NFL Week 9 Fantasy Football Start ‘em Or Sit ‘em

Week 9 of the glorious NFL season, and to make this week eve better – the NFL Trade Deadline is today; October 29th @ 4pm EST.

NFL Week 9 Fantasy Football Start ‘em Or Sit ‘em

Ah, week 9 of the glorious NFL season, and to make this week eve better – the NFL Trade Deadline is today; October 29th @ 4pm EST.

This could make Fantasy Projections tricky for Week 9, or not. Chances are no big names will go anywhere too shocking, if any trades even happen. If Josh Gordon does get traded, don't worry – he is still a beast.

For a review of Week 8, and our projections (We nailed it last week) Read Here: Week 8 Projections

Teams On BYE: Arizona, Denver, Detroit, Jacksonville, New York Giants, San Francisco

BYE Week Hell Pt. 2 is in full effect, fear not – HefferBrew is here to guide you

QB:

Start 'em:

- Cam Newton - The Panthers take on the visiting Falcons in this week 9 match up, and while Matt Ryan is on a slide, Cam Newton is just warming up. With a soft Falcons Defense and a knack for running up the score, Cam Newton is poised for another huge fantasy outing.

- Tony Romo - He gets the Vikings in Week 9, who may or may not be trading their best pass rusher (Jared Allen) before the end of the day. Either way, Tony is set to carve up a Vikings unit that is often being worn out by their own offense and with or without Allen the Vikings won't be able to stop the passing barrage of Romo and the Cowboys.

- Robert Griffin III - Week 8 was ugly. Griffin had a terrible time getting anything done offensively for the Redskins (Bravehearts?) against a reinforced Denver Defense. If it wasn't for Alfred Morris and surprisingly – their own defense – the blowout would have been much worse. His knees are nothing to worry about this week and thankfully the San Diego Chargers are coming to Washington for Week 9. We expect this to be a shootout, on the ground and the air.

- Phillip Rivers - Coming off a BYE week, he has had plenty of time to develop more timing with his young-gun receiving core and in what should be an offensive shootout against a squishy Redskins defense. Phillip has been a good asset for the most part this season, and is a must start this week.

- Terrelle Pryor - Shouldn't have to say much here, The Eagles are not a defensive force in any way and trying to contain a hot Run DMC and a record setting Pryor will be an impossible task.

Sit 'em:

- Thad Lewis - This is the part of the article where we insert whoever is playing the Chiefs. This is also said with a grain of salt. Thad has been a pretty good game manager, and his defense has been playing hard too, we expect a low scoring "pound it out" kind of game, where Buffalo grinds to an upset.

- Alex Smith - He is on the road against a Buffalo Bills team that has been playing surprising football all season long. At 8-0, Alex Smith is working against the odds and already is a guy who doesn't throw many TD's at all. While Jamaal Charles is a must start this week, Alex is not.

- Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Matt Barkley - Surprise Surprise, Philly is in trouble again. Vick can't stay healthy, Nick is concussed and may or may not play and Matt Barkley is the master of the interception. Throw that into a mix with a Raiders Defense that is playing surprisingly well and coming off of a domination of the Steelers in Week 8 and the Black Hole is set to poach the Eagles this week.

- Case Keenum - The Texans QB situation is also a mess, and while we would actually like to see Keenum become a viable option at QB one day, against a formidable Colts Defensive unit coming off a Bye week and a Peyton Manning upset – this is not going to be the day for him to shine.

RB:

Start 'em:

- Ryan Mathews - It feels weird to type that, but he has a solid offensive line starting to develop and is fresh off a BYE week. If he can stay healthy, he has the talent to make some great plays against a Redskins Defense that is sub standard against the run.

- Alfred Morris - It's a fact, that when he gets to touch the ball the drives end in points. The Shannahan brothers know this and they want to keep their star running back happy and their fans happy. Alfred will again see the majority of touches in Week 9 if the Redskins want to win this game he has a 5.23 YPC for the season and they need to continue to feed him the ball.

- Chris Johnson - CJ2K has had a pretty lackluster season but he has been able to break a few big runs here and there to keep fantasy owners from completely losing faith in him. Facing a Rams team that is in complete turmoil should present a ton of opportunities for Johnson on the ground and since the Rams D isn't the strongest, Johnson should have one of his best games of the season.

- Darren McFadden - Whoa, RUN DMC has seemingly come back healthy and come back strong, scoring two TDs against the Steelers and headed into a match-up with an Eagles team that has fallen apart around high expectations. Though their defense limited the Giants to five field goals last week, if DMC is as healthy as he looks then he'll fair way better than the Giants run game did.

Sit 'em:

- Mike James - He is surely no Doug Martin and going against the Seattle Seahawks is not going to do him any favors in terms of production or morale.

- Steven Jackson - Coming back from being injured most of the season, he is trying to shake off the rust. It will take some time and this week will be another struggle against a Panthers front that thrives on stopping the run. He's a weak flex at best.

- Jamal Charles - Last week the Saints put tons of points up on the Bills but the Bills D was able to limit Pierre Thomas' and Darren Sproles' efforts on the ground. The Bills D knows they'll have to essentially shut down the Chiefs run game and put the ball in Alex Smith's hands to have any chance to pull the upset.

- Bilal Powell, Chris Ivory - As we've said almost all season; a match-up against the Saints is tough on every single position. Last week the Jets were embarrassed in a beatdown by the Bengals and the Saints aren't the team that's going to be letting them feel better any time soon. Their pass rush is as strong as the Bengals right now and they're linemen will blow up plays all day.

WR:

- Keenen Allen - Arguably the favorite target for Phillip Rivers this season, he has had a bye week to develop more chemistry with his QB and has a spongy Redskins Defense to pad his stat sheet with. He has a knack for finding the endzone and putting up good yardage, we expect the trend to continue this week.

- Vincent Jackson - He has 77 targets this season, of those targets he has 78.4 points (in ESPN Leagues) even against "The Leagion of Boom"he will continue to be the go-to guy for Mike Glennon, and with his big body and sure hands, even Richard Sherman will have trouble stopping him from another solid outing.

- Mike Wallace - In a Thursday game this week and with Brandon Gibson out for the year the Dolphins need Mike Wallace to earn his keep this week and keep them in contention. He is getting the looks and has been showing more and more chemistry with Ryan Tannehill. If their line can give them an extra second to set and throw, we could have a Thursday night shootout on our hands.

- A.J. Green - In a short week on the road facing the stocky Dolphins, Andy Dalton will not have as much time to prepare for this game – which isn't a problem. When in doubt – throw it to your studs. A.J. will retake the Bengals throne this week because teams can't afford to leave Marvin Jones unattended any more.

Sit 'Em:

- Andre Johnson – He's been working with injuries this season, and while the team says he is healthy, at his age "healthy" doesn't mean 100%. Against a rested Colts with plenty of time to prepare, this will be a hard day for Andre owners on need of Bye week relief.

- DeSean Jackson - With eight receptions last week he was still only able to produce about 60 yards and with Matt Barkley likely throwing to him, the targets will be there but the yardage and potential for scores against the Raiders improved D is hard to rely on.

- Stevie Johnson - Basically the same story as DeSean, the targets are there but nagging injuries and developing chemistry with QB Thad Lewis is limiting his fantasy upside. A match against the Chiefs and their top secondary is going to result in a frustrating day for Johnson owners.

- Harry Douglas - If Matt Ryan keeps throwing like he has been (61 attempts last week) then it's hard for owners not to want to start any of the receivers he has left but inaccuracy plagued him last week into multiple picks and turnovers. The Panthers D is rolling right now and hard to bet against after two straight weeks of impressive showings.

TE:

Start 'em:

- Jimmy Graham - No one on the Jets can stop him. No two on the Jets can stop him.

- Jordan Cameron - 3 different QB's this season, and he has still been effective. Feel good about keeping him in your line up, in a week where a tight end flex wouldn't be a bad idea either. Start him and Flex another if you are in trouble this week.

- Jordan Reed - Even with RG3 taking a crap all over your mothers new couch, he still ended up with 9 points against the Broncos. In Week 9 he has the Chargers in Washington so expect another big day for this must-add Tight End.

- Antonio Gates - The Redskins D looked solid last week until Peyton Manning went all Peyton Manning and crushed them relentlessly. Keenan Allen and Vincent Brown should draw the majority of the attention from Washington so look for Phillip Rivers to go to his longtime safety blanket.

Sit 'em:

- Dallas Clark - The Browns are a stout Defense and they get plenty of practice with athletic tight ends (Jordan Cameron) all week. Dallas is no Jordan and should not be a challenge for the Browns to contain.

- Brent Celek- A poor QB situation will result in a poor day for Brent who is far from an elite TE even on a good week.

- Tony Gonzalez - The Panthers D is coming on strong and they'll look to shutdown the best offensive option the Falcons have in Gonzalez.

- Jason Witten - Last week Tony Romo had 3 TDs and over 300 yards passing with less than 20 of it going to Witten. The Vikings D isn't the strongest by any means but if Romo isn't even looking Witten's way during an aerial assault, then pickings may be slim for him here.

Defense:

Start 'em:

- Saints - The Jets are a turnover factory. The Saints are a bunch of ball hawks. It's going to be a great week for New Orleans owners.

- Seahawks - At home, 12th man is coming down and a rookie QB coming to town – the Legion Of Boom will be in full force.

- Titans - Fresh off a Bye week and with a Rams team coming to town with an emergency QB situation – this will be another good day for the Titans.

- Bengals - An opportunistic defense that just destroyed Geno Smith and the Jets' confidence gets to go against a Dolphins offense that threw themselves out of a lead and win against the Patriots with costly INTs from Ryan Tannehill. The Bengals D will continue flexing their muscles even on a short week.

Sit 'em:

- Jets - The Saints are Marching in. The offense that is just waiting for post season glory is going to Brees through New York.

- Falcons – Cam Newton and the Panthers are offensively lighting it up the last few weeks and Newton looks like he's taken a leap in ability and maturity. The Falcons D just gave up tons of points to the Cardinals and Carson "the Cheeto Eating Pass Slinging" Palmer so faced with stopping a QB that can actually run around and hurt them with their feet is going to give the Falcons even more fits.

- Texans - The Colts offense is rested and has come to play in big games and taking their offense on the road to Texas to face a Houston team trying to get their act together after their BYE week. Look for the Texans struggles to continue as the Colts keep truck-sticking their way to the playoffs.

- Eagles, Dolphins, Buccaneers - Killing three birds with one stone here and letting you know that all of these teams are faced with poor match-ups and have under performed and disappointed almost all season. If available, the Ravens, Cowboys and Raiders are all better options should your main defense be on BYE this week.

After this week, look for BYE week situations to get a lot less impactful as we enter the second half of the season and the top teams return rested and ready for a playoff push.