Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Wide Receivers: Week 9

Welcome to Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em for Week 9 of the NFL season. Our wide receiver edition this week features two Jacksonville Jaguars pass catchers in line for big performances. Plus, a superstar pass catcher who continues to see his fantasy stardom dwindle.

* Reminder: Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em is intended to present you with the non-obvious choices for your fantasy lineup. We dig deep into player matchups, scoring trends, and other factors to best help you with your fantasy decisions. Superstars such as Julio Jones and DeAndre Hopkins will not be found in this column. If you’re looking for players of their caliber check out our weekly fantasy football wide receiver rankings.

Start-Sit [ QBs | RBs | TEs | DEF | Ks]

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WR: Start ‘Em

Start of the Week: Kenny Golladay at OAK

Golladay bounced back from a bad Week 7 showing to the tune of 28+ fantasy points in Week 8. The Lions’ number one target has averaged nearly nine targets in all but one game this season. He’s also averaged 122 receiving yards in two of his past three games. Oakland surrenders the fourth-most fantasy points to wideouts in 2019. Over their last three games, the Raiders have allowed opponents’ number one wideout to average 113 receiving yards.

DJ Chark vs. HOU

Chark saw his most targets of the season in Week 8 with a whopping 12. He also found the endzone after a two-game drought. Chark’s now scored one-plus receiving touchdown in five of his eight games this season. Houston has allowed nine receiving touchdowns to wideouts since Week 5. Only the Eagles and the Buccaneers surrender more fantasy points to wide receivers than the Texans do this season.

Michael Gallup at NYG

Gallup has underwhelmed for two consecutive weeks, while simultaneously being berated for dropped passes, mostly by Skip Bayless. While it’s true that Gallup does own the seventh-highest drop rate by a wideout this season, he also averages eight targets per week, and his 15 fantasy points per game ranks 21st at his position for a receiver that has played at least five games. The New York Giants surrender the eighth-most fantasy points to wideouts, that includes allowing not one, not two, but three Lions receivers to eclipse double-digit scoring one week ago.

Sleeper: Chris Conley vs. HOU

While Gardner Minshew’s fashion statements and DJ Chark’s breakout season continue to steal headlines in Duval, Chris Conley continues to quietly produce. The former Kansas City Chief has averaged seven targets and 93 receiving yards over the past two weeks. We’ve already touched on how horrendous Houston’s secondary has been against the pass this season. The Texans allowed two Raiders receivers to each eclipse 87 receiving yards and score a touchdown in Week 8. There should be more than enough fantasy points to be had to make both Chark and Conley viable starting options this week.

WR: Sit ‘Em

Sit of the Week: Marquise Brown vs. NE

Hollywood’s fantasy value has really taken a hit since his marvelous two week NFL premier. Since Week 2, Brown has averaged just 31 receiving yards, while also missing two games with an injury. Coach Harbaugh proclaimed his speedy wideout is indeed on track to play this Sunday, however it may not matter in terms of fantasy. The Patriots have surrendered the fewest fantasy points to receivers this season. New England has held all but four wide receivers under double-digit fantasy points while allowing just one lone receiving touchdown to the position.

Curtis Samuel vs. TEN

Samuel makes our Sit ‘Em list for the second consecutive week. Quarterback Kyle Allen has failed to average 190 passing yards over the last three weeks. Samuel has averaged just 7.43 fantasy points in three of his past four games. Tennessee is an extremely tough matchup for receivers, as the Titans allow the seventh-fewest points to the position on a points per game basis this season.

Christian Kirk vs. SF

Kirk finally returned to the playing field last week and quickly rewarded the owners who rostered him throughout the duration of his injury. However, if you we’re able to stick it out with Kirk on your bench for all those weeks prior, you may want to throw him back there, at least for this coming week. Since the 49ers‘ Week 4 bye, they haven’t allowed a single wideout to score more than 9.50 fantasy points. They’ve also held all but one receiver to 46 receiving yards or less over that time.

Buyers Beware: Odell Beckham Jr. at DEN

At this point, I think it’s pretty clear that the return on investment for OBJ this season is nowhere near where fantasy teams would have hoped it would be. That will likely continue in Week 9, as the Denver Broncos allow the third-fewest points to wideouts in 2019. The three-time Pro Bowl receiver has failed to average 40 receiving yards in four of his last five games.

READ NEXT:  Fantasy: Wide Receiver Rankings Week 9