Who Should I Start for Fantasy Football Week 9? Kimani Vidal, Rico Dowdle, Quentin Johnston, Jordan Mason, Keenan Allen, Jordan Addison, Romeo Doubs, Wan'Dale Robinson, Xavier Worthy, Troy Franklin

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Who Should I Start for Week 9? Fantasy Football outlooks for Kimani Vidal, Rico Dowdle, Quentin Johnston, Jordan Mason, Keenan Allen, Jordan Addison, Romeo Doubs, Wan'Dale Robinson, Xavier Worthy, Troy Franklin.

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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 9 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Kimani Vidal, Rico Dowdle, Quentin Johnston, Jordan Mason, Keenan Allen, Jordan Addison, Romeo Doubs, Wan'Dale Robinson, Xavier Worthy, Troy Franklin. 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.

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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:

Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Chargers running back Kimani Vidal totaled 23 carries, 117 rushing yards, and one rushing touchdown during Thursday's Week 8 win over the Minnesota Vikings. He also caught one of his two targets for an additional 10 receiving yards. The 24-year-old capitalized on a positive game script and turned in a high-volume, high-efficiency performance on primetime.

He has been quite effective since taking over for Omarion Hampton (ankle), averaging 16.7 rushing attempts, 2.7 receptions, 100 scrimmage yards, and 0.7 touchdowns per game over the last three weeks. Los Angeles is rumored to have serious interest in an external running back addition, but until that comes to fruition, Vidal will remain the Bolts' lead back.

He has firmly established himself as the preferred option over Hassan Haskins, who had just one carry for three yards on Thursday Night Football.

Rico Dowdle, RB, Carolina Panthers

When asked about the team's running back situation involving both Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales said, "Chuba Hubbard has meant a lot to this team. We wanted to give him an opportunity following his calf injury. But we can't ignore the fact that Rico [Dowdle] has been exceptional."

Canales' tone "suggests Dowdle will get a heavier workload," according to Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. In the team's Week 8 loss to the Buffalo Bills with a negative game script, Dowdle had eight carries for 54 yards and wasn't targeted in the passing game on just 36% of the offensive snaps. Meanwhile, Hubbard had a team-high 12 carries for 34 yards and a touchdown and didn't catch his only target on 57% of the snaps.

Dowdle was more efficient on the ground on Sunday and has 123 yards on 25 carries in the two games since Hubbard returned from injury. Even if Dowdle sees a bit more work going forward, this backfield split is going to cap his fantasy value every week.

Quentin Johnston, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnson did not see a target in Thursday night's 37-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Johnston has trended in the wrong direction after a remarkable first four games of the season, catching 22 of 36 targets for 337 yards and four touchdowns.

The third-year wide receiver missed Week 6, but he has totaled just six catches on 10 targets for 70 yards and a touchdown in three games since, with Week 8 marking the low point. It was the first game of his career in which he was held without a target and the third game without a reception.

The emergence of rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden has made it difficult for all the Chargers' pass catchers to be involved consistently, and Johnston may be the odd man out. He'll look to bounce back in Week 9 when the Chargers go on the road to face the Tennessee Titans.

Jordan Mason, RB, Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason had only four carries for three yards and one catch for three yards in Thursday night's blowout loss to the Chargers. Mason was outcarried by Aaron Jones Sr. as he made his return off injured reserve from a hamstring injury.

Jones wasn't overly efficient on his touches either, handling five carries for 15 yards and adding two catches for 15 yards. It was a good matchup on paper coming into the game for the Vikings' ground game with the Chargers being ranked 28th in yards per carry and 31st in rushing touchdowns allowed, but Minnesota averaged just 3.1 yards per carry in the game.

Mason and Jones will likely see a pretty even split moving forward, with Jones handling most of the pass-down duties. They will head on the road again in Week 9 for another tough matchup in Detroit.

Troy Franklin, WR, Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin is beginning to build more chemistry with quarterback Bo Nix. Over the last two games, Franklin has seen 18 targets and hauled in nine receptions for 100-plus yards with three touchdowns.

The 22-year-old posted a few decent games early in the season, but has really come alive as of late. The two-score effort on Sunday will make Franklin the top waiver priority in plenty of fantasy formats.

The six-catch contest in Week 8 was the most for Franklin since Week 2. He has shown an ability to make plays and figures to be a viable flex option 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 - Kimani Vidal, Rico Dowdle, Quentin Johnston, Jordan Mason, Keenan Allen, Jordan Addison, Romeo Doubs, Wan'Dale Robinson, Xavier Worthy, Troy Franklin. 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 Kimani Vidal, Rico Dowdle, Quentin Johnston, Jordan Mason, Keenan Allen, Jordan Addison, Romeo Doubs, Wan'Dale Robinson, Xavier Worthy, Troy Franklin: