The Houston Texans will face the New York Jets 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 WR Tank Dell.
Is Tank Dell Playing in Week 9?
Dell is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any unexpected setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Texans’ 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 Tank Dell in Week 9?
Dell scored his second touchdown of the season last week, though he was fortunate to have the opportunity. If Anthony Richardson doesn’t throw an impossible-to-comprehend interception inside of his own 20-yard line in the final minute of the first half, we are potentially looking at a 3-28-0 stinker from Dell and asking a lot of questions.
With Nico Collins still on IR (eligible to come off next week) and Stefon Diggs done for the season, I could see why your gut reaction would be to push Dell into the WR2 tier with the thought being that his target volume is set to increase in a meaningful way.
That might be true, but are we sure that’s what we want from a 5’10”, 165-pound receiver?
Dell is currently WR58 on a PPR PPG basis. Care to guess how many of the 57 receivers ranked ahead of him stand no taller than 5’10”?
There are only six, and two of them are now on the same team (Zay Flowers and Diontae Johnson). This body type rarely wins consistently across the NFL, and while the Jets have the second-highest opponent average depth of target when throwing to receivers, the amount of traffic that Dell is likely to see makes those feel more like prayer yards than anything.
My confidence in Dell will be higher once Collins returns and the schedule lightens. In this spot, I’d rather ride the wave of Keon Coleman or take more “sure” things like Ladd McConkey or Wan’Dale Robinson.
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.
Tank Dell’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 9
Dell is projected to score 12.9 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 4.3 receptions for 53.9 yards and 0.4 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight into the Jets’ Defense
The New York Jets’ defense has fallen off a cliff, and that pivotal moment came with Robert Saleh’s firing. Asking Jeff Ulbrich to be both the interim head coach and call a top-five defense is a tough ask. So far, he has not succeeded at either, with the defense having ranked 18th or below in each of the last three weeks, including against a Patriots team that has one of the worst offenses in the league.
There was a point this season when the Jets had top-five rankings in several metrics, but now they are only in the top five in terms of yards per play (second), success rate against the pass (first), and sack rate (fourth). They are then only inside the top 10 for one other metric (pressure rate without blitzing) but are at least 20th or above in most other areas.
Tank Dell’s Week 9 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.
Conference Championship WR PPR Rankings
1) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. WAS)
2) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at PHI)
3) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
4) Khalil Shakir | BUF (at KC)
5) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Hollywood Brown | KC (vs. BUF)
7) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. BUF)
8) Keon Coleman | BUF (at KC)
9) Dyami Brown | WAS (at PHI)
10) Mack Hollins | BUF (at KC)
11) Amari Cooper | BUF (at KC)
12) Curtis Samuel | BUF (at KC)
13) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at PHI)
14) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. BUF)
15) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. WAS)
16) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at PHI)
17) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at PHI)
18) Justin Watson | KC (vs. BUF)
19) Johnny Wilson | PHI (vs. WAS)
20) Parris Campbell | PHI (vs. WAS)
21) Nikko Remigio | KC (vs. BUF)
22) Ainias Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
