10. If you’re in a pinch and need a running back, monitor this situation this week. If Stevenson remains out, I don’t mind adding Jennings to fantasy rosters as a deep sleeper if your back is against the wall for running back production.
Saints Notes From Week 9:
The Saints are pretty much doomed at this point. Never at any point in their 34-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams did they ever have a snowball’s chance in – well, you know where – of competing in this game. It was Shough’s first game as the Saints’ starting quarterback, and it didn’t exactly go great.
The fact that the team gave so much leeway to Spencer Rattler makes you really think about their initial thoughts on Shough. At some point, you have to see what you have. But there’s no way they don’t try and either acquire a quarterback or draft one, right? You can’t go into 2026 with these two signal-callers.
The Saints ran 40 plays – the second lowest to Week 7’s Raiders against the Chiefs – and had just 25 pass attempts for 176 yards. Bless Shough, he tried to get his receivers involved. He did an alright job with Rashid Shaheed (5-68); more on him in a bit.
Besides a dud game from Chris Olave (3-57), Juwan Johnson got in the end zone at the very least. It’s going to be hard stomach starting Olave or Johnson in this offense. Shaheed traded to the Seahawks before Tuesday’s trade deadline, so look for Devaughn Vele to earn more routes and start alongside Olave moving forward.
And the run game? Good luck. We’ve already opened that can of worms with Kamara (6-14 rushing; 1-3 receiving); it’s just not likely in the cards for any running back that dons this jersey in 2025.
Giants Notes From Week 9:
You know, it’s too bad that 2025 has gone the way it has for the New York Giants. Tell me that an offense led by quarterback Jaxson Dart, running back Cam Skattebo, and wide receiver Malik Nabers wouldn’t be fun as hell. Instead, we get… whatever this is. The Giants are going to be spry enough with Dart to be in games, but probably not competent or skilled enough to win many games without their stars.
Realistically, you’re only starting Wan'Dale Robinson (9-46, team-leading 10 targets) among the receivers, and he’s fine enough as a flex option that compiles receptions in PPR formats. Outside of that, everybody else is much too volatile to be a serious fantasy option.
Theo Johnson (3-27-1) cannot get there every week on his random touchdown. Touchdowns comprise 38 percent of Johnson’s fantasy scoring this season, so outside of that, he hasn’t been very good at earning targets. Unfortunately, the cupboard is barren, and the Giants have to work with what they have.
Perhaps there is no better example of a cupboard being bare than signing Ray-Ray McCloud III days earlier and then giving him 92 percent of routes immediately? The Giants are looking for something, anything at this point. This feels very much like the open tryouts they had every week in 2022 with guys like Marcus Johnson, Richie James, Isaiah Hodgins, and David Sills V. They’re just looking for anybody who can contribute and earn an instant rapport with Dart for the future.
If you read last week’s article, we talked about how this backfield was likely to work out. It happened almost word for word. Devin Singletary (8-43 rushing; 2-8 receiving) was very well involved and actually earned one more opportunity than Tyrone Tracy Jr. (5-18 rushing; 3-19 receiving) did. What I didn’t expect was a near-even split between the two. This backfield is going to be even more gross than anybody anticipated, as it seemed like Tracy earned a bit more leeway with his emergence last season. Apparently not!
The New York Jets were on bye in Week 9.
The Philadelphia Eagles were on bye in Week 9.
Steelers Notes From Week 9:
It was more of a defensive game than anything for the Steelers at home, as they put the clamps on the Indianapolis Colts more than any team has all season. They forced five Jones turnovers with three interceptions and two fumbles, so no matter how good you are, you’re not going to be able to overcome that in most instances. The fact that the Colts only lost by a touchdown is pretty hilarious, honestly.
Aaron Rodgers game-managed this game with nothing really standing out from a receiving standpoint. DK Metcalf (2-6) was very much held in check, Calvin Austin III (5-56, team-high six targets) led everything for the Steelers, and 16 of the team’s 34 targets went to a tight end. Typical Steelers.
Jaylen Warren (16-31-2 rushing; 2-(-2) receiving) was also held in check, less than 2.0 yards per carry, but did most of his damage with touchdowns as he scored twice. Kenneth Gainwell (3-(-1) rushing; 4-35 receiving) saw some involvement with eight touches; most of those coming in the receiving game.
49ers Notes From Week 9:
Mac Jones keeps on sputtering along like a 2004 Hyundai Elantra with 230,000 miles on it. Sure, it’ll get you there, but there’s always the worry of the thing finally biting the dust and leaving you on the side of the road. Luckily, Christian McCaffrey is a finely-tuned classic car that takes this offense where it needs to go; a 1967 Pontiac GTO, if you will. These car metaphors are killing me.
A gargantuan workload for McCaffrey with 33 opportunities that led to 173 total yards and two scores. Another ho-hum overall RB1 performance from the guy everybody thought was too injured to be a fantasy star again.
Besides McCaffrey’s huge outing, it was muted elsewhere. Jauan Jennings (4-41-1) got into the end zone with almost 80 percent routes per dropback, and George Kittle (4-32) was also a bit involved, but Jones distributed the ball to a bunch of receivers in this one.
Seahawks Notes From Week 9:
First off, these uniforms should be the default uniforms again for the Seahawks. These are sharp. Clearly, playing in them does wonders for everybody involved, but especially Sam Darnold.
Darnold completed his first 17 passes of the game and didn’t throw his first incompletion until a couple of minutes into the third quarter, when it was 31-7 Seahawks. At that point, Tory Horton already had two touchdowns, Elijah Arroyo had his touchdown, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba was already dominating before the Seahawks could lay off the gas. It was as thorough a win as it gets for a road team coming east to play a night game on national television.
The run game has been an issue all season, and nothing really changed there, with Kenneth Walker III (11-42 rushing; 2-19 receiving) and Zach Charbonnet (8-25 rushing; 1-21 receiving) duking it out for touches to salt the game away. Walker had a slight lead on Charbonnet as the preferred option, but with an emphatic win like that, you can file away the running game in this one.
Something new, though: the Seahawks did trade for former Saints wide receiver Shaheed before the Tuesday trade deadline, so a team with Darnold that’s already the most efficient downfield passing game in the NFL gets even richer. Must be nice!
Shaheed is a wide receiver archetype the Seahawks wanted when they brought in Marquez Valdes-Scantling during free agency in March, but obviously, he was cut before the season. Shaheed is a much better receiver and feels like a much better and shorter aDOT version of young Lockett from his days in Seattle, where he ran a lot of vertical routes. He’s going to be a lot of fun for the Seahawks, but it doesn’t seem like good news for Cooper Kupp’s hamstring and heel injuries.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on bye in Week 9.
Titans Notes From Week 9:
While the 27-20 final looks a bit bullish for the Tennessee Titans in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, 14 of those points were in the first quarter thanks to a pick-six and a Chimere Dike punt return touchdown. That takes the total down to six points on two field goals for Tennessee’s total offensive output. Which was indeed offensive in every sense of the word.
Cam Ward wasn’t great; a running theme for the Titans all season. He completed just 12 passes for 145 yards, so it’s entirely unsurprising that nobody really came along for the ride. Dike (1-5) caught just one pass on the day, and the only pass-catchers with more than two receptions and 21 yards were Elic Ayomanor (3-46, team-high six targets) and Tyjae Spears (7-26 rushing; 3-36 receiving) on the afternoon.
Tony Pollard carried some rushing volume, but in the end, he’s just unimportant in the grand scheme of things. He was rumored to be a trade candidate, but Pollard wasn’t moved. So Pollard and Spears remain low-end RB3 assets for the rest of the season. It’s truly gross out here.
Commanders Notes From Week 9:
This Commanders team might just be cursed this season. One season removed from an improbable run to the NFC Championship Game, Daniels can’t stay healthy or get out of his own way. Daniels suffered a dislocated elbow as he was inexplicably still in the game with the team down 38-7 in the fourth quarter after Daniels had missed Week 8. Head coach Dan Quinn has to help his franchise quarterback here, you would think.
It wasn’t great for the Commanders, as even with Daniels, the team was boat-raced by the Seahawks’ blazing start and were down 31-7 at halftime before they could blink. Deebo Samuel Sr. (5-41 receiving; 1-3 rushing) led the way for the pass-catchers, but that was just good for a 5-41 line on six targets. Washington is so hard up for pass-catchers that they continue to bring up reclamation projects like Treylon Burks (1-14), the former Titans first-round pick. Zach Ertz (4-46) hung around and earned a little volume, too.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt (12-38 rushing; 1-3 receiving) continues to struggle, but Chris Rodriguez Jr. (12-65-1) had his success (and his touchdown) very late in garbage time when everything was decided. If the quarterback is Marcus Mariota for the foreseeable future, obviously, that will bring down the offensive environment here in Washington to levels where we’re going to be very hard-pressed to recommend any fantasy starts here.
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