Fantasy football projections, Week 9: Jets-Dolphins featuring Brandon Marshall, Jay Ajayi, Jarvis Landry, more

The Week 9 matchup between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins features two division rivals struggling to compete looking to outplay one other. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

After seeing 37 targets over a three-game stretch, Brandon Marshall has seen just 23 over the last three games. That’s still a solid number. The problem is Ryan Fitzpatrick is back at quarterback. Marshall caught four passes for just 68 yards against a very generous Cleveland Browns defense in Week 8. He’s too good to be held out of the end zone for too long, so a matchup against his former team shouldn’t pose a threat to Marshall’s owners. Miami does rank in the top 10 in terms of passing yards allowed this season, but Marshall is still among the league’s elite. He should finish right around his projected totals in Week 9.

Whether or not running back Matt Forte does the same remains to be seen. A few weeks ago fantasy owners and fans alike were questioning whether Forte could get through this season as the team’s starter. In the last two games, the veteran has 182 rushing yards and three scores. He has silenced the critics for now. Forte will be the clear top dog in the Jets’ backfield going into Week 9. It’ll be interesting to see if he can string together a third straight solid effort. Whether or not he reaches his projections against the Dolphins depends on it.

Few fantasy experts could have predicted that halfway through the season Arian Foster would be retired and Jay Ajayi would be the hottest running back in the NFL. That’s where we find ourselves today. Ajayi has an unbelievable 418 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in his last two games combined. It’s safe to say Miami’s bye week came at exactly the wrong time for Ajayi’s owners. He should be able to run all over the Jets’ porous rush defense. He likely won’t get anywhere near 200 yards rushing for the third-straight game, but how can anyone bet against 100 yards and a touchdown right now? Ajayi has set the bar high. His projections look minuscule right now considering how he is performing.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for wide receiver Jarvis Landry. He’s slightly underperformed this season. A lot of that has to do with the inconsistency of quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Still, Landry’s fantasy value lies mostly in PPR formats. He continues to deliver a lot of receptions. He has at least five catches in all but one game this year. Landry caught five balls for 78 yards and a two-point conversion against the Buffalo Bills in Week 7. The Jets are the NFL’s third-most generous team when it comes to allowing fantasy points at the wide receiver position. Landry should be licking his chops going into Sunday’s game.