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Fantasy football: Start-em, sit-em players for Week 9

By Jay Marsdale

PITTSBURGH, PA - OCTOBER 08: Leonard Fournette #27 of the Jacksonville Jaguars reacts after rushing for a 2 yard touchdown in the second quarter during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on October 8, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - OCTOBER 08: Leonard Fournette #27 of the Jacksonville Jaguars reacts after rushing for a 2 yard touchdown in the second quarter during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on October 8, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
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49ers Datone Jones
SEATTLE, WA – JANUARY 18: Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks passes the ball as Datone Jones #95 of the Green Bay Packers applies pressure during the second half of the 2015 NFC Championship game at CenturyLink Field on January 18, 2015 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Before setting your fantasy football lineup, it’s important to find the right matchups to take advantage of in Week 9. We have a few suggestions on both the good and bad matchups heading into this week.

Last week left me bruised and battered.

With the six-team bye week and some confusing games on the slate, this list suffered. Got to get back up and give out some much better picks ahead of Week 9. Send some good vibes out for the second half of the season.

Unfortunately, there are another six teams sitting it out this week. Chicago, Cleveland, the Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota, New England and Pittsburgh are all off for Week 9. Again this leaves with fewer players to choose from. Fantasy football players are left with far more questions than answers.

San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers /

San Francisco 49ers

Lets take a look back at last week’s performance. Hopefully it isn’t as bad as I remember it.

Week 8 Hits: Ezekiel Elliot (DAL) start-em, CJ Anderson (DEN) sit-em, JuJu Smith-Schuster (PIT) start-em, Coby Fleener (NO) sit-em.

Week 8 Misses: Kirk Cousins (WAS) start-em, Deshaun Watson (HOU) sit-em, Will Fuller (HOU) sit-em, Jordan Reed (WAS) start-em.

Do the Smith-Schuster and Elliot picks make up for the big misses on Watson and Fuller? I’m going to hope they do and try to move on to this week’s similarly difficult group of games. Let’s get started.

Russell Wilson (SEA) vs. Washington

I targeted last week’s matchup between the Seahawks and the Texans as one to avoid. Of course it turned out being one of the highest scoring games of the week. Russell Wilson is on a tear right now and that continues into Week 9.

Washington’s top cornerback, Josh Norman, returned from injury last week and did all he could to help a struggling pass defense. He was never really tested, as Dallas only had to throw for 150 yards and still was able to put up 33 points. The Redskins defense is poor at all levels, and Wilson will be able to exploit that.

Wilson went up against a much better defense in the Houston Texans in Week 8 and still managed to throw for 452 yards and four touchdowns. With the absolute absence of a running game in Seattle, Wilson is the entire offense. He even leads all of the healthy Seathawks running backs in rushing yards by a large margin. 

Wilson is always a favorite in fantasy football due to his dual-threat ability to run and pass. However, with far more falling on his shoulders this season, Wilson is even more reliable and explosive. With all the other running quarterback struggling, Wilson is putting up top fantasy football numbers in 2017.

Other options: Alex Smith (KC) @ Dallas and Jared Goff (LAR) @ New York Giants