The NFL had all 32 teams in action last week, and last week’s sleeper article featured a player who finished inside the top 14 at every position. Now, with four teams on a bye in Week 9, we won’t have quite as many players to choose from when finding sleeper options for your fantasy football team, but we still have plenty of quality plays to take a closer look at for Week 9 of NFL action.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleepers | Quarterbacks
Will Levis | Tennessee Titans @ PIT
The Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback made his NFL starting debut in Week 8 … and what a debut it was! Levis threw for 238 yards and four TD passes against the Atlanta Falcons.
For some perspective, Levis has twice as many touchdown passes as Ryan Tannehill this season. Oh, by the way, Tannehill has played in six games this season in comparison to just one for Levis.
It may be tough to trust a rookie quarterback on a short week against a defense that is very capable of pressuring opposing quarterbacks, but the short week gives the Pittsburgh Steelers less time to game plan for Levis, which could give the rookie another shot at being a viable starting fantasy option at the QB position.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleepers | Running Backs
Pierre Strong Jr. | Cleveland Browns vs. ARI
The Cleveland Browns have a very crowded backfield with both Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt in the mix. Well, another player is starting to make a compelling case for more touches, and his name is Pierre Strong Jr.
Strong saw a career-high 10 carries in Week 8 and produced 41 yards on the ground while chipping in another 41 yards in the passing game on just one reception. Sure, Strong might not have the sheer power to ideally navigate through traffic between the tackles on an every-down basis in the NFL, but he is certainly an elusive runner who is capable of generating plenty of yardage after contact.
The Browns take on the Arizona Cardinals this week, who just gave three rushing touchdowns to Gus Edwards on Sunday. While Strong may not lead the team in carries, his consistent usage out of this backfield could be a Flex option for you in deeper leagues this week.
Tyler Allgeier | Atlanta Falcons vs. MIN
In case you didn’t hear, the Minnesota Vikings may have just lost their starting quarterback for the remainder of the 2023 NFL season. This means the Falcons’ defense is likely going to get a mulligan against a rookie quarterback after getting torched by Levis and the Titans through the air. I’m not willing to bet that Jaren Hall will have quite that amount of success in Week 9.
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If that game script plays out, then it should favor a heavy run script for the Falcons, which makes Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson both a solid bet to see more than 10 carries against the Vikings in Week 9.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleepers | Wide Receivers
Demario Douglas | New England Patriots vs. WAS
The New England Patriots’ passing offense has shown some signs of life over the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately, WR Kendrick Bourne suffered a season-ending knee injury against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Bourne led the Patriots in every major receiving category in 2023: receptions (37), targets (55), yards (406), and TDs (four). So, who is the wide receiver who could see an expanded role with Bourne out for the remainder of the season? My answer is Demario Douglas.
Douglas saw a career-high 77% of the offensive snaps and five receptions in Week 8 and could find himself on the field a lot more moving forward. Douglas is an explosive player who is capable of winning on all three levels of the football field. The Pats have dialed up multiple screens for him to try to create in space, but he is fully capable of threatening defenses vertically as well.
If the Washington Commanders continue to struggle in the secondary, Douglas could be a very sneaky play in DFS lineups and deep PPR formats in Week 9.
Khalil Shakir | Buffalo Bills @ CIN
Speaking of career days, second-year WR Khalil Shakir posted a personal best in targets (six), receptions (six), and receiving yards (92) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Shakir saw his highest snap count of the season and produced every single time quarterback Josh Allen looked his way on Thursday Night Football.
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Could this have been just a small outlier performance against a secondary that potentially didn’t see Shakir having a huge role in this game? Perhaps.
However, Shakir’s stat line certainly suggests that he should see more playing time alongside Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis to see if he can build off of the best performance in his NFL career.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleepers | Tight Ends
Trey McBride | Arizona Cardinals @ CLE
While I was certainly optimistic about Trey McBride seeing an expanded role when the Arizona Cardinals sent TE Zach Ertz to injured reserve last week, I didn’t see a huge performance coming against one of the stingiest defenses in the league. Well, I consider his 10-catch, 95-yard performance a learning experience and can’t wait to see what else McBride can do off of a career day last week.
His 14 targets and 82% snap share were both season highs and have the arrowing point up concerning his fantasy value. Sure, the matchup against the Browns isn’t exactly ideal, but it wasn’t ideal last week against the Baltimore Ravens, and he still had a monster fantasy outing. If you are looking for a streaming option at the TE position this week with some rest-of-season upside, then McBride is your guy.
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