Fantasy Stat Pack: Week Nine

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably noticed a series of tweets I share on a weekly basis regarding player and team defensive performances, all from a fantasy lens. I’m going to be sharing some of that same information with you here.

I use this each week as I am making my own lineup and waiver wire decisions and thought you might find this valuable as well.

Note: The scoring system used for this data is always PPR with four points for passing touchdowns.

All year to date fantasy ranks are based on total points.

Quarterbacks

Week Nine QB1s (top 12 scorers)

49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo enjoyed his best game of the season on Thursday night while Lamar Jackson shocked the Patriots defense on Sunday night. Between those games, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson and Ryan Tannehill all stayed hot with QB1 finishes. Cardinals rookie Kyler Murray bounced back from two poor outings to finish as the QB6 for the week.

Year to Date QB1s

Veteran Matthew Stafford had another big game in Week Nine and that propelled him from QB9 to QB6. With no running game for the Lions after an injury to Kerryon Johnson, Stafford should continue to throw the ball around each week. Tom Brady was slowed by the Ravens defense fell from QB6 to QB8. Another missed game for Patrick Mahomes moved him down to QB11 while Matt Ryan’s bye sent him out of the top 12. Kirk Cousins moved into the group, ranking as the QB9 after nine weeks.

QB1 Games this Season

Most QB1 Games Allowed

The Cardinals, Lions and Giants have now permitted seven WR1 games this season, which means good matchups for Jameis Winston (vs. ARI), Mitchell Trubisky (vs. DET) and Sam Darnold (vs. NYG.) Even with those juicy matchups, it is difficult to include Trubisky or Darnold in fantasy lineups. The Falcons (vs. Drew Brees) and Bengals (vs. Lamar Jackson) have surrendered six QB1 games, making these two obvious starts even stronger.

The Bears offense is struggling but their defense continues to keep them in games and they’ve yet to allow a QB1 game all season. That could mean the end of Matthew Stafford’s hot streak this week. The Ravens (vs. Ryan Finley), Bills (vs. Baker Mayfield) and Chargers (vs. Derek Carr) have given up just a single QB1 game each this year, making those already undesirable options even worse.

Running Backs

Week Nine RB1s (top 12 scorers)

Christian McCaffrey did it again with another overall RB1 performance. He’s now on pace to break the all-time record for fantasy points in a season. The Cardinals traded for Kenyan Drake, who provided instant production on his way to an RB2 game. Melvin Gordon finally is starting to look like his old self and a trio of rookies are starting to pay off for dynasty players with Josh Jacobs, Devin Singletary and David Montgomery each producing RB1 games for the week. Playing in place of James Conner, Jaylen Samuels struggled as a ball carrier, but caught enough passes to crack the top 12.

Year to Date RB1s

Week Nine brought little change to the over RB1 group, though Derrick Henry’s multiple touchdown game bumped him up to RB9 from last week’s RB12 rank. James Conner and David Johnson both missed last week with an injury and that caused each to fall out of the top 12. They were replaced by Mark Ingram at RB12 and Josh Jacobs at RB10.

RB1 Games this Season

Most RB1 Games Allowed

The Bengals now have company at the top of this list as the Lions and Chargers have each matched their seven RB1 games allowed through nine weeks. Those three poor run defenses make Mark Ingram, David Montgomery and Josh Jacobs locks for Week Ten lineups. The Dolphins are next with six RB1 games and they will have to find a way to stop Marlon Mack and the Colts this week.

The Patriots and Steelers are still perfect on the season in this category and New England will last at least one more week as they are on bye. The Steelers will provide a difficult test for the banged-up Todd Gurley and the Rams. The Cowboys (vs. Dalvin Cook) and Saints (vs. Devonta Freeman) will make for tough matchups for their opponents, though no one is benching Cook no matter the opponent.

Wide Receivers

Week Nine WR1s (top 12 scorers)

The Seattle/Tampa Bay shootout produced the top three fantasy wide receiver performances of the week as Tyler Lockett and Mike Evans stayed hot and DK Metcalf finally broke out. The Lions placed a pair in the WR1 range and rookie Preston Williams went out on top, posting his first-ever WR1 game before suffering a season-ending ACL injury. Mohamed Sanu seems to already have the trust of Tom Brady and with no TY Hilton, Zach Pascal is the new top-option in the Colts offense.

Year to Date WR1s

We’ve already discussed the performances of Evans and Lockett. Obviously, those huge games boosted this season-long rank as Evans moves from WR6 to WR2 and Lockett leaps from WR10 to WR3. Cooper Kupp (WR2 to WR5) and Julio Jones (WR4 to WR10) lost pace while on their bye. Vikings Stefon Diggs fell out of the group, replaced by Kenny Golladay.

WR1 Games this Season

Most WR1 Games Allowed

The Buccaneers and Dolphins have each allowed seven WR1 games through nine weeks, which makes for an enticing matchup for Zach Pascal and Christian Kirk this week. It could even be enough to break veteran Larry Fitzgerald out of his cold streak. The Raiders and Jets are other teams to exploit, which is good news for Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Golden Tate.

The Bills, Broncos and Patriots have each only allowed one WR1 game all season. Unfortunately for fantasy players, the Pats and Broncos are on bye this week. The Bills travel to Cleveland, where top targets Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry have disappointed all year long.

Tight Ends

Week Nine TE1s (top 12 scorers)

As usual, it was a weird week at the tight end position with Noah Fant, Jacob Hollister, Mike Gesicki and Nick Boyle all posting TE1 games for the first time this year. George Kittle faced the Cardinals, so his presence is to be expected while Zach Ertz finally had the huge game we’ve come to expect.

Year to Date TE1s

The old reliables like Kittle and Ertz are starting to move up the overall list at the expense of early-season stars like Evan Engram and Mark Andrews. He hasn’t recorded a reception since Week Five, but Seahawks Will Dissly is still hanging around the top 12, which says a lot about the position as a whole.

TE1 Games this Season

Most TE1 Games Allowed

The Cardinals and Buccaneers have each permitted seven TE1 games. This week, those teams face each other and the way this season has gone, it might be difficult to rely on any tight end on either roster, including OJ Howard, who is expected back in action. Other targets based on matchups include Trey Burton (vs. DET), Greg Olsen (vs. GB), Mike Gesicki (vs. IND) and Vance McDonald (vs. LAR.)

The Dolphins and 49ers have only given up one TE1 game. This makes things pretty easy for fantasy players as we can leave Eric Ebron, Jack Doyle and Jacob Hollister on our bench.

Finally, here is the chart summarizing how teams have fared against each position. I’ve also included the schedule for this week for reference.

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Ryan McDowell

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

In addition to his senior leadership role here at DLF, Ryan is also a husband, father of three and PE teacher. Ryan is the commissioner of multiple dynasty leagues, most notably the Kitchen Sink Dynasty Leagues. Here at DLF, Ryan’s focus is on identifying, monitoring and analyzing player value.

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