Top five fantasy football streamers for NFL Week 9

Fridays are for Five Lists of Five here at DKNetwork, and we’re officially halfway through the NFL season. And Puka Nacua has officially aggravated his knee injury a second time. Mercy for this Rams fan, please.

I digress!

A reminder of the premise behind this specific series of lists: All I want is for you to be better than your friends. You’re going to be surrounded by them on Sunday, probably. How sweet would it be if you could be sure you’ve checked every box possible that might guarantee you a resounding victory this week? Some kick-your-feet-up insights? I’ve got some.

Again—I know my audience. The smoke-break audience. The quick-scan-of-the-phone-on-the-way-to-the-fridge audience. The give-me-as-much-info-as-possible-as-fast-as-possible audience. I’m a man of the people.

And so, once more: Five Lists of Five. Think of these as byte-sized, two-minutes-to-yourself lists to scan during your weekend as you foam at the mouth for any competitive fantasy edge. As much relevant analysis as I can fit into, like, 250 words per player.

Let’s kick it off this week with top five Week 9 streamers. We’ll hit QBs, tight ends, and defenses, primarily, per usual.

Also available from my NFL Week 9 Friday’s Five Lists of Five:

Stream ‘Em

Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams (at Seattle Seahawks; 28.9% rostered)

Seattle’s pass defense is the sixth-ranked in the NFL. Their rush defense, however, is the 26th-ranked in terms of fantasy scoring. It feels like this is a smash spot for Kyren Williams, and potentially a breakout spot for Blake Corum in the 1B role.

But, as you’ll see in my subsequent Geno Smith analysis, I think Seattle is going to throw so much and likely score points on this gettable Rams secondary. McVay and Stafford aren’t going to have a choice to throw for a good portion of this game.

The Puka Nacua (knee) aggravation in Thursday’s practice is absolutely concerning, and almost made me reconsider putting Stafford on this list. But he’ll still have Cooper Kupp, and Jordan Whittington might get on the field and run the Puka tree if needed. Regardless, we know Stafford can drive the ball downfield and score in this system even if he needs to do it with Colby Parkinson, Tutu Atwell, and Demarcus Robinson.

Geno Smith, QB, Seattle Seahawks (vs. Los Angeles Rams; 56.0% rostered)

See above about Stafford. A return to practice in any capacity for DK Metcalf would really make me feel better about this, just because he’s such a difference-maker in their passing offense. But, as I said above, this Rams secondary—while better than people think—is gettable, and I expect Geno Smith and his battery of capable pass-catchers to exploit it.

The Rams defensive front is sneaky-elite: Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and Michael Hoecht have all ramped up their ability to create QB pressures (which the Rams, as a team, create on 39.6% of dropbacks). Geno will have to be a bit mobile.

However, 250+ yards and two passing touchdowns for Geno on Sunday (which would be 18 FPTs) feels like a pretty safe floor.

Will Dissly, TE, Los Angeles Chargers (at Cleveland Browns; 1.6% rostered)

Justin Herbert’s found something with Will Dissly. In the last three games, Herbert’s targeted Dissly 23 times. Dissly is averaging 10.6 fantasy points per game during that time, and he has yet to score a touchdown.

This feels a bit like Donald Parham/Gerald Everett for Herbert. He loves tight ends that he can hit in the flat. Dissly’s perfect for this, and has shown a bit of contested catch ability downfield.

I don’t care that the Browns allow the seventh-fewest points to tight ends. The Chargers are going to start bullying teams into letting their offensive gameplan happen. Just watch.

Los Angeles Chargers D/ST (at Cleveland Browns; 59.4% rostered)

Excerpted directly from my Fantasy Football Week 9 Defense Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em column:

The Chargers defense is coming off a game in which they allowed only six points, and sacked the combination of Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener five times. While the Saints managed to hang plenty of yardage, the Chargers won convincingly, and much of that yardage came during garbage time.

Something tells me this inspired Harbaugh unit has something to say about Jameis Winston’s revival. While the Los Angeles offense saw a lot of turnover in the offseason, what with the jettisoning of most all its receivers, the defense retained much of the personnel it had last year. They’re just simply better coached by new DC Jesse Minter.

And they have a chip on their shoulder. Not just from the past few years, either. I believe the walk-off 17-15 Cardinals loss hangs heavy on this Chargers team, and reminded them so much of what undisciplined, soft trench-play on both sides of the ball gets them.

I don’t necessarily know if I’m ready to say this Jameis Winston resurgence is enough to out-physical this 2024 Chargers defense. Let’s see if we can generate some turnovers with that quarterback pressure with which they smothered the Saints in Week 8.

Philadelphia Eagles D/ST (vs. Jacksonville Jaguars; 48.7% rostered)

As above, so below. From the same column:

It seems to all be coming together for the Eagles, even though they might be without Darius Slay on Sunday. The team’s Week 8 win showed balance in all three phases of the game, and this matchup against the Jaguars might be the perfect sluice to keep the momentum.

Because, indeed, this is so much about the Jaguars’ depleted wide receiver group. Parker Washington—while an extremely fun fantasy sleeper—is their WR1, and that’s not going to cut it. The loss of Slay in the secondary won’t be too brutal, seeing as C.J. Gardner-Johnson is still back there playing elite football at safety.

Good news, too, is that beat writers think Jalen Carter will play Sunday. Honestly—who is Trevor Lawrence going to throw to but for the Eagles defenders?

No one. They’ll be in the kelly-greens, too. Three picks incoming.

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is thegreatdansby9) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information