The Washington Commanders will face the New York Giants in Week 9. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Jayden Daniels.
Is Jayden Daniels Playing in Week 9?
While Jayden Daniels missed most of Week 7 while battling a rib injury, the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite returned in Week 8 to throw the most memorable pass of the season — a 52-yard Hail Mary to give the Washington Commanders an incredible victory over the Bears.
Heading into Week 9, Daniels is already ahead of last week’s practice schedule. While the No. 2 overall pick didn’t participate in a single Commanders practice leading into last Sunday’s game, he was limited on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Friday, Daniels was officially removed from Washington’s injury report. He will play against the NFC East rival Giants on Sunday.
We’ll continue to monitor the Commanders’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Jayden Daniels in Week 9?
The Hail Mary bailed you out from a very disappointing effort, but I wasn’t all that discouraged from the outing against a stingy Bears defense. The fantasy numbers weren’t as gaudy as we’ve become accustomed to, and that’s going to happen from time to time. That said, he was still delivering the ball on time, he was still picking up chunks of yardage on the ground (52 yards), and he played clean football.
That’s much more of a football take than a fantasy one, but his continued maturation in a traditional football sense will open doors for sustained fantasy greatness beyond what his physical tools have already showcased.
These Giants held Daniels in check back in Week 2 (13.4 fantasy points) — he’s a different quarterback now with two months under his belt. The top three QB performances against New York this season have all seen the signal-caller pick up over seven fantasy points with his legs, a box I plan on Daniels checking this week on his path to his fourth top-five finish of the season.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jayden Daniels’ Fantasy Points Projection in Week 9
Daniels is projected to score 20.9 fantasy points in Week 9. This includes 264.6 passing yards, 1.2 passing touchdowns, and 0.7 interceptions. It also includes 5.8 rushing attempts for 43.8 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insights: New York Giants Defense
The New York Giants’ defense has done its best to keep the team’s hopes of a playoff spot alive this year, but they have not quite been effective enough to drag this offense through games. The Giants have held opposing offenses to 21 points or fewer on five occasions but have only won two of those games, which is well below the league average of a 76.3% win rate in those games since the start of 2019.
The problem was highlighted on Monday Night Football when the Giants’ defense was excellent in terms of red-zone efficiency and points per drive but still took an eight-point loss. This defense has been good at putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks and leads the league in sack rate, but that has not translated to wins.
The Giants’ defense has been a top-10 unit in four games this year but has lost three of them. The defensive improvement has been impressive, but the offense’s failings hide the fact that this unit has improved since last year and is putting together a solid run over the last month.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Jayden Daniels’ Week 9 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 9:15 AM ET on Saturday, January 18. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Divisional Round Superflex Rankings.
Divisional Round QB PPR Rankings
1) Josh Allen | BUF (vs. BAL)
2) Lamar Jackson | BAL (at BUF)
3) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at DET)
4) Jalen Hurts | PHI (vs. LAR)
5) Jared Goff | DET (vs. WAS)
6) Patrick Mahomes | KC (vs. HOU)
7) Matthew Stafford | LAR (at PHI)
8) C.J. Stroud | HOU (at KC)
Washington Commanders at New York Giants Insights
Washington Commanders
Team: Washington begins a stretch this week where they play an NFC East team three times in four weeks (Eagles in Week 11 and Cowboys in Week 12.
QB: Against the Bears, Jayden Daniels threw 12 deep passes, five more than he had attempted in any other game.
Offense: Tress Way had five punts on Sunday against the Bears – he had four in September.
Defense: Washington has held its opponents to five first downs on 22 third-down conversion attempts over the past two weeks (22.7%). Through six weeks, that rate stood at 46.2%.
Fantasy: For the first time this season, Brian Robinson failed to score and didn’t reach 100 yards on the ground. He’s the lead man in this backfield, but without a 20-yard run in five straight and just a single catch over his past three games, this fantasy profile is a little thinner than you might assume.
Betting: The Commanders have seen their past five road games (and seven of their past eight).
New York Giants
Team: The last time Daniel Jones threw a touchdown pass at home was January 1, 2023 – one day before the Damar Hamlin injury.
QB: Monday was Daniel Jones’ fourth game this season with 20-plus completions and zero touchdown passes. Since 2020, this is the third instance in which a QB has “accomplished” that: Jared Goff did it in 2021, and … well, Daniel Jones did it in 2020.
Offense: Since 2022, only twice has an NFC team failed to score more than 18 points in at least six games through Week 8—the 2023 Giants (seven) and the 2024 Giants (six).
Defense: The Giants didn’t allow a red zone touchdown on Monday, but it didn’t matter … again. The Giants are 0-3 this season when not allowing a red zone touchdown (all other NFL teams are 20-7 this year in such spots).
Fantasy: Tyrone Tracy had 145 rushing yards, the most by a rookie drafted in the fifth round or later since Phillip Lindsay (Week 13, 2018 at Bengals: 157 rush yards).
Betting: The Giants have covered 12 of their past 15 games when playing on short rest (six straight when that game is played in front of their home crowd, including a Week 4 cover against the Cowboys).
