Week 9 should be pretty interesting for fantasy football managers looking at their wide receiver corps. Despite the ongoing quarterback injuries, the wide receiver group has remained relatively healthy. While this is certainly a positive development, a deeper pool of wide receivers has led to more debates about who to start and sit. This has caused debates among myriad fantasy football owners. Of course, they have also had to carefully consider their options in this critical week.
Fantasy football managers understandably have concerns when new quarterbacks take the field. However, as we saw last week with Will Levis and DeAndre Hopkins, it doesn't always have a negative impact. Jordan Addison and KJ Osborn could be causes for concern given Kirk Cousins' being out for the season. The status of Matthew Stafford might limit the ceilings of Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, too. However, we aren't particularly worried about Diontae Johnson and George Pickens since Kenny Pickett will play.
Bye Teams
The Lions, 49ers, Broncos, and Jaguars are all on a bye in Week 9. As such, notable wide receivers who won't play include Amon Ra-St. Brown, Brandon Aiyuk, Christian Kirk, Calvin Ridley, Courtland Sutton, and Jerry Jeudy.
Top Fantasy Football Picks
Tyreek Hill will face the Chiefs in Week 9. This should be very interesting. Hill, of course, is a consistent performer, routinely delivering 100-plus receiving yards and a touchdown. He aims to continue his dominant play even on foreign soil in Germany against his former team.
As for AJ Brown, he has climbed to the second spot in our Week 9 WR PPR rankings after racking up 125-plus receiving yards for a sixth consecutive game. That's what we call red-hot. In his most recent game against the Cowboys, where QB Jalen Hurts was injured, Brown torched the Cowboys' secondary with eight catches for 103 yards. Expect another strong fantasy football performance from him.
Meanwhile, Stefon Diggs, playing against the Bengals, has been consistently solid, with an impressive 51 targets over his last four games. A 100-yard game is always a possibility for Buffalo's WR1.
Speaking of the Bengals, Ja'Marr Chase consistently found openings in the 49ers' defense in the Bengals' Week 8 upset. Recall that he secured 10 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. With Joe Burrow back at full strength, Chase has a good chance to finish as the top WR in Week 9.
Fantasy Football Sleepers
Fantasy football owners should also consider using a waiver claim on guys like Jahan Dotson, Brandin Cooks, Jayden Reed, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Rashid Shaheed this week. Dotson has seen eight or more targets in back-to-back games, resembling the “breakout” WR many had expected this season. New England's secondary is strong, but the Commanders' pass-heavy offense gives Dotson plenty of opportunities to put up good numbers moving forward.
Potential Fantasy Football Busts
Sure, a potential negative game script might boost Marquise Brown's and Michael Wilson's fantasy football value as contributors in garbage time against the Browns. Still, we have little interest in starting either wide receiver against one of the league's best coverage units.
Next, Christian Watson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Wan'Dale Robinson, and Elijah Moore should be benched. While Watson has the highest potential among them, we can't rely on any of these wideouts to produce fantasy-worthy stat lines, especially in PPR leagues.
Take note that Smith-Njigba has scored a touchdown in consecutive weeks. However, there are too many options in the Seahawks' offense. In addition, a tough matchup against the Ravens doesn't inspire confidence in his Week 9 fantasy prospects.
Injury Updates
Unlike the quarterback position, we were fortunate on the injury front in Week 8. Only four wide receivers — Drake London (groin), Kendrick Bourne (knee), DeVante Parker (head), and Curtis Samuel (toe) — exited their games early. For now, we have excluded all four of these wide receivers from our initial Week 9 rankings.
Now, let's dive into our NFL Fantasy Football Wide Receiver rankings for Week 9 of the 2023 regular season. Standard rankings are indicated in parentheses.
NFL Fantasy Football Week 9 WR Rankings
1. Tyreek Hill, MIA @ KC (1)
2. Ja'Marr Chase, CIN vs. BUF (2)
3. Stefon Diggs, BUF @ CIN (4)
4. AJ Brown, PHI vs. DAL (3)
5. CeeDee Lamb, DAL @ PHI (5)
6. Keenan Allen, LAC @ NYJ (9)
7. Adam Thielen, CAR vs. IND (7)
8. Jaylen Waddle, MIA @ KC (6)
9. Davante Adams, LV vs. NYG (8)
10. Cooper Kupp, LAR @ GB (10)
11. Mike Evans, TB @ HOU (11)
12. Garrett Wilson, NYJ vs. LAC (12)
13. Chris Olave, NO vs. CHI (13)
14. Michael Pittman Jr., IND @ CAR (19)
15. Nico Collins, HOU vs. TB (14)
16. DeVonta Smith, PHI vs. DAL (17)
17. Terry McLaurin, WAS @ NE (15)
18. Puka Nacua, LAR @ GB (23)
19. DK Metcalf, SEA @ BAL (20)
20. Tee Higgins, CIN vs. BUF (16)
21. DeAndre Hopkins, TEN @ PIT (25)
22. Chris Godwin, TB @ HOU (28)
23. Diontae Johnson, PIT vs. TEN (27)
24. Zay Flowers, BAL vs. SEA (18)
25. Jakobi Meyers, LV vs. NYG (29)
26. DJ Moore, CHI @ NO (21)
27. Amari Cooper, CLE vs. ARI (24)
28. George Pickens, PIT vs. TEN (22)
29. Tyler Lockett, SEA @ BAL (30)
30. Josh Downs, IND @ CAR (31)
31. Gabe Davis, BUF @ CIN (26)
32. Tank Dell, HOU vs. TB (35)
33. Jordan Addison, MIN @ ATL (34)
34. Rashee Rice, KC vs. MIA (32)
35. Michael Thomas, NO vs. CHI (37)
36. Marquise Brown, ARI @ CLE (38)
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