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Who Should I Start for Week 9? Fantasy Football outlooks for Travis Hunter, RJ Harvey, Matthew Golden, Jaylin Noel, Elic Ayomanor, Brashard Smith, Bhayshul Tuten, Devin Neal, Luther Burden III, Jaydon Blue, Kaleb Johnson.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 9 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Travis Hunter, RJ Harvey, Matthew Golden, Jaylin Noel, Elic Ayomanor, Brashard Smith, Bhayshul Tuten, Devin Neal, Luther Burden III, Jaydon Blue, Kaleb Johnson. 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:
Travis Hunter, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars rookie wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter's (knee) ACL is reportedly intact based on initial testing, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Hunter was surprisingly placed on injured reserve on Friday and will miss at least four games after suffering a non-contact injury to his knee during Thursday's practice.
The news comes at an unfortunate time as the rookie was coming off his best game of the season before Jacksonville's Week 8 bye, catching eight of 14 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown. The 22-year-old was emerging as the top target in the offense, as second-year wideout Brian Thomas Jr. has struggled and has been dealing with injuries to his wrist and shoulder.
Travis Hunter could wind up missing the remainder of the season, but the good news is that there is no structural damage to his ACL.
RJ Harvey, RB, Denver Broncos
After putting up a hat trick in Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey will look to carry his momentum into a more difficult matchup on the road against the Houston Texans in Week 9.
It was encouraging to see Harvey's usage in the red zone in Week 8, despite J.K. Dobbins seemingly being the clear lead back in the offense. Harvey has also had more touchdowns than the "lead back" in the past two weeks, 4-0.
With Broncos head coach Sean Payton entrusting Harvey with more responsibility in the offense lately, Harvey will provide standalone value and profile as RotoBaller's RB32 overall heading into Week 9.
Matthew Golden, WR, Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden has been a fantasy disappointment this season, but is looking to get back on track as the Packers welcome the Carolina Panthers for their Week 9 matchup. In Week 8 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Golden had one of his least productive fantasy outings this season, with just three receptions for four yards.
Golden, the Packers' 2025 first-round pick, has just two games of five or more targets and has been a top-24 fantasy wide receiver just once through seven games. His involvement in the Packers' offense took another hit when Christian Watson played his first game of the season and immediately caught 4-of-4 targets for 85 yards.
Better days are on the horizon for Golden, but as it stands right now, he's difficult to start in fantasy lineups in Week 9 against the Panthers.
Jaylin Noel, WR, Houston Texans
Houston Texans wide receiver Jaylin Noel has been one of the team's busiest receivers in the last two weeks, hauling in nine of 13 targets for a total of 140 receiving yards in his last two contests.
The rookie from Iowa State was filling in for Christian Kirk (hamstring) and showed the ability to make plays out of the slot. This week, Kirk is ready to return in a very tough matchup against the Broncos. While Noel will still likely mix in on a decent amount of snaps and brings big-play upside, he is very high-risk since he'll have a smaller snap share.
He's RotoBaller's WR76, so even though he has some potential, there are probably better options available in most standard-sized leagues.
Elic Ayomanor, WR, Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans rookie wide receiver Elic Ayomanor saw a season high in targets in Week 8 against the Indianapolis Colts. The 22-year-old rookie saw eight targets but was unable to find his way into the Top-40 wide receivers for a fifth straight week.
Ayomanor has yet to find his groove in the Titans' offense since Week 3, when he produced 13.8 fantasy points. The road doesn't get any easier in Week 9, facing the Los Angeles Chargers' top-ranked passing defense.
The Chargers have allowed the seventh fewest passing yards and the eighth fewest yards per reception (10.4). In a tough Week 9 matchup, Ayomanor shouldn't be in fantasy lineups and is a FLEX option at best in deep leagues.
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 - Travis Hunter, RJ Harvey, Matthew Golden, Jaylin Noel, Elic Ayomanor, Brashard Smith, Bhayshul Tuten, Devin Neal, Luther Burden III, Jaydon Blue, Kaleb Johnson. 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 Travis Hunter, RJ Harvey, Matthew Golden, Jaylin Noel, Elic Ayomanor, Brashard Smith, Bhayshul Tuten, Devin Neal, Luther Burden III, Jaydon Blue, Kaleb Johnson:
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