The Biggest Takeaways from Week 9 in Fantasy Football | Chase Brown and Rico Dowdle Shine

The Chiefs and Buccaneers matchup on Monday Night is all that is left in Week 9. As always, there were eye-catching performances around the NFL for good and bad reasons in fantasy football. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from Week 9.

Week 9 Takeaways

Chase Brown and Rico Dowdle Shine in Week 9

I mentioned heading into this week that Chase Brown and Rico Dowdle were in for big weeks on the weekly usage report. The injury to Zach Moss provided Chase Brown the chance to showcase his skills as the lead back for the Bengals and he did not disappoint. He played 80% of snaps resulting in 27 carries for 120 yards with 5 catches for 37 yards and a receiving touchdown. The usage was similar to how the Bengals used Joe Mixon before his departure this offseason. The return of Zach Moss will certainly lead to a decrease in snaps, but he has double-digit carries now in 6 straight games. Regardless of Moss’ health, Brown needs to stay in fantasy lineups.

Rico Dowdle has been splitting touches with Ezekiel Elliot (3.1 YPC), Hunter Luepke (3.17 YPC), and Dalvin Cook (2.5 YPC) this season. It was only a matter of time before the Cowboys turned to Dowdle more often and we got that in Week 9. He played 72% of snaps finishing with 12 carries for 75 yards and 5 catches for 32 yards with a receiving touchdown in the loss. If the Cowboys stay put at the deadline at running back, I fully expect Dowdle to play over 65% of snaps the rest of the season. We will have to monitor Dak’s injury timeline, but if Dak is in the lineup Dowdle is a weekly low-end RB2.

Is it Time to Panic about Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle?

The return of Tua Tagovailoa has not been the boost many expected for both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle over the last two weeks. During that stretch, Hill has been better than Waddle with 10 catches for 152 yards but has failed to catch a touchdown or score over 13.5 fantasy points. Waddle in the same stretch only has 6 catches for 41 yards and a touchdown making him impossible to trust right now. On the season Hill ranks 40th and Waddle ranks 61st among receivers in fantasy points per game. Is it time to panic about both of the Dolphins star receivers?

With Tyreek Hill, I think it is best to temper our expectations for the rest of the season. His target share is less dominant than in years past currently ranking 27th among receivers while ranking 178th in EPA this season. Hill still ranks 9th in air yards share and is currently 3rd in the NFL at beating man coverage. He is a low-end WR1 who has a lower floor than in years past. Waddle can’t be started anymore. His target share ranks 55th among receivers with the 79th average depth of target. He lacks the volume to produce like he did last season in fantasy football.

Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry Midseason Fantasy MVP Favorites

Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry have separated from the pack as the fantasy football MVPs in 2024. Barkley and Henry found themselves in new offenses with better offensive lines potentially leading to big seasons. What we have gotten from both of these players so far has gone above that as they currently rank 1st and 2nd in points per game. Barkley this season is averaging 22.14 points per game and currently leads all running backs in total yards with 1071. In an offense with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, the Eagles rely on Barkley to make the plays on the ground or through the air when it matters the most.

Derrick Henry has been unstoppable with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore this season. Henry leads all running backs with 22.39 points per game this season and has 1052 rushing yards with 13 touchdowns through 9 games. He rarely plays over 60% of snaps for the Ravens and has been incredibly efficient averaging over 6 yards per carry this season. Expect Barkley and Henry to continue to be a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses this season. If I had to pick one player to finish as the RB1 this season, I would go with Barkley due to the upside in the passing game.

Wide Receiver Notes

The Jaguars came into this week down potentially their top three receivers, but Brian Thomas Jr was able to go against the Eagles. Thomas led the team in routes run and snaps played suggesting a higher floor in the 2nd half of the season without Christian Kirk. Parker Washington and Austin Trammell saw a significant increase in snaps and routes run this week. Washington is the better option going forward and had 3 catches for 41 yards on 6 targets in the loss. Ultimately Evan Engram has been the best Jaguar pass catcher since coming off of injury limiting the upside of Washington and Davis despite the increase in opportunities.

In Green Bay both Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed continue to be the wide receivers to own in Green Bay. They both led the team in snaps and routes run despite having fewer targets than Christian Watson. Both Watson and Wicks are not worth rostering due to their inconsistent playing time even if they have a big day. Doubs and Reed’s utilization suggests that they both can be viable in fantasy, making them the two wide receivers to own from the Packers.

The Patriots have had a wide receiver room by committee this season rotating five different players in and out of the lineup. This week we saw Kayshon Boutte, Kendrick Bourne, and Demario Douglas play all of the snaps for the Patriots. With Drake Maye at quarterback, the receiving options have become more appealing in the last few weeks. Hunter Henry appears to have a consistent role in the passing game, but Demario Douglas appears to be Maye’s top receiver. Douglas had 7 catches in the loss and already has another big performance with Maye at quarterback making him an intriguing option after two low-scoring weeks.

Running Back Notes

The Raiders made it clear heading into the week that Alexander Mattison was going to be in for a reduced role against the Bengals. Many thought this could lead to the return of Zamir White in the Raiders’ offense, but it was Ameer Abdullah who led the team in snaps this week. This can be attributed to the Raiders being down by two scores since the start of the 3rd quarter and Abdullah has been the team’s primary back in garbage time situations. One of the biggest takeaways from this backfield is that it is impossible to trust these guys weekly.

This was the first week we got a healthy Browns backfield with the return of Jerome Ford. As expected, Ford and Nick Chubb were the two lead-backs for the team while Pierre Strong Jr’s role decreased. Ford was able to out snap Chubb this week because of the Browns being down by two scores for the majority of the contest. Nick Chubb will continue to play more early downs while Jerome Ford will play a majority of 3rd down snaps. I am not sure that I want a piece of either of these running backs with the current state of the Browns offense.

The return of Travis Etienne clouded the Jaguars backfield after two strong performances from Tank Bigsby. Etienne started the game as the lead back playing 13 of the first 18 snaps for the team heading into halftime. After a slow start, they turned to Bigsby in the second half which sparked the offense. While Bigsby played more, D’Ernest Johnson also still had a role in this offense playing 11 snaps in the second half. The Takeaways from this backfield will be clearer cut after next week’s matchup against the Vikings. In the meantime, it is hard to trust any of them in your starting lineup.

Breakout Performances

Each Week I like to highlight three players whose stock is rising after a breakout performance. Once again it is three pass catchers making this list for the second straight week. Jaxon Smith-Njiba had 7 catches for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns without DK Metcalf showcasing how good of a player he can be with more touches. Mike Gesicki had 5 catches for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns without Tee Higgins suggesting that even when he returns could have an increased role in this offense. As mentioned above Quentin Johnston had a monster game with over 100 receiving yards in his return. Two of these three players were mentioned as emergency streamers this week and will be available on waivers.

Running Backs Continue their Dominance

After the wide receivers dominated the early part of drafts this offseason, the running backs have been the more valuable position to own this season. Each week we are seeing 10+ running backs drop over 20 points while the wide receivers are closer to 8 per week on average. As we mentioned before, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Chase Brown, and Rico Dowdle all had big weeks. De’Von Achane has been the most valuable player to own in Miami. Alvin Kamara and Bijan Robinson maintained their RB1 statuses going forward. J.K. Dobbins, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Chuba Hubbard look like steals from our drafts this offseason. Below are the Top 10 scores from Week 9.

1. Saquon Barkley (PHI): 32.90 points
2. De’Von Achane (MIA): 31.10 points
3. Alvin Kamara (NO): 27.50 points
4. Chase Brown (CIN): 26.70 points
5. Derrick Henry (BAL): 26.30 points
6. J.K. Dobbins (LAC): 24.50 points
7. Rhamondre Stevenson (NE): 22.40 points
8. Rico Dowdle (DAL): 21.70 points
9. Bijan Robinson (ATL): 21.50 points
10. Chuba Hubbard (CAR): 21.20 points

More Injuries to Big Contributors

Injuries have been a headline for the 2024 season with more big contributors in fantasy football leaving Sunday’s action early. Drake London left the game with a hip pointer after his touchdown catch. He tried to give it a go but could not return to the field. His status going forward will be week-to-week and may not miss any time. Dak Prescott suffered a hamstring injury in the loss to the Falcons putting his status going forward in jeopardy. He will likely miss next week’s game and ultimately makes all Cowboys players less appealing in fantasy football.

A.J. Brown left this week’s game with a knee injury but is considered “day-to-day” as he avoided anything serious. Chris Olave suffered another unfortunate concussion this week that will force him to miss more time this season. Both CeeDee Lamb and Caleb Williams were banged up this week but finished the games suggesting they will be good to go in Week 10.

Drake London: Week to week

Dak Prescott: Week to Week

Chris Olave: Week to Week

A.J. Brown: Day to Day

CeeDee Lamb: Situation to Monitor

Caleb Williams: Situation to Monitor

For all of the Week 9 Reactions in Fantasy Football check out this YouTube Video