Courtland Sutton Fantasy: Should You Start or Sit the Broncos WR in Week 9?

Getty Denver Broncos WR Courtland Sutton

It’s officially Courtland Sutton time for the Denver Broncos. Or at least time to hop on the fantasy football hype train it seems. After the Broncos opted to trade Demaryius Thomas ahead of the deadline, it makes Sutton a starter opposite Emmanuel Sanders moving forward and drastically increases his fantasy upside.

With Sutton set for a big workload, there’s no question he’s a popular name to target this week. A Week 9 matchup with the Houston Texans isn’t overly terrifying either, but we have seen the rookie wide receiver out of SMU have a few hit-or-miss games this season. The expectation is that a larger workload will fix that, which is what many owners are hoping to see.

Let’s take a deeper dive into Sutton’s situation, including his matchup and potential snaps while breaking down the Week 9 start-sit debate.

Should You Start or Sit Courtland Sutton?

I’m a big fan of Sutton’s game, so was glad to see his opportunity for playing time expanded with the Thomas trade. While the rookie wideout played 67 percent (Week 8) and 68 percent (Week 7) of the offensive snaps two weeks, per Football Outsiders, there’ll be plenty of work freeing up with Thomas gone.

Thomas received at least 69 percent of the snaps in each of the past three games. That workload has to go somewhere and it would make sense for Sutton to receive a boost. Another interesting factor to consider is that Thomas had received 56 targets this season, and while Sutton has 37, this should result in the rookie seeing a boost in that area as well.

As far as the matchup against Houston goes, they’ve allowed 106 receptions for 1,242 yards and six touchdowns on the year. While those numbers aren’t terrifying and also aren’t great, there should be plenty of room for Sutton to work in a potentially high-scoring game.

With six teams on bye, I’m comfortable using Sutton in all 12-team leagues or larger. His volume, rapport with Case Keenum and upside makes him an appealing fantasy option.

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