5 best fantasy football pickups to make for Week 9

3. QB Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

Rostered: 26.2 percent

Yes, Justin Fields is a great fantasy football pickup.

On Sunday, Fields threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys. As of Monday morning, Fields is the third-highest-scoring fantasy quarterback this week. This is a continuation of a recent trend. Since Week 5, Fields is astonishingly second among quarterbacks in fantasy points!

This season, Fields has consistently produced as a rusher. His 424 rushing yards ranks second among quarterbacks; it also puts him on pace for 901 rushing yards over a full season. That would be the seventh-most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season in NFL history.

However, Fields’s passing production has been a concern. Across his first four games of the season, he threw for only 471 yards, two touchdowns, and five interceptions. Across his last four games, he has improved, as he has thrown for 728 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions. His fantasy numbers have improved, as a result. That is not an unsustainable pace, as it averages out to 182.0 passing yards, 1.3 touchdowns, and 0.5 interceptions per game. If Fields can maintain league-average passing production, he will remain an extremely valuable fantasy quarterback.

Fields’s short-term outlook looks bright. His next three opponents are all bottom-10 defenses against fantasy quarterbacks.