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Who Should I Start for Week 9? Fantasy Football outlooks for Keon Coleman, Bam Knight, Chris Bell, Tank Dell, Samaje Perine, Seth McGowan, Kenny Gainwell, Tetairoa McMillan, James Cook, Jonathan Taylor.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 9 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Keon Coleman, Bam Knight, Chris Bell, Tank Dell, Samaje Perine, Seth McGowan, Kenny Gainwell, Tetairoa McMillan, James Cook III, Jonathan Taylor. 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 2026 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.
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Week 9 Fantasy Football 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:
Keon Coleman, Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman played 63 of the team's 82 offensive snaps (77%) in Sunday's 36-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens, but his involvement produced only one catch for four yards on three targets. The quiet outing ended a three-game touchdown streak and highlighted his inconsistent opportunities. Coleman has 20 receptions for 287 yards and three scores through seven games, with 116 of those yards coming against the New England Patriots in Week 4.
He has drawn more than three targets just three times all season. With DJ Moore back in the lineup, Coleman faces additional competition for opportunities. Moore drew seven targets against Baltimore, while Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid received six apiece.
Coleman's playing time makes him worth stashing in deeper leagues, but his limited target volume makes him difficult to trust as a Week 9 starter. RotoBaller's waiver rankings list him as 32% rostered and recommend adding him in leagues with 12 or more teams, while its Week 9 half-PPR rankings put him at WR56 ahead of Monday's matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.
Bam Knight, Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals running back Bam Knight (concussion) didn't practice on Wednesday and is still going through the league's concussion protocol. Knight is banged up right now, but he's expected to have a significant role once he's available to play.
Head coach Mike LaFleur said on Wednesday that the plan was for Knight to be one of their two top backs. Sadly, both Knight and Jeremiyah Love (ankle) suffered injuries during the Week 8 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Love was placed on the Injured Reserve and will now miss the next four games. Now, Knight has a chance to be a legitimate threat in this backfield with Love out of the picture for a handful of games. Tyler Allgeier will likely be the lead back, but it sounds like the Cardinals trust Knight to handle a significant workload.
Samaje Perine, Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals running back Samaje Perine has not seen a lot of opportunities as of late. In a 43-36 overtime win against the Tennessee Titans in Week 9, Perine played just 26 offensive snaps compared to 51 snaps for starting tailback Chase Brown. Perine carried the ball just four times for 10 yards (2.5 yards per carry) and made one reception for nine yards. Brown dominated touches with 12 rushes for 55 yards (4.6 yards per carry) and eight catches for 46 yards (5.8 yards per reception).
After having a breakout game in a Week 5 win over the Miami Dolphins with 78 total yards and a receiving touchdown, Perine has recorded just eight rushes for 26 yards and a touchdown and the lone reception for nine yards over the past two games. He played just 38 combined snaps between those two contests. Perine offers little fantasy value outside of being Brown's handcuff, and there are higher-priority waiver wire targets out there at running back.
Tank Dell, Houston Texans
Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell should handle increased volume going forward due to a variety of factors. First and foremost, Dell is finally healthy. He returned to action in Week 7 following a nearly two-year-long recovery from a very serious knee injury. He is finally back on the field and contributing without any limitations, which should put him firmly back in the mix for fantasy football. Second of all, Dell should handle increased volume within the Texans' offense after Jaylin Noel (toe) was placed on injured reserve.
The Texans already lost Jayden Higgins (knee) to a year-long injury, and now, Noel is done for the season, too. His absence provides a clear path to the No. 3 role for Dell, whereas before he would have had to compete for it. While Dell may not be an immediate fantasy starter in his role behind Nico Collins and Marvin Harrison Jr., he's at least worth stashing as a solid waiver wire pickup ahead of Week 9.
Kenny Gainwell, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Kenny Gainwell has looked like what the team envisioned him to be when they added him in the offseason over the last couple of weeks as the 1B to Bucky Irving's 1A, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Through the first six games, Irving was doing his thing while Gainwell mostly watched and waited, never seeing more than five carries in a game. Gainwell had 14 carries for 88 yards in the Week 7 win over the Carolina Panthers and then saw a season-high 25 carries for 140 rushing yards in a rain-soaked 16-0 win over the division-rival Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Irving also had a career-best 170 yards on 27 carries on the ground. Tampa had a club-record 324 rushing yards in Week 8. "I think we finally got to where we're utilizing Kenny more and more, and that's kind of the 1A, 1B we were talking about when we first signed him," head coach Todd Bowles said.
Irving is on pace for 312 rushing attempts, and the Bucs do not want to run him into the ground. Fantasy managers should not expect another ground domination like the Bucs had on Sunday against Atlanta, but Gainwell's stock is back up after he was dropped in a lot of fantasy leagues after his slow start. He is still rostered in under 50% of Yahoo leagues and is worth adding again with Tampa potentially riding their two RBs as much as possible going forward.
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 - Keon Coleman, Bam Knight, Chris Bell, Tank Dell, Samaje Perine, Seth McGowan, Kenny Gainwell, Tetairoa McMillan, James Cook, Jonathan Taylor. 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 (2026)? 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 Keon Coleman, Bam Knight, Chris Bell, Tank Dell, Samaje Perine, Seth McGowan, Kenny Gainwell, Tetairoa McMillan, James Cook, Jonathan Taylor.
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