Week 9 Fantasy Football Bold Predictions

After Week 9, we’ll be at the mid-way point of the 2026 NFL season. With that, will come plenty of time to reflect on how things have gone and what to expect in the second half of the fantasy football season. But for now, we’re focusing on what’s in front of us. Here are our bold predictions for fantasy in Week 9. Justin Jefferson WR1 overall in Week 9Kyler Murray isn’t a fit for the Vikings’ passing game. He’s thrown a slant, dig or post route—the key patterns to access big plays in Kevin O’Connell’s offense—on just 10.4% of his throws. Only Bo Nix and Patrick Mahomes throw them at a lower rate among NFL quarterbacks. In a small sample, Carson Wentz is at 17.9% this season and 16% last year, which is closer to what Sam Darnold managed in 2024 (17.8%) and Kirk Cousins did in 2022 and 2023 (15.9%). It was easy to see this coming, as Murray didn’t consistently attack the intermediate middle in Drew Petzing’s offense. Wentz isn’t anyone’s idea of a savior but he can execute the offense and find Jefferson. He can do that in a big way against a Bills defense that allows a ton of production to outside receivers. Jefferson is still as elite as ever. He’s incentivized to remind folks of that. The Vikings will be eager to get him the ball after he was clearly frustrated at the end of last week’s loss. I expect a squeaky-wheel situation on Monday night. — Matt HarmonJonah Coleman scores 20+ fantasy pointsJonah Coleman took the stage last week, completely taking over the backfield from J.K. Dobbins following the opening quarter. Coleman’s 26.8 expected fantasy points was the third highest among RBs in Week 8. Denver has quietly been amazing for fantasy running backs, it’s just been split between three players over the past calendar year. With no RJ Harvey, the rookie becomes the trusted back in the passing game while running much more successfully than his veteran counterpart Dobbins. The rushing defense in Carolina hasn’t been horrible since their Week 1 disaster versus Chicago, but it has given up plenty of touchdowns to the position as a bottom-five scoring defense, 12 in seven games to be exact. If we get another Panthers game with Bryce Young running for his life, the touchdown opportunities on the other side can be there just as they were for Josh Jacobs and Bucky Irving the last two weeks. With Coleman’s goal-line opportunities being paired with his receiving, he won’t even need a huge rushing day to cross 20+ fantasy points for you this week. — Joel SmythRome Odunze posts 90 yards, first TD of the season Odunze only topped 52 yards once in the first six weeks, while the Bears’ passing attack struggled to find its rhythm with Caleb Williams missing three games. That’s left Odunze as the WR53 in fantasy points per game, but he’s 20th in receiving yards and 32nd in receptions among receivers. His biggest problem at the moment is a lack of touchdowns. After scoring six times in 12 outings last year, Odunze has yet to find the end zone through eight weeks. His 44 targets without a TD are the second most behind only KC Concepcion. Fortunately, with Williams back under center, Odunze is heating up. The 24-year-old posted 69 yards against the Patriots in Week 7 and 87 yards in a tough matchup with the Seahawks on Monday night. The Bears are 6.5-point favorites this week with a strong implied point total of 27. Though the Bucs defense is giving up the seventh-fewest fantasy points to wideouts, in the last month they’ve allowed five different receivers to top 85 yards. With the Bears’ offense picking up steam, get ready for Odunze to finally make a house call. — Justin BooneRice finds end zone again on way to top-16 WR finishRashee Rice didn’t play a full workload in his return last week, and that’s exactly why I’m interested. Coming off a multi-week absence and limited practices, he was on the field for just 57% of the snaps and ran a route on 61% of dropbacks. By all accounts, Kansas City planned it that way. Even so, Rice walked right back into the top target share on the team. The Chiefs didn’t need to see more before making him the focal point again. And how they used him matters, too. Six of his eight targets came on slants or other in-breakers, the same get-it-to-him-and-let-him-run usage Andy Reid has leaned on for years. That’s a problem for the Jets. On throws over the middle of the field, they’re in the bottom 12 in YAC allowed per reception and rank 18th in EPA allowed per play. Just last week, Kirk Cousins attacked the middle on 60.9% of his throws against New York, and those attempts produced 187 yards and two touchdowns. With his snaps set to climb, Rice gives us a fringe WR1 result in Week 9. — Chris AllenRyan Flournoy finishes as a top-20 WRRyan Flournoy is my Week 9 sleeper, and I know Indianapolis isn't exactly a matchup we're looking to attack. The Colts are allowing just 27.4 PPR points per game to wide receivers, sixth-fewest in football. But dig a little deeper. Indianapolis is giving up the fifth-most fantasy points to slot receivers, 12.8 yards per completion, third-most in the NFL, and a 6.1% passing touchdown rate, sixth-highest. That's where I think Flournoy can get home. He's playing more than half his snaps from the slot, and with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens commanding attention, he doesn't need massive volume to produce. Flournoy’s already given us 70-plus yards or a touchdown in four straight games. My model has him at WR31, 11 spots ahead of consensus, and Jake Ferguson's ankle injury could create even more opportunities. I'm betting on Flournoy making the most of his chances. Give me five catches, 70-plus yards, a touchdown and a top-20 PPR finish in Week 9. — Ray GarvinJadarian Price scores his first touchdown of the seasonThe ceiling has been capped for Price all season — by injury, by fumbles, by the Seahawks insistence on a backfield split. This is a matchup where two Seahawks backs could be fantasy relevant, as Seattle is favored by 8.5 points with backup QB Drew Lock starting. In the last two games between these teams, Seahawks running backs have carried the ball 38 and 35 times. There’s a chance we see the Quinton Nelson acquisition show its full colors here. So even if Zach Charbonnet continues to see most of the work inside the 10-yard line, watch for Price to hit an explosive. — Josh NorrisDevin Singletary tops 100 yards or scores a touchdownWe have to ignore the decals on the Philly helmets and start accepting what this is, an injured and bad football team. The offense has taken much of the blame, but the Eagles also can’t stop anything on defense (25th in DVOA run defense, 23rd in DVOA pass defense). Singletary is an ordinary back but likely the last man standing with Cam Skattebo hurt, and the Giants would prefer J.J. McCarthy manage the game, not dominate it — especially if Malik Nabers isn’t 100%. Volume hunting is a big part of the fantasy equation, and Singletary is ready to be a volume win in Week 9. He’s still lagging as a mid-30s RB in industry ECR, but that should correct in the next few days. — Scott Pianowski