Week 9 fantasy football preview: 5 under the radar waiver adds for a bye-heavy week in the NFL

Welcome back, my friends, to Week 9 — one of the most challenging fantasy football weeks I can remember in quite some time. I say that for a few reasons; mostly because we face a brutal week with six(!) teams on their bye. And if that wasn’t enough to drive you crazy, we then have to deal with all these injuries to players who we can’t drop and need to continue to carry on our rosters. All this makes for a tough week of add/drop decision-making and maybe letting go of a player we would love to keep for a playoff run — but can’t — just so we can get a fully healthy starting lineup in there. I’ve had to make a lot of difficult decisions this week — I went back and forth dozens of times across leagues wondering if I was making the right move. I’m sure you are dealing with the same, but that’s part of this game as a fantasy manager — making the tough calls, not looking back, and having no regrets.

For all the running back-needy teams, it can’t feel good to look up and see the top three fantasy running backs on their byes this week: Christian McCaffrey, Nick Chubb, and Saquon Barkley. Sundays will definitely not be as much fun without these bell-cow studs in our fantasy lineups.

Last week was actually a pretty fun, fantasy friendly Sunday with a lot of high scoring games and big-time fantasy performances that led to a higher scoring week across leagues then we have seen so far. Lets hope that trend continues, but odds are with six teams off and rosters in shambles, this might actually be the lowest scoring week all season. It’s imperative to hit the wire and try and make that one savvy move to possibly put you over the top against your opponent this week and squeak out a win. Every point will be crucial in a week like this. So here are a handful of under the radar players in decent situations — whether it be matchups or possible injury replacements — who can help you survive a week like this:

DeAndre Carter (Chargers are already missing Mike Williams, looks like Keenan won’t make it back healthy this week either. Josh Palmer, if somehow available, is also a decent target here)
Isaiah Likely (Just in case the Ravens want to hold out Andrews with their bye week upcoming. Same goes for Devin Duvernay this week with Bateman out)
Terrace Marshall (Ran 95% of routes and looks locked in as the second option in the pass game that has come to life with PJ Walker under center)
Tyler Conklin (More tight end help for all of us who are desperate with bye weeks and injuries to all our tight ends. Looks like the second option in pass game behind Garrett Wilson)
Kalif Raymond (Hockenson traded away, creating even more targets available — and Raymond ran 90% routes this past week).

This week the NFL has decided to not only give us the treat of six teams on a bye but also give us only two(!!) games in the 4:25 p.m. (ET) window. What are you doing, NFL? Would it have killed you to move one of your eight 1 p.m. games to 4:25 to at least spread out the day a little more?

No better place than here to drop this week’s podcast, where we discussed this (and a lot of other things):

The latest “The Chris Vaccaro Show starring @ChrisVaccaroGST!” is up!
In this episode…
— Nando Di Fino (@nandodifino) November 2, 2022

I’m interested to see if the Bengals and Joe Burrow continue to struggle without stud Ja’Marr Chase, who could miss anywhere from 4-6 weeks with a hip injury that caught us all off guard. Burrow and the Bengals offense looked terrible all night in Cleveland on Monday. It’s a shame because this offense was finally hitting its stride for a couple weeks in a row and Burrow/Chase was looking like the dynamic duo they are. Lets see if Tee Higgins can pick up the slack in Chase’s absence for the next month and emerge as the top end WR1 the Bengals will need him to be.

Speaking of WR1s emerging — hello again, DeAndre Hopkins! My goodness… when we sit back and think of what we hope to see from our fantasy wide receivers…. this is it!! A quarterback who locks in on his top target and feeds him religiously. Two straight monster weeks coming off his suspension and Hopkins looks as if he hasn’t missed a beat. Hopkins just may be a draft day steal for those who were brave enough to take him in round six or seven and wait out the first six weeks. I’d imagine even his fantasy managers are a little surprised by the value they are getting right now and I can’t see any reason Hopkins won’t continue to produce WR1 numbers rest of the way. I think he’s a locked in top 10 wide receiver.

Week 9 Perfect fantasy lineup

QB1: Kyler Murray (Hoping for a shootout here that we didn’t get the last time between these two teams. I think Murray is getting into a rhythm here with DHop)

RB1: Aaron Jones (Everyone eats against the Lions, feed Jones 20 times. 150 total yards and 2 TDs)

RB2 Austin Ekeler (Receivers down like we talked about up top, might catch a dozen balls again this week. PPR DREAM)

WR1: DJ Moore (Makes the list again this week and on a heater. Bengals lost their top corner last week and if Panthers fall behind early, Moore should see double digit targets again this week)

WR2: Justin Jefferson (Have a feeling this is a multi touchdown week for JJ coming after not scoring last week)

WR3: Terry McLaurin (Same as DJ Moore here, we are riding the hot hand against Minnesota in a game that has a chance to break out into a back and forth contest)

TE1: Robert Tonyan (Rodgers needs to throw to somebody right? I can see a 7/75/TD game from Tonyan in the dome this week)

FLX: Chris Godwin (I can see a 15 target, 10 catch game coming up for Godwin as Jalen Ramsey spends most of his day locked up with Mike Evans. Godwin takes advantage)

10 things I’m thinking as we enter Week 9

How do the Browns not trade away Kareem Hunt to a contender for a draft pick with already having D’Ernest Johnson waiting to slide in as a solid backup to Nick Chubb?
This Vikings offense is going to be scary good once T.J. Hockenson is up to speed. Nobody is going to want to see them in January.
There’s the Alvin Kamara we all know and love!! What a fantasy performance.
After all that coachspeak from Saleh about working it out with Elijah Moore, he goes and plays 7 snaps and Jeff Smith plays more than him? I’ll never understand this.
CMC Looks pretty good in the 49ers red, doesn’t he? Hit the ground running and on his way to an RB1 overall season possibly.
Double digit fantasy points in the same week for Kyle Pitts and Allen Robinson?!!! The tide is turning…
Justin Fields is starting to change my mind — and those of a lot of fantasy players out there. We’ll leave the light on for you.
Derek Carr and Davante Adams went to New Orleans and came back with a field goal’s worth of fantasy points between them. Thanks for nothing.
Lighting a candle for you, Cooper Kupp. Rest up, king, and we’ll be hoping to see you out there Sunday. (Don’t ever pull that crap again, McVay)
Tua, Tyreek and Waddle sure are fun to watch every week. This week they get to play with the Bears, who just traded away two of their top defensive players… Enjoy the fantasy points people.