Fantasy Football fool’s gold: 3 players you should believe in, 2 players you shouldn’t in Week 9

Sunday was National Tight Ends Day, the unofficial holiday celebrating one of the league's most underrated positions, and it certainly inspired fireworks around the NFL. Tight ends had a field day in Week 8, setting a single-day record for receptions (177) and touchdowns (16) for the position, which was a god send for fantasy football players struggling to generate any production from the position throughout the season.

There were also plenty of other breakout stars besides tight ends, including an explosive day from Jameis Winston in Cleveland, but which performances are trustworthy and which are fool's gold? As we do every week, read on for a look at the fantasy football fool's gold report to see who you need to add to your roster and whose Week 8 showing was just a tease.

Fantasy Football Fool's Gold: Week 9 Report

Cade Otton, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After a week where tight ends essentially ruled the world, it makes sense to start with a tight end in Otton, who has been a supporting character in Tampa Bay's passing game to this point. Injuries to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the latter of which is season-ending, opened up a ton of targets and Otton was perfectly positioned to seize some of the open volume.

Baker Mayfield looked Otton's way 10 times on Sunday and he caught nine of them for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns, easily providing the most productive receiving day in Tampa Bay's loss to the Atlanta Falcons. This is the second consecutive game that Otton has received 10 targets, and he has been a heavily involved secondary piece in the offense even before the Bucs lost their top two receivers.

Barring a move for a pass catcher at the trade deadline, Otton looks to be the top target in the Tampa Bay passing game since the three primary replacements for Evans and Godwin (Sterling Shepard, Jalen McMillan and Trey Palmer) exceeded 45 yards receiving. While the running backs will be involved in the passing attack moving forward, Otton's presence as one of Mayfield's preferred targets appears to be sustainable.

Verdict: Trust

Jameis Winston, QB, Cleveland Browns

Much has been made about the Browns' offensive struggles under Deshaun Watson, who had failed to throw for 300 yards or lead Cleveland to 20 points over the first seven weeks of the season. Watson's season-ending Achilles injury opened the door for Winston, who blew by those thresholds in the third quarter as Cleveland stunned Baltimore in a 29-24 win on Sunday.

The offense was absolutely humming with Winston, who completed 27-of-41 passes for 334 yards with three touchdowns on the afternoon. Winston did a good job spreading the ball to the Browns' top offensive playmakers as Cedric Tillman, Elijah Moore, Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku all had at least five receptions and 60 yards receiving.

There is a bit of risk starting Winston since the Ravens dropped a few potential interceptions but he looks competent and has plenty of weapons with a favorable schedule coming up. With plenty of byes coming up and some slow performances from expected stars, starting Winston is a sensible decision for fantasy rosters in need of help at the position.

Verdict: Trust

Michael Wilson, WR, Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals spoiled Tua Tagovailoa's return from IR on Sunday with a 28-27 victory that saw Kyler Murray pass for over 300 yards against the Dolphins' suspect defense. While Marvin Harrison Jr was the star of the day, we're paying more attention to the secondary performance of Michael Wilson, who caught 5-of-6 targets for 31 yards and a score in the win.

Fantasy players should be familiar with Wilson, who spent stretches of last season as Arizona's top pass catcher when the receiving room was ravaged by injuries, but he had been off to a relatively slow start this season. While the yardage total is nothing to write home about, Wilson has had at least six targets in four of Arizona's last six games, offering a solid floor for those playing in PPR leagues.

While a player like Wilson is useful as a flex option or a reserve to use during bye weeks, it is important to remember that he is at best the third option in Arizona's passing game behind Harrison and tight end Trey McBride. With James Conner also commanding a ton of touches as the Cardinals' go-to running back, the ceiling on Wilson is far too limited to expect a repeat of this week's performance often.

Verdict: Bust

Cedric Tillman, WR, Cleveland Browns

We'll go back to the Browns and look at Tillman, who was tabbed by pundits as the receiver to watch after Cleveland traded Amari Cooper to Buffalo prior to Week 7. Few people bought in after Tillman's 8-81 line on 12 targets due to uncertainty about the Browns' quarterback situation but those concerns should be alleviated after his Week 8 performance.

Tillman was the preferred target of James Winston, who caught 7-of-9 targets for 99 yards with a pair of touchdowns in Cleveland's win over the Ravens. While Elijah Moore and Jerry Jeudy were involved in the underneath passing game, Tillman was Winston's preferred deep threat, recording touchdown receptions of 22 and 38 yards on the day.

Winston appears to be locked in as Cleveland's starter for now, which is good news for Tillman, whose skillset matches up perfectly with how Winston prefers to operate. Teams in need of receiver help should make a bid for Tillman on the waiver wire since he has WR2 upside if the volume he's received after the Jeudy trade is a sign of things to come.

Verdict: Trust

Tucker Kraft, TE, Green Bay Packers

We'll round out this week's fool's gold report with another tight end in Kraft, who has had a consistent presence in the Green Bay passing game thus far. Kraft has been a stream-worthy player thanks to five touchdown receptions over the past five weeks, including one on Sunday as part of a 3-78 line, but there is some concern here thanks to an injury to Packers' starting quarterback Jordan Love.

Green Bay saw Love depart Sunday's game with a groin injury that head coach Matt LaFleur described as one that gave him a "high level of concern" with the quarterback's ability to protect himself. Love gave way to Malik Willis, who finished off the win but has shown no chemistry with Kraft to this point as the Packers' game plans have been run-heavy in the days Willis has had to start.

It is too early to tell if Love will play against Washington on Sunday but there is significant risk in banking on Kraft, who has only exceeded 53 yards in two games, if the touchdowns aren't flowing. There are a lot of mouths to feed in the Green Bay passing attack and the piece of the pie they'll get will be much smaller if Love misses time so this appears to be a prime sell-high spot on Kraft.

Verdict: Bust