Fantasy Football Week 9 Start Decision: Demario Douglas vs. Tank Dell vs. Brandin Cooks vs. Jahan Dotson vs. Tyler Boyd vs. Rashid Shaheed vs. Trey McBride

Now that the Thursday night game has passed, the FantasySP start/sit tool isn’t so cluttered with decisions involving Tennessee Titans’ Will Levis. There’s a few popular names that took over, with the most prevalent one being New England Patriots wide receiver Demario Douglas.

Let’s put Douglas up against Houston Texans’ Tank Dell, Dallas Cowboys’ Brandin Cooks, Washington Commanders’ Jahan Dotson, Cincinnati Bengals’ Tyler Boyd, New Orleans Saints’ Rashid Shaheed and toss in Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride to cap things off. Who is the best starting option of the group? Let’s get into it.

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Why You Should Start Demario Douglas

Douglas is a hot name this week after the season-ending injury to New England’s top receiver Kendrick Bourne. The veteran led the team in just about every receiving statistic, while Douglas has been arguably the team’s second-best wideout, so it makes sense that he would see an increase to his numbers and be a popular name in the start/sit tool. 

DeVante Parker also is dealing with a concussion, but did return to practice on Friday. If he weren’t able to play, Douglas’ fantasy stock would rise even more.

For the season, Douglas has caught 19 of the 30 passes thrown his way for 222 yards. He’s yet to find the end zone, but has been targeted 13 times over the past two games.

Douglas will be taking on a Commanders’ defense that is one of the worst in the league against wideouts, allowing 42 fantasy points a contest. Douglas is the top-ranked Patriots’ receiver this week, but just 49th overall, as of this publication.

Why You Should Start Tank Dell

Dell returned to the field for the Texans last week and underwhelmed with just 16 receiving yards on three catches and four targets. He did get three carries, going for 15 rushing yards.

Dell was a big-time waiver wire addition after strong games in weeks 2-3, but only has one game over 50 receiving yards since. Some of that had to do with an injury. One thing to note is the team is looking to get him involved, with at least two carries across his last three contests.

He’ll be taking on a Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense that is also pretty weak against opposing receivers, with an average of 39 fantasy points allowed a week. Dell is the second-highest ranked Houston receiver for week nine, coming in 34th overall.

Why You Should Start Brandin Cooks

Cooks has been consistent over his past three games, but his fantasy numbers have been boosted by touchdowns in back-to-back contests. He’s been targeted four times in every game, but hasn’t topped 50 receiving yards.

Cooks did have a season-high 49 yards last week, after a previous season high of 36 yards the previous game. The touchdowns were his first two scores of the season. He’s also had a carry in each of the past three contests.

The Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles this week, which sets up as a great matchup for Cooks. Philly allows the most fantasy points (47) to opposing receivers. Cooks is the third Dallas receiver in our projections, slotting in 47th, one spot behind teammate Michael Gallup.

Why You Should Start Jahan Dotson

Dotson had his best game of the season in week 8, catching eight passes for 108 yards and a touchdown against the Eagles. It was his second touchdown of the season and marked the first time he topped 50 receiving yards.

He’s been targeted 18 times over the past two weeks. He’s fighting with Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel for snaps and targets, but Samuel is banged up and could possibly miss this week’s game against New England. If he does play, he’ll be limited, so I don’t think it affects Dotson all that much.

It’s a favorable matchup for Dotson, as New England allows 36 fantasy points to receivers every week. He’s ranked behind McLaurin, but ahead of Samuel in the projections, coming in 41st overall.

Why You Should Start Tyler Boyd

Boyd continues to underwhelm in terms of yardage, but has scored touchdowns in back-to-back weeks. He’s only topped 50 receiving yards once for the season.

He’s second on the team in targets (44), yards (244) and snaps (371). He’s clearly outpaced by Ja’Marr Chase in several stats, and is close to Tee Higgins, the team’s No. 2 option. 

The Bengals have a huge Sunday night game against the Buffalo Bills, which is not a great matchup for any Bengals’ receiver. They allow wideouts to score 32 fantasy points a week. Chase is still the No. 1 projected receiver for the week. Higgins is 27th and Boyd comes in 37th.

Why You Should Start Rashid Shaheed

We talk about Shaheed a lot in these start/sit stories, mostly because he’s a boom-or-bust player that has delivered plenty of booms so far. Last week was another boom, as he caught three passes for 151 yards and a touchdown.

Shaheed has produced four games over 50 receiving yards and four with under 35. Three of his down games were when quarterback Derek Carr was banged up, so he’s really only had one down game when Carr has been healthy.

Shaheed has an average matchup ahead against the Chicago Bears. Chicago allows 36 fantasy points a game to receivers. Shaheed is the third New Orleans receiver to appear in our projections, coming in 40th overall.

Why You Should Start Trey McBride

We usually don’t include players from different positions in start/sit content this early in the week, but this one makes sense because most of these guys are viewed as flex options.

McBride was arguably the hottest waiver wire name in week 9. That’s because he caught 10 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown on 14 total targets last week.

He’ll have a new quarterback throwing him the ball, as Joshua Dobbs got traded. You’d much rather see Kyler Murray throwing him the ball, but McBride could also be heavily used as a checkdown option for rookie Clayton Tune.

The Cardinals are facing the Cleveland Browns this weekend, which sets up as a brutal matchup for McBride. Cleveland allows only six fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends. McBride is ranked 11th among tight ends, with five projected points in standard leagues and nine projected points in PPR leagues.

Final Numbers and the Recommended Start

This story is mostly about Douglas, so let’s see how fantasy owners are treating him in week 9. Owners like Douglas over Dell (barely), Cooks, Boyd and Shaheed. They like McBride and Dotson over Douglas.

All of the matchups are pretty close, which makes sense after looking at the matchups and projections.

This ones tough for me, but I’d go ahead and take Shaheed first, given his recent success and extremely favorable matchup. I like him to hit on at least one big play, which could be enough to outscore the rest of these guys.

Give me Dotson next, followed by Dell. They have less guys in front of them on the depth chart than the others remaining, and both have decent matchups. 

I would go with Douglas next. He’s got a favorable matchup, but I’d like to see how things shake out without Bourne once before feeling more confident in him.

I like Boyd over Cooks for the final receiver spot, even though Cooks has the far more favorable matchup. When factoring in McBride, I’d put him behind everyone but Cooks. I love what he’s done the past couple weeks, but this matchup and the change at quarterback just screams down fantasy showing to me.

Best of luck in week 9!