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Fantasy Football Matchups To Exploit: Count on a DJ Moore bounceback in Week 9

sal vetri
Yahoo Fantasy Contributor
·5 min read

Set your fantasy football lineups for success by targeting these favorable matchups in Week 9.

Brown continues to see a larger role in the Bengals offense. In Week 8, he earned a season high 67% of the team's carries. This resulted in 14 Brown touches for 34 yards and a score. It wasn’t his most efficient day, but it was a difficult matchup against the Eagles where the Bengals played from behind for most of the game. Zack Moss played 52% of the snaps in Week 8 due to the game script. The Bengals still trust him more in pass protection, but Moss only handled 28% of the team's carries according to Fantasy Life. This appears to be Brown’s backfield on early downs; he’s handled 68% of the team's carries the past three games. Now, with Moss doubtful with a neck injury, that number should increase even further.

This week Brown gets a beneficial matchup against the Raiders. The Bengals are seven-point favorites which sets up nicely for Brown to earn plenty of second-half touches. Las Vegas also ranks dead last in the NFL in tackling according to PFF. This is important because Brown has the fourth-highest broken tackle rate in the NFL via Player Profiler. Start Brown with confidence this week.

In Week 7, Sutton earned zero targets despite the Broncos putting up 33 points against the Saints. This was strange but Sutton bounced back in a major way in Week 8, earning a team-high 11 targets and producing 100 yards on eight catches. Sutton is quietly seeing solid usage in the Broncos offense this season. He currently has 19 cheat-code targets; the cheat-code usage can be defined as deep targets of 20+ yards and red-zone targets. These targets lead to big fantasy plays and Sutton ranks top five among all WRs in total cheat-code targets this season.

It also helps Sutton that Bo Nix has played well the past month. He ranks top 10 in PFF grades during this time, completing nearly 70% of his passes. This week Sutton gets another favorable matchup against a Ravens secondary that allows the most receiving yards per game. Continue to start Sutton this week.

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Hubbard failed to score 10 fantasy points in Week 8 for the first time in seven games. But despite not topping 10 points, Hubbard’s role remained strong for the Panthers. He played 75% of the snaps and handled a season-high 83% of the backfield carries. Hubbard was pulled late in Week 8 due to the blowout, so his snaps and usage likely would’ve been even higher in a closer game. Hubbard is averaging 18.3 opportunities per game the past month which ranks top 10 among all RBs.

This week Chuba has a solid matchup against the Saints. New Orleans allows the second most rushing yards per play according to NFL Pro. Rookie RB Jonathon Brooks isn't expected to play this week, but even if he did, it’s likely he’d be highly limited in his first game back from a knee injury. Hubbard and the Panthers are 7-point underdogs this week, which isn’t ideal but could lead to more passing-game work for him. You can start Hubbard in Week 8.

Moore is coming off a poor performance where he posted just two catches for 27 yards in Week 8 against the Commanders. This performance was frustrating for two reasons. First, the Bears offense had been looking great, and they came into Week 8 with an extra week to prepare because of their Week 7 bye. The second reason was that this was a great matchup against a Commanders secondary that ranked bottom 10 in the NFL entering the week. The entire Bears passing attack struggled in this game, but Week 9 could be the perfect bounce-back spot for them.

This week Chicago will face the Cardinals who allow the third most passing yards per play this season. But the matchup gets even better because Arizona ranks 30th in pressure rating according to PFF. This matters because against bottom-10 pass rushes this season, like the Colts and Panthers, Caleb Williams has produced games of 363 and 304 passing yards, respectively. When Williams has time to throw, good things happen, and he should have plenty of time this week against the Cardinals. You can start your Bears WRs this week, including Moore.

Robinson Jr. has been one of the most reliable fantasy backs this season. He’s scored 10+ points in all but one of his starts this year. The game where he didn’t score 10 points was this past week against the Bears. It was a tough matchup for Robinson, but he was still able to total a respectable 76 yards on 17 touches. Robinson quietly has been awesome this season. Despite battling injuries, he’s averaging 16.6 opportunities per game and ranks eighth in RB efficiency (EPA) according to Player Profiler.

This week Robinson takes on his division rival the Giants. This is an ideal matchup for Robinson because the Giants allow the most rushing yards per play this season and rank 20th in tackling according to PFF. Robinson has been known for his ability to break tackles dating back to his college career at Alabama and it’s carried over into the NFL. Robinson has broken the 12th-most tackles this season, despite missing a game and a half due to injury. Expect a bounce-back performance for Robinson this week; make sure he’s in your lineup.