Week 9 sets up to be one of the weirdest of the season. For starters, Ezekiel Elliott was suspended, then allowed to play, and his ownership percentage is now somewhat of an unknown. The Saints and Buccaneers appear to be entering a high-scoring, prototypical NFC South game indoors, but Jameis Winston is still not 100 percent. And the Steelers and Patriots are both on bye weeks, knocking out some of the typically high-priced stars that reside on each team. As always, we have bargains. And plenty of them.
Based on our expected Week 9 DFS game flow analysis performed earlier, we can carry our thoughts into actual lineup positions. The long list of players that fit the requirements set forth by the projected flow of the game was cut dramatically by the requirements set forth by salaries.
Below are Sporfolio’s DFS Week 9 Plays:
Quarterback
Drew Brees – The number of reasons to love Brees this week are almost too much to describe. For starters, this game has the makings of a complete shootout as both offenses possess dynamic playmakers, and both defenses have a tendency to get beaten up badly at times. To support that, the Buccaneers defense is averaging 274.7 passing yards allowed per game. That is the third highest average in the league, so their struggles are apparent. On top of that, Tampa Bay ranks 27th against opposing quarterbacks in terms of fantasy points allowed per game. Finally, Brees is simply due for an explosive game when you look at his last three performances. He has thrown for three touchdowns and four interceptions in that span, which is a shocking count for him. Those games were not really normal Saints games though as the defense and ground game shouldered most of the load. This week should certainly look a lot more like the Saints that we are used to, and Drew Brees should be able to have a field day in New Orleans.
Jameis Winston – As mentioned in the introduction, Jameis Winston will likely be playing with an injury. Also as mentioned in the introduction, Jameis Winston will likely be playing in a high-scoring back-and-forth battle against a porous defense with his team’s season basically on-the-line. The quarterback will be asked to save Tampa Bay’s season, and his legs might be as much of a factor as his arm. The best part of Winston’s projection is that his offense ranks fourth-best in the league in yards, but only 19th in points-per-game. The Buccaneers are moving the ball, but just not finding the end zone. Tampa Bay also has the fourth-fewest rush attempts, so everything goes through Winston. If he’s starting, he’s a top option in fantasy lineups on Sunday.