As Week 9 wraps up, fantasy managers are either celebrating unexpected heroes or lamenting underwhelming performances.
After a monster game last week, Tucker Kraft only got 4 PPR points, and then suffering a potentially devastating injury is a brutal blow for his fantasy managers. However, players like Brock Bowers returned from their lingering injury and were back to form, just like their All-Time rookie year, with a career game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, scoring 40 points.
Let’s break down the biggest surprises and disappointments from this week’s action in Week 9.
Surprises of Week 9
- Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears
Fantasy Points: 29.8
Why It’s Surprising: Finally, the rookie tight end had his breakout game, albeit it came at Rome Odunze’s expense. Cole Kmet was also out dealing with an injury, but he was out for a game or two prior, so it’s a good step forward as a possible starting tight end for fantasy. Colston Loveland came up big time against a weaker defense in the Cincinnati Bengals with two touchdowns on six catches and 118 yards.
Fantasy Impact: Week 10, the Chicago Bears face a New York Giants defense that is middle of the pack against tight ends, but they are reeling after the last two losses, giving up 30+ points. This could turn out to be another shootout, making Loveland a potential streaming option at tight end, but Kmet’s status will have to be monitored to really be hyped about it over the more consistent options.
- Rico Dowdle, RB, Carolina Panthers
Fantasy Points: 28.1
Why It’s Surprising: When the Carolina Panthers give Rico Dowdle the full workload, they win games (3-0). Good things happen when you give the veteran the ball, as he had another big performance even against a “tough” Green Bay Packers defense. Dowdle had 130 yards on the ground on 25 carries and two touchdowns.
Fantasy Impact: Chuba Hubbard is now the rotation back or backup to Dowdle, as you can now start him with full confidence against any matchup as a must-start. If the volume is consistent, then Uncle Rico will keep producing high-end RB 2, low-end RB 1 numbers on a week-to-week basis. They face the New Orleans Saints in a divisional matchup next week, as they are in the middle of the pack against RBs, but still advantageous.
- Bonus Surprises: Kyle Monangai, RB, DJ Moore, WR, and Caleb Williams, QB (Chicago Bears); Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons; Tee Higgins, WR, and Joe Flacco, QB (Cincinnati Bengals); Demario Douglas, WR, New England Patriots
Disappointments of Week 9
- Jahmyr Gibbs, RB, Detroit Lions
Fantasy Points: 5.8
Why It’s Disappointing: It is more disappointing that the Detroit Lions fell to the J.J. McCarthy-led Minnesota Vikings team, who just lost Carson Wentz, and that made they made their presence known right from the jump.
With just nine carries for 25 yards, that is far from what we expect from Jahmyr Gibbs, who displays RB1 levels of explosiveness and big-play potential. It does hurt more since David Montgomery saw more usage in this game and had almost double the amount of fantasy points (with 11 since he scored but fumbled).
Gibbs also didn’t see much involvement as a receiver, as Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams, and Amon-Ra St. Brown had good fantasy days against the Vikings’ secondary. This was his second-worst outing this season, but before the Week 8 bye, he had a career-high game in Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with 36.8 fantasy points.
Fantasy Impact: Still expect the top five RBs in fantasy to rebound in a big spot against the Washington Commanders in Week 10. Although their secondary is the weak part of their defense, however, the Lions should be able to establish the run early and often in order to secure a victory, keeping pace with the rest of the NFC North teams.
- Rome Odunze, WR, Chicago Bears
Fantasy Points: 0
Why It’s Disappointing: 0 catches on three targets where the Bears put up 47 points is kinda nuts when you think about it. This was with D’Andre Swift out, Kmet out, and rookie RB Kyle Monangai in. DJ Moore also finally had a 20+ point fantasy day, as that took away from Rome Odunze’s potential production. But still, in this matchup against the Bengals, there were certainly opportunities for Caleb Williams to find him if he wanted to.
Fantasy Impact: This is a bad stretch, as Odunze’s last four games post-bye include 5.2 points, 5.1, and an 18.4 along with the fat donut in Week 9. The games where he had around 5 points were good matchups as well, as the sophomore receiver did score, but got called back, or he was just not targeted as heavily pre-bye in Week 5.
You still have to start him, but Odunze was a low-end WR 1 candidate, and now, I am not sure if he is a safe WR 2 either. He does get the Giants’ weakened secondary next week, so there is a chance for a bounce-back game.
- Bonus Busts: Jordan Love, QB, Green Bay Packers; Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Chargers; DK Metcalf, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers; Jonathan Taylor, RB, and Tyler Warren, TE (Indianapolis Colts); Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs; George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers; Tyrone Tracy, RB, NY Giants
