Fantasy football advice, Week 9: Who to start/sit for Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants

Bye week hell continues in Week 9 with six more teams on byes. And you thought it couldn’t have been worse than Week 8? Now fantasy owners get to scramble as skill position players on the Patriots, Bengals, Washington, Cardinals, Bears, and Texans all get to sit out of lineups.

But with the Eagles and Giants squaring off on Sunday, options, though few of them, still remain for fantasy owners.

It has been an up-and-down season for Jordan Matthews, but a bounce back in Week 8 was certainly in order after two weeks of dreadful matchups. Matthews remains the primary target in an offense that isn’t rich in fantasy points, but draws a matchup with a bottom-10 Giants pass defense. Matthews is a middling WR2.

The backfield appears to be a fluid situation for the Eagles, with Darren Sproles dominating snaps in Week 8, but Ryan Mathews is still getting an endorsement from head coach Doug Pederson despite seeing just eight snaps in his most recent outing. For now, Mathews can’t be counted on until fantasy owners see anything different in his playing time, likely coming at the expense of an injured teammate. Sproles is the back that deserves flex consideration for Week 9 until further notice.

Zach Ertz can be streamed as a TE1, but that is more because of the lack of tight end options for Week 9 than an endorsement of his matchup at hand. Fantasy owners need to temper their expectations.

Mathews, Dorial Green-Beckham, and Nelson Agholor do not deserve fantasy consideration, nor does Carson Wentz, whose yardage and scoring just aren’t at the level to warrant lineup insertion.

Odell Beckham Jr. conceded that he is only at “85 percent,” but him at 85 percent is still better than most of the wideouts in the NFL. Beckham can be safely deployed as a WR1 even against a capable Eagles defense. For what it’s worth, Beckham is not listed on the Giants’ injury report.

That Eagles defense may not be able to contain Beckham to the point of benching, but the same can’t be said for Eli Manning, Victor Cruz, and Sterling Shepard. The Eagles are a top-five defense in passing yardage allowed per game, and have surrendered just eight touchdowns through the air in seven games. There isn’t anything to suggest fantasy wealth may trickle down throughout the Giants receiving corps, and fantasy owners can probably do better even with six teams on bye. The backfield also remains a mess of a committee and can safely be avoided.