Fantasy football advice, Week 9: who to start/sit for Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings

Bye week hell continues in Week 9 with six more teams on byes. And you thought it couldn’t have been worse in 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 Lions and Vikings squaring off on Sunday, options, though few of them, still remain for fantasy owners.

Despite uncharacteristically being shown-up against Jay Cutler and a hapless Bears offense in Week 8, the Vikings still offer an imposing challenge for Matthew Stafford and his receiving options. While Stafford has several capable ones to throw to, Sunday could turn into a checkdown-fest, which would be great news for Theo Riddick and Eric Ebron. Ebron is worth a dart-throw in a heavy bye week, and Riddick should be considered a low-end RB1 in PPR leagues.

Stafford should garner the volume to make him worthy of QB1 status, but his upside cannot be considered great against the NFL’s No. 4 pass defense, one that has allowed just six passing touchdowns in 2016. It dashes the upside of Marvin Jones and Golden Tate as well, who should both be considered low-floor, touchdown-dependent WR3 options. Tate would have the higher floor of the two, with him getting so many high-percentage targets near the line of scrimmage, while Jones is more of a field stretcher.

Anquan Boldin was a non-factor upon Ebron and Riddick’s return to the lineup, and can safely be benched once again.

Stefon Diggs is back, and even with a skittish Sam Bradford in the pocket, Diggs showed up in a big way in Week 8’s loss to the Bears. With Diggs healthy and back atop the totem pole for targets, he remains a WR2 against an exploitable Lions secondary. Kyle Rudolph can also be considered a high-end TE1, since he’s been heavily involved in the offense and the Lions have given up more fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends than any other team in 2016.

With Jerick McKinnon expected to play, he can be considered a flex option, although his effectiveness will be fair to question after he spent time in the prior week in a walking boot. With Matt Asiata also having the trust of the coaching staff, McKinnon may not see the usage that fantasy owners would prefer him to get. Cordarrelle Patterson has also been getting more involved, and isn’t a bad upside flex play to consider due to his big-play ability.

Asiata, Bradford and the remaining complements of the Vikings’ offense can remain on the bench in the wake of offensive coordinator Norv Turner’s resignation.