Top Plays and Fades-Week 9

Week 9 Plays and Fades

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Week 9 of the NFL season is upon us. With 6 teams on bye, and a number of high-profile injuries to boot, consider yourself fortunate if your lineup is relatively clean this week. Luckily for you, we have some recommendations for you below to help you navigate through this difficult week.

Here at Go For Two, we’ve split players into a few different categories. We’ll give you a Go For Two option, a field goal play, and a turnover on downs. The Go For Two option is a player that is rostered in very few leagues, but has the potential to blow up and win you the week. This is a player that you start and bask in the glory when they go off. The field goal option is a player that is a borderline start, but we are giving you confidence this week. Start them and enjoy the points that you collect. The turnover on downs player is a highly rostered player who is set up to disappoint you. Do what you can to avoid a turnover on downs.

Field Goal Plays

Joshua Palmer, WR ( LAC)- The stars are aligning for Palmer to make a massive impact on the box score this week. The 2nd year wideout out of Tennessee has often been productive whenever he has seen a boost in opportunity, which should very much be the case this week. Stud receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are both set to miss this week’s game, meaning Palmer will effectively be operating as the WR1 in a high-volume , potentially high-efficiency passing offense that we have generally wanted pieces of in recent years. Last week, I wrote about how an AJ Terrell-less Falcons secondary is a matchup that should make you salivate, and we’re running it back this week. When you take everything into consideration, Palmer deserves WR2 valuation this week. Unless your team is absolutely loaded, it is tough to believe that you have the means to bench him this week- Ryan 

Antonio Gibson, RB (WSH)- I’ve long been a fan of Antonio Gibson:The Talent over the course of his career, but I’ve generally been down on Antonio Gibson:The Fantasy Asset for the better part of this year in particular. That all changes this week. While Brian Robinson has assumed a significant share of carries in this offense, one particular positive development for Gibson is that he has seemingly snatched a large chunk of the teams RB targets away from JD McKissic, while also sprinkling in carries. McKissic has been ruled out this week, leaving little doubt as to who will be operating as Washington’s receiving back . When you consider they will be taking on a Vikings team with a rock-solid offense but a leaky defense, it is likely the Commanders will be forced into a pass-heavy game script in a game with some sneaky shootout potential. With all of this in mind, don’t be afraid to insert Gibson into your lineups this week. He is a high-upside play with potentially slate-breaking potential.- Ryan 

Cordarrelle Patterson, RB (ATL) – CPatt is back, and if I know the Falcons, they’re going to use him a lot. No team runs the ball more than Atlanta, even in pass-heavy game scripts, so there is no danger of him being scripted out. Patterson is the most talented back on the Falcons, and gets enough passing down work to make him the most valuable fantasy player on the team. There is a risk that Patterson only gets limited work this week, with it being his first week back from the knee injury, but the injury was never considered serious, and the Falcons have been cautious with him. Even with limited snaps, he will likely be forced the ball when he’s on the field. Atlanta is also playing against the lowly Chargers run defense, so limited snaps can still easily turn into a good fantasy week. Fire him up with confidence once again, just like you did before the injury. – Derek

Foster Moreau, TE (LV) – Waller is once again out for Week 9, putting Moreau firmly in the streaming conversation. I anticipate both Carr and Adams will have a bounce back performance because literally anything would be an improvement from last week. Even with Adams seeing a normal target share, Moreau should still be in the 5-10 targets range this week. – Ermando

Turnover on Downs

Michael Carter, RB ( NYJ) – Many of you may instinctively want to jam Carter into your lineup every week in the wake of the Breece Hall injury, and I understand that many of you may not have a choice but to start him given the current state of Fantasyland. However, I would like to be clear that if you have other viable options, please consider those guys instead. I believe Carter is a fine back, but he is Just A Guy, by and large. When you also consider that James Robinson should be more acclimated into the offense after a full week of practice, and that Ty Johnson could conceivably take a significant share of the obvious-passing down work ( especially in a likely negative game script), and Carter suddenly becomes a very dicey fantasy play. A nightmarish matchup against a stout Buffalo defense that is currently 4th best in the league at suppressing fantasy points to the running back position is not doing him any favours either. Consider Carter more of a high-risk RB3/flex this week rather than the locked-in RB2 that people want him to be. – Ryan

Darrell Henderson, RB (LAR) – It’s rare that we place the same player in the turnover on downs section two weeks in a row, but Henderson has earned that rare distinction. Henderson has seemingly lost the faith of the coaching staff, being out touched early on in the season by a terrible Cam Akers, and more recently by Ronnie Rivers. Now, Akers is back with the team, and Ronnie Rivers will still get work. Henderson’s only path to a usable fantasy score is via a touchdown, and even then, his upside is limited. – Derek 

Go For Two Option

Kalif Raymond, WR (DET)-  We wrote about Raymond a mere 2 weeks ago, and we’re going back to the well, baby. After all, he did give us a usable stat line of 5-75-0 through the air,and 2-20-0 on the ground the last time we wrote him up, and it isn’t unreasonable to suggest he could match, if not exceed those totals this time around. In short, the Lions high-flying offense and atrocious defense means you want exposure to this team for fantasy purposes. Josh Reynolds has been ruled out with a back injury, DJ Chark is still on IR, D’Andre Swift is believed to be on a snap count, and TJ Hockenson has been dealt to Minnesota. In other words, there is still ample opportunity for someone not named Amon-Ra St.Brown to eat in this offense, and the speedy Raymond could very well be that guy. Fire him up if you are in need of wide receiver or flex help this week.