One player I’m leaving/starting in Week 9 for each position.

It’s Week 9 of the NFL season. It begins on Thursday night when the Texans take on the Jets in a game that should be interesting. The Texans have one of the best records in the league, but it seems a little iffy at the moment. Stefon Diggs has a torn ACL. Nico Collins is still out with a hamstring injury. A road game against the Jets is the perfect place for this Houston team to be upset.

This may also be the last chance for the 2-6 Jets to turn things around. ESPN currently gives the Jets a 12% chance of making the playoffs. There’s not much room for error here, and a win over a struggling Texas team seems like a must if Aaron Rodgers and the Jets want to get back on track. The Jets have the advantage in this game, but it really feels like a toss-up.

So, should anyone in this game be playing fantasy football this weekend? Of course, but you won’t find those names on this list. However, each fantasy football position in Week 9 of the 2024 NFL Season will have one player to fade and one player to start.

Fade: Tua Tagovailoa – Miami Dolphins

Tua Tagovailoa returned last weekend after missing four games with a concussion. He was 28 of 38 for 234 yards and a touchdown against the Cardinals.

It wasn’t Tua’s best performance, but at least the Dolphins offense seemed capable of success. anything. Miami looked completely lost during games in which the left-handed passer was taken out of the game.

But Miami faces a tough test this weekend against the Bills. Buffalo allows the sixth-most fantasy points per game among opposing quarterbacks, and the only teams they’ve allowed to gain more than 212 net yards have been teams backed by C.J. Stroud and Aaron Rodgers.

Start off: Bo Nix – Denver Broncos

Broncos rookie Bo Nix is ​​definitely on the rise right now. Last week against Carolina, Nix was 28 of 37 for 284 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs. Nix has shown great accuracy and ability to execute when he gets out of the pocket. I’m not convinced he’s a long-term NFL starter yet, but his career is off to an encouraging start.

And now he faces a very juicy matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.

Waityou might think. Are the Ravens an interesting matchup?

Yes, it sounds strange, but Baltimore is the worst pass defense in the NFL this season, allowing 291.4 yards per game. That’s 20.3 more yards than the second-worst team allows. Something is wrong with the secondary.

Fade: Nick Chubb – Cleveland Browns

Nick Chubb had a decent comeback, scoring a touchdown in his first game and then rushing for 52 yards against Baltimore last weekend.

But Chubb, who rushed for 1,525 yards in his last full season, doesn’t seem to be quite up to speed. He averages 2.7 yards per carry, well below his career average of 5.2.

The good news is that the Chargers are allowing 4.8 yards per carry. The bad news is that they have allowed the fewest rushing touchdowns in the league this year. Until Chubb can start gaining yards after contact like the old days, touchdown Really matters for his worldview. It lacks that upside potential this week.

Start off: Chase Brown – Cincinnati Bengals

Chase Brown enters this week with double-digit carries in five straight games to lead Zack Moss in Cincy. Last week, Brown had 12 carries and four targets, while Moss had five carries and four targets.

Brown’s yards per carry dropped over the last two games, but he still found the end zone against Philadelphia. In fact, he has four rushing goals and one reception in his last five games.

This week the Bengals take on the Raiders, a team that has scored 10 rushing points this season and ranks eighth in scoring.

Fade: Amari Cooper – Buffalo Bills

Amari Cooper was supposed to solve the Bills’ problem. And he may have done it, but not in the way people expected.

Since acquiring Cooper, rookie Keon Coleman has thrived, looking like Buffalo’s top receiver. But as for Cooper, he had… ups and downs.

Cooper, questionable for this week’s game with a wrist injury, had four catches for 66 yards and a score in his Bills debut, but he was targeted just twice last weekend, catching one pass to three yards.

With just seven targets since joining the team, he is now poised to take over the defense while averaging the second-most fantasy points per game at the wide receiver position.

Start off: Ladd McConkey – Los Angeles Chargers

Chargers rookie Ladd McConkey had a great game against the Saints, catching six passes for 111 yards and two scores in a 26-8 win.

The Chargers’ quest to find their No. 1 receiver may be over. McConkey has scored six or more goals in six of seven games this season and is on the rise.

This week, McConkey and the Chargers will face the Cleveland Browns, who allow the fifth-most fantasy points per game to opposing receivers.

Fade: Zach Ertz – Washington Commanders

Zach Ertz is having his best game of the season, catching seven passes for 77 yards against the Bears. He was targeted 11 times, only the second time this year he had more than five targets.

It’s possible this is the start of something for the nearly 34-year-old veteran, but I think it’s far more likely that Ertz simply had a good game with the Bears.

It doesn’t help that the Commanders face the Giants this week. New York has yet to allow a touchdown to the tight end position this season, plus has given up the sixth-fewest yards to the position.

Start off: Sam LaPorta – Detroit Lions

Okay, look. If I had suggested Sam LaPorta as a must-play player at the start of the year, you would have been right to laugh at me because it was obvious that LaPorta needed to be in your lineups.

But after a bit of an inconsistent season, LaPorta isn’t the top three tight end we all expected. There have been ebbs and flows all year.

But last weekend, LaPorta scored a season-high six times and caught a touchdown, his second in three games. He’ll face a Packers team that ranks fifth in receiving yards this season.