Week 9 Thursday Night Fantasy Football Takeaways: Jets' Aaron Rodgers Tosses Three TDs in Win; Houston's C.J. Stroud Struggles Without Top Receivers

Discussing some fantasy football takeaways from the Thursday night game between the Jets and Texans.

Week 9 of the NFL season opened with the New York Jets and Houston Texans battling on Thursday night.

New York won 21-13, and now it’s time to look at some fantasy football takeaways from the contest.

Explore the best in-season fantasy football tool to manage your team and get league rankings with the Fantasy Assistant. Use our  trade analyzer and trade value charts to break down trade scenarios with Fair Trade ratings. Need a fantasy expert on call for waivers specific to your league? Our AI Fantasy Expert can break down any player for you inside the Fantasy Assistant.

Game Stats

Houston grabbed the lead with a touchdown in the second quarter, but only hit two field goals in the second half. New York scored once in the third quarter and twice in the fourth quarter to surge ahead.

The Jets had just 293 total yards of offense, with 193 passing yards and 100 rushing yards. New York had a turnover, nine penalties called against them and took two sacks.

The Texans finished with 322 total yards of offense, with 187 rushing yards and 135 passing yards. Houston was called for seven penalties, turned the ball over once and got sacked a whopping eight times.

Rodgers Tosses Three TDs

Aaron Rodgers didn’t have his best game, but he did throw three touchdowns to finish with a respectable fantasy score.

He was 22-of-32 passing for 211 yards, and he didn’t throw an interception.

His top target was Davante Adams. He caught seven of his 11 targets for 91 yards and a touchdown.

It was easily Adams’ best game with the Jets, and should make fantasy owners confident to start him going forward.

Garrett Wilson had the better fantasy day, making nine grabs on 10 targets for 90 yards and two scores.

Wilson hasn’t slowed down since Adams arrived, and he is a must-start fantasy player at this point. Both Adams and Wilson are good/great starting candidates depending on the defensive matchups going forward.

With Allen Lazard hitting injured reserve before the game, it was intriguing to see who might step up behind Adams and Wilson amongst the pass catchers. Nobody did.

Tight end Tyler Conklin caught a pass, but it went backward three yards. He finished with just two targets.

Wideout Mike Williams, who is now likely to stay with the team instead of being traded, had a six-yard catch across his two targets. Tight end Kenny Yeboah had a 12-yard catch on his only target. Jeremy Ruckert had a four-yard catch on his lone target.

It looks like Adams and Wilson are going to be the top-targeted pass catchers for the remainder of the season, with Conklin and Williams factoring in here and there, but never consistently enough to trust with a fantasy starting spot in many leagues.

Hall Leads Jets’ Backfield

Breece Hall rushed 15 times for 74 yards on Thursday. He also had 11 receiving yards on two catches and four targets.

Braelon Allen had nine rushing yards on four carries and didn’t catch his lone target.

Malachi Corley had an 18-yard run on his only attempt. He also lost a fumble, so that won’t endear him to the coaching staff going forward.

Anyways, the Jets’ backfield still belongs to Hall, and while Allen will factor in, his production is going to be inconsistent from game to game. Hall should be starting every week, while Allen could be considered in deeper leagues when going against a favorable defense, but is really just a handcuff to Hall at this point.

Texans’ Pass Game Struggles Again

It was a rough, rough game for C.J. Stroud and his pass catchers.

Stroud was 11-for-30 passing. He had 191 passing yards, but no touchdowns or interceptions. Stroud added 59 rushing yards on eight attempts to provide a few more fantasy points for the owners who started him.

With Nico Collins still out and Stefon Diggs now out for the season, it was Tank Dell that was the most-targeted pass catcher. Dell caught six of his nine targets for 126 yards.

Robert Woods had two grabs on three targets for 44 yards. Dalton Schultz was the only other player with a catch, making three catches across six targets for 21 yards.

Collins could return as early as the team’s next game, and he’d immediately go back to being a top-end fantasy option and the easy No. 1 target in the passing game.

Dell should remain involved all season with Diggs out of the picture, but he’ll fall back to a flex-level starter because of Collins.

Woods will likely factor in here and there, but he’ll probably have some inconsistent showings as the No. 3 guy behind Collins and Dell (and probably Schultz most weeks).

Schultz was a disappointment on Thursday night, and his chances for success when Collins returns won’t be any better. He’s a better deep league option, but still not a very good one.

Backup tight end Cade Stover and secondary wideouts John Metchie III and Xavier Hutchinson could also factor in at points this season, but it seems unlikely they’d ever become big-time fantasy assets if they couldn’t produce with Diggs and Collins out this week.

Mixon Powers Offense Again

Joe Mixon was one of the few bright spots for the Texans’ offense.

He rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Mixon wasn’t targeted in the passing game.

With Dameon Pierce missing the game with an injury, J.J. Taylor got three carries and Dare Ogunbowale one. 

As long as Mixon is healthy though, Pierce, Taylor and Ogunbowale are nothing more than handcuffs who aren’t going to play and produce all that much.

Mixon, on the other hand, is a must-start fantasy player at this point. His value will take a very slight dip when Collins returns, but he’s still going to put up big fantasy numbers every week as the clear No. 1 back in Houston.

IDP Standouts

New York’s Jalen Mills had 10 total tackles in Thursday’s game. Across four games, Mills has 22 total tackles and five passes defensed, which is solid production for a secondary player and worth adding/playing him in deeper IDP setups.

Jets’ Jamien Sherwood had seven tackles and two sacks this week. He has 80 tackles on the season, and the sacks were his first two. Sherwood is one of the better IDP options in the league and needs to be starting in every league.

Houston’s Jalen Pitre posted 10 tackles in Thursday’s game. He has reached double digits for tackles now twice this season, but only has 49 tackles overall, so he’s a bit of a boom-or-bust IDP performer. Pitre should be played in deep leagues for sure.

New York’s Quincy Williams had seven total tackles against Houston. He has 64 tackles for the season, which is good enough production to play him in a bunch of IDP leagues.

Texans’ Neville Hewitt recorded eight tackles and forced a fumble. He has at least six tackles in four straight games, and has forced a fumble the past two weeks. Hewitt should see his own/start percentage continue to rise as a result.

Jets’ D.J. Reed had five tackles, a sack and a pass defensed on Thursday. He’s only got 29 tackles and eight passes defensed on the season, so he’s not a big IDP option outside deeper leagues.

New York’s Quinnen Williams posted four tackles and 1.5 sacks in Thursday’s game. He has 22 tackles and five sacks on the season, with three combined over the past two weeks. Williams will get a nice bump in his own/start percentages after his past two showings.

Houston’s Denico Autry had three tackles and two sacks. He hadn’t posted any stats in his first two games, but maybe got going with a couple big plays on Thursday. He’ll get plenty of deep league love, and could become a standard IDP option in a hurry, so keep close tabs on him.

Jets’ Micheal Clemons finished with three tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. He has 17 tackles and 4.5 sacks this season. In leagues where defensive linemen are rewarded for tackles and stuffs, Clemons is a decent and fairly consistent performer.

#2024-fantasy-football