Fantasy Football Wide Receiver & Tight End Start/Sit Week 9: Nico Collins, Marquise Brown, Logan Thomas

The importance of knowing who to start and who to sit can make or break a fantasy week and your matchup. People like to say, “Start your studs,” and typically speaking, that is the way to go, especially early in the season, but sometimes a player's matchup gives them more value in a certain week. On the flip side, a player can also have a poor matchup that could give you a reason to bench them. 

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Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Week 9 Starts

Nico Collins, Houston Texans vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Even though his past few games have been quiet in comparison to some of his big games this season, Collins is still seeing a lot of targets in the passing game and has a good matchup this weekend vs. a Bucs defense that ranks 24th in fantasy against WRs and 28th against the pass overall. Although some people have rightfully soured on him lately, it’s a good week to buy back in, so get him into your lineups.

Brandin Cooks, Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles

Cooks has finally found his footing in the Dallas offense. He has had his two most productive games of the season in the Cowboys' two most recent games, scoring a TD in both and compiling his two highest yardage totals. This weekend, he will get his first taste of the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry, a game that will determine first place in the NFC East. The Eagles rank dead last against the WR position in fantasy, and you know they will pay plenty of attention to CeeDee Lamb, which will leave Cooks with plenty of opportunity to succeed. 

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Week 9 Sits

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Arizona Cardinals @ Cleveland Browns

Although Brown sees a lot of targets, there are two main reasons why he needs to be kept on your benches this week, at least in your shallow leagues. The Cardinals traded away QB Joshua Dobbs on Tuesday, which could affect the amount of targets that Brown will continue to see. The bigger reason for benching this week though is that he faces a Browns defense that ranks third best in the league against WRs in fantasy and first overall against the pass. 

Joshua Palmer, Los Angeles Chargers @ New York Jets

Since Austin Ekeler returned to the lineup, Palmer has seen his role in the passing game decrease. It is Ekeler and Keenan Allen who see the majority of the targets in the passing game, leaving Palmer, Quentin Johnston, and the TEs with whatever is left. Let’s also take into account that this week Palmer goes up against a top-five passing defense in the New York Jets, and his opportunities might be limited because of it. Like with Brown, he should be benched in shallow leagues but is still a viable option in deeper formats.

Fantasy Football Tight End Week 9 Starts

Logan Thomas, Washington Commanders @ New England Patriots

Thomas has been solid this season with the exception of his Week  5 stinker against the Falcons. In his other three most recent games, he has seen 25 targets, catching 19 of them for 172 yards and two TDs. He faces a Patriots defense this week that ranks in the middle of the pack against TEs and against the pass, and he should continue to see plenty of targets, which makes him a valuable asset in fantasy, particularly PPR formats. 

Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals

Kincaid has had his best two games of the season in the past two weeks, combining for 13 catches for 140 yards and a TD. With Dawson Knox now on IR, Kincaid is going to receive nearly all the targets at the TE position for the Bills. He could be a mid-range TE1 moving forward this season and is a must-start right now in all formats. He faces a Bengals defense this weekend that ranks in the bottom third of the league against the pass, and this game should be very high-scoring between two of the league’s most talented offenses. 

Fantasy Football Tight End Week 9 Sits

Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders vs. New York Giants

So, first of all, the Raiders are really bad. Jimmy Garoppolo has been benched for Aidan O'Connell; even Davante Adams is having bad weeks. I cannot advise you to start Mayer in any format right now, and even more so this week, as he takes on a Giants defense that has been pretty good against opposing TEs this season, ranking eighth in fantasy and in the top half of the league overall against the pass. Mayer has just three catches in the past two games and has more than two catches in a game only once all season. 

Noah Fant, Seattle Seahawks @ Baltimore Ravens

Fant isn’t seeing enough targets to be a viable option each and every week, and his maximum number of catches in a game this season is only four. That came all the way back in Week 3 of this season, and his season best in yards is only 63, 51 of which came on one play. If you couple that with the fact that he faces the Ravens this week, who rank third-best in the NFL against the pass and sixth vs. the TE position in fantasy, then you can see why I am recommending keeping Fant far away from your starting lineups.