There were hits and misses on the Week 8 sleeper page. Cedric Tillman was a smash, Bo Nix kept coming through and Braelon Allen collected double-digit touches and a touchdown. But there were no right answers with the Tampa Bay wideouts, Rashod Bateman lost his way at Cleveland and Hunter Henry was one rare tight end who didn’t celebrate the Hallmark holiday.
Let’s see what we can find in Week 9.
He’s been lost in the shuffle given the buzz of some other young quarterbacks, but Nix is putting together a very underrated season. He’s quietly posted the third-most fantasy points among QBs over the last four weeks, and now he takes aim at the Baltimore funnel defense (strong against the run, leaky against the pass). Even if Nix doesn’t find throwing lanes Sunday, he always offers an interesting rushing backboard — he’s had a rushing score or solid ground production in seven of his eight starts.
Minnesota’s defense has done a lot of good things this year — it’s first in DVOA and it’s third in percentage of drives that have yielded points. But the early Minnesota returns were better than the recent games — over the past four weeks, the men in Purple have yielded 1,192 passing yards and 12 touchdown passes. Flacco has plenty of help from the Indianapolis receiving room — Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs and viable sleeper Alec Pierce — and even if the Vikings force a few negative plays with the blitz-happy Brian Flores scheme, the Colts figure to hit some home runs, too. Get your popcorn ready for Sunday night.
It’s becoming harder and harder to find legitimate running back sleepers — players rostered under 50% in Yahoo leagues — because the modern theory for fantasy football says that your bench should be overflowing with speculation plays. So many interesting contingency-upside picks are already scooped up. Allgeier is the rare non-starting back who offers some standalone value; he’s collected 35 carries, a touchdown and a two-point conversion over the last three weeks — and the Dallas defense has been a convenient escort, ranking 30th in rush-defense DVOA.
Cedric Tillman was the Cleveland headliner over the last two weeks and justifiably so, but Moore is also doing fine work — he posted a useful 8-85-0 line on 12 targets in the glorious comeback win at Baltimore. Jameis Winston filtered most of his targets to three wideouts and tight end David Njoku; he’s not afraid to take a deep drop and let it rip downfield. The Chargers present a sterner defensive challenge this week, a slow-pace team that defends the pass well, but Moore probably has 7-9 targets already in his back pocket. Opportunity drives so many of our fantasy decisions.
There have been stops and starts in Legette’s rookie season, but he’s found the end zone three times in five games and he has three games with seven or more targets. With Diontae Johnson out of town, Legette has the inside track to become Carolina’s new target hog. Unfortunately, those targets will be Bryce Young passes for now, but at least the Saints have allowed the seventh-most points to opposing wide receivers.
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I’m surprised the market has been so cool to Washington, who steps into the slot role vacated by injured Christian Kirk. Washington posted a credible 3-46-0 line on four targets last week, forced into more snaps in the second half, and the Philadelphia defense is the 10th-best draw for opposing receivers. Trevor Lawrence has quietly played well over the last four weeks, posting a 9.1 YPA and 109.0 rating, completing 71.9% of his passes.
The Washington defense was considered one of the worst units in the league when the season started, but the group has come around nicely. The Commanders are seventh in sacks and their scoring-drive percentage is around the league average. Daniel Jones can’t get out of his own way during home games, for some reason — his last New Jersey touchdown dates back to New Year’s Day, 2023. Look for the Washington Football Team to force a few negative plays.
