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Should I start Tyrone Tracy Jr., Rico Dowdle, Bam Knight for Week 9? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
There's a lot of luck involved in fantasy football. Things change over the course of a few weeks, and sometimes even more quickly, and if you're able to capitalize early on those situations, you can benefit greatly.
At the running back position, the New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, and Arizona Cardinals had Cam Skattebo (ankle), Chuba Hubbard, and James Conner (ankle) as their entrenched starters at some point early in the season.
That won't be the case this week. Instead, it will be Tyrone Tracy Jr., Rico Dowdle, and Bam Knight likely to get the starting nod for their teams in Week 9. But should you start them for fantasy football? Let's dive in.
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Should I Start Tyrone Tracy Jr. for Fantasy Football?
It's probably a solid idea. Tracy was the starter for the Giants through most of 2024 and had a very nice stretch of games. In his best games, he scored 14.0, 22.7, 23.0, 13.4, 14.5, 19.3, and 16.9 PPR fantasy points, despite playing on a very poor overall offense with massive offensive line struggles.
This year, things are different. Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart has single-handedly transformed this offense into one of the most exciting in the league to watch. He does an excellent job extending plays, improvising, and willing his team to score points even against tough defenses and after dealing with key injuries.
Anyways he’s Jaxson Dart dropping two absolute dimes to Darius Slayton working against Quinyon Mitchell
Unfortunately for Dart, he can’t control the refs’ bad calls or Slayton’s stone hands https://t.co/nfYDJnSszS pic.twitter.com/awWL2ZurZY
— dean (@deanisreal_) October 27, 2025
Dart is a threat both as a runner and as a passer to all parts of the field, and his ability to identify coverages had been fantastic. Tracy could have even more upside than he did last season in a much more functional offense. He should be started as an RB2 in all leagues.
Should I Start Rico Dowdle for Fantasy Football?
I simply can't recommend you bench Dowdle. My analysis indicates that he'll be one of the best running backs to have picked up down the stretch -- his monster games against the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins proves that he even has top-5 pure upside at the position.
He's just one of two running backs in the NFL that have multiple games with 30 or more PPR fantasy points. The other is the RB1 overall right now, Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor, who is having a legendary season in his own right. And though the return of Hubbard severely reduced Dowdle's role, that's likely about to change.
My favorite NFL clip of the past week: Dave Canales finally admitting that Rico Dowdle is "exceptional". Wheels up, I'm starting with confidence even against Green Bay. Panthers have the lowest PROE in the NFL. They like to run no matter the score. pic.twitter.com/14eQRHE9NF
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) October 31, 2025
The ugly rotation with Hubbard is likely coming to an end. While it's unlikely that he'll be completely phased out of the offense, it's noteworthy that the only two games in which the Panthers offense has looked good without a dominant defensive performance have been the games in which Dowdle was the workhorse.
Also, the Panthers have the lowest pass rate over expectation in the NFL. That metric measures how often teams pass the ball in certain situations compared to league average, like down and distances. For example, teams often throw on third down. Dowdle is a must-start with huge upside no matter the matchup.
Should I Start Bam Knight for Fantasy Football?
Knight will be the starting RB for the Cardinals for at least one more week. He draws a nuts matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, so he's probably worth starting. It's not totally clear yet whether the Cardinals will start QB Kyler Murray (foot), who's been dealing with injury for many weeks now.
Bam Knight gets in the end zone for the @AZCardinals 3rd TD of the half!
TENvsAZ on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/42yUz0z869
— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2025
Arizona released RB Michael Carter and signed him back to the practice squad, and RB Emari Demercado (ankle) missed Week 7 and was limited in practice this week. It looks like Knight will get most of the reps, as starting RB Trey Benson (ankle) isn't ready to return from injured reserve yet.
He's a solid flex play. Decent RB play can be very hard to find.
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 Tyrone Tracy Jr., Rico Dowdle, Bam Knight. 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 - Tyrone Tracy Jr., Rico Dowdle, Bam Knight. 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 Tyrone Tracy Jr., Rico Dowdle, Bam Knight compared to others:
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