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4 fantasy football flex players you must start — Week 9
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- 4 fantasy football flex players you must start — Week 9
A fatal flaw in these fantasy football flex player rankings is that they come out on Thursday, so once in a while I may pick injured players like Breece Hall or Emeka Egbuka to have big days when they don't even see the field like neither did in Week 8.
So I'll leave players on the injury report off of my Week 9 list.
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ALSO READ: Lamar Jackson injury, multiple QB switches cause fantasy scramble in Week 9 rankings
But the injury secretly saved me with Emeka Egbuka, because the Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't complete a single pass , becoming the first team in more than 50 years to do that and win the game, on Sunday against the Falcons in a driving rainstorm.
He would've had 0.0 points had you wasted a spot on him. Meanwhile Breece Hall was a game time scratch again, and once again his replacement had another career day.
Related: 4 fantasy football flex players to start for Week 8
Braelon Allen deserves his own fantasy football writeup. The third-year, fourth round back out of Wisconsin had his second career-day of the year in Week 8 when he piled up 147 yards on the ground and Las Vegas.
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This week Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said Hall is the starter when he returns, though Allen will get his share of touches as well.
As for my picks that did play, Jordan Addison and Josh Jacobs had varying levels of success, but both scored double digits in half-PPR leagues. Addison caught only 3 of his 8 targets, but a 51-yard bomb helped him to a 66-yard receiving day.
The Vikings have one of the least productive passing offenses in the league, so going with Addison was a big swing, but I don't like living that dangerously, so it's probably the last time I'm picking a Viking for a while. Addison's 11.2 PPR points was good enough for WR32.
Josh Jacobs may have disappointed some with his touchdown celebration in his first game back with the Packers, but I knew he wouldn't disappoint on the field in Week 8 against Carolina.
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Jacobs didn't have a big yardage day despite getting 27 touches. Jacobs had just 39 rushing yards (despite 21 totes) and just 13 yards receiving (despite 6 receptions). But he did have two touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground. His 20.2 points made him RB11 in half-PPR leagues and RB9 in PPR leagues.
Here are my Week 9 picks.
Cleveland running back Quinshon Judkins has a favorable matchup Sunday. Lauren Leigh Bacho / Getty Images
Quinshon Judkins—high usage rate meets a bad defense
The Browns running back has had a mostly mild season with two big outlier performances through Week 8. The 22.9 points he put up in Week 7 against Tennessee and the 18.6 points he put up Week 4 against Pittsburgh have been sandwiched between performances below 9 ppg that were forgettable.
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Fantasy owners will definitely feel burned since he wasn't able to replicate his big day against the Steelers from four weeks prior on Sunday, scoring a season low 5.9 points instead. But there was good news in his below average day; the Browns still fed him the ball.
The Browns were down 20-6 by halftime and spent the rest of the afternoon (unsuccessfully) trying to catch up with the Steelers through the air. So that didn't leave a lot of space for Judkins, but he still got 11 carries and two targets that he converted.
It was the least he's touched the ball since Week 1, but it's clear that the Browns see him as an integral part of their offense.
The Browns face the Saints and their 29th ranked run defense on Sunday. The Saints are also capable of putting up points, so if it does become a shootout, that could lead for more chance for Judkins in the passing game this week. He's RB18 when it comes to targets, but he'd probably be top-10 if he didn't miss Week 6 against the Ravens.
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Judkins is a dual-threat who was bottled up last week that gets a crack at one of the worst defenses in the league. He's a must start.
Woody Marks—Attack Chargers'biggest weakness
Woody Marks has been a solid contributor since Houston's starting back David Montgomery went down with a groin injury in Week 5, securing an average of 19 touches per game over the previous four weeks, including a season-high 20 touches against the Giants before Houston's bye last week.
However, Marks productivity has been limited by the fact that he hasn't been able to reach the end zone during his recent run. Since garnering rushing touchdown's in back-to-back weeks, Marks hasn't scored since Week 5, despite putting up more than 80 combined yards in each of those games.
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Which is where the Chargers come in.
The Chargers are the most surprising (and only) winless team in the league, but while their pass defense has been very good this season, their run defense has been really bed. While there are defense allowing worse than the Chargers' 124.6 yards per game (23rd), the Chargers have allowed 11 rushing touchdowns this season, the second-most in the league.
Marks is going to get his same steady diet of touches, but he should have better outcomes this week than he has in a while.
Ashton Jeanty—Tales of his demise have been exaggerated
Rex Ryan may think he is the worst running back draft pick in the last 20 years , but fantasy managers who drafted Ashton Jeanty might have a slightly different view. Jeanty was the 18th overall pick in half-PPR leagues. He is RB16 in points per game after being chosen as RB12 .
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But after a not so soft benching against the New York Jets Sunday, it's fair for fantasy owners to start wondering if their starter should be moved to the bench. Jeanty had just 25 snaps on Sunday, which translates to a 40% snap share percentage, a season-low that is much the 53% he had while injured against the Patriots in Week 5.
Mike Washington, his replacement got 25 carries for 83 yards, but despite taking over the running workload, he still didn't outpoint Jeanty last week. As solid of a back as Washington is, he isn't the aerial threat Jeanty is. Jeanty was able to convert 3 of his 4 targets into 64 yards. However, Jeanty only got two carries for nine yards.
While his lack of rushing attempts should make you look for other running backs to replace him with as a starter, Jeanty shouldn't be riding the bench for you against the 49ers on Sunday. If you do have a better option at running back, you should move Jeanty down to the FLEX position. He's still very much involved in the Raiders offense and is a key part of what they do , especially in the passing game.
Stefon Diggs—Team needs him to step up against stingy opponent
Diggs found the end zone for the second game in a row against Philadelphia on Sunday, pushing his season total to a respectable 5 TDs. If Diggs got consistent yards through the air, he'd be a weekly starting candidate, however trapped in the Commanders offense that has struggled to find any consistency amid a myriad of injuries, Diggs ceiling continues to be a strategic FLEX player.
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Diggs was WR23 last week with 11.3 half-PPR points, but outside of two stinkers when Jayden Daniels wasn't playing and one game missed due to an injury, he has been a consistent contributor. Now with the Commanders playing without Terry McLaurin for the rest of the season, Diggs will become an even bigger focus for the team.
On paper he has a tough matchup against the Rams this week, especially with Myles Garrett returning to practice and potentially gearing up to play for the first time in two months.
The Rams have the fourth stingiest pass defense in the league. But they also just announced that cornerback Jaylen Watson is done for the season after aggravating a previous shoulder injury and the Rams just gave up 295 yards passing the Kirk Cousins in Week 7
The Commanders are going to have to lean on Diggs, and they clearly trust him in the red zone. Even if the Rams shut down the rest of the Commanders offense, I expect Diggs to continue his touchdown streak, and he may even add some yards to his total to get there.
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Related: Tyler Warren set for rebound game as must-start in Week 9 fantasy TE rankings
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This story was originally published by Lindy's Sports on Nov 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Fantasy section. Add Lindy's Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
