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Fantasy Football Week 9 Reaction & Week 10 Lookahead - A New Injury Looms for Christian McCaffrey

SI Fantasy analyst Roy Larking goes through the biggest storylines from Week 9 in the NFL from a fantasy perspective; including the return of Christian McCaffrey and another monster day from Dalvin Cook.

Roy Larking

Christian McCaffrey – The Beat Goes On

Activated from injured reserve on Saturday, McCaffrey was back in action for the first since suffering an ankle injury back in Week 2. Appearing to be in mid-season form, CMAC racked up 69 rushing yards and one touchdown on 18 carries. He also caught all 10 of his pass targets for 82 yards and a second score.

Important to monitor, McCaffrey suffered a shoulder injury late in the fourth quarter and his status for Week 10 is, "very much in doubt" according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport. Returning to his backup role, Mike Davis had one rushing attempt and caught 5-of-6 passes for 34 yards.

Dalvin Cook – Posts Another Monster Performance

Showing no lingering affects, from a mild groin injury suffered back in Week 5, Cook racked up 206 yards and two TD on 22 rushing attempts on Sunday. He also caught two passes for 46 yards. Cook took over as the NFL leading rusher with 858 yards - slightly ahead of Derrick Henry who has 843 yards.

Cook has posted 478 total yards and six TD over the last two games. That’s good for 87.8 fantasy points and makes him worthy of his high price in DraftKings DFS contests. Playing in Chicago is test next week before Minnesota faces the Dallas run defense that ranks second last allowing 157 yards per game.

David Johnson – Texans Lead Back Suffers a Concussion

Houston finished Week 9 down a Johnson as David went into concussion protocol after a heavy hit from Jaguars LB Myles Jack in the first quarter. Johnson finished with just two carries for 16 yards. He will carry a questionable tag into the Texans’ Week 10 road game in Cleveland against the Browns.

Backup Duke Johnson will be a hot Week 10 waiver wire pickup. Johnson finished with 41 rushing yards and one TD. He also caught all four of his pass targets for 32 yards. He will be an intriguing starting option against the Browns who allowed 327 rushing yards over three games prior their Week 9 bye.

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Aaron Rodgers – Dominates Shorthanded San Francisco

Closing in on the 26 total TD passes he posted over 16 games last season - Rodgers threw four TD passes during the Packers 34-17 TNF win against the 49ers. Marquez Valdes-Scantling with two, plus Davante Adams and Mercedes Lewis with one each, caught the scores. Rodgers now has 24 TD strikes this season.

Quiet recently, after posting 96 yards and one TD in Week 1, Valdes-Scantling caught a 52-yard TD at the end of the first half and a 1-yard score on the Packers first possession in the third quarter. MVS is still a risky play as he recorded just 165 total receiving yards, with no scores, over the previous six games.

Josh Allen – Regains Form Against Seattle

Following two subpar outings, against the Jets and Patriots, the sieve-like Seattle pass defence was just what the doctor ordered for the Buffalo pass offense. Allen torched the Seahawks as he completed 31-of-38 pass attempts for 415 pass yards and three TD. He also posted 15 rushing yards and one score.

Allen racked up 282 passing yards and three scores as the Bills jumped out to a 24-10 lead at halftime and went on the 44-34 victory. The superb outing is a confidence booster for Allen who can be viewed as QB1 when Buffalo heads to Arizona in Week 10. The Bills’ bye week follows the clash with the Cardinals.

Teddy Bridgewater – Panthers Air Attack

Knowing they were going to be in a shootout, against Patrick Mahomes, Carolina went to the air early and often during their 33-31 loss to the Chiefs. Bridgewater completed 36 of a season high 49 pass attempts for 310 yards and two TD. He added two rushing attempts for 19 yards and one score.

Bridgwater has been solid during his first season in Carolina. Having McCaffrey back, as another weapon in the passing game, will help him post even better numbers moving forward. The Panthers host Tampa Bay and Detroit the next two weeks and then visit Minnesota prior to their Week 13 bye.

Kirk Cousins and Irv Smith Connect For Two TD Passes

With Cook dominating the Lions weak run defense, Kirk Cousins completed 13-of-20 pass attempts for 220 yards and three touchdowns. A TD dependant starter, Cousins is averaging 231.8 pass yards per game. He faces the Bears next week who are tied with Miami allowing a league low eight TD passes.

Sophomore TE Irv Smith made the most of his opportunities in Week 9 as he caught 2- -of-4 passes for 10 yards and two TD. Those are his first scores this season and Smith is a risky TE2 play in the Vikings run heavy offense. It’s worth noting that tight ends have caught six of the eight TD passes Chicago has allowed.

INJURY NOTE: Smith appeared to injury himself during the celebration after his second TD and did not return. We will update his status in our Week 10 fantasy football injury report on Thursday.

Tom Brady – Buccaneers Offense Disappears Versus Saints

A fight for first place, in the NFC South, was extremely one-sided as New Orleans trounced Tampa Bay 38-3 on Sunday. The entire Buccaneer offense disappeared against the Saints. That includes Tom Brady who tossed three interceptions, was sacked three times and completed 22-of-38 passes for 209 yards.

Tampa Bay abandoned the run game as Ronald Jones had three carries for nine yards and Leonard Fournette had one attempt for zero yards. Antonio Brown made his first start, since Week 2 last season, and caught 3-of 5 targets for 31 yards. The Buccaneers offensive stars will be difficult to gauge moving forward.

Tua Tagovailoa – Posts Better Results in Second Start

Following a quiet NFL debut, during which he completed 12-of-22 passes for 93 yards and one TD, Tagovailoa posted a nice line on the road in Arizona during his second start. Recommended as a Week 10 waiver wire add, Tagovailoa was 20-of-28 for 248 yards and two TD. He added another 35 rushing yards.

Curtis Samuel – Tops Robby Anderson and D.J. Moore

Posting season highs across the board, Samuel caught 9-of-9 targets for 105 yards and one TD. He added Robby Anderson caught 9-of-13 targets (season high) for 65 yards but didn’t score for an eighth straight game. DJ Moore was the odd man out, for a second straight week, as he caught 2-of-3 targets for 18 yards.

Having McCaffrey back loosens up coverage in secondary. While that’s good for the Carolina offense, it creates a headache for fantasy owners who roster any of the Panthers trio of talented receivers. While they all have value as starters - don’t be surprised if the top producer varies from week to week.

Will Fuller V – Sixth Straight Game With a Touchdown

On the trading block, prior to the November 3 trade deadline, Houston failed to move Fuller and the non-move paid off. He caught all five of his pass targets for 100 yards and the game winning score in the Texans 27-25 victory against Jacksonville. Fuller has now caught one TD pass in six straight games.

That is the longest streak of TD catches this season and second longest since Antonio Brown hauled in a TD over eight straight games back in 2018. With DeAndre Hopkins now in Arizona, Fuller is the top deep threat for QB Deshaun Watson. As long as he remains healthy - Fuller deserves to be a fantasy starter.

DeAndre Hopkins – Rough Outing Against Miami

Hopkins had a dismal day against the suddenly stout Miami defense. The Dolphins held Hopkins to three catches for 30 yards. That is his lowest total yards so far this season and the second lowest over his last 48 games. Expect Hopkins to bounce back as a WR1 when the Cardinals host Buffalo in Week 10.

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Roy Larking
ROY LARKING

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