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Something was missing from yesterday’s newsletter. Maybe the best punt you’ve ever seen:
From the Jaguars’ 14 to the Packers’ one, 74 yards of flipped field position by Logan Cooke. Beautiful. Today:
- Fantasy football Week 9
- McCaffrey’s return, Hopkins’ debut
- Power Rankings
Week 9 waivers, buys and sells
I’d typically list a player like RB Isaac Guerendo as the No. 1 add, but with the 49ers on their bye and Christian McCaffrey’s return imminent (more on that below), these are my Week 9 must-add players — assuming Tyrone Tracy is unavailable. If you can get Tracy (or Josh Downs or Jauan Jennings), start there. Then:
No. 1: Rams QB Matthew Stafford. The returns of Cooper Kupp and Puca Nacua immediately make their quarterback a fantasy starter. He scored 24.7 fantasy points in his first game back against a tough Vikings defense, and averaged 17.3 points per game with a full complement of weapons from Weeks 12-17 last season (Jared Goff is averaging 17.3 this season).
No. 2: Jaguars WR Parker Washington. With Jacksonville losing Christian Kirk for the season (collarbone), Brian Thomas Jr. for multiple weeks (chest) and potentially Gabriel Davis (shoulder), the 22-year-old Washington should man the slot role. He had 18.1 PPR points in Week 13 of last season, when he played 59 percent of snaps. TE Brenton Strange is also worth an add in deeper leagues.
No. 3: Browns WR Elijah Moore. While TE David Njoku is the biggest beneficiary of Cleveland’s Amari Cooper trade and Jameis Winston promotion, Moore has the second-highest floor, as the slot receiver is averaging nine targets per game the past two weeks. On Sunday, he caught eight passes for 85 yards with a team-high 29.3 percent target share. Let someone else chase Cedric Tillman’s production (more below).
No. 4: Bears RB Khalil Herbert can play, but OC Shane Waldron would rather hand the ball off to an offensive lineman than his talented No. 3 running back, a weekly inactive. So why should you claim him? It appears that Chicago is holding him out for a potential trade, and his value would skyrocket in, say, Dallas. Since 2021, 64 players have 200-plus rushing attempts. Herbert’s 4.8 yards per carry rank eighth among running backs.
Deeper leagues: Since being mentioned here, Panthers WR Jalen Coker rebounded from Week 7’s dud (one catch for 10 yards) to post 78 yards on four catches, including the first touchdown grab of his career. There’s a good chance the Panthers move Diontae Johnson, adding to the UDFA Coker’s upside. He played the second-most snaps of Panthers receivers on Sunday, and of all players with 10-plus catches, his EPA per target ranks first:
Xavier Legette, the Panthers’ first-round pick who led the team in targets in Week 8, is also worth an add in deeper leagues.
I’m buying:
- Dolphins RB De’Von Achane, who took 38 snaps to Raheem Mostert’s 30. He had 10 carries to Mostert’s nine. But Achane still finished as the week’s second-highest scoring PPR RB, with 97 rushing yards, six catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. His head coach schemes creative ways to put the ball in his hands, and volume-wise, he might be the safest fantasy running back in the NFL.
I’m also buying:
- Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson. He’s finally expected to make his season debut in Week 9 against the Colts. It couldn’t come at a better time, as Sam Darnold needs quick outlets with star LT Christian Darrisaw (ACL, MCL) out for the season. It’s a role suited for Hockenson, who led his team in targets and receptions in 2023 while finishing as the second-highest scoring TE in points per game (14.7). That mark would put him behind only George Kittle (18 PPG!!) this season.
Christian McCaffrey returns soon. What should you do? With 49ers beat reporter Matt Barrows noting that the long-injured star could return after the team’s Week 9 bye, this is a backfield in flux. Or is it? Let’s look at McCaffrey’s historic returns from injury since joining Kyle Shanahan in 2022:
- Exits in third quarter (oblique) of Week 6, 2023. Returns in Week 7 to play 100 percent of snaps, handling 18 touches. He scores two touchdowns with 95 yards from scrimmage, finishing as the week’s fifth-highest scoring fantasy RB.
- Strains his calf in Week 17, 2023. Skips Week 18 as 49ers have No. 1 NFC seed locked up. Returns in three weeks against Packers to post 24 touches for 128 yards and two touchdowns, 28.3 fantasy points.
Bottom line: When McCaffrey’s healthy, it’s his backfield. Now might be your last chance to trade for him. I don’t expect Mason or Guerendo to be much more than valuable handcuffs.
What can you learn from the Chiefs debut of DeAndre Hopkins? The Athletic’s Nate Taylor explained how the addition led to Travis Kelce’s best game this year — 10 catches on 12 targets for 90 yards and a touchdown. As for Hopkins, he rotated in throughout the game, making his first catch against zone coverage:
Hopkins also consistently beat man coverage. “As I looked back at the tablet, there’s a couple of times where, in man coverage, he was just really winning,” Mahomes said of Hopkins. “Even the touchdown to Travis, if you look back on [Hopkins’] side, he’s open, too, for a touchdown.” Hopkins finished with two catches for 29 yards while playing 32 percent of snaps. Extrapolated over a full game, that’s six for 87 yards.
He’s a starter going forward, while JuJu Smith-Schuster should return to his slot role once healthy (Hopkins played just two snaps in the slot) and is worth adding.
Another receiver (Stefon Diggs) went down in Houston. Who steps up? Already without Nico Collins — who hopes to return in Week 10 — the Texans lost Diggs to a non-contact knee injury. Former second-round pick John Metchie saw two targets on the subsequent drive, finishing with three catches for 29 yards, while Tank Dell (three targets) played a season-high 75 percent of snaps and should see the most production. Xavier Hutchinson might be their second-best healthy WR, and Robert Woods is in consideration in the deepest of deep leagues, but I think Dell and TE Dalton Schultz are the biggest beneficiaries here.
How does Jameis Winston change the Browns offense? In his excellent Week 8 Fantasy Recap, KC Joyner explains: “Kevin Stefanski’s offense is built for a quarterback who is aggressive on downfield throws, and the Browns may get into a ton of scoreboard shootouts over the next nine weeks. David Njoku is a strong TE1. Elijah Moore and Jerry Jeudy — who posted 16.5 and 12.9 points, respectively, against Baltimore — are also now viable flex candidates. Cedric Tillman is the wild card, as he has posted 47 points over the past two games.”
Week 8’s perfect PPR lineup:
For more:
What Dianna’s Hearing: Advice for Anthony Richardson
Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is a unique player, but we haven’t seen anything quite like what we saw on Sunday against the Houston Texans. Late in the third quarter, after a long scramble to (unsuccessfully) avoid a sack on a second-and-goal, Richardson came out of the game before a third-and-goal snap from the Texans’ 23.
When later asked why he came out, Richardson said: “Tired, I ain’t gonna lie.”
On the “Scoop City” podcast, my co-host, longtime NFL quarterback Chase Daniel, had some advice for the Colts’ 22-year-old franchise quarterback: “Lie. Lie to the media. Do not ever say that again in your entire career. You just lost respect of every football player and every quarterback and every offensive lineman to ever have played the game. I’ve never seen this in my entire life.”
As for what’s next: I expect the team to make a decision Tuesday morning on whether Richardson or Joe Flacco will start when the Colts travel to Minnesota on Sunday.
Back to you, Jacob.
Extra Reading
Here’s a quick look at three articles you’ll enjoy, with a quote from each:
Week 8’s worst coaching decisions: “With six seconds remaining and the Commanders 65 yards away from the end zone, HC Matt Eburflus, who calls the defensive plays, called a prevent defense that allowed the Commanders to easily complete a 13-yard pass and walk out of bounds to stop the clock, setting themselves up for a realistic Hail Mary.”
NFL QB stock report: “(Aaron Rodgers is) trying to play as if he’s 10 years younger, and he’s not close to the same player,” a defensive coach told The Athletic. “He can still throw it in a clean pocket with the best of the best, (but his) mobility is not the same. He’s jumpy and has missed some throws I’ve never seen him miss.”
Week 9 Power Rankings. No. 13 Falcons: “Baker Mayfield threw 50 passes Sunday. Atlanta did not register a sack or a quarterback hit. This is not a new-coaching-staff problem, though. This apparently is just Atlanta’s destiny. The Falcons are last in the league with six sacks. Since 2020, they are last with 116 sacks. Since 2010, they are last with 420.”
Yesterday’s most-clicked: Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson was supposed to box out on the Hail Mary. He didn’t, and later found himself in front of the team admitting what he did was unacceptable.
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(Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
