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Who Should I Start for Week 9? Fantasy Football outlooks for Jayden Daniels, Matthew Stafford, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Geno Smith, J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr., Tyler Shough, Drake Maye.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 9 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Jayden Daniels, Matthew Stafford, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Geno Smith, J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr., Tyler Shough, Drake Maye. 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 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.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Fantasy Football Matchup 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:
Jayden Daniels, Matthew Stafford, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Geno Smith, J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr., Tyler Shough, Drake Maye
Jayden Daniels, QB, Commanders
The Washington Commanders announced on Friday that quarterback Jayden Daniels (hamstring) will return from his hamstring injury to start on Sunday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks. This was the expectation after head coach Dan Quinn announced at the start of the week that Daniels was in line to practice in full all week. The 24-year-old second-year signal-caller tweaked his right hamstring in the Week 7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys and missed the Week 8 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night, but he's now ready to go after just one missed contest.
Daniels will not have top wideout Terry McLaurin (quadriceps) at his disposal, though, after McLaurin aggravated a quad injury that had already caused him to miss four games this year. Against a stiff Seahawks defense in his first game back, fantasy managers should consider Daniels a low-end QB1/high-end QB2 this week.
J.J. McCarthy, QB, Vikings
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (ankle) will have a full week to prepare before returning as the starter for Week 9 against the Detroit Lions, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune. McCarthy is expected to step back in as Minnesota's starting quarterback for the first time since Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, when he suffered a high-ankle sprain that caused him to miss five games. The 2024 first-round pick struggled to adjust to the speed of the NFL in his first two games, completing 24 of 41 pass attempts for 301 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions to go with nine sacks taken.
The 22-year-old will have plenty of growing pains after missing all of his rookie year with a knee injury, but head coach Kevin O'Connell has expressed confidence in him as their starter going forward. It's a tough spot to make his return, with a hostile road environment awaiting in Detroit for Week 9.
Matthew Stafford, QB, Rams
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is coming off his fifth career game with five touchdown passes, completing 21 of 33 pass attempts for 182 yards in their 35-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. Stafford and the Rams were on bye in Week 8, and they'll return for a soft home matchup against the New Orleans Saints, who are tied with the Jets and Titans for the worst record in the league. The 37-year-old is expected to have his star receiver Puka Nacua back, who missed Week 7 with an ankle injury. Stafford is a prime streaming candidate for Week 9 and ranks as RotoBaller's QB9.
Tyler Shough, QB, Saints
New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore announced on Wednesday that rookie quarterback Tyler Shough will start for the team for the rest of the season. Moore said that he feels Shough is ready and that he is "really excited for him." The Saints benched Spencer Rattler in last week's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Shough went 17-for-30 passing for 128 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception in relief in just his second NFL appearance.
The second-rounder out of Louisville will now lead the Saints offense for the rest of the year, and he'll get a tough matchup on the road against the Los Angeles Rams this weekend in his first career start. Shough has a strong arm and good size at 6-foot-5, 219 pounds, but he won't give fantasy managers any additional upside with his legs in what has been a very inconsistent Saints offense. Expect plenty of growing pains. Shough should remain on the waiver wire in single-QB, 12-team redraft leagues.
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence only led the team to one touchdown in their 35-7 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams in London in Week 7, but he also threw for a season-high 296 yards on 23-for-48 passing with one touchdown. The Jags were on bye last week, but now head into a favorable Week 9 matchup on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders this Sunday.
The 26-year-old former first overall pick probably won't see as much volume this weekend as he did against the Rams in a positive game script, but he deserves streaming consideration at the QB position in fantasy against a Raiders defense that has been a top-15 matchup for opposing signal-callers this year. Lawrence's overall numbers don't jump off the page so far in his fifth NFL season, but his arrow could be pointing up in the second half of the season if he begins to start targeting rookie receiver Travis Hunter more often.
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 - Jayden Daniels, Matthew Stafford, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Geno Smith, J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr., Tyler Shough, Drake Maye. 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 (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 Jayden Daniels, Matthew Stafford, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Geno Smith, J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix Jr., Tyler Shough, Drake Maye:
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