5 breakout fantasy football stars to pick up for Week 9

Week 8 was a weird one in the fantasy football universe as injuries wiped out a lot of key contributors at quarterback, including the potential season-ending injury to Kirk Cousins at Lambeau Field. Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder and Tyrod Taylor also went down, which could leave some owners scrambling for quarterback help in fantasy leagues.

Fortunately for them, two potential fill-in options emerged as part of the week's top fantasy football pickups. Check out the top five below, with all rostered percentages based on Yahoo! leagues.

5. Emeri Demercado, RB, Arizona Cardinals

It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for Demercado, who was the top fantasy pickup out of the Arizona backfield after James Conner went on injured reserve only to get mothballed for a game in favor of Keontay Ingram. Demercado was dropped en masse after that game but has since reclaimed top-dog status in the Cardinals' backfield, rushing 13 times in Week 7 and 20 more times in a Week 8 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

The results were solid for Demercado, who racked up 78 yards on the ground, which led to a solid 3.9 yards per carry average against a stout Baltimore defense. With the potential of Kyler Murray returning for Arizona next week, Demercado could have fewer bodies in the box to stop him, which could lead to some positive results.

Demeraco is rostered in just 36 percent of leagues and should be the lead dog for one more week as Conner must miss one more game before being eligible for a return. Teams in need of help at running back for Week 9, when a slew of star running backs are on bye, should take a flier on Demercado as a volume-based RB2.