It’s finally here- Week 9 of the 2023 season, and the third DraftKings main slate. We are back offering you DFS advice to try and help you navigate your way to victories throughout the season. The players selected here are based on their price, their ability to hit value and likely ownership. The selections are leaning more towards GPP slates, rather than cash (50/50) slates. But let’s get into it
Football is back! Deposit $10 and get a $10 Bonus to play Fantasy Football thanks to our partnership with DraftKings. T&Cs apply http://dkng.co/KINGSFS
Dak Prescott @PHI ($6,500)
Welcome back to the fantasy quarterback top table Dak, we’ve missed you! Prescott finished as QB3 on the week, thanks to his 4 touchdown performance in Dallas’ slaughtering of the Rams at AT&T last Sunday afternoon. Unsurprisingly his 4 scores were a season best, as were the 304 passing yards Dak completed on his 25 completions. The bye week has clearly done wonders for the Cowboys passing game. I don’t know if Dak and CeeDee Lamb took a spa break together on their week off, but what I do know is the 14 targets Prescott gave his number one guy resulted in 12 catches for 158 yards and 2 scores. The Cowboys travel to the city of brotherly love to face the NFL’s top ranked side, and bitter divisional rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly may be 7-1 but they rank 30th against opposing QBs and are allowing over 260 passing yards per game. Stay in the flames with Dak and take advantage of his pricing while you can.
Derek Carr v CHI ($5,700)
It may not feel like it but Derek Carr has thrown for over 300 yards in each of his last 3 outings, putting up 20+ fantasy points in the process…I know, I didn’t believe it either. Week 8 saw the former Raider complete 19 of his 27 attempts for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns. Carr’s stats were massively inflated by 3 deep completions to speedster Rashid Shaheed, with the two combining on plays of 44, 51 and 58 yards, the latter of which went for a go-ahead touchdown in the 2nd quarter. The Saints play host to the Bears on Sunday giving Carr another opportunity to get loose and air it out in the dome against the 29th ranked Chicago pass defense. Will this finally be the week the New Orleans QB and his favourite target Chris Olave get on the same page*, or will we see another 15 dump offs to Alvin Kamara? Either way, both will result in a solid fantasy day for Carr making him a solid start at $5700. *please fantasy gods, let Chris Olave have a good game.
Also consider C.J. Stroud v TB ($6,200) & Sam Howell @ NE ($5,800)
Kenneth Walker III @BAL ($7,000)
Seattle’s victory over Cleveland last time out was the first time since opening week that Walker failed to post either 100 total yards or a score. The sophomore back’s lack of production wasn’t through a lack of effort however, more lack of opportunity. Walker was given only 8 rushing attempts which he duly turned into 66 yards, including a chunk 45 yard breakaway on the Seahawks opening drive. Rookie Zach Charbonnet has started to eat into Walker’s snaps, but make no mistake KW3 is still the main man in the Seattle backfield. The Seahawks travel to Maryland in week 9 to take on a stout Ravens defense who have only given up 3 rushing touchdowns to opposing RBs so far on the year. Fantasy managers may be hesitant to roster Walker after being burned last week, take advantage. His output against the Browns was an outlier, don’t sweat the matchup and plug Walker into your lineup with confidence.
Josh Jacobs v NYG ($6,900)
Statistically speaking, Josh Jacobs had his best rushing performance of the season in the Raiders’ week 9 defeat in Detroit. The 5th year back out of Alabama was only given 15 rushing opportunities in the game, but for the first time this season ran at over 4.0 yards per carry, as he amassed 61 yards on the ground as well as a score late in the 2nd quarter. In spite of this, Jacobs has been priced down $100 for the visit of the Giants on Sunday to $6900 – his lowest mark of the season. The Raiders cleaned house late on Tuesday night and fired HC Josh McDaniels as well as GM Dave Ziegler, with current linebackers coach Antonio Pierce stepping in as interim head coach. Pierce will look to steady the ship for the Raiders, which means going back to basics, namely running Josh Jacobs into the ground and hyper-targeting star wideout Davante Adams. Rookie Aidan O’Connell has been named as the new starting QB, so expect the Raiders to lean on Jacobs even heavier than usual. This could be the last time we see JJ under $7000 all season, get him in your lineups.
Rachaad White @HOU ($5,600)
It would be a fair observation to suggest that the Buccaneers have struggled on the ground in recent weeks, posting back to back rushing totals of 73 and 78 yards against Atlanta and Buffalo respectively. Despite the lack of production in the run game, Tampa’s lead back Rachaad White has managed to put up very respectable fantasy performances in each of these last two outings, posting 15.9 points in week 7 followed up with 17.9 points last time out against the Bills. As a rusher, White is no more than an RB2/Flex type player, but his involvement in the passing game makes him a valuable asset, particularly in a PPR format. The sophomore back has put up more than 30 yards through the air than on the ground in his last 2 games hauling in every one of his 13 targets in that time span for 135 yards. White is Alvin Kamara lite, and at $5600 he’s grossly underpriced.
Also consider Alvin Kamara v CHI ($8,100), Saquon Barkley @ LV ($7,900) & Aaron Jones v LAR ($6,200)
CeeDee Lamb @PHI ($8,200)
It’s finally happening, CeeDee Lamb is starting to see the usage that fantasy managers have been praying for ever since his week 2 performance against the Jets. The 4th year wideout was targeted a season high 14 times in the Cowboys victory over the Rams last Sunday, and his 158 yards were a career best for the former Oklahoma Sooner. Lamb has now posted over 100 receiving yards in back to back games for the first time this year and he now gets to face an Eagles defense that ranks dead last against fantasy wide receivers. Lamb is my sleeper pick to finish as the WR1 from here on out; the chemistry with Prescott is undeniable and the talent is immeasurable – he’s $400 cheaper than A.J. Brown on the other side of the ball in this matchup and has no notable competition for targets. Pay up for Lamb this week, you won’t regret it.
D.K. Metcalf @BAL ($6,900)
No player saw more targets in week 8 than D.K. Metcalf; his 14 looks tied 1st on the week with the aforementioned CeeDee Lamb, freshly healed Diontae Johnson and Cardinals sophomore tight end Trey McBride (obviously). Rostering Metcalf so far this season has been frustrating; the 5th year wideout from Ole Miss has found the end zone just twice in his opening 7 outings, only topping 100 yards once in the same duration. Metcalf has seen a whopping 24 targets from Geno Smith in his last 2 games but has failed to truly capitalise on the opportunities given to him in the victories over Cleveland and Arizona. D.K had a rest day to tend to his hip and missed practise on Thursday, but after logging a full session yesterday, he is a full go for Sunday. Despite facing off against a stout Ravens defense, I expect Metcalf to continue to see majority of looks from Geno Smith, hopefully adding his 3rd (and maybe 4th) touchdowns of the season on his travels to Maryland.
Chris Olave v CHI ($6,300)
“I’ll take frustrating wide receivers for $500 please Alex”…”This wideout has seen the 9th most targets at the wide receiver position but has only posted 215 receiving yards and one solitary touchdown”…”what is Chris Olave?”. Whilst Olave continues to be hyper targeted by Derek Carr, playing the sophomore pass catcher is a true game of jeopardy, after all this is a player who has only scored 1 touchdown on the year, and hasn’t eclipsed the 100 yard mark since week 3. As a re-draft manager of Olave, I’m exasperated beyond belief…but in DFS he’s the exact kind of player I want to be rostering this weekend. Targets are an earned stat, and nobody in New Orleans is earning more looks than the former Buckeye. The breakout game is coming, and all eyes will be on Olave in the Superdome this Sunday as he looks to deliver a performance fantasy managers have been craving all season.
Also consider Michael Pittman Jr @ CAR ($6,600), Nico Collins v TB ($5,800) & Terry McLaurin @ NE ($5,600)
Dallas Goedert v DAL ($4,800)
I for one am excited for some “Dallas v Dallas” action this Sunday as the Eagles host the Cowboys in what is undoubtedly the most exciting game on the slate (sorry Vikings/Falcons fans). The 6th year tight end has been very ‘up and down’ over the last month finishing as the TE2, TE15, TE5 and TE19 since week 5. Fantasy managers shouldn’t lose hope with Goedert, even in the weeks he finished outside the top 12 he still saw 8 and 7 targets in each game respectively…elite usage at the position. The matchup against divisional rivals Dallas is the highest O/U on the slate at 47 points – this could turn into a shootout and Jalen Hurts can only target A.J. Brown so many times. The Eagles will spread it about on Sunday at that will benefit Goedert more than any other receiver not wearing #11.
Kyle Pitts v MIN ($4,100)
At this stage, it’s probably easier trying to pick the weekly lottery numbers than it is to predict which of the Atlanta Falcons skill players will be productive for fantasy football. Arthur Smith hates your fantasy team, after Drake London saw zero receptions in week 1, Smith was quoted as saying “Let the fantasy guys worry about that. We’ve got to clean some things up. We don’t care. Drake London doesn’t care. All we care about is 1-0” – and to his credit he’s stuck to that narrative all season long, much to the chagrin of fantasy managers. New hope has arrived for Atlanta pass catchers in the form of Taylor Heinicke, with the 9th year veteran and former XFL back-up being named the starting quarterback, replacing Desmond Ridder. Heinicke can sling it, so expect to see notable bumps in productions for all Falcons receivers moving forward, in particular Drake London and Kyle Pitts. Week 9 will mirror the Falcons opening day victory in that Drake London will once again put up zero receptions…no I can’t see the future, but I can read injury reports and the sophomore WR is OUT with a groin injury. Kyle Pitts should be the main beneficiary from London’s absence, and I am backing him to put up his first 100-yard game since week 16 of his rookie season back in 2021.
Also consider Jake Ferguson @ PHI ($4,000) & Trey McBride @ CLE ($3,700)
Cleveland Browns v AZ ($4,200)
There isn’t too much analysis needed on this one. Arizona are sitting at 1-7 and currently lead the race for Caleb Williams…or at least the 1.01 pick that they can then trade to whatever team is the most desperate to add the USC star to their roster. Cleveland have allowed the fewest yards per game to opposing quarterbacks, with teams averaging only 192 yards through the air when taking on the Browns. Arizona traded starting signal caller Joshua Dobbs to the Minnesota Vikings on deadline day, so it will be 5th round rookie pick Clayton Tune orchestrating the offense for the Cardinals this week as they head to Ohio. It will be a baptism of fire for the former Houston Cougar and by the time the game clock hits 00:00 on Sunday, I have a feeling he and Browns leading DE Myles Garrett will have become closely acquainted. Pay up for the Browns DST, this could get ugly for Arizona and fast.
Green Bay Packers v LAR ($2,800)
I had originally selected the Packers DST on the basis that Matthew Stafford wouldn’t be playing, well it looks like the 15 year veteran has a shot to start, despite suffering a rather unpleasant thumb injury late in the 3rd quarter in the Rams loss to the Cowboys last weekend. If Stafford does get the nod, there’s no chance he is at 100%; if he is forced to miss out, Sean McVay will turn to backup Brett Rypien. The former Bronco is one of the more serviceable No.2’s in the league, but against a Packers defense allowing the 7th least fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, he could be in for a long and frustrating day. Whether it turns out to be an 80% fit Stafford or a 100% fit Rypien, I’m confident in starting this Green Bay unit this week at a relatively bargain price.
Also consider Las Vegas Raiders v NYG ($3,600) & New York Giants @ LV ($2,300)
Remember you can find our other DFS content here. Reach out on social media, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Or jump into our Discord server.
Image Credit: Jerome Miron – USA TODAY Sports
