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Week 9: Fantasy must-adds, from Matthew Stafford to Jalen Coker

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Something was missing from yesterday's newsletter. Perhaps the best punt you've ever seen:

From the Jaguars' 14 yards to the Packers' 74 yards of flipped field position by Logan Cooke. Nice. Today:

  • Fantasy Football Week 9
  • McCaffrey's return, Hopkins' debut
  • Power Rankings

Week 9 renounces, buys and sells

Normally I would list a player like RB Isaac Guerendo as the No. 1 pick, but with the 49ers coming off a bye and Christian McCaffrey's return imminent (more on that below), this is the case My must-add players in Week 9 – 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 stout Vikings defense and averaged 17.3 points per game in full gear from Weeks 12-17 last season (Jared Goff is averaging this season 17.3).

No. 2: Jaguars WR Parker Washington. Since Jacksonville will be without Christian Kirk (collarbone), Brian Thomas Jr. for several weeks (chest) and possibly Gabriel Davis (shoulder) this season, the 22-year-old Washington should fill the role. He had 18.1 PPR points in Week 13 last season when he played 59 percent of the snaps. TE Brenton Strange is also worth adding in deeper leagues.

No. 3: Browns WR Elijah Moore. While TE David Njoku is the biggest beneficiary of Cleveland's Amari Cooper transfer and Jameis Winston's promotion, Moore is in second place as the slot receiver averaged nine goals per game over the last two weeks. On Sunday, he caught eight passes for 85 yards with a team-high target percentage of 29.3 percent. Let someone else follow 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, who is inactive on a weekly basis. So why should you claim it? It looks like Chicago is holding him out for a possible trade, and his value would skyrocket in Dallas, for example. Since 2021, 64 players have scored more than 200 rushing attempts. With 4.8 yards per carry, Herbert ranks eighth among running backs.

Lower leagues: Since being featured here, Panthers WR Jalen Coker bounced back from Week 7's dud (one catch for 10 yards) to rush for 78 yards on four catches, including the first touchdown grab of his career. There's a good chance the Panthers move Diontae Johnson, increasing the UDFA Coker's upside. He played the second-most snaps of any Panthers receiver on Sunday, and of all players with more than 10 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 adding in deeper leagues.

I buy:

  • Dolphins RB De'Von Achane, who played 38 snaps to Raheem Mostert's 30. He had 10 carries to Mostert's nine. But Achane still finished the week as the second-highest PPR RB of the week, with 97 rushing yards, six catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. His head coach is planning creative ways to get the ball in his hands, and as far as volume goes, he could be the safest fantasy running back in the NFL.

I also buy:

  • Vikings TE TJ Hockenson. He is expected to finally make his season debut in Week 9 against the Colts. It couldn't come at a better time as Sam Darnold needs a quick exit with star LT Christian Darrisaw (ACL, MCL) out for the season. It's a fitting role for Hockenson, who led his team in targets and receptions in 2023 while also finishing with the second-highest points per game as a TE (14.7). That mark would put him behind only George Kittle (18 PPG!!) this season.

Christian McCaffrey is returning soon. What should you do? With The 49ers beat reporter Matt Barrows to note that the long-injured star could return after the team's bye in Week 9. This is a backcourt in transition. Or is it? Let's take a look at McCaffrey's historic return from injury since joining Kyle Shanahan in 2022:

  • Assumes the third quarter (oblique) of Week 6, 2023. Returned in Week 7 to play 100 percent of the snaps, scoring 18 touchdowns. He scores two touchdowns with 95 yards from field, making him the fifth-highest scoring fantasy RB of the week.
  • Charged his calf in Week 17, 2023. Skipped Week 18 as the 49ers have the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Returns in three weeks against the Packers and scores 24 touchdowns for 128 yards and two touchdowns for 28.3 fantasy points.

Bottom line: When McCaffrey is healthy, it's his backcourt. Now could 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 DeAndre Hopkins' Chiefs debut? The athlete's Nate Taylor explained how the addition led to Travis Kelce's best game of the year – 10 catches on 12 targets for 90 yards and a touchdown. As for Hopkins, he rotated throughout the game and made his first catch against zone coverage:

Hopkins also consistently beat man coverage. “When I looked back at the tablet, there were a few times where he really won in man coverage,” Mahomes said of Hopkins. “Even the touchdown to Travis, looking back [Hopkins’] On the other hand, he's also open for a touchdown.” Hopkins finished the game with two catches for 29 yards while playing 32 percent of the snaps. Extrapolated to the entire game, that’s six for 87 yards.

He's a starter for the future, while JuJu Smith-Schuster should return to his slot role once he's healthy (Hopkins only played two snaps in the slot) and is worth adding.

Another receiver (Stefon Diggs) went down in Houston. Who is performing? 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 ensuing drive and finished with three catches for 29 yards, while Tank Dell (three targets) played a season-high 75 percent of snaps and was expected to produce the most. Xavier Hutchinson may be their second-best healthy WR, and Robert Woods is considered at the top of all deep leagues, but I think Dell and TE Dalton Schultz are the biggest beneficiaries here.

How is Jameis Winston changing the Browns' offense? In his excellent Week 8 fantasy recap, KC Joyner explains: “Kevin Stefanski's offense is designed around a quarterback who is aggressive on downfield throws, and the Browns could find themselves in a lot of scoreboard shootouts over the next nine weeks. David Njoku is a strong TE1. Elijah Moore and Jerry Jeudy – who scored 16.5 and 12.9 points, respectively, against Baltimore – are now also possible flex candidates. Cedric Tillman is the wild card as he has scored 47 points in the last two games.”

The Perfect PPR Lineup of Week 8:

For more:

What Dianna Hears: Advice for Anthony Richardson

Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is a unique player, but we haven't seen anything like what he did on Sunday against the Houston Texans. Late in the third quarter, after a long fight (unsuccessful) to 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 Richardson was later asked why he came out, he said, “Tired, I'm not going to 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: “Lies. Lie to the media. Never say that again in your entire career. They have simply lost respect for every football player, every quarterback and every offensive lineman who has ever played the game. I’ve never seen that in my entire life.”

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.

Additional reading

Here's a quick look at three articles you'll like, with a quote for each:

The worst coaching decisions of week eight: “With six seconds left and the Commanders were 65 yards from the end zone, HC Matt Eburflus, who was calling the defensive plays, called a prevent defense, which allowed the Commanders to easily complete a 13-yard pass out of bounds “To go to stop the ball clock and prepare for a realistic Hail Mary.”

NFL QB Stock Report: “(Aaron Rodgers) tries to play like he’s 10 years younger and he’s not close to the same player,” one defensive coach said The athlete. “He can still compete with the best of the best, but his agility isn’t the same. He’s nervous and missed some shots that I’ve never seen him do before.”

Week 9 Power Rankings. No. 13 Falcons: “Baker Mayfield threw 50 passes on Sunday. Atlanta did not record a sack or a quarterback hit. However, this is not a problem for the new coaching staff. This is apparently just Atlanta's fate. The Falcons are last in the league with six sacks. Since 2020, they are dead last with 116 sacks. They have been last since 2010 with 420.”

Most clicked yesterday: Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson should box out on the Hail Mary. He did not do so and was later forced to admit to the team that what he had done was unacceptable.

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(Photo: Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

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