Week 9 of the 2023 NFL season is now over, and your fantasy football roster should have its identity. While you could still hold out some hope for certain players, our Week 9 panic meter will help ring some alarms on certain big names.
As always, the following list provides cases for why you should not worry at all, be a little bit worried, and be in a full panic for bigger names on your fantasy football rosters. This is not any advice to move on from any players in the ‘Full Panic’ section, but you should absolutely be exploring moves to try and move that problem somewhere else.
No Need to Panic
Marquise Brown
It might feel odd to have Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown as the lone member of the ‘No Need to Panic’ category in our Week 9 panic meter, but his WR20 rank in PPR formats shows that it doesn’t matter who he has at quarterback. And thankfully for him, it looks like Kyler Murray is finally ready to make his return.
In Brown’s first season with Arizona, he was Murray’s favorite target for the first six weeks of the season, earning at least six targets in each contest. With Brown really the only fantasy-relevant receiver Arizona has, look for Brown to reclaim his spot as Murray’s deep threat, raising his ceiling back to fringe WR1 numbers (provided Murray stays healthy).
Some Panic
Kenneth Walker
Weeks 8 and 9 for Kenneth Walker have paled in comparison to how the first seven weeks of the season went. With an increased presence of rookie running back Zach Charbonnet cutting into Walker’s workload, there are some signs to be concerned of.
But Walker did nothing wrong to justify his snap-count demotion, and this team knows how valuable he is. With matchups against the Commanders and Rams next, look for Walker to regain the majority of the backfield work.
Just be aware that Charbonnet could have a larger role over the course of the season than when the season began, which could dampen Walker’s impact.
Isiah Pacheco
Both Isiah Pacheco and D’Andre Swift, who is next on our Week 9 panic meter list, haven’t had a decrease in efficiency based on another back stealing work. Whether it be game script or play calling, these players have struggled.
For Pacheco, his 16 carries Sunday against the Dolphins tied for the second-most in a game, but his 66 yards and one unsecured target really dampened his impact. Pacheco seems to have down games when he is not incorporated into the passing attack, and if this trend continues, then his ceiling as the starting RB on one of the best offenses in the league could get lower.
D’Andre Swift
Just like the situation for Pacheco, Swift’s volume is there in Philly, but the amount of times he is sniped of a goal-line carry from Jalen Hurts is incredibly damaging to his fantasy football stock. With five back-to-back matchups against potential playoff teams upcoming, it will be interesting to see how Swift is able to reinvent himself as this team’s lead running back.
This Eagles offense is potent and can go off on a moment’s notice – but unfortunately that doesn’t guarantee a fantasy-relevant workload for Swift. Temper your expectations a bit for Swift, especially if the Eagles continue to rely on Hurts’ right arm coming out of their Week 10 bye.
Full Panic
The time has come to admit that 2023 Tony Pollard just isn’t cutting it, as much as your pre-draft rankings would like to say otherwise. In a perfect situation with no other backfield competition and on an above-average offense, Pollard has failed to find the end zone since a two-TD performance in Week 1.
Dallas needs to find a better way to utilize Pollard, and that should start in the passing game. By splitting him out wide more often for certain screen plays and high-percentage routes, that would help open up running lanes eventually too.
But for now, Pollard is a big-name RB2 falling far short of expectations.
Shame on Arthur Smith – his usage of Bijan Robinson has got to be one of the worst crime to the fantasy football community in recent years… dating all the way back to when he mis-used Kyle Pitts.
Atlanta is stuck in the middle this season, and even after making a quarterback switch from Desmond Ridder to Taylor Heinicke, they still need to pick a direction. Robinson would be great to help make that decision, but instead, Smith prefers handoffs to Jonnu Smith and Tyler Allgeier on the one-yard line.
Frustration is one word you can use to describe Robinson’s disappointing rookie season, but just know it’s not on him, it’s on the head coach.
Follow Us
Subscribe