We are getting towards the middle of the NFL season and while there have been quite a few new emerging fantasy players there are more to add to that list for week 9. I’ll also cover intriguing players who are even mostly owned.
Tim Tebow could lead the list every week of intriguing NFL fantasy football players the rest of the way, so long as he can hold onto his starting job. I cannot remember so much love and hate for one player in fantasy and real(NFL) football, it’s really amazing. He is like the best roller coaster ride at the amusement park with all the amazing ups and downs included. I project him as a fantasy QB1 in standard leagues(12-teams, standard Yahoo! scoring), so long as he can hold onto his job. At the end of the day, I think critics and fans alike should just judge Tebow on if he wins more football games than other Denver QBs(Orton+Quinn) can. He is 1-1 as of this writing, he and the Broncos play the Raiders in Oakland in week 9. Christian Ponder had another solid outing in week 8, he has good players around him to help him succeed. Ponder has high upside in fantasy football because of the plays he can make with his legs. That said, I will offer some caution here. Ponder’s numbers against Green Bay in week 7 would have been notably bad if you throw out his first pass+completion for 72 yards to Jenkins, he also only went 13-32 passing for the entire game. Still, he projects well(solid QB2 fantasy numbers) in week 9 against the Packers again. Sam Bradford and the Rams have Arizona in week 9, a very soft pass defense. Bradford’s status is uncertain at this point but if he is ready to play he could put up some good numbers. Going forward I like Bradford’s upside. Many owners are down on him but this is the time to buy. He now has Brandon Lloyd and a developing Greg Salas filling in for Amendola respectably. Bradford and the rest of the team have been slow to pickup the new offense thus far but last week’s game showed new hope for this team as they beat the Saints. If you can get Bradford for cheap I’d get him now, especially in dynasty/keeper league formats. Michael Bush is stuck behind McFadden on the depth chart but may play this week due to McFadden’s injury. Bush has potential RB1-type upside this week if McFadden doesn’t play and RB2/Flex upside if McFadden does play. He should be owned in almost all leagues. Reggie Bush had his second career 100-yard game in week 8, keep in mind this is over a 5+ year career. Temper your fantasy football expectations for Reggie but he is a RB2 while Daniel Thomas misses or until Steve Slaton shows his old form. Jonathan Baldwin put on a show on Monday night football for all the world to see, the highlight of the night for him was a spectacular catch for a TD during the game. He had one of the rockiest rookie starts in recent memory, getting into a fight with a teammate in pre-season. While that may be in the past and he flashed some talent that made him the 26th overall 2011 NFL pick he still has to show me more. He is still stuck in a run first offense with Matt Cassel as his QB, Steve Breaston will continue to challenge him for catches as well as 2nd fiddle behind Dwayne Bowe as well. Still, he has some upside and is an intriguing player to watch as we go into the 2nd half of the NFL season. He certainly should be owned in most formats.
Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams nearly split carries again in starter Jahvid Best’s absence because of concussions. Morris had the better week and projects as the better back over Williams going forward. If Best is able to get back on the field then Morris’ and Williams’ fantasy relevance almost completely evaporates. The Lions are not giving much info away about Best’s status so far but there does appear a decent chance he will miss more games. Morris should be owned in most formats in 12+ team leagues. Tashard Choice joins Ryan Torain and Roy Helu on the Mike Shanahan RB-merry-go-round ride in Washington. While it’s tough to imagine Choice will have fantasy relevance with the Redskins right away he does make for a good speculative pickup right now simply because he is playing on a Shanahan team. Choice is the darkhorse of the 3 but don’t count him out. There’s no telling what Shanahan will do here. Jake Ballard continues to register enough numbers to make him a high end TE2 as of the moment. He is still only owned in 30% of Yahoo! leagues as of this moment too.
Individual Defensive Players(IDPs)
While most leagues still do not use IDPs, I do enjoy having them as part of the scoring in a fantasy football league, I encourage anyone who hasn’t tried IDPs to give it a try. Here are my IDPs I will be watching for week 9.
J.J. Watt has quietly put up consistent numbers in his rookie year, even if he hasn’t had a standout week yet. He projects well going forward and is especially a good pickup if he is not owned in dynasty formats. Jason Pierre-Paul made the most of his opportunity and is now one of the top fantasy DLs in the league. He is more dependable than his elite fantasy teammate Umenyiora. Pierre-Paul has always been highly regarded and should be good for top-5 type DL numbers going forward. Chris Long(3 sacks, 3 tackles, 1 pass defense) had a standout week 8 after putting up underwhelming numbers until then. He has notable upside going forward but has to show more consistency. Jerod Mayo leads the list for fantasy LBs to watch for week 9. He should be eased back into the lineup and it would be tough to expect him to be back to his old self without another week or two. Despite his talent and his high fantasy numbers from just a year ago he has been dropped in a significant amount of leagues that use IDPs. This is the time to get him as he is more than likely to get fantasy leaguers’ attentions in the coming weeks. Lawrence Timmons and his fantasy value have taken more than a nosedive ever since he has moved to OLB for the Steelers. It’s clear he just isn’t worth starting in most formats when he starts OLB. It gets worse for Timmons’ owners too – with all the injuries(at OLB) for the Steelers it is possible that Timmons could be playing there the rest of the season if the Steelers don’t do anything. The direction the Steelers decide to go(with Timmons at either OLB or ILB) in the next week or two is critical for Timmons’ value the rest of the way. Paul Posluszny was a tackle machine when he was with Buffalo but there was some question whether he could produce with the Jaguars and he has. Even though he got off to a bad start he has stringed together a good series of fantasy numbers. He projects well going forward and may end up a top-5 fantasy LB still.
Kam Chancellor seems to be one of the more emerging fantasy DBs right now, with week after week of good fantasy numbers, he should be able to continue his pace. Bernard Pollard is putting up good fantasy numbers while he is starting. Pollard did not start the year as the starter but he remains there going forward, at least for now. Pollard has always been good for tackles and so is a great pickup right now if he is still out there if your league is tackle heavy like most in scoring.
Let’s end this article with one more player, a kicker.
Sebastian Janikowski appears ready to return in time for week 9 and makes for a good pickup, especially in leagues that weight longer field goals. A lot of former Janikowski owners have previously released him because he missed a couple weeks of playing because of injury(hamstring) and a bye.