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Week 9 Kicks Off Tonight—Lock In Your TNF Starts

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Editors’ Picks

Week 9 kicks off tonight. It’s time to get right (or stay right). Start by making sure you catch up on some of the latest and greatest content that you may have missed on FantasyLife.com.

Upgrades In Dwain’s Week 9 Rankings …

📈 Kyler Murray makes a rare top-12 appearance in the Week 9 fantasy rankings.

Murray is on pace for the worst fantasy season of his career, averaging a paltry 15.6 points. However, he gets the cure-all matchup against the Cowboys. Dallas is in a tier of their own when it comes to boosting opposing QB value at an unhinged 7.2 points per game.

The Cowboys have lifted opposing passing attacks by 52 yards and 0.9 touchdowns per game. That is good news for Murray, who ranks 27th in average passing yards (192) and 25th in passing TDs (1.2).

On a positive note, Murray has still been good on the ground. He ranks seventh in rushing yards per game (34.6) and has tacked on 0.2 rushing TDs per contest. The Cardinals carry a healthy team total of 26.5 points per Matthew Freedman's NFL Betting Game Model.

That combination gives Murray the chance to spike as a passer and rusher.

Projection Model (using my PPR projections):

• Xfinity Best (ceiling): 26.3

• Median: 19.8

• Floor: 15.4

» Murray is my QB8 in Week 9.

📈 Kimani Vidal is a SMASH PLAY in Week 9 against the Titans.

Vidal has dominated the Chargers' backfield with Omarion Hampton out. The second-year back has hogged 69% of the snaps, 68% of rushing attempts, and notched a 9% target share.

His 83 Utilization Score aligns with comps who averaged 16.2 points—right in line with his 16.7. Damn, the Utilization Score is pretty pretty cool, y'all. 

The Bolts are 10-point favorites over the Titans and carry the fifth-best team total (26.8) per oddsmakers—a combination that has been historically kind to RBs. 

If that isn't enough, Tennessee has sanctioned the No. 2 boost to RB units at 7.4 points per game. 

• Utilization: Check. 

• Spread: Check. 

• Team Total: Check. 

• Matchup: Check. 

Rarely do we get all of those things to align—that is what we call a SMASH PLAY, y'all.

Projection Model:

• Xfinity Best (ceiling): 22.3

• Median: 14.3

• Floor: 10.7

» Vidal is my RB11 in a fantastic spot against the Titans.

Click below for all of Dwain McFarland’s Week 9 upgrades, downgrades, and SICKO STARTS! ⤵️

(Boldly) Predicting Week 9: D'Andre Swift Answers the Question of "Who Dey?" 

Targeting the Bengals' defense continues to be a print-fest, especially at running back and tight end. Cincinnati has allowed the most fantasy points to both positions this season: 33.6 points per week to RBs and 21.7 to TEs. 

Last week, the 0-7 New York Jets rushed for 254 yards and two scores against Cincinnati as part of a 39-point explosion in a come-from-behind victory. Justin Fields emerged from his temporary benching to efficiently go 21-of-32 for 244 yards and a TD to rookie tight end Mason Taylor, and Jets RBs posted RB4 (Breece Hall) and RB10 (Isaiah Davis) finishes on the week. 

Through eight games, only the Pittsburgh Steelers' running back room has failed to score a touchdown against this unit, although Jaylen Warren still managed an RB7 finish without a TD thanks to 16-127-0 and 4-31-0 lines. Here are the running back finishes the Bengals have allowed thus far:

• Week 1: RB9 (Dylan Sampson)

• Week 2: RB14 (Travis Etienne) & RB17 (Bhayshul Tuten)

• Week 3: RB7 (Jordan Mason)

• Week 4: RB12 (RJ Harvey) & RB28 (J.K. Dobbins)

• Week 5: RB10 (David Montgomery) & RB13 (Jahmyr Gibbs)

• Week 6: RB3 (Josh Jacobs)

• Week 7: RB7 (Jaylen Warren)

• Week 8: RB4 (Breece Hall) & RB10 (Isaiah Davis)

D'Andre Swift is next in line to pad his stats against the Bengals, with Kyle Monangai highly likely to break off an explosive play or two as well. 

The Bears are averaging 4.4 yards per carry (13th) and 124.6 rushing yards per game (10th), but they stick to the ground game. After opening the season with a surprising 6.7% pass rate over expectation (PROE) in Week 1, they've throttled things down and thrown the ball at the third-lowest rate over expectation. Swift's 4.6 YPC ranks 15th on the season, but the Bears trust him because he ranks eighth in success rate (47%) and sixth in explosive run rate (12%). 

Chicago hasn't broken off a ton of long runs, ranking outside the top 14 in carries of 15+, 20+ and 30+ yards. But they are consistently getting to the second level, ranking second in the league in 10+ yard carries (15.7%). As the Jets demonstrated last week, Cincinnati has a knack for missing tackles and allowing solid gains to become breakaways. 

If the Bears create turnovers or take an early lead, Swift will have a busy day. Ben Johnson may very well dial up a few easy-button plays to inject some confidence into Caleb Williams, who hasn't thrown a touchdown pass in his last two games. But the safest way for Chicago to grind out a much-needed road win this week will be on the back of the team's veteran running back. 

Bold prediction: D'Andre Swift goes for 120 yards and two scores.

Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds.

📺 Ranking every matchup on the Week 9 slate … the good, the bad and the ugly.

📝 It’s the best time of the week—Buyin’, Sellin’, and Holdin’.

😡 Uh oh, our favorite 40-year-old QB is hurt. His status for Sunday is up in the air.

🔥 Our start/sit guru John Laghezza hosted an AMA on Reddit yesterday. It was fantastic and full of info.

🦅 The Eagles on a bye leaves roster holes to fill. Week 9 replacement targets.

🚑️ Injury updates: Terry McLaurin, Texans WRs, Michael Penix Jr., Skattebo.

🤑 Aidan Hutchinson gets paid. That’s a lot of money.

😂 Ads suck, we know. But Cooterdoodle and Gene Clemons are changing that narrative.

☄ Which AFC North team is grossly mispriced in our Week 9 model? Find out for free …