Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football Picks: NFL Week 9

Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football Picks – Week 9

Rizzla shares his week nine Yahoo daily fantasy football lineup for this weekend and touches on some of the rationale behind rostering each player.

This week I will once again be discussing the lineup I set for round nine of Yahoo’s free roll DFS daily fantasy football contest. I will touch on the rationale and thought process behind each selection and even take you through the order in which I plugged in each play.

New York Jets D/ST ($16 Salary)

This week I decided to seek out a defense first. Looking at the potential plays only two of the games on the slate stood out, the Jets against the Dolphins offense and the Bears against the Bills. I would have loved to get the Bears in but with a heavy bye there are not likely to be enough value plays to round out a comfortable lineup if I spend $22 on a defense. Owners of the number nine fantasy defense, the New York Jets Jets square off against a Dolphins offense giving up the thirteenth most fantasy points to opposing defenses and an average of three sacks over its past two contests.

Tarik Cohen ($17 Salary; 28th salary rank; 11th personal rank)

Tarik Cohen was chosen as obvious value to combat a low remaining average salary per player after I initially chose $33 Kareem Hunt as my RB1.

Cohen has been on fire lately and with Allen Robinson still dealing with hamstring issues should remain heavily involved in the passing game. Averaging just 32 yards per game on the ground, Cohen makes his bones in the passing game. Second among running backs with 8.5 yards per target, Cohen also ranks ninth with 1.39 fantasy points per opportunity and fourth with 389 receiving yards. Averaging 122 yards from scrimmage with a touchdown in each of his last four games my eleventh overall running back is priced as a solid value play against a Bills defense that has given up at least six receptions to five different running backs.

Kirk Cousins ($33 Salary; 8th salary rank; 4th personal rank)

Plugging in a quarterback I’m comfortable with is my main objective weekly and Cousins is the one who stood out as an obvious value as I have him ranked fourth overall for week nine, while his price tag suggests he is the eighth overall quarterback based on Yahoo!’s salary rank.

Second among quarterbacks with 2521 passing yards and first with 1417 air yards, Cousins mysteriously ranks ninth in fantasy points per game, signalling that some positive regression is on the way. This week against a Detroit Lions defense surrendering the twelfth most fantasy points per game to opposing QB’s Cousins seems set to exceed his low two touchdowns per game average. Armed with arguably the best receiver duo in football and a pro bowl tight end, Cousins should have a big game as he looks to keep pace with the prolific Matthew Stafford.

David Njoku ($17 Salary; 9th salary rank; 5th personal rank)

David Njoku stood out as an obvious value coming off a dud in week eight. I’m betting on Baker Mayfield looking to make it up to his stud tight end by targeting him early and often against a vulnerable Chiefs linebacking corps.

Fifth among tight ends in targets (36) and seventh in both air yards (257) and receiving yards (228) since Baker Mayfield took over, despite a zero target week eight, Njoku will look to explode this week. Facing off against a Kansas City Chiefs defense giving up the fifth most fantasy points to enemy tight ends Njoku looks primed for a big day.

Sammy Watkins ($19 Salary; 24th salary rank; 26th personal rank)

After a rock solid week eight Sammy Watkins popped as an obvious value at his salary of only $19. My 26th ranked receiver this week, Watkins’ $19 price tag ranks him 24th in terms of yahoo salary. Ranking top twelve among receivers with 233 yards after the catch, Watkins has been coming on strong as of late as his chemistry with Patrick Mahomes continues to grow.

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Watkins is averaging six receptions, 90 yards and a touchdown per game over his past two contests, and after last weeks number one overall receiver performance is trending upwards. Over the last two contests mentioned above Watkins has seen his target share spike to 23 percent from 17.9 and is tenth among receivers with 224 air yards. Sammy Watkins and the Chiefs will duel with a Cleveland Browns defense surrendering the eleventh most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers and with Denzel Ward likely to be glued to Tyreek Hill, Watkins will be left in single coverage against TJ Carrie.

Davante Adams ($33 Salary; 5th salary rank; 3rd personal rank)

Now that I saved some money, average salary wise, I looked for the best receiver I could afford. Number two fantasy wideout Davante Adams has looked unstoppable as of late and is my third ranked receiver for week nine. Adams is the eighth ranked receiver based on yahoo salary rank at a price of $33.

The Patriots grade as a good pass defense on paper in terms of limiting opposing wide receiver fantasy points but have regularly been roasted by the top tier receivers they have faced this year. Adams has been on fire all season, ranking in the top ten in a laundry list of categories such as targets with 78 (7th), target share with 27.3 percent (8th), red zone target share with 40.5 percent (3rd), receptions with 52 (8th), receiving yards with 690 (8th), yards after catch with 255 (8th) and touchdowns with six (3rd).

Marquez-Valdes Scantling ($11 Salary; 63rd salary rank; 46th personal rank)

When I searched through to find an upside flex at $13 or under the first name that really stood out to me was Marquez-Valdes Scantling.

While he is still the fourth receiver on paper, MVS saw more pass routes than Randall Cobb in week eight and also played more snaps than Geronimo Allison. MVS is the most talented of the three receivers mentioned and in a projected shootout against the Patriots MVS looks like a massive upside play, especially at his $11 price tag. Operating most frequently as a big slot for the Packers, MVS has been a big play waiting to happen as evidenced by his 18.4 yards per reception (ninth among receivers). MVS’ ability to generate chunk yardage out of the slot has made him look efficient so far with his targets, ranking as a WR3 (35th overall) with 1.99 fantasy points per target.

Todd Gurley ($37 Salary; 1st salary rank; 1st personal rank)

Now that I cleared some salary space I had $5 remaining which allowed me to switch from Kareem Hunt to Todd Gurley. Gurley is the obvious choice for a weekly RB1 whenever possible. I came into the week thinking I would not be able to afford to plug in the number one running back but due to the savings from MVS as well as being frugal with my receivers I was able to.

My top ranked running back for week nine, Todd Gurley is on an astounding pace for 2,300 yards from scrimmage (1,600 rushing and 702 receiving yards) and 30 total touchdowns. Gurleys 28.08 average Yahoo points are 3.5 more per game than number two back Melvin Gordon’s 24.58 at $36 (only $1 more) signalling clear inherent value in this weeks running back salary structure.

Marvin Jones ($17 Salary; 33rd salary rank; 20th personal rank)

I initially had the $16 Keke Coutee in this spot prior to the two deadline trades that changed both players fantasy fortunes. I had $1 left over after plugging in my initial lineup and after Demaryius Thomas was traded to the Houston Texans, Keke Coutee’s fantasy upside took a nosedive. As soon as I clicked on the yahoo app to swap out Coutee I saw Marvin Jones right above for only $17. The price tag was of course based on Golden Tate still being in Detroit when the salaries came out so this selection literally screamed at me and made itself.

Marvin Jones looks primed for another huge game this week against the Minnesota Vikings. While the Vikings themselves are one of the toughest pass defenses in the league, Jones will see plenty of targets in this one and as the owner of an NFL leading 59.1 end zone target percentage he is almost assured to find the end zone in this contest. The Lions are 4.5 point underdogs in this matchup, suggesting that the Lions will be forced to throw to keep pace with the Vikings and their high powered offense.

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